“I have been waiting, Sena.”
Entering the familiar territory and the familiar mansion, he had returned to the Birkender estate.
From here, Rendel would take only half a day.
He had taken many detours, but in the end, it was not much different from achieving his goal.
…Despite having longed for this moment, Sena felt calmer than he expected.
The reason? Perhaps he still couldn’t grasp the reality of it.
Maybe it was because the time of death was drawing near.
Anyway, he smiled brightly at the maid who had come out to greet him at the front gate.
“It’s been a while, Priscilla.”
“…You haven’t changed at all, Sena.”
Priscilla was a friend from the same impoverished slum.
“You still look so fragile.”
When they were children, he used to play with her and Seria.
‘I wonder if Seria is safe.’
While he was lost in thought, Priscilla turned her gaze toward Sena.
“And who is this?”
“Oh, this person is…”
‘I can’t call her an Empress.’
Astria looked at Priscilla with an arrogant gaze.
Sena awkwardly smiled and said.
“This is Ria. Um… a friend from the Academy.”
“Nice to meet you, Lady Ria.”
Priscilla bowed without hesitation.
Normally, Astria would have said something harsh, but she silently nodded.
“Well then, please come in.”
**
“How is grandfather’s condition?”
“…As you would know from the letter, it is critical.”
“You wrote the letter, didn’t you? Not grandfather.”
“Yes.”
He spoke calmly as they strolled down the long corridor of the mansion.
It was his grandfather, Handel, who was originally the head of the Birkender marquisate.
(TLN: It was mentioned before that his name was Frederick, but I guess author forgot.)
He was one of the people who opposed Sena’s adoption the most.
Although their relationship was fairly good now, it hadn’t always been that way.
He had never been fond of it.
Perhaps it was still the same.
The idea of someone who didn’t have Birkender blood becoming the head of the family.
Of course, his relationship with Cruyff was so bad that it could be called the worst.
“This mansion is too modest to be the residence of a marquis.”
At that moment, Astria, who had been silent the entire time, glanced around and spoke.
In fact, unlike other noble mansions, there were no paintings hanging in the corridors here.
“There used to be many.”
Sena smiled wryly.
“Paintings and expensive decorations.”
“Indeed, I can see faint traces that something used to be hung up. Is the financial state of the Birkender marquisate poor?”
“Surprisingly, it’s quite wealthy, right?”
Priscilla nodded slightly as she answered.
“The Birkender marquisate’s treasury is still healthy. Well, that’s because you sent a lot, Sena.”
“You?”
When Astria looked at Sena in surprise, he laughed awkwardly.
“Ahaha, there are many people in this world who want to buy health with money.”
“Surprisingly, it seems you were paid properly.”
At the royal court, Sena was always in that old robe.
Most of the things he owned were provided as part of his role as the Empress’s physician.
Given his foolishly kind personality, one would guess that he lived like a pushover, not charging for treatment.
But it seems that wasn’t the case.
“Then why did you sell off all the luxuries of the mansion? Is it your personal preference? The current Birkender marquis.”
“I had no involvement in that. It’s strange for me to be the marquis, after all. It’s just…”
“Just?”
Sena fell into thought.
Even now, he recalled vivid memories of the past.
-Cruyff! Are you really insane?
Cruyff was a priest.
A priest could not become a noble.
There were political reasons for this, but the main reason was that they could not marry.
However, Cruyff held a somewhat unique position.
He had extraordinary talent as a priest.
He could maintain his noble status for a while due to the church’s leniency, but he couldn’t stay like that indefinitely.
Cruyff had to make a choice.
To give up being a priest or to give up the family.
He found another option.
Adopting a child.
Of course, it was Cruyff’s father.
His father, who was truly a “noble among nobles”, opposed the idea vehemently.
– You want to take a child from the slums and have him carry on the Birkender name! Are you out of your mind?
The Birkender marquisate, which was needed the adoption, took him there.
It was there that Sena encountered Handel, who looked as if he might collapse from hypertension.
-You might as well kill me, Cruyff! I cannot bear to see that face while I’m alive!
Cruyff looked at Sena apologetically, but the nine-year-old Sena could only feel incredulous.
-Can you at least resolve the family issues before adopting me?
-Haha, I’m sorry. I’ll resolve it soon.
Cruyff wiped the kind smile he had shown Sena and faced his father with an utterly expressionless face.
-There seem to be more luxuries that I’ve never seen before. Whose possessions are these?
-Are you trying to deflect the issue? You!
Handel was a fiery person.
Sena understood his feelings.
To think that his only son would want to become a priest and then bring home a child from the slums was unacceptable.
It was hard to accept even in modern times, so how much more difficult would it have been in the medieval era?
– Don’t be mistaken. You are a noble. Nobles are different from the lowly from the moment they are born!
– Yes, it is different. The size of that greed is grotesquely large.
– Cruyff!
– My father has always been very greedy. He wouldn’t even share a gold coin and would kill for it. Sometimes he would even hand me the sword and order me to kill.
Abuse.
It was then that Sena realized Cruyff had been abused.
Emotional abuse. Physical abuse. All of it.
Handel was a noble among nobles.
He needed to mold the naturally weak Cruyff into a suitable heir for the family.
– And this is the result of that greed. I grew up witnessing ugliness, swearing every day that I would not become like you.
And the reason he showed all of this to Sena was that he hoped Sena would feel the same sense of resentment toward Handel as he did.
– I have already turned all of my father’s confidants to my side. I will no longer stand by his side.
Revenge. He didn’t wish for Sena to feel such negative emotions.
Cruyff definitely hated his father, but he did not despise him.
The oath Cruyff took every day and the content of his prayers…
He wished that one day, his father would abandon his greed and live a life of atonement.
That was the reason Cruyff became a priest.
And it was also the reason he adopted Sena.
– Father, please retire. It’s time to let go of that greed.
The abused Cruyff could not bring himself to forgive with his own hands.
But he believed that kind-hearted Sena would forgive even a father like this.
That thought was correct.
Sena was now standing in front of his bed.
To save him.
“Hello.”
Handel’s condition was clearly not good.
He had always been a person of great passion, but now he resembled a dying ember.
A body so emaciated. A wrinkled face. A look that made it seem difficult for him to breathe.
Handel weakly gestured toward the chair in front of the bed.
Sena silently sat down in that chair.
“That only son of mine took off one day to become a priest. The supposed heir, huh? Does Cruyff fare well?”
At the mention of Cruyff, Sena wore a sad expression.
Handel wouldn’t know. He must not know.
Sena nodded with an unaffected smile.
“Of course. He’s doing well.”
“Still, I’m relieved that he has made a grandchild. What do you think? Would you consider returning to the family to manage it now?”
Facing such a difficult topic, Sena could only smile awkwardly.
Handel saw Sena’s expression and chuckled, ruffling his hair.
“You rascal.”
“…”
“…Are you really going to extend your hand to this foolish old man?”
Sena’s white hand overlapped with the wrinkled one.
“I’ve done many things that I shouldn’t have done to you.”
“Given your self-awareness, you seem to still be in good spirits?”
Sena offered this jokingly, but Handel did not smile.
“Even now, with such small hands, I yelled at a child who was even smaller back then. I passed my own shortcomings onto you. What a miserable way to live.”
Sena listened silently and confirmed the issues with Handel’s body through his divine powers.
In truth, he had known the diagnosis the moment he entered this room.
Or perhaps he had known it since he heard it from Seria.
“Despite that, seeing your talent, I have even foolishly changed my attitude. I thought that with that strength, the Birkender family could prosper much more.”
Whatever it was, the power to cut things away.
Showing that had been a mistake.
He had been aware that he needed to hide his power, but he had been too young back then.
When one’s body is young, one’s psychology often aligns with their physical age.
Because he kept treating him like a burden and showing dissatisfaction, it was meant to encourage him a bit.
“I had already made a mistake once and tried to make another one with you.”
From that point on, Sena could feel Cruyff’s emotions.
Handel acknowledged Sena as his heir and educated him to befit a successor.
But the results were different from those of Cruyff.
“However, my grandchild is so kind that anyone can see it. I tried to educate him like I did with Cruyff a few times, but seeing that incredibly pure smile, I couldn’t help but feel guilt. What am I doing?”
Tears gathered in the corners of the old man’s eyes.
“It was only then that I realized the sin I had committed.”
The disappearance of the paintings in the mansion happened around that time.
Handel, who had been a bad noble who exploited others, stopped taking and began giving.
“But by then, it was already too late. Even though I have walked the path of atonement since then, what I did to you and what I did to Cruyff cannot be undone.”
“Please don’t say such things… Cruyff is just a little lacking in courage. I have already forgiven you, grandfather.”
“Is that so? Then, return to the family and manage it.”
“Ahaha, that might be a bit difficult…”
Handel chuckled softly as he ruffled Sena’s hair.
A moment of silence passed.
But it wasn’t an awkward silence; it was a natural one.
Handel gazed at the ceiling, reminiscing about the past.
“The Birkender line is probably at its end now.”
“I have no regrets.”
“It’s a shame. I have committed too many sins. I did many unspeakable things to elevate the family’s honor.”
“Do you think the Goddess will forgive you?”
Sena pretended to pray.
“I just prayed a moment ago, and she seems to be okay with it.”
“Haha, since the Saint said so, it must be true.”
‘I am not a saint.’
Sena said to himself.
‘After all, no one can save him.’
“Is this what they call a passing moment? It doesn’t hurt like a lie.”
With each word becoming clearer, Sena understood that his time was running short.
The name of his illness was simple.
Aging.
At 71 years old, he was someone who could die at any moment according to the standards of this era.
‘What I can do…’
Life extension surgery.
A procedure to suppress and hold onto the soul of a dying person.
Various terms floated in and out of Sena’s mind.
He decided to provide the best treatment he could offer.
Holding tightly to his old hand, he sincerely wished for his peace.
3 AM.
“When I ranked first at the Academy for the first time, I was truly overjoyed. I boasted to the nobles while visiting the surrounding territories. They were so envious, haha.”
They had shared many stories over the time.
The word he heard most often was “sorry.”
“Thank you, Sena.”
He spoke clearly as he gently stroked Sena’s cheek.
“Thanks to you, I can leave in peace.”
In the old man’s hazy eyes, the face of Sena, who had his head bowed low, was reflected.
That was the last sight he ever saw.
“You are, no matter what anyone says, my grandchild.”
Handel’s hand grew cold and fell away.
With a somber expression, Sena closed Handel’s eyes.
He fell asleep with a peaceful look on his face.
He would have gone into a dream from which he would never awaken.
Sena recited mechanically.
“…3:21:38 AM. Handel Birkender has passed away.”
“I truly thought of you as my grandfather in this strange world.”
“Rest peacefully there, grandfather.”
Transparent tears streamed down his cheeks uncontrollably.
Why couldn’t I have come a little sooner?
I couldn’t even say that simple greeting?
The days I had fled because of death filled him with profound regret.
“Waaaaah.”
That day, Sena cried like a child for the first time since he was born.
