Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 204
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 204
In the end, Varg had no choice but to spill everything himself.
He explained that he had struck some kind of deal with Jack, and as a result, as long as Jack stayed here, they could engage in “unlimited sparring.”
Jack, who had been quietly listening to Varg’s account beside him, shrugged his shoulders.
It clearly meant there was no disagreement on the facts.
“Hah…”
When Lion let out a deep sigh, Varg immediately wilted.
Admittedly, he had done wrong.
In a way, wasn’t it the same as throwing a wrench into the young master’s plans?
Plus, Lion had obviously been immersed in some task in the labyrinth and had hurried back.
‘He must be very, very angry.’
And this time, Varg’s prediction was right.
Lion was angry.
“Varg.”
“Y-yes.”
“Do you know how terrifying a contract is?”
“…Sir?”
What differed a little from Varg’s prediction was that the reason wasn’t that Varg had been a nuisance.
“Answer.”
“N-no, sir…”
“If a contract is drafted incorrectly, even a small mistake can cause enormous problems. A contract is something even experts deliberate over for days before signing.”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“You’re lucky it was Jade. At any rate, nothing like this must ever happen again.”
“Yes… I’m sorry. I will be careful.”
“Go back and reflect on this.”
The scolding was sharp enough to be unlike the usual Lion, but it was so sound that he had nothing to say in return.
Besides, wasn’t Lion ultimately worried that Varg might get himself into trouble?
Knowing that, Varg couldn’t utter a single word in response. He bowed his head once more and left the room.
Click.
After the door fully closed.
“…”
A brief silence fell.
And the one who broke that silence was—
“Well now…”
“My apologies! Is your face all right?”
—almost simultaneously, but Lion’s momentum was stronger.
Lion loudly apologized, then reached out and cupped Jack’s face to inspect the wound.
Under that rather firm touch, Jack’s skin was pressed and the wound split open further.
“Good heavens, that such a wound should appear on such a fine face!”
Lion took a potion from his coat, moistened a handkerchief with it, and carefully dabbed it onto the wound on Jack’s face.
And then—
“…”
Before Jack could say a word, the wound vanished without a trace.
Not even a faint scar remained.
As if administering the coup de grâce, Lion wiped Jack’s cheek soundly with the handkerchief, then even fetched a mirror and held it up to his face.
“Varg is a child belonging to House Asteri, so I have taken responsibility for the wound. I will also give him another stern scolding later.”
“…”
The wound was spotlessly gone, and on top of that he had even received a formal apology.
What’s more, Lion had promised to scold Varg again later.
With things standing thus, Jack, who had intended to use this injury as an excuse to raise a storm, found his mouth clamped firmly shut.
He had never dreamed the matter would be handled as smoothly as flowing water.
And furthermore…
‘He’s deliberately steering clear of what I demanded.’
Both when scolding Varg and until now, Lion Asteri had not asked what Varg had offered in exchange for unlimited sparring.
Moreover, he had even blocked the timing for Jack to bring up that subject on his own.
“And thank you.”
“Thank me?”
At the unexpected thanks, Jack’s eyebrows furrowed slightly in the mirror’s reflection.
“Yes. In truth, you could have taken much more from Varg, but you didn’t, did you?”
“For all you know, I may have already taken a great deal.”
“If that were the case, you would have left the mansion already.”
Jack let out a soft exhale.
Because it was true.
He had been with Varg for days, but he still didn’t properly understand this thing called ‘unease.’
Of course—the time had been far too short to accurately grasp an emotion he had never recognized his entire life.
Even with Varg’s help.
‘The only silver lining is that I managed to secure a private audience with Lion Asteri.’
But even that initiative had already passed to Lion Asteri.
The wound was healed, and the apology had been received.
If he tried to press the matter now and ask whether an apology was sufficient, it would only make him look worse.
“…”
When Jack, uncharacteristically, gave no reply, Lion chuckled inwardly.
‘Shall I cut him some slack?’
That thought arose solely because Varg didn’t have a single deep wound on his body.
It was only natural that a person who had risen to the position of Criminal Underworld leader would be stronger than Varg.
So in any kind of sparring, the probability of Varg winning was nearly zero.
No—one could even say that Jack had been instructing him in training rather than sparring.
Varg had Knight Commander Rickson, but—
‘Still, it’s different.’
The education itself was no doubt excellent.
After all, Varg would have to live among people from now on.
Rickson’s teaching surely extended well beyond swordsmanship.
And once his Eclipse symptoms had healed, Varg was…
‘…probably lacking.’
And it was Jack who had filled that gap at just the right moment.
Jack himself must have fully realized that what Varg had asked for was not ‘sparring’ but ‘learning.’
The fact that he had nonetheless silently granted that tiresome, bothersome request meant…
‘Well, I’d say that’s enough to count as passing.’
It meant he had put in a fair amount of effort in his own way.
So Lion decided to take one step back as well.
It wasn’t his intention to keep them on bad terms forever, after all.
“In any case, you played along very nicely.”
“It wasn’t a particularly difficult matter.”
Jack answered Lion’s remark curtly.
In reality, it hadn’t been hard for Jack.
Humoring a strong little kid was quite easy. He’d just had to tumble around with him.
There was nothing in particular to think about.
Most of all, when looking after Kyle, he’d always had to remain on high alert because he never knew when the pain of the curse might threaten him. With Varg, there was no such need.
Because he was sturdy.
“Is that how you used to play with the Second Prince when he was young?”
“Something similar.”
“I’m envious.”
“…Envious, you say?”
“Yes. I wasn’t able to play with him like that.”
As you know, I was rather frail.
At Lion’s appended words, Jack closed his mouth.
“So, I feel quite sorry that I couldn’t play with my younger brother when we were little.”
“…”
Jack could not fathom Lion’s true intent.
Hadn’t an extremely personal story suddenly appeared out of nowhere?
Lion Asteri was similar to himself.
He did not want others poking around in his own world.
That’s what Jack had thought… so why, all of a sudden?
“So one day, after my body had recovered, we had that conversation. I told him I was sorry that I hadn’t been able to be of any help to him as his older brother in his childhood. That he must have faced even his smallest worries alone.”
“…Ah.”
Only then did Jack realize.
Lion Asteri was using an old story as an example to give him a hint.
About the true nature of that unease.
He was explaining: it was the guilt of being unable to do anything, and the anxiety that, because of that, he might become a useless nobody to Kyle.
He was spelling it out.
“…So what happened in the end?”
“He told me that simply having me in good health was more than enough.”
“…!”
“Well, I’ve never been a younger sibling myself, but surely anyone would feel the same. All they would want is for you to be healthy and unharmed. Because you’re family.”
Perhaps these were words that only Lion, who knew Kyle and Jack’s true circumstances well, could say.
In this whole wide world, there wasn’t a single soul who knew the relationship between Kyle and Jack.
People merely saw them as enabler and beneficiary—nothing more, nothing less.
Jack had steered it that way.
Lest any stain attach itself to Kyle, whom he regarded as a younger brother.
Lest the filth of the Criminal Underworld become a hindrance to the man destined to be the Empire’s Emperor someday.
But the person now before his eyes was telling him that was not so.
“…That’s a rather amusing story.”
“Right? There’s truly nothing like asking directly. Haha.”
The one who had posed the problem had just supplied the answer.
This was Jack’s complete defeat.
To top it off, Lion had even resolved the sliver of unease Jack had been feeling.
“I should be getting back soon.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes. There’s someone I wish to contact now.”
Jack rose from his seat and donned his outer coat.
“Thanks to your consideration, I’ve been able to fully enjoy the sights of Asteri’s world before I leave.”
“That’s a relief to hear.”
“Enough that I’d like to come again.”
“…”
Hm, well, that’s a bit—
‘I’d prefer it if, even if he must come, it’s after his thorns have dulled a little.’
Even if things were ending on a friendly note now, there was no telling when he might bristle like a hedgehog with its spikes standing on end.
He was simply that sort of person.
“Well, otherwise, on the next occasion, it would be just as nice if you, Lion, came to see the world I live in.”
Only at Lion’s reaction did Jack’s sly smile finally break through, and he handed over a small silver coin from inside his coat.
“This is…”
“In the Criminal Underworld, there is no more certain form of identification than this.”
It meant that the leader of the Criminal Underworld was vouching for his identity.
“Thank you.”
Fervently hoping he would never have to use it, Lion tucked the silver coin into his coat.
“You need not see me off. After all, I am but a humble merchant guild master.”
“If you say so.”
He meant that when he left, he would go as Jade, the guild master.
Bidding farewell with a genial smile, Jade departed the room.
Click.
And then he looked at Varg, who was still standing there, utterly deflated.
“…”
Ordinarily, he would have simply passed him by.
The deal was already done, and Varg was of no further use.
Besides, the sparring over the past few days had been such a nuisance.
Though it hadn’t been difficult, of course.
And to go out of his way to say something unnecessary—wasn’t that just borrowing trouble?
“Hm.”
So, the words he spoke now were a luxury he was enjoying purely thanks to his own capricious nature—an utter waste of time.
“Thanks to you, I had many good conversations with Lion.”
“Huh…”
At the words that came from Jack’s mouth, Varg flinched in alarm.
If it was good for Jack, didn’t that make it bad for the young master?
‘He must’ve made a mess of things…!’
Just as Varg’s tail was drooping so low it was about to curl under—
“If you end up getting a severe scolding, please pass along this message: that thanks to you, I lost.”
“Bwuh?”
Varg looked utterly bewildered, as if he had no idea how this situation was unfolding.
“Ah, and something I came to realize while we spared—you never deliberately went for the throat. Haha, if you go that easy on your opponent, you might end up being unable to protect what you need to protect, you know? Well then.”
Having said that, Jade immediately strode toward the guest room.
He intended to depart the moment his preparations were complete.
Back to the place where he lived.
And…
“Since I’m indulging in luxuries anyway.”
He would seize the day, in earnest, today.
“Brick.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Brick, who had been waiting for Jade in the guest room, immediately produced a crystal orb capable of sending a communication and handed it over.
Wearing a smile, Jade contacted his one and only family, who was right now struggling mightily at the Imperial Palace, so he could act spoiled.