Episode 34 – My Fiance

“Oh… don’t come! If you come near, this child’s life will be lost!”

Werner held my neck with one arm and concentrated his mana in the other. I was certain that even if I cast a simple spell with that hand, I would die. However, Lady Mitya clicked her tongue and sighed despite the threat.

“Werner… No, our youngest… Why is it like this these days…?”

“Where and what I do, it’s my heart, isn’t it, sister?”

“When I was really young, I was a good kid in the world, but when puberty came…”

“Why don’t you go home and look after the baby?”

Werner hugged me and ran towards the window. And, leaning against the railing, he was smiling. It looked like a playful smile… but in my eyes, it looked sad. It felt as if the crying face was covered with a forced smile mask.

However, the person who was more sad than that was none other than Mediah-nim.

“If I reflect on it now, I’m thinking of ending it lightly. Come back right away.”

“Can my sisters and brothers catch me?”

“What?”

Werner raised his right hand. An unusual amount of mana gathered in his right hand, and then Mediah-sama was surprised and ran towards us, but Werner hugged me and jumped out the window a long time ago.

“The veil of mist, spread wide.”

Then, for a moment, I thought my vision was blurred. Because something hazy was blocking my vision. However, the shout that came in time informed me that it was not only my vision that was covered by that hazy thing.

“Hey Werner! What is this again!!!”

“This is a new magic I developed! If you can find me through the fog that surrounds the entire city, look for it!”

I couldn’t see his face because of the fog, and all I could feel was his hand holding my shoulder and leg. Then he picked me up and started running away.

Had it been like 5 minutes? A small room was revealed with the sound of the door opening. It was a smaller room than the attic of my mansion or the other heroes’ mansions. Clothes and papers scattered here and there, and a picture on the table.

“Werner-sama…?”

“I told you not to stick with your name, so what are you doing?”

“I’m not worth a hostage… so stop…”

“Earth, unite and strike.”

Before I could finish speaking, a heavy shock hit my forehead. Shocked by the flash of consciousness, I unconsciously grabbed my forehead and swallowed dry saliva.

“…It hurts.”

“Why don’t you deserve a hostage?”

“That’s right, because I’m half a penny… not as strong as my father… but I’m not as good at magic as my mother.”

“What? Who says bullshit like that?”

“Other people…”

“Wow, what the hell do those bastards want from a 6-year-old? Did they want to catch a dragon by themselves?”

Werner clicked his tongue and let out an annoyed voice. He was frowning, but I could tell he was worried about me. He wasn’t as thorough as he thought, but he wasn’t as cold as rumors had it.

Because the evaluation of him in the world is completely different.

‘A magical genius unprecedented in history.’

‘The perfect wizard’s sample.’

‘A genius among geniuses who is perfect in character, skills, and personality.’

And

‘A dog of the imperial family that is ruthless and thorough.’

However, although he may be a genius of magic, he was neither ruthless nor thorough, nor did he show any loyalty to the imperial family. Then, in the title of ‘relentless and thorough imperial dog’, the corresponding parts had to be revealed. But then nothing is left.

“Hey, would you like something? Coffee? Cocoa? Or some black tea?”

“… with cocoa, please.”

“Okay, where did I put the kettle…”

Werner opened the cupboard and started looking for the kettle. As soon as he opened the cupboard, various odds and ends fell on his head. With a loud roar, he started rubbing the bump on his head.

“Are you all right?”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Sit still.”

He found a kettle among the rubble, filled it with water, and started to boil it. I decided to look around the room more closely until I heard the kettle boiling. A small, stuffy, single room with dusty furniture and household items. If there were maids or servants, there would be no reason to leave such a mess.

“Hey… are there no maids or servants in this room?”

“I can’t even live alone, so what’s a servant to die?”

That meant that this was neither his villa nor his office. But something was strange, as far as I know, he was living with Sieg-sama and Mediah-sama. I wondered why he was living in a single room like this after abandoning the spacious mansion.

“I heard that Werner-nim lives with Zeke-nim and Mediah-nim…”

“Oh there? I ran away.”

“Yes? Running away?”

It was the first time I had heard of it. He had heard that he followed Sieg-sama like a father and Mediah-sama like a mother. However, it was hard to believe that he abandoned them and ran away.

“That’s my brother and sister’s house, not mine.”

“But I heard that the three of you have a stronger relationship than anyone else.”

“Yes, my brother and sister are kind. They always take care of me first.”

“But why…”

Werner poured boiling water into a cup, scooped in cocoa powder and sugar, stirred it, and set it down in front of me. I couldn’t drink hot things well, so when I touched my mouth very slightly, it had cooled to a temperature that felt moderately warm. Apparently, he used magic out of consideration for me.

“No matter how much my brother and sister treat me like family… In the end, it’s ‘like family’.”

Only then did I understand the meaning of the words to some extent. At some point, he began to feel a sense of distance. Besides, Sieg-sama and Mediah-sama also have a daughter, so he must have felt even more lonely.

The position was somewhat similar to me, a half-penny.

“In that sense, I envy you.”

“Am I…?”

I’m just half a penny, neither side. He was not born with great magical talent like Werner, nor was he born with innate strength like his father. I couldn’t understand where I was envious of such an halfway me.

“Because older brother Melchior and older sister Melissa only think of you. There’s no such thing as an idiot. Oh, they’re just idiots.”

“Put…”

There would be no one else in the world who could call father and mother fools. I started to get more and more attracted to his confident attitude.

“By the way, there are people who talk to you about half a penny or something? What are they doing?”

“Mainly cousins and a few vassals…”

“Hey then just rip their mouths out.”

“Yeah?”

I thought you would overcome it by working hard, or you would hear meaningless comfort that you were never half a penny. But instead he advised me to rip the mouths of those gossips.

“Hey, what’s wrong with being half and half?”

“But I…”

“Hey, is this cocoa? If cocoa powder doesn’t dissolve in water, it’s just powder. If there’s just hot water, it’s just plain water. You have to mix the two to make real cocoa like this. Those who insist on pure blood tell them to drink plain water.”

Werner gulped down the cocoa. Even though he was only 14 years old, he felt more mature than most adults. He had a pretty face, and from his attitude to his voice, he was mature. I was attracted to someone for the first time.

“Your dad asked me to help him because he’s feeling down. I’m too busy…”

“Werner-sama… aren’t you lonely?”

“I’m so busy I don’t have time for that…”

He said so with his mouth, but his eyes didn’t. I could tell because I was at an age where I always lied to my busy father and mother saying that it was okay to be alone. He was lonely now.

“Doesn’t Werner have any family?”

“Why do you stab people where they hurt?”

“If Werner-sama had a family… what kind of person would it be?”

“Family… well…”

Werner rested his chin and began to ponder. Judging by the fact that he has been thinking about it for a long time, it seems that he has never thought much about this topic before.

“A person who looks at me as ‘me’.”

“… what does that mean?”

At the time, I couldn’t understand the words that asked me to see myself as myself. People looked up to him, and he thought that his colleagues cared for him very much.

“There is no one like that.”

“What if I find someone like that?”

“Hmm… If you find someone like that, I’ll grant you a wish.”

As we were talking about it, my eyes slowly closed. Drinking hot cocoa in cold weather and covering yourself with a warm blanket was a natural result.

Werner draped another blanket over me as I was dozing off.

“Hey, if you’re tired, just sleep, don’t force yourself to hold on.”

He picked me up and put me on the bed. It was a hard and narrow bed, but it was softer and more comfortable than any bed I had ever laid down on.