Chapter 72

“Count Asna, would you care to stop by my house for a moment?”

“When was it that you told me never to show up again?”

“Well, a few days ago, a very rare wine came in. Whether we like each other or not, aren’t we friends? I thought I’d let you taste something special.”

“I appreciate the thought, but not this time. The baby’s due soon, and my mother-in-law is staying with us. If I come back smelling of alcohol, she’ll never let me hear the end of it.”

“Oh, I see.”

The two nobles laughed and walked away, chatting casually.

Richard recalled the conversation they had just left behind.

“Mother-in-law, huh.”

Richard didn’t have a mother-in-law. The Viscountess of Roengreen had passed away long ago.

Yet, even the woman he had thought of as his mother-in-law wasn’t truly his.

His real mother-in-law’s identity, and even whether she was alive or dead, was unknown. The thought left him feeling unsettled.

By the time he arrived at the entrance of the main palace, Richard was about to board his carriage.

At that moment, a knight who had been waiting for him approached with news.

“Your Excellency, Sir Aaron has been found.”

Hearing that, Richard halted his step as he was about to board.

It was the news he had been waiting for.

—

A quiet cemetery on the outskirts of Acaroa.

In the height of summer, the graveyard, lush with greenery, evoked a melancholic yet serene atmosphere, thanks to the bouquets of colorful flowers left behind by mourners.

Aaron stood in front of one grave, setting down a bouquet and gazing silently at the tombstone.

At that moment, a presence approached him, carried by a cold breeze.

When Aaron lifted his head, Richard had already walked up to him.

“Family?”

“A close friend, like family. He died twenty years ago during the troubles in the northern canyon. I visit every time I come to the capital.”

If Aaron had served in the northern canyon twenty years ago, he was likely part of the Holy Knights.

“You had an honorable friend.”

Murmuring this, Richard briefly bowed his head in silent respect, a tribute to the fallen hero.

Watching Richard pay his respects, Aaron broke the silence after Richard’s moment of reflection.

“I heard the lady is with a child. News of the Rubellin heir has even reached that small rural village.”

“……”

“Congratulations. Your late predecessor would be pleased from the heavens.”

Aaron’s words caused Richard to frown.

He recalled the vow he had made after Albert’s funeral last winter, declaring he would never have an heir.

Yet Aaron’s congratulations didn’t carry a trace of mockery, and Richard didn’t want to dampen the sincerity of the moment.

Reacting negatively to his well-wishes felt like rejecting the existence of the child itself.

Instead, Richard got straight to the point.

“Let me be direct.”

“Ask away.”

“How much do you know about the Viscount Roengreen family?”

“It’s the family where the lady was registered before her marriage, isn’t it?”

“No, let me rephrase.”

Richard corrected his question.

“Where did my predecessor find Elisa?”

Aaron stared at Richard intently.

Richard already knew that Elisa was not truly from the Roengreen family and was asking him directly.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know the details.”

“You, who served as his closest aide at the time, don’t know?”

“The predecessor left abruptly one day and returned with the unconscious lady. I was simply following orders to disguise her identity with an appropriate family name.”

“Was there no knight accompanying him?”

“A few of us, along with some knights, accompanied him to the Sacred Tree Forest, but His Excellency usually traveled alone.”

One of Richard’s eyebrows arched.

The Sacred Tree Forest was said to be home to the mythical “Sacred Tree,” which had existed since the world’s creation. It was located in the southwestern edge of the Arencia Empire, at the very center of the continent.

“Why did he go there?”

“At that time, His Excellency was searching for the sage of the Sacred Tree Forest.”

“The sage?”

“You may have heard the story of one of the ancestors of the Esther family who, upon attaining enlightenment, became one with the Sacred Tree. In books, he is referred to as ‘the sage.'”

“But the Sacred Tree and the sage are just myths. They don’t actually exist, as far as I know.”

“That’s what I believed as well.”

Richard stifled a hollow laugh.

If Elisa had come to Rubellin around that time, it would have been just two years after Richard had joined the family.

‘So, after losing his son, he was desperate enough to cling to some absurd myth, perhaps to find a grandchild to carry on the family name, regardless of where they came from?’

But the man Richard knew wasn’t the type to chase after such far-fetched legends.

“…Why was he looking for the sage?”

“He never told me the reason. Though I served by his side for many years, he was never one to trust anyone easily.”

“So, did he meet the sage?”

“I don’t know that either. But on the day he brought back the unconscious lady, he did say something.”

Aaron’s voice lowered as if he were recalling a distant memory.

“He said he had found the answer.”

Those words implied that Elisa was the ‘answer’ Albert had been seeking.

Although Albert had always treated Elisa as if she were a mere disposable pawn, without much regret, in truth, she had been an important card to him.

‘Though I still don’t understand why Elisa was so important.’

Despite coming all this way to find Aaron, Richard hadn’t uncovered which family Elisa belonged to.

Having concluded his business, Richard made Aaron an offer.

“If you plan to stay in the capital for a while, I’ll have a room prepared at my estate.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I must decline. I have business here in the capital as well.”

Aaron respectfully bowed his head.

“Should you need my assistance, don’t hesitate to call upon me.”

Richard turned and headed toward the carriage, leaving Aaron behind.

Although he hadn’t uncovered the information he sought, he did confirm one thing.

Albert had fabricated Elisa’s identity, and he knew the truth. The problem was, the only person who knew that truth was already dead.

Suddenly, Richard recalled the conversation between the nobles he overheard at the palace earlier.

“I appreciate the thought, but not this time. The baby’s due soon, and my mother-in-law is staying with us.”

If Elisa’s family were still alive, he wanted to find them for her.

‘Where should I even begin?’

As he boarded the carriage, Richard rubbed his throbbing temples and sighed. Then, he recalled the term Aaron had mentioned.

‘The Sacred Tree Forest…’

Albert had brought Elisa from somewhere near there. Surely, a clue lay in that place.

Upon returning to the ducal residence, Richard summoned his most trusted subordinates and gave them an order.

“Find out if, eight years ago, there was a girl with blonde hair and green eyes living in the villages near the Sacred Tree Forest, or if anyone remembers such a child.”

That night, after finishing her bath and returning to the room, Elisa sat on the bed, leaning back, and began talking to the baby growing inside her.

“Sweetheart, your dad said he’ll be a little late tonight. He has some urgent documents to review.”

“……”

“What story should we ask him to read to you later? How about *The Circle and the Triangle in Round Village*?”

“……”

“Hmm, or maybe… what about *The Adventures of the Three Brothers from the Sea Kingdom*?”

Next to the bed, on the nightstand, were several children’s books Richard and Elisa had picked out to read to their child.

Elisa picked up one book after another, chatting to the baby in her belly. But soon, she fell quiet.

It felt a bit awkward talking to the baby, not knowing if it could hear her, like she was talking to herself.

Then she remembered something she had read in a book.

‘It said that if you eat something sweet and lie down flat, you can feel the baby move more easily. And that it’s easier to feel the movements if you’re on the slimmer side.’

Elisa opened the drawer of the nightstand and took out a candy she had stashed during her morning sickness phase.

She lay flat on the bed, placing her hand on her belly.

“Sweetheart, if you can hear Mom’s voice, move a little.”

She waited, but there was no response from within.

Elisa felt a bit disappointed but also guilty, realizing she might have been too eager, pushing the baby to respond.

“It’s okay. You can move whenever you feel like it. Mommy was just curious if you’re growing well and healthy.”

Still, no response came.

Elisa slowly sucked on the candy, trying to shake off her disappointment.

‘I’m getting sleepy… When will Richard be back?’

Exhausted from the tea party earlier in the day, drowsiness started to take over.

Just as she was lazily blinking her heavy eyelids and stifling a yawn, she felt something shift gently inside her belly.

“Huh?”

The strange sensation was unlike anything she had ever felt, and the drowsiness vanished in an instant.

‘Could it be… was that…?’

Elisa blinked in surprise, her hand instinctively going to her belly. Then, as if to confirm her thoughts, she felt it again—another soft flutter, like a tiny bubble popping inside her.

“Sweetheart…?”

Elisa called out to the baby with a trembling voice, but there was no further movement.

Still, she was sure of it now.

What she had just felt was her baby’s way of greeting her for the first time.