CHGD 39

Chapter 39

When I said I would accept the gift, Deus smiled faintly.

“Then I’ll take my leave now, as I have work to attend to. I hope to see you again next time.”

It was a surprisingly brief meeting and parting. Louis seemed to feel the same, as he kept casting his gaze in the direction Deus had disappeared.

“Louis, are you sure you’re really getting along well with Sir Deus?”

“…Yes, as far as I can tell.”

He said they had dinner together every evening, exchanged greetings wishing each other well, and used the titles of father and son without awkwardness. Even to me, who had little understanding of familial affection, they seemed like a harmonious family.

*’But that expression…’*

Deus’s face as he looked at me wasn’t that of a satisfied father. Rather, it was complicated—like someone who had stumbled upon a secret they wished they hadn’t.

“Then I’ll take my leave as well, since I have work to do. I’ll let you know if anything comes up.”

“Ah, yes. See you next time.”

It was about time to finish my walk as well. After a brief farewell with Louis, I made my way toward the annex.

*’By the way, this gem has a strange charm to it.’*

I took out the gem Deus had given me as a token of gratitude and examined it once more.

I’d accepted it on impulse because it was beautiful, but thinking about it now, it would have been better to refuse.

“A peridot. It’s not even a gem I’m particularly interested in.”

I held the gem up to the sky to inspect the craftsmanship. When I held it up to the sunlight, the light became tinged with the gem’s color. Staring at that light made me slightly dizzy for a moment.

*’It’s dazzling… but isn’t the sun a bit small? It looks just like the moon.’*

Just as I was thinking there was something strange about the sun reflected in the gem, a familiar voice came from behind me.

“Deliana.”

“Count?”

From the other end of the corridor, the Count smiled happily and waved his hand.

“What are you doing in a place like this?”

“I was just taking a walk…”

Normally, the Count would be working at this hour—it was a coincidence to run into him here.

The Count approached me with his usual bright expression.

“Are you heading back to your room? I happen to be on break too. How about we walk together?”

“Pardon? To the annex?”

The Count never came to the annex unless it was absolutely necessary. Our meetings were always in the main castle’s dining hall or by the lake garden.

When I asked back, wondering why he’d come to my room, he tilted his head as if to ask what was strange about it.

“It’s ‘our room,’ isn’t it? What’s strange about that?”

“That’s…”

*’Since when did we share a room that you’d call it “our room”?’*

Just then, I suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu from the Count.

A dizzying sensation, like an ordinary scene rippling as if viewed through a magnifying glass.

*’Where… have I felt this before?’*

A thick alarm bell, as if my soul was warning me of danger, pounded fiercely through my mind.

I took a step back from the Count and frantically rummaged through my jumbled memories to find the answer.

*’That’s right, this—it’s the library.’*

Just as I was touching the edge of that realization, the Count, who had approached me without my noticing, grabbed my wrist.

“Come on, let’s go.”

*’…It was in the library, when I met Loaz.’*

It was the exact same sensation.

Knowing full well that my memory was fine, and recognizing that what I saw before me was reality, yet something in the corner of my mind kept insisting that the being before me was false.

And the moment the name Loaz came to mind, I similarly realized the abnormality around me.

*’Where is my guard?’*

Unless I was near the annex, either Loaz or Icabel was always by my side.

But now, no one was in sight. Not only was there no presence, but I also couldn’t hear Loaz’s usual nagging, which always interrupted at times like this.

Had they disappeared somewhere?

No, that wasn’t it.

*’I made them step back.’*

In my hazy memory, I heard a voice identical to mine, yet not mine.

*[I have some things to think about in the garden. Please go ahead.]*

And when did I say that…?

*[Shall I give it to you?]*

It was when I held the gem in my hand.

At that moment, I had dismissed my guards.

“……!”

I quickly pushed away the Count’s arm and tried to drop the gem I was holding.

But the gem was already stuck to my palm like glue, refusing to fall. The gem, which had been pulsing like a heart, was now burrowing into my palm as if it had become one of my organs.

“You’re quick on the uptake.”

The Count’s hand, which had been holding me back, now gripped my throat.

Unable to even breathe, I widened my eyes and opened my mouth.

I instinctively knew I had to call that person’s name.

“Ha…”

But the Count, noticing my resistance, covered my mouth with his other hand and said.

“Time to sleep, D∋⌊iaπa.”

“……”

A strange sensation climbing up my neck closed my eyes. It was because of an irresistible drowsiness.

*’You’re, not.’*

Just before my eyelids closed from sleepiness, I confirmed green in the Count’s eyes.

Different eyes from usual, a different smile, a different voice.

I tried to recall his true identity, but my consciousness couldn’t hold out.

And so, like a switch being turned off, I lost consciousness.

I opened my eyes in a place like a sewer.

The walls were pitch black, the floor damp. In that place, I found her—the woman with black eyes.

“Mother-in-”

Just as I tried to call out to her, a terrible voice echoed in my ears, like insects swarming.

“What is it, it’s D∋⌊—”

At that moment, I—

A morning like any other.

While having breakfast with the Count, someone suddenly visited the dining hall.

“I have something to discuss.”

It was Louis.

He stood before me without even a morning greeting and abruptly bowed his head.

His uncharacteristically rude behavior caught me off guard—for a moment, I wondered if I was dreaming.

“Please, help me.”

“Well, I don’t mind helping you, but…”

I set down my utensils and glanced at the Count across the table.

Breakfast was a time reserved for just me and the Count. After all the food was served, no servant could come near.

Since that time had been interrupted, the Count’s expression should have stiffened…

*’…It didn’t?’*

Instead, he nodded gently, as if to say we should hear him out. Surprised by his uncharacteristic response, I nonetheless opened my mouth to get Louis to raise his head.

“Tell me, what happened?”

“I think I made some mistake with my father.”

“What kind of mistake?”

“This time…”

Louis calmly, though with a slightly uncertain voice, explained the situation.

—

*’Louis, could you do this for me?’*

Lately, Deus had been making various requests of Louis. Most were simple tasks a child could do, and of course, Louis performed them perfectly.

Washing Deus’s handkerchiefs, polishing his shoes, watering the flowers, pulling weeds, washing windows… As someone who managed the squires, Louis was flawless at handling chores.

But Deus was not satisfied.

*’Ah, yes, good job…’*

He would simply praise him with a wistful expression.

After dozens of such instances, Louis belatedly realized that what Deus wanted was not perfection, but “childlikeness.”

*’So that’s what that advice meant.’*

He’d reached the conclusion that Deus wanted not a perfect son, but a child like the “Louis of the past.”

So Louis recalled his conversations with Deus and began helping with housework at a level the old Louis would have managed.

Leaving the edges of windows slightly uncleaned, forgetting to water the flowers, breaking a dish…

And Louis’s judgment seemed, at first glance, to be correct.

*’Truly, you’re just like Louis.’*

Deus said this and stroked Louis’s head.

Though there had been physical contact between father and son, this was the first time he’d been treated so affectionately. Even though his head was pressed down and he couldn’t see Deus’s expression, his voice was gentle.

Feeling a strange emotion from that, Louis threw himself even more into acting like a son.

*’Ah!’*

But perhaps because he kept doing things he wasn’t used to, he made a big mistake.

He dropped the treasured family portrait Deus cherished—a painting of the three family members together.

The portrait had been placed above the fireplace, and in that unfortunate moment, a small spark flew and touched the portrait.

He quickly picked up the portrait, but the fire had already blackened the faces of young Louis and his wife.

*’What have you done!’*

Just then, Deus, who had been passing through the living room, discovered the scene and shouted. Flustered by Deus’s anger, which he was seeing for the first time, Louis stepped back, and Deus snatched the portrait from the floor with trembling hands.

*’Ah, their faces, their faces are gone…’*

Having been poor in the past, Deus only had one family portrait, so the only way to remember his wife and child was through this painting.

Just as Deus, having lost his family’s memories, was about to shed a bitter tear—

*’It’s alright, Father. I’ll fix it.’*

*’…What?’*

Louis took the portrait back and used magic.

His nails elongated, simultaneously transforming into threads like paper. When he brought them to the portrait, they transformed into the same material and began restoring it.

Louis worked swiftly, for Deus’s sake, to stop his tears.

Without even checking Deus’s face, which had turned pale and stiff.

*’I believe Mother’s face… had a mole at the corner of her mouth. I can just use my own face as is…’*

*’…Stop.’*

*’The neck should be a little thinner, and you said the ears looked alike, Mother and I…’*

*’……’*

*’And finally, adding the colors…’*

*’Stop it!’*

The perfectly restored portrait. But seeing it transformed into a completely new thing, with no trace of its original appearance, Deus screamed with a venomous voice.

*’Father?’*

*’You—you’re—!’*

He snatched the portrait away with rough hands, and with a trembling voice, looked back and forth between Louis and the portrait countless times.

With a face stained with contempt, regret, hatred, and guilt—things he would never have shown to his real child.

*’You… are not Louis.’*

For the first time, he revealed his true feelings to Louis.