House Artin’s Regret 2

‘Did I ruin this child? Is he really the Chosen One?’

Such doubts arose in Ceres’s heart as well.

In fact, due to William’s behavioral issues, many people were questioning whether he was truly the Chosen One mentioned in the prophecy.

Especially the students who attended classes with him at the academy were thoroughly disgusted.

Stories had already reached her ears about how he would shamelessly put his hands up the skirts of pretty female students, and even when he found couples, he would harass the girls and kick the boys.

However, because of his status as the Chosen One, they were unable to properly punish him, which led to questions among students about whether he was truly the Chosen One.

‘It’s already meaningless though.’

Ceres also felt that such questions were already meaningless.

If Theodore had remained, it might have been different, but now William was the only male born on June 15th who remained.

Therefore, the Britannia Empire had no choice but to recognize William as the Chosen One, and doubts were not permitted.

What if William was not the Chosen One?

Since it would mean there was no one to prevent the end of the world, it would bring fear and despair to many people.

While the imperial family showed interest in the search for Theodore, most people had already concluded that he was dead. As a result, they had no choice but to cling to William even more.

“So Mom, can you lend me some money?”

“Money?”

“Yes. I want to use it to have fun with some girls.”

Hearing William’s words, Ceres genuinely wondered what she could do to make her son come to his senses.

No, everything was already wrong. He was already in such a corrupt state that not even the power of House Artin could make him come to his senses, and since the Britannia Empire had no one to replace him, they couldn’t properly deal with his misdeeds.

‘This isn’t how I should have raised him…’

Though she felt belated regret, it was already irreversible.

“Ah, Mom. By the way, have you heard? They say Lady Yuria of House Arsein from the Arcan Empire is coming to study abroad. I heard that girl is drop-dead gorgeous, so I’m thinking of checking her out. What do you think, Mom?”

Ceres felt she wouldn’t be surprised if she grabbed the back of her neck and collapsed.

Ceres, the Duchess of Artin, was in despair over her wayward son William, and desperately longing for the disappeared Theodore.

And Elliot, the Duke of Artin, also had immense regrets about everything.

‘I shouldn’t have treated Theodore like that…’

In his private office as the Duke of Artin, he was suffering from the stress caused by William’s constant troublemaking.

And the guilt over his son Theodore, who had disappeared 11 years ago, still remained in his heart.

Currently, he rationally believed that his son Theodore was likely dead. But that didn’t mean he had no lingering attachment, so while not using all of the ducal house’s resources, he continued to use some portion to search for him.

The Britannia Empire had recently been helping with the search, but if they hadn’t found him in over 10 years, there was no way they could find him now.

‘Sigh, without even a photo after infancy, I can’t even remember his face.’

He only belatedly realized after his son had disappeared and time had passed that despite having lived with his son until he was 10 years old, he had no memories of spending time with him.

Elliot wondered if at that time, not just his eyes but his entire mind had gone completely blind.

In his glory over having the Chosen One as his son, he had completely ignored the son he thought was not the Chosen One, treating him worse than cold rice.

When he later investigated and found out that the servants and maids hadn’t brought meals to Theodore for several years, forcing him to sneak into the kitchen to fill his stomach with leftovers or even cook for himself at such a young age, how shocked had he been?

Although he had severely punished the servants and maids responsible for Theodore’s meals, he also knew that they themselves were most at fault for all of this.

‘If we had treated Theodore fairly, this wouldn’t have happened. No, we should have given him at least minimal love.’

If they had given Theodore even minimal love, he wouldn’t have disappeared, and William wouldn’t have gone so terribly astray.

But all of this was just belated regret.

Theodore, unable to endure the discrimination, had left House Artin, left their side, of his own accord.

It was already an irreversible fact, and Theodore was probably not… alive.

‘We don’t even know what he usually did, what clothes he wore, or what he looked like. Sigh. There’s nothing to remember him by.’

Come to think of it, June 15th was William’s birthday, but it was also Theodore’s birthday.

But he had never once wished Theodore a happy birthday.

Naturally, he had no memory of giving him birthday presents either.

It was impossible to give congratulatory wishes or presents when he didn’t even see his face on his birthday, didn’t even try to find out where he was.

At least they were taking care not to let their late-born daughter Reina experience such discrimination, but every time they did so, Theodore’s absence was painfully felt.

Elliot had thought countless times about how Theodore might have changed if they had loved him.

He might have learned swordsmanship directly from his father, and perhaps, as the eldest son, he might have received education as the heir of House Artin.

In retrospect, he wondered if it had been a hasty judgment to consider William the Chosen One based solely on his telekinesis. Perhaps Theodore too had special abilities that he didn’t know about.

However, whenever he thought this, Elliot felt it was a ridiculous notion.

It was merely imagining himself making the choice not to discriminate against Theodore by having him show special abilities.

Theodore was gone, and it was all their responsibility.

That would never change.

“They say Theodore of House Skyroad and Yuria of House Arsein are coming this time.”

The name Theodore somehow caught his attention, and the fact that he was an adopted son of House Skyroad and that his appearance didn’t significantly differ from the time Theodore disappeared bothered him.

But realistically, there was no possibility that he could be Theodore.

House Skyroad of the Arcan Empire was a family of enormous scale, not at all inferior compared to House Artin of the Britannia Empire. Such a family would not have taken in someone with no blood relation as their heir.

Reina had realized something was strange from the time she became old enough to be aware of herself.

The behavior of her ruffian brother William was always infuriating, but she understood that his position as the Chosen One made it impossible for even House Artin to control his rampage.

No matter how much she nagged, all she would get was a knock on the head. It was fortunate that he didn’t kick her like he did to others, simply because she was his real sister.

‘Theodore, was it?’

She had always heard stories about her other brother, Theodore, who had disappeared when she was only 3 years old, and the Duke and Duchess of Artin always told Reina, with tears in their eyes, how much they had wronged him.

Looking back now, their honest confessions to their daughter were probably made out of a desire to unburden their guilt and receive comfort from her.

But those words were shocking even to the young Reina, and now at 14, she understood the issue even more deeply.

‘They really were too harsh.’

Reina wondered what kind of person her brother Theodore, whose face she didn’t know and had no memory of meeting, might be.

If he were alive, she would like to meet him at least once.

She also thought it would be nice if he were different from the ruffian William.

‘Surely he’s not like brother William?’

Since he was William’s twin, she couldn’t rule out the possibility that their personalities might be similar, and Reina felt a shiver run down her spine at the thought.

“Ugh.”

The black-haired girl trembled slightly, sincerely praying that her other brother was alive and well, and that he was not a hopeless person like William.

This was a thought she could have as the only person in House Artin who bore no responsibility for the sin against Theodore.