TYHL 195

~Chapter 195~

“Her birth father?!”

Bang—Balok didn’t hold back.

“Please calm down.”

“How is this something to stay calm about?!”

Leviathan glanced at the cracked wall and clicked his tongue lightly.

“Getting worked up won’t fix anything.”

For the first time in a while, the three adults of the ducal household were gathered in the large drawing room.

A small bundle sat on the table. Inside, partially unwrapped, were an old portrait, a worn baby pillow, and tiny pieces of baby clothing.

Rosetta let out a short sigh and carefully picked up the portrait.

She smiled.

“Look at this. Even in the middle of all this, she’s adorable. Our three‑year‑old Ruby.”

Balok, who had been snorting irritably, twitched an eyebrow.

“Let’s see… Good grief. So small.”

Peeking closer, he saw young Rubian with wide eyes and pursed lips, clearly startled.
The expression was exactly the same as hers now.

“We should’ve had this painted bigger! We’ll need to call in an artist—”

“Father, wouldn’t it be better to hire several artisans and turn it into a tapestry?”

“Hm. Why is my daughter‑in‑law always so clever?”

“Hehe.”

As usual, the two fell into step perfectly, sharing a dark little chuckle.

“So,” Rosetta asked, “what are we going to do?”

“Hm?”

“This.” She gestured at the bundle. “Its owner.”

Leviathan, who had been distracted imagining how to squeeze the portrait into a locket, cleared his throat.

“First, we confirm whether he’s actually her birth father. We don’t even know if these items are real.”

Portraits and objects could be forged easily.
Though… the portrait did look very much like Rubian.

“Where is this mage now?”

“Leon arranged quarters outside the estate. He’s under watch.”

“Hmph. At least sending that brat Leon to the south was the right call.”

Leviathan nodded.

Leon, who had been inspecting the south on Leviathan’s orders, had turned pale the moment he found the items and ridden back without sleeping for days.

‘So what now…’

Leviathan thought.

The items might be fake.
But if there was even a small chance they were real…

They couldn’t simply discard them.

‘If he really is someone connected to Ruby.’

They’d have to meet him—at least once.

As he was thinking that, Rosetta, still holding the baby items, looked up carefully.

“You haven’t told Ruby yet, right? I’m worried how she’d react if she heard someone claiming to be her birth father showed up.”

“……”

A brief silence followed.

It was a shared concern.

“She might be shocked. Or not want to meet him at all. We should bring it up gently—”

“Knock, knock! Everyone!”

A familiar knock interrupted them.

The door swung open, and Rubian walked in, hair tied up neatly, looking completely normal.

“I heard! Someone claiming to be my birth father showed up?”

Leviathan let out a quiet breath.

“She really doesn’t do caution.”

“Oh dear.”

“I’ll meet him. Right now.”

Her confidence spilled out instantly.

Leviathan watched her sit beside him and felt the tension drain from his shoulders.

“No. I’ll meet him first. If I decide it’s safe, then you can—”

“Why?”

“Well, because—”

“I’ll meet him myself. I want to meet him quickly.”

A short silence followed.

“…You little booger,” Balok muttered, burying his face in his fist.

Rubian waved her hands frantically.

“No, no! It’s not like I’m getting emotional because my birth father showed up!”

“Huh?”

“From the look of it, he’s obviously a pawn the Magic King sent to lure me in by targeting my weakness. So we should meet him fast, figure out his angle, and flip the situation.”

“Oh?”

“Princess Sevelena warned me. She said the Magic Kingdom would start targeting my weaknesses.”

Her blue eyes sparkled.

Leviathan felt uneasy looking into that certainty.

“But Ruby.”

“Yeah?”

“What if… he really is your birth father?”

Rubian paused, then tilted her head. A small crease formed on her smooth forehead.

“Then I guess I’ll thank him appropriately for giving birth to me… and resent him appropriately for abandoning me? Oh—can the thanks just be verbal? I’d rather not give him anything valuable.”

She sounded genuinely serious.

Leviathan blinked slowly.

“That’s it…?”

“Is there something else I’m supposed to do for him?”

She looked truly confused.

“Well… no. Not really.”

Leviathan suddenly laughed.

He realized he’d been the tense one all along.

“Oh, right! Dad, look at this. I made a new herbal jelly that’s good for insomnia—”

Rubian pulled out what she’d been carrying, nudging aside the old bundle Leon had brought.

‘Right.’

There really was no reason to panic.

‘No matter what, Rubian is my daughter.’

If it was fake, they’d use it as bait to draw out the Magic Kingdom.
If it was real, they’d send him off with a mix of polite thanks and mild curses.

“Our Ruby.”

Rosetta, clearly thinking the same thing, gathered the bundle haphazardly and opened her arms.

“Come here. Ruby will always be Mom’s.”

“Wow. It’s been a while.”

She hugged Rubian tightly.

“Grandpa’s.”

Balok joined in.

Leviathan, a step slow to react, finally stood.

“Dad—”

“Tsk. No space left.”

Shoo, shoo.

“….”

See?

Sometimes, the so‑called birth father is the least welcome one.

Leviathan glared hard at his own father, who was actively pushing him out of the hug.

“So,” Rubian said, peeking her head out from between Rosetta and Balok with a grin.

Her gentle eyes curved, one corner of her lips lifting.

They all knew that expression.

Whenever the youngest smiled like that, she was about to propose something unexpected.

“Why don’t we pretend to fall for it—for now?”

I said to my family.

“What do you mean?”

“Honestly, this agent would be easy to deal with. Because—”

“Princess Sevelena’s potion.”

Dad finished for me. I nodded.

“The potion that confirms biological ties. Once we use it, the truth will be clear. But she said the real potion takes time to prepare.”

Before coming here, I’d already exchanged messages with Sevelena using Khalid’s squirrel.

“So we keep him close and watch him while we wait.”

“Yeah. We could throw him into a dungeon, but…”

Images of the Fourth, the Second, and the Magic King passed through my mind.

The more we resisted outright, the more unpredictable their moves became.

So this time—knowing their intent—it felt better to use their plan against them.

“And even if we crush this agent, another one will come anyway.”

Unless we caught the one at the top.

‘Right now, the Magic King is dangling a fishing line toward me.’

I knew the bait was fake.
That’s why I planned to use it—to trace the line back to the fisherman.

“Hmmm. Our little booger’s gotten smarter and braver. I think I get it. So how exactly do we act?”

“Hehe. Everyone, get ready to welcome a guest!”

I smiled playfully at my family.

—

Coming back from my thoughts, I felt the cold wind brush my cheeks and laughed quietly.

A birth father, really.

‘Even if I jumped off a cliff while looking at him, he’s still obviously a pawn sent by the Magic King.’

Probably aimed at my weakness.

Targeting my other family members would be too difficult, so this was the bait he chose.

‘Wrong address, old man.’

The only people I love are this family—not some blood‑related stranger whose name and face I don’t even know.

‘Though… without Sevelena, I might’ve wavered a little.’

I wasn’t completely free of curiosity about my birth parents.

But thanks to the princess, that curiosity vanished.

And if she hadn’t warned me about the Magic Kingdom’s movements, I wouldn’t have been so sure this was an agent.

‘Still… I can’t rule out the possibility that he really is my birth father.’

The items he brought did belong to me.

Objects used for a long time carry traces of magic, almost like scent—especially things used during infancy, when control is nonexistent.

The Magic King might’ve handed them over. Or he might’ve recruited my real birth father.

I don’t remember my early childhood, so the items meant nothing to me personally.

Either way, I’d find out soon enough.

“Hmmm.”

Birth father—or not.

Honestly… I wasn’t completely uninterested.

I flipped my head back, cold air brushing my cheeks.

“So what do you think?”

Deep blue‑gray eyes glanced down at me.

Behind me, a thick arm swung once through the air.