Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 135
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 135
Rickshel said nothing and stared straight at Lion.
It seemed he had indeed settled something.
But from the fact that he wasn’t telling me, it was clearly…
‘He must think it’s not a big deal again.’
After several months of experience, this ‘humility’ was something of a habit of his brother’s.
Of course, Rickshel considered this very humility to be one of Lion’s many virtues.
The numerous attitudes and ways of thinking born from that humility were ultimately what became a noble’s ‘dignity,’ after all.
However.
His opinion was a little different now.
‘I think it would be fine for you to brag a little more, Brother.’
His brother should take more pride in his own achievements!
He might think them trivial, but every single thing Lion had accomplished over these past few months was immense.
Hadn’t many of them surprised not only Rickshel but even the Family Head and Elvia?
‘…My brother would never let it show, but.’
Rickshel respected and honored that side of his brother as well.
But—
Was there any real need to go out of his way to suppress the rumors?
And so, he let them be.
Even if it was not under his brother’s name, everyone who mattered knew the identity of the ‘God’s Messenger’ very well.
In that case, elevating that status could do no harm.
No, if anything, this greatly increased the chances that the Temple would offer personal assistance in the future.
In fact, that was precisely what Rickshel was aiming for.
The Temple’s cooperation and help.
It was an option the old Rickshel would not even have considered.
After all, he was the heir of House Asteri.
He had money, honor, and even skill.
He had more than enough confidence to succeed the Family Head and lead House Asteri well.
So what could he possibly lack that would make him need to mingle with other factions?
‘…There was a time when I thought that way.’
Not anymore, of course.
Someday, the Family Head had said something.
That even an Archmage like himself could not prepare for every single contingency.
That if someone who could solve every problem appeared, that person would be an arrogant human, or something beyond human.
Once, he had struggled to readily understand those words.
No, in truth, he had not wanted to understand them.
Because it was painful.
It felt like listening to the esteemed Family Head—no, to Grandfather’s stories of failure.
His mood would sour for no reason and something inside him would churn.
Especially.
‘When I heard the story of my parents from Grandfather’s own lips.’
An unfathomable, deep void had swirled in Grandfather’s expression.
The feeling of staring into a hole so deep you couldn’t see the bottom.
No, it even felt as though Grandfather had already fallen to the bottom of that hole countless times and was still falling.
Family.
The face of a man who had lost a child in the prime of life was…
‘I hated it.’
Because it made even me miss my mother for no reason.
Because it felt like I would flicker and sway helplessly like a candle in the wind, about to go out.
Because I missed her even though I couldn’t remember her face or any memories of her.
So Rickshel, who was much younger then, had run away because he didn’t want to bear such feelings.
He kept his distance, deliberately turned away, and drew emotional lines.
He concluded that the emptiness and despair of loss were greater than the affection and security of family bonds.
Luckily, he had never had the time to grow close to his brother either, so he thought things were proceeding according to plan.
But they hadn’t been.
‘Rather, I was the fool.’
He realized the arrogant human the Family Head had spoken of was himself.
Hadn’t he denied the obvious truth that humans can never live alone?
Now he understood.
It was the kind of sense that couldn’t be explained with the head or put into words.
It was his brother who had made him realize it.
He could never thank his brother enough for awakening this feeling.
So he intended to guard his brother’s happiness by any means necessary.
…In any case, the point was that having even one more option in an emergency was better.
He had already built close ties with House Bydantis, so this time it was the Temple’s turn.
And on a personal level, he thought that priest called Licht was not half bad.
He was still quite naive, of course, but his ability to shake the Temple with his words alone was fairly admirable.
‘Thanks to that, I’ve managed to catch an extra rabbit.’
Not only the Temple’s help, but even his brother’s achievements.
Brother.
The achievements of Lion Asteri.
His brother would not be pleased, but this was one of the excellent safeguards that could prevent misfortune in advance.
‘There’s no telling when another incident might arise from people underestimating my brother.’
So he was working behind the scenes to ensure that anyone who didn’t know their place couldn’t run wild and negatively affect his brother.
That way, such an absurd attack would never happen again.
Rickshel had not forgotten that the First Prince faction had attacked his brother.
The foolish First Prince’s actions were irritating, but the ones more disgusting were those around him who kissed up and egged him on.
‘They must have sweet-talked that dim-witted First Prince into doing the deed.’
It was obvious what they’d been thinking.
The trait of the nobles attached to that bastard was targeting people who seemed easy to handle.
Though he’s the eldest son of House Asteri, wouldn’t he be someone safe to poke once?
He has no skill, and no proper public achievements, does he?
So let’s prod him through the First Prince!
Even if it fails, no harm will come to us, so it’s fine!
‘That must’ve been their idiotic reasoning, no doubt.’
Rickshel made no effort to hide his sneer.
Of course, they had been dealt a heavy blow this time and would stay quiet as mice for a while.
But still, there was nothing bad about having built up his brother’s achievements.
Besides…
‘Ahem, I want to brag too.’
If he had his way, he wanted to spread rumors all over town about how amazing his brother was.
But since his brother did not wish for that… he compromised by simply not blocking the rumors.
Finishing his thoughts, Rickshel handed his brother a fresh handkerchief.
“Are you all right?”
“Cough. Thank you.”
Lion barely managed to swallow the beverage lingering in his mouth and hurriedly covered his mouth with the handkerchief.
He had been quite flustered.
“But if those kinds of rumors spread, won’t the God’s Messenger become too exaggerated?”
“Exactly. That’s why all sorts of ‘settings’ are being created, they say.”
“What?”
“That when the Saint walks along a path, sprouts grow on the road, and from somewhere, blue butterflies fly in to sprinkle holy water all around—and that wings sprout from his back and a halo shines behind him.”
“Wow…”
So that was what they meant by ‘settings’.
I couldn’t even think of a single rebuttal; all I felt was awe.
Human imagination truly was amazing, I thought.
“I don’t know how he managed to sweet-talk the Archbishop, but it seems Priest Licht handled the situation quite well, too.”
“It does seem so.”
In any case, it was settled, and since it was anonymous, shouldn’t I just let it go?
There was nothing that would change even if I tried to do something about it now anyway.
And more than anything, there was one thing I was curious about.
“Then what happened to Peter?”
It was news about Peter.
Though the Archbishop had guaranteed he would sort things out somehow, I felt I could only be at ease once I heard a proper report.
Watching his brother, Rickshel smiled faintly.
“Yes. He was safely adopted.”
Rickshel first related the fact his brother was most curious about, then slowly conveyed the rest of the story.
“However, while his level was that of a formal priest, it was also true that he possessed Holy Power. And so Peter himself stated that he would walk the path of the priesthood.”
“Then…”
“Considering Peter is a child who ought to receive God’s love rather than deliver it, the Temple has recommended a method where he travels back and forth between home and the Temple.”
“Oh.”
I’d been worried something might have gone wrong again, but this was quite a decent resolution.
“And the Dean of the Theology Academy has decided to teach him personally through this connection.”
“I see.”
Lion felt a weight lift from his heart.
If it was Ann, of all people, then I didn’t have to worry any further.
With a much more relaxed heart, Lion listened to the rest of the story.
They explained the circumstances to the children who hadn’t been adopted over the past few months, promised they would not be forced into the priesthood, and that if any child missed an adoption opportunity because of this incident, the Temple would take full responsibility—guaranteeing not only food, clothing, and shelter until adulthood, but even employment.
‘That’s quite thorough.’
Wasn’t this a more full-scale response than I’d imagined?
I thought they might just gloss over it, but it was considerably well handled.
“Also, it seems they found the one who made this decision.”
“Ah.”
“It happened to be someone I know. He was the senior priest who blocked my path when I came to see you, Brother.”
“What happened to him?”
“He said he never imagined his shallow thinking would cause such a huge ripple, and voluntarily requested his own dismissal.”
What’s more, he had said that if the children wished it, he would beg for forgiveness on his knees, but if they did not want to meet him, he would never even show his face and live as though dead.
“At least he still had some conscience left.”
Lion assessed the senior priest coldly.
Of course, the priest had likely done his best for the Temple.
But that didn’t justify using a method that sacrificed the few.
And at the Temple, of all places.
Wasn’t it no different from betraying people’s faith?
“Ah, and…”
Peter’s adoptive father, Mr. Ferguson, had said that whatever the reason, the matter was now well resolved, and that the blessing named Peter had come to them—wasn’t that a good thing?
He then donated a sum so large it even surprised the nobles, and the amount made Lion’s jaw drop as well.
“He had that much money?”
“From what I heard, he operates one of the largest trading companies in the Empire. He even has ties to the hotel I’m planning to invest in.”
Lion nodded, then stabbed his fork into the apple pie that had come out for dessert and popped it into his mouth.
The tart apple flesh harmonized with the cinnamon, bursting with a sweet, deep flavor, and the crisp pie crust added more texture.
With his mind at ease, the food tasted even better.
‘Well, it was excellent before, too.’
Perhaps because this was a restaurant that had captured Rickshel’s palate, the quality of every dish was incredible.
Moreover, the establishment was run primarily with private rooms so that conversations like this could be held comfortably, giving the atmosphere a quiet and luxurious feel.
Lion continued to dig into the apple pie and asked,
“So that investment is the hot spring business you mentioned last time?”
“That’s right. Of course, it won’t compare to your hot spring, Brother, but I thought it was a good idea. And…”
Rickshel took a small sip of his aromatic black tea and added casually,
“Soon, that business will launch, and I would like you to take a look at it, Brother.”
“Me?”
“Yes. The project originated from your idea, so I would like your additional insight to be incorporated.”
Did I even have any additional insight to offer?
It was a hot spring built at a hotel, so basically a spa—the nobles would obviously love something like that.
‘Rickshel isn’t the type to be slow on the uptake, so he’s probably already handled all the other amenities…’
Meanwhile.
Seeing Lion’s thoughtful expression, Rickshel’s face grew a shade darker.
‘As expected, he’s hesitating.’
His brother had a tendency not to involve himself in the family’s business ventures.
It was probably with the intention of solidifying his position as ‘heir’ even further.
“The truth is, I want to spend a vacation with you, Brother. The hotel says they will take care of all the lodging and amenities.”
“…Aha.”
Lion completely understood the entire situation.
He’d been laboring under a silly misunderstanding!
So in other words…
Rickshel, you’re exhausted!