chapter 13
the next morning. After a good night’s sleep in the room, Gordon came to Luke after breakfast.
“Did you sleep well last night?”
“Thanks for your consideration, I had a good rest.”
“Fortunately, the. His Excellency the Count wants to meet the young master.”
at las! Luke’s eyes sparkled. All the preparations up until now were for this very moment.
In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that this front was a turning point in life.
Gordon clapped his hands, and the servants politely brought in their robes.
“I have prepared a robe for you to wear before meeting the Count. I would appreciate it if you would wear a formal attire even if it is a little uncomfortable.”
“On the contrary, I am grateful. Because you prepared for this.”
Luke gladly changed into his formal attire. It is a world where appearance is as important as ability and personality.
There was no reason to refuse to give it wings.
The robe was an elegant black dress embroidered with gold thread. It seemed that the purpose was splendor hidden in the neat beauty.
With the help of the servants, he changed his clothes, and Gordon admired his appearance.
“It looks like it really shines when you decorate it like this. It may be a cliché, but you look like a prince from a fairy tale.”
“It’s an overstatement.”
At Gordon’s sincere compliment, Luke smiled inwardly. If there was anything he benefited from reincarnating in this world, it was his appearance.
Thanks to the genes of his father and mother, Luke’s appearance was close to handsome.
With the addition of stylish clothes, there was no sense of incongruity even as a nobleman.
“Then I will guide you to His Excellency the Count.”
Gordon took Luke to the Count’s office. Luke glanced over the mansion.
It was a mansion that I had seen until I got tired of it before returning, but seeing it again gave me a new feeling.
Carpets and ornaments that were taken for granted because they were nobles. Aren’t they all high-end products that poor knights can’t even afford?
‘I will definitely be more successful than this in this life.’
Luke clenched his fists and reflected on his life goals. The important thing for that was the meeting that would happen right now.
After a while, Gordon arrived at the office and knocked on the door.
“Your Excellency, I have brought the young master.”
“Let me in.”
Gordon stopped there and bowed his head to Luke. Luke greeted them slightly, opened the door, and entered.
“Welcome.”
“…”
There were two people in the office. One is Leonard Bernstein, a middle-aged aristocrat with brown hair and purple eyes.
Another was Helena, the Countess. Luke quickly glanced at the two of them and bowed his head deeply.
“Luke, grandson of Norman and son of Lyria, meets his father and the countess.”
****
‘Hey, I heard he lived as a hunter.’
Earl Leonard swallowed the admiration that was about to flow out of him. Even as the eldest son of a prestigious aristocratic family, the atmosphere is trustworthy.
It wasn’t just the appearance that was plausible. No matter how well you decorate your shell, you can tell by how you look inside.
Luke’s demeanor had the dignity of a perfect aristocrat.
‘If only he had manners, who would consider this child a commoner?’
It seemed that the Count himself would not be able to tell them apart right away. Unlike the Count, who swallowed admiration, Helena bit her lip covered by a fan.
Showing such dignity on a subject with commoner blood in itself infuriated her.
The Count smiled, unaware of Helena’s intentions.
“Yes, I am your father. It’s nice to meet you here. Did you hear anything about me from Lyria?”
pudjik
The sound of something breaking echoed at Count Leonard’s words. It was because Helena had pushed so hard that one of the ribs came out.
Luke smiled wryly at the sight of Helena’s misfortune without any malice.
‘You still don’t notice.’
Luke’s evaluation of Count Leonard was simple. A romanticist with a lot of sensitivity and the incarnation of nobility who thoroughly protects his responsibilities and duties.
However, at the same time, he was also a man who was exceptionally unaware and insensitive to the shady emotions of others.
I wonder if Gaiden, who was accused before returning, would have believed it when he said, ‘I have never harassed the young master with my honor’.
‘Thanks to that, I suffered a lot.’
Luke became a noble because of the count’s righteous personality, but at the same time, he couldn’t escape internal bullying because of his personality.
If the assailant said, ‘Why would I do such an obscene thing?’
Helena took advantage of the Count’s personality and bullied Luke to his heart’s content.
‘But not anymore.’
Before the return, Helena had used the count’s personality, but now it was Luke’s turn to use it.
Luke lowered his eyes with a slightly sad look.
“I have heard a lot about my father. Because whenever my mother opened her mouth, she would talk about my father.”
“Is it Lyria?”
“yes. He always said that he had never seen such a wonderful person in his life, and that he could live his whole life with that memory alone.”
“Mmm.”
At Luke’s words, the Count’s eyes sank and he sighed. It was a fleeting relationship, but I never thought I was thinking of myself that way.
It was a pity that I couldn’t take care of it sooner.
‘Actually, I haven’t heard anything.’
Luke’s mother died of childbirth fever shortly after giving birth to Luke. Of course, there was no such thing as a story about living.
However, the whole brick village that knew that fact had already been blown away.
“Can you tell me the will that Lilia left?”
“He only asked me to burn the camellias he kept with me.
“I can’t believe it’s a camellia flower…!”
“They were all withered flowers. He said he received it before I was born and always treasured it.”
The Count covered his eyes, hiding his trembling emotions. It was just a gift given lightly.
I never thought I would have had it until the child was born and the flower crumbled.
If it weren’t for Luke’s creation, it would have been a really touching anecdote.
‘I’ve heard many times that your mother was delighted when I gave her camellia flowers.’
When talking about mother, the word that always came out was camellia. Thanks to that, Helena, who heard the rumor, plucked out all the camellias she saw.
Helena, unable to look at the count, who was deeply moved, uttered abusive language.
“It’s great. Well, I must have dared to seduce you because I had that kind of will.”
“ma’am.”
The count frowned at the intense remark, but Helena didn’t care.
“Isn’t it? Then did you come first?”
“Keuheum, why is the story like that?”
“As expected, that b*tch seduced you first.”
“ma’am!”
“No, that’s right.”
“…!?”
The two blinked at Luke’s words. You say something like temptation, but the child readily accepts it?
“I heard that the first meeting was when your mother brought food for your father.”
“It did. When I returned from the mission, your mother gave me a stew that was still warm.”
“My mother did. That was the first temptation in my life.”
Luke lowered his eyes as if recalling a distant memory.
“A man who lived like a tomboy and had never cooked before said he fell in love with my father at first sight. So, to find an excuse to reach out, you tried a dish you had never tried for the first time.”
“Huh.”
“Several times, with my hands covered in scars, I cut the meat, seasoned it, and failed. It was a stew that was completed after such hard work. Seeing my father enjoy the stew he made, he said he felt like he had won the world.”
“Is it like that, is it like that…”
Hearing the conversation between the two, Helena narrowed her eyes. It started out as a vulgar temptation, but it became a story of a young girl’s first love.
The Count murmured again, lost in his memories alone.
“It still reminds me. At that time, when I said it was delicious, her face brightly smiled. Even though it was covered with soot, it was still very beautiful.”
“Oh, was it beautiful?”
Blood formed on Helena’s forehead. How could he say such a thing even with his wife by his side?
Then a good thought passed through my mind.
Helena said in a calm voice, pretending nothing was wrong.
“Hmm, I must say, her face must have been pretty. Did you say Luke?”
“Yes, madam.”
“If your mother was beautiful, then you must have seduced a lot of men as well. Isn’t it?”
“ma’am!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“…!”
The count’s face hardened, and a smile formed on Helena’s lips. Again, the little boy couldn’t help it.
You can’t even tell the difference between what to hide and what to be honest about.
“As expected. So, do you have a new father?”
“no. They were all scolded by my mother and kicked out.”
“Are you kicked out?”
“Because she was the daughter of a hunter. Men would laugh at me for being a woman, get beaten up with a stick, and run away.”
Having said that, Luke put on a sad face again.
“Every time that happened, men said. Do you think that bastard’s husband will recognize that your b*tch keeps his chastity? Are you the one who abandoned you anyway?”
“···so?”
“My mother always answered the same. That kind of thing doesn’t matter anyway. Even if I am forgotten, my mother will not forget me. He is the only man in your life.”
“Ah, Lyria!”
A tear fell from the count, unable to hold back his emotions. Helena’s face turned red.
She was being treated as a slut, but suddenly she became a beautiful woman who kept her chastity until she died, right?