Chapter 183
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: Father's Wait (3)
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Snow was falling.
At first, like feathers fluttering lightly.
As the night deepened, more steadily.
It piled up beneath the moonlight that illuminated midnight.
He left the first footprints in the vast white snowfield.
Crunch, crunch—the whispering sound of footsteps.
Amid that, the Frontera Count turned his head.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“No. Not really.”
The reply came from his son.
Looking at Lloyd’s profile as they walked side by side, the Count smiled.
Just seeing him there beside him filled him with pride.
It was heartwarming, his chest swelling with emotion.
“I wonder if I’m just tormenting you for no reason.”
“What are you saying? It’s fine.”
“You’re not getting sleepy, are you?”
“No, not yet.”
“Then shall we walk a bit more?”
“I was just about to suggest that myself.”
“Haha. What a guy.”
Laughter bubbled up again.
No matter how many times he looked, it was wonderful.
Even the way his son’s face was briefly obscured by the breath from laughing felt regrettable.
Walking through the night together like this was truly wonderful.
‘Soon I’ll have to send him off again for a while.’
He had returned after spending a long time in Namaran.
Yet he hadn’t even stayed a few days before he had to leave again.
He was joining the special envoy delegation to head to the Sultanate.
Who knew when he’d return from this trip.
Would they meet again when spring flowers bloomed next year?
Perhaps that regret was why.
Lloyd had come to his study at night.
He had suggested this sudden nighttime stroll to his son.
“If you get cold or sleepy, just say so. You’ll be heading far away again from tomorrow morning.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not sleepy at all.”
“I see.”
“Yeah.”
They walked in silence once more.
Side by side. Sometimes one ahead, then the other.
When slippery spots appeared, he offered a hand.
Thus, they slowly strolled around the hills, stone walls, and forest paths near the mansion.
Before he knew it, old memories resurfaced.
Watching snowflakes accumulate on his son’s shoulders.
He found himself voicing a memory from the past.
“When I was young...”
Lloyd walked along, listening quietly.
Matching steps side by side, he continued, regulating his breath.
“I hated this territory back then. It felt suffocating, boring, utterly tedious.”
The Frontera Count smiled faintly.
It was true.
Back when he was seventeen.
In his eyes then, this territory had seemed like a massive cage.
“I saw it as just the countryside. I hated the idea of living out my days nameless as a petty noble in such a backwater.”
“Did you have ambitions?”
“Ambitions... Well, perhaps it was more youthful bravado.”
The Count chuckled softly.
“I wanted to do something. Something far grander and more dazzling than living a twisted life in the countryside. Saying I wanted to swim in bigger waters might sound a bit silly. Anyway, I wanted to make a name for myself. That’s why I ran away from home.”
“No way, you ran away from home?”
“Mm.”
Lloyd raised one eyebrow, looking surprised.
He returned a wry smile to his son.
“Ran away... It’s a blunt term that stings a little, but I can’t really make excuses around it. Yes, that’s right. That’s what running away from home is. Leaving the territory in the dead of night on your grandfather’s most cherished horse, without a word to him. It’s certainly worthy of the name.”
“Yeah, definitely.”
“And so... or perhaps as punishment... I suffered plenty afterward.”
“Suffered how?”
“I joined a mercenary band. Because I wanted to succeed on my own. Out of that brash desire to prove my abilities. And I regretted it.”
The Count’s wry smile deepened.
“Think about it. Who would hire and trust a seventeen-year-old kid whose only sword experience was practice swings with friendly guards? That’s probably why. The mercenary captain wouldn’t give me any real work. For three months, I just did menial chores to my heart’s content.”
“You must have been incredibly disappointed.”
“At first, yes. Wondering if this was all I amounted to. But I endured. Believing an opportunity would come someday. And it really did.”
“What opportunity?”
“I met a girl there.”
“Oh.”
Lloyd’s eyes sparkled.
The Count chuckled softly.
“It was probably a snowy day like today. The mercenary captain called me over. And there was a girl my age, captured. They said she’d committed a grave crime. That she’d be sold as a slave. He asked me to watch her closely so she wouldn’t escape.”
“And?”
“I asked the girl in secret, away from the captain. If it was true. She said it was a lie. That the captain and his cronies had raided a village. That’s how I realized the truth.”
“So the mercenary band turned to banditry and plundering villages when work was scarce.”
“Exactly. That’s why they only gave me odd jobs.”
“What did you do after figuring it out?”
“I escaped. With the girl.”
“Safely?”
“No.”
The Count grinned.
“We bolted at midnight, but before the morning sun rose, pursuers were on us. I rode like mad. With the girl on the horse behind me.”
The Count’s gaze turned to the falling snowflakes.
With eyes reminiscing, he spoke.
“I fled desperately. But those guys were relentless. No matter how far we ran, we couldn’t shake them. Finally, on the sixth day, they surrounded us.”
“But since you’re here safe and sound, the chase didn’t end sadly?”
“No. Because your grandfather arrived then.”
The Count continued.
“I hadn’t realized, lost in fleeing, but the place we were surrounded was near the western border of our territory. That’s how your grandfather found me. After I ran away, he patrolled the territory outskirts every single day, without fail.”
“In hopes that his son might return someday?”
“That must have been it. Anyway, thanks to that, he found me just in time and drove off the mercenaries with the territory guards.”
“And that ended the runaway episode?”
“Yes. The greatest adventure of my life came to a close.”
“What about the girl you escaped with?”
“She became your mother.”
“Whoa.”
Lloyd stuck out his tongue.
He had always thought the Count and Countess had an unusually good relationship.
He hadn’t known they had such a story.
“Anyway, that experience taught me how much your grandfather cherished me. Just like how I look at you now.”
“......”
“Feeling shy?”
“Uh, well, not exactly.”
“Then?”
“Can I be honest?”
“Of course.”
“For a moment, I got goosebumps.”
“Hm? Hahaha!”
“Sorry.”
“No, no. Even I think it’s understandable.”
The Count laughed heartily and patted Lloyd’s shoulder.
Truthfully, goosebumps or not didn’t matter.
If he could, he wanted to say more.
That he truly cherished him.
That he was the greatest masterpiece of his life.
So please, come back safe and healthy this time too.
If he did that, he’d have no more wishes.
Even if it meant staying up all night.
Even if it meant walking until dawn.
He wanted to say that.
But the Count held back those feelings.
He didn’t want to burden his son.
And he wanted to give him time.
‘Until the day you call me ‘Father’ again someday.’
From some point, his son had changed.
He had shed his playboy past and become diligent.
But in its place, he had erased ‘Father’ and ‘Mother’ from his speech.
He was glad and joyful at his son’s change, yet bittersweet and a bit hurt.
But he vowed not to show it.
It had to come from the heart.
The name had to be spoken willingly.
So all he could do as a parent was wait.
No matter how long it took.
Even if it was a long time.
Until his son’s heart fully opened to him one day.
With that waiting in his heart, the Count walked slowly.
Lloyd left footprints beside him.
‘Whew.’
He sighed quietly, out of the Count’s sight.
Truthfully, Lloyd felt it too.
That he had never called the Count and Countess ‘Father’ or ‘Mother.’
That they were aware of his attitude.
He could tell from their subtle cues.
Their bitterness.
Their underlying pity.
He knew, but it wasn’t easy to fulfill their wish.
‘Sorry. I don’t want to pretend.’
The Count and Countess were good people.
He knew well how much they cherished him.
That’s why he didn’t want to fake it toward them.
He didn’t want to use titles like ‘Father’ and ‘Mother’ just to please them.
That would insult these kind people.
It would exploit their pure hearts.
He absolutely didn’t want that.
That’s why.
‘Sorry. Please wait just a little longer.’
Until his heart was ready.
Until he could calmly accept the guilt and sense of responsibility for secretly replacing the real son, who had been a wastrel but truly their child.
Until he could honestly express that regret.
Until the day they truly accepted each other as family.
Then, sincerely.
From the heart.
He would have the right to call them his parents.
“I’ll try too.”
He lacked the courage to say it aloud.
He murmured it under his breath.
Between the silently falling snowflakes.
He couldn’t see the Count’s reaction as they walked side by side.
He didn’t have the courage to turn and check.
But he could feel it.
Quietly fluttering like feathers.
Warmly amid the deepening night.
The moonlight illuminated a puff of the Count’s breath spreading out.
It was clearly the trace of a silent smile.
♣
Morning broke.
Lloyd joined the special envoy delegation as planned.
Of course, Haviel was with him.
“Heh heh heh.”
“......Why are you laughing so sleazily?”
“Feeling uneasy?”
“Yes. Very.”
At Lloyd’s question, Haviel furrowed his brow.
His hands loading baggage onto the horse grew slightly rougher.
“Are you happy to be taking me along?”
“Yeah.”
“Why is that happy?”
“Because I won’t have to suffer alone.”
“Suffering together makes you happy?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“I’m happy you’ll suffer too.”
“......”
“It’s unfair if I suffer alone. So I drag in at least one more. Make you roll in the dirt beside me. Then I can feel relief blooming: Ah, it’s not just me suffering in this world. At least one guy’s rolling as much as I am. I’m not the only unlucky one!”
“......You devil.”
“Huh? What’d you say?”
“I called you a devil.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“......”
“At least it’s better than ‘sucker.’”
Lloyd grinned cheekily at him instead.
At that shamelessness, Haviel ended up laughing despite himself.
And he regretted it inwardly.
‘Should’ve called him a groundhog instead.’
That would’ve been a more effective insult than devil.
The silver-haired knight vowed to do it next time.
In the meantime, the special envoy delegation finished preparations to depart.
The send-off was not grand.
“We sincerely thank Frontera Count for his generosity in supporting the special envoy delegation’s stay without sparing any aid. Well then.”
With Count Ventura, the envoy’s greeting, the delegation departed the territory.
Lloyd and Haviel also bid farewell to the Count and Countess before leaving together.
Their journey eastward continued.
They crossed the Eastern Mountains.
They traversed the wasteland.
They reached the border of the eastern Sultanate.
They declared the diplomatic purpose of the special envoy to the legion commander guarding the border.
From then on, the journey became even safer and swifter.
The group was, after all, the official diplomatic envoy dispatched by King Alicia.
In other words, representatives conveying the King’s will and stance.
They received commensurate treatment and respect as they crossed Sultanate territory.
Finally, they arrived at the capital ‘Ahinsha.’
Exactly on the 24th day since departing Frontera Territory.
“Wow.”
Passing through Ahinsha’s gates, Lloyd let out an involuntary exclamation.
‘This is properly exotic.’
Far east from Frontera Territory.
Then far south from there.
Perhaps due to the location, it was hot and dry.
Even in midwinter.
‘If I were directing a movie adaptation of the classic Arabian Nights, I’d definitely pick this as the filming location.’
Arabian Nights.
The city’s atmosphere was exactly that.
The round-roofed towers soaring everywhere.
The mud-brick walls adorning every side.
All exuded an exotic charm without exception.
“This way, please.”
An official seemingly sent by the Sultan came to greet them.
Everyone followed the official into the palace.
During that time, Lloyd was too busy admiring the Sultan’s palace structure.
‘Whoa. This is educational.’
Exotic-style architecture everywhere.
Of course, architecture wasn’t his specialty.
Architecture and civil engineering were distinct fields.
But sharing the same roots, it was natural for his eyes to sparkle before these foreign buildings.
How far had they been guided into the palace?
Finally, the audience chamber doors opened.
But the scene inside...
“Isn’t this some kind of mistake?”
Count Ventura, the envoy, sounded perplexed.
At the voice, Lloyd looked inside the audience chamber.
It was empty.
The interior was excessively simple.
A cramped space unfit for a palace.
Even the table and chairs seemed mismatched.
More crude than simple, rough even for humble.
In other words, this was...
“There seems to be some mistake. We are the special envoy who came a long way bearing the will of the great King Alicia Termina Magentano. Yet to receive us in such an unworthy audience chamber? Surely the Sultan doesn’t intend to meet us here?”
Count Ventura’s flustered question went to the Sultanate court official.
The envoy’s attendants shot puzzled looks too.
Only Lloyd wore a faint smile.
‘Heh. Look at these guys.’
He just laughed.
A mistake?
Unlikely.
The Sultan wouldn’t handle things so sloppily.
So this was outright neglect.
Lloyd, the first in the group to realize it, curled his lips in a smirk.
At that moment, the door at the back of the audience chamber opened.