episode_0035

In the dining room of Dustin’s mansion, the father and son were silently moving the dishes.

They didn’t even look at each other, and just focused on the food.

Julian stared at the steak, steam rising from it as he cut into it with his knife.

‘Julia can’t even eat freshly made food like this…’

And the reason was because of the person sitting with him.

I wanted to leave that place right away, but I didn’t increase the speed at which I moved the dishes.

If I did that, I would definitely get nagged at for being rude, and that would definitely make the hellish mealtime even longer.

“You seem to be away from your desk a lot lately. Where have you been wandering around?”

At that moment, a sharp question came out of the mouth of the head of the household who had been silent.

“… I’m just practicing on my own. Don’t you know? It’s embarrassing to show off my skills to others, since I can’t even handle Aura.”

Dustin Garzhu shook his head at the self-deprecating excuse he had made up to hide his meeting with Julia.

“I’ve said it over and over again, but force isn’t everything. A nobleman shouldn’t use his own hands, but make others do it for him.”

Just because the customs of the North where we live value nothingness doesn’t mean we have to follow them blindly.

Because we are nobles, not knights.

“Rather, you know how to hide your true feelings with your clever mind, and you are sociable and have a good personality. So don’t be too embarrassed about your abilities.”

No matter what anyone says, you are the proud son born between me and Ailee.

Julian had to hold back his laughter as he heard those encouraging words full of fatherly love.

‘I am proud of my son…’

How will Dustin Garzoo be perceived by others?

He may seem blunt on the outside, but he’s actually a more caring father than anyone else?

A man with great love for his family who lost his beloved wife but is trying to raise his children on his own?

‘This is crazy.’

Are you saying that a human being abandoned his newborn child, Julia, because he was swayed by the superstition that twins were a symbol of bad luck?

“… I ate well.”

I felt like I wouldn’t look good if I sat down any longer, so I left my food and got up.

As I was about to leave the restaurant, a question suddenly occurred to me.

“Father, if I were to die, would you be sad?”

“Don’t say such things. I sent your mother away like that, and now I’m losing you, my son… .”

It’s such a horrible thing, I hate to even imagine it.

Words that feel sincere.

That’s why those words came across as even more disgusting.

“I’m sorry, I spoke nonsense. Please forget about it.”

Julian’s face hardened coldly and he left the restaurant without looking back.

***

Julian replied that he would let Julia meet Eugene if she so wished.

But I added one more thing to it.

“There is a condition in exchange for letting me meet Eugene.”

The conditions he proposed were these.

I will make a contract with a spirit of a higher level than the one I have contracted with now.

You will indirectly experience the world outside the underground chamber through the spirits.

In other words, to put it simply, it was to handle spirits more skillfully than before.

“End?”

Upon hearing this, Julia seemed determined to achieve the condition right away.

One, Julian shook his head firmly, breaking her will.

“No, reading and writing skills, including speaking, need to become more fluent than they are now.”

“Why?”

Julia tilts her head, expressing her doubts, as if she doesn’t feel the need to do so.

In a way, it was natural.

An essential element in communication is the presence of a counterpart with whom to communicate.

But Julia had always been alone, and the first person she had a connection with was Julian.

I don’t know if it’s because they’re twins, but even when she talks like a dog, he understands her perfectly.

“When you meet Eugene later, do you want to talk to Julia properly? Then we can have more fun.”

“Yeah.”

“In order to do that, you should at least be able to communicate without any problems, right? Julia, don’t you think so too?”

When I told her Eugene’s story, Julia nodded with a look of helplessness on her face.

Julian carefully patted his younger brother’s head.

After that, another year passed.

Meanwhile, Julia became more than enthusiastic about learning; she was fanatical about it.

Thanks to this, she, who previously could only express herself in simple terms, is now able to speak quite fluently.

“Amazing! Isn’t my little brother actually a genius!?”

“Stop being so noisy. You’re stupid.”

“Ugh, that’s too much… .”

Well, as a backlash, the level of backlash against Julian also increased every time he bothered her.

[It rained today! It rained so much! People got soaking wet and it was hilarious!]

I’ve also become quite accustomed to sending spirits out on scout missions.

“Huh… There are many strange things in the outside world.”

There, for a very brief moment, you can even use the technique of uniting with spirits.

In fact, this was a remarkable achievement.

Because it was something that was impossible to even attempt to become one with a spirit, a being from another dimension, to the point of sharing senses.

Not only that, she succeeded in making a contract with the representative spirits known as the four great attributes.

In this way, Julia grew day by day, and almost achieved the conditions she had initially been presented with.

That’s why Julian, who had always been watching from the side, had no choice but to bring up the topic he had been putting off.

“Julia, I’ll let you meet Eugene soon.”

“… Really!?”

“Yeah, I promised. I have to keep it.”

But soon, contrary to expectations that Julia would be happy, she began to ask questions while keeping a close eye on things.

“But is that okay…?”

“Are you okay? What?”

“I know a little bit now… why I’m trapped here.”

“… … .”

It was Julia who had been consistently sending spirits out of the secret room to observe the outside world.

That’s why she said that her twin brother never told her…

I also learned how the outside world treats beings who were born on the same day and at the same time as them.

“If I leave here… Julian will be in trouble.”

Julia also learned a lot, and as her mind grew thicker, she became more and more resentful of her unfair situation.

One, I didn’t want to embarrass my twin.

“It’s okay if I can’t go out, if I can’t meet you… .”

After all, if it weren’t for Julian, she would have spent her entire life locked in a dark basement and died without anyone knowing.

That’s why Julia, who gave up her desires and chose compromise, lowered her head in frustration.

But Julian quietly watched his sister showing her essence, and soon stroked her head.

“You don’t need to worry about such useless things. Just think about being happy.”

“… But!”

“Use it! But whatever, I’ll take care of everything. So it’s okay.”

Julia’s eyes welled up with tears at the gentle hand stroking her head.

Because in this lonely world, I felt like I was the only one who had someone on my side.

But for some reason, it was so embarrassing to tell Julian about it that I couldn’t help but throw a tantrum.

“Don’t, don’t touch me… .”

“You don’t like it? It’s my privilege. But your voice is hoarse, so you’re not crying, are you?”

“Oh, no!”

Julia shook her head, unable to resist the touch.

The more he did that, the faster Julian laughed and ruffled his hair.

“And don’t worry too much.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You can’t go out right now anyway. I haven’t laid the foundation to protect you yet.”

“Huh? Then… .”

“So instead, I’ll bring Eugene here. That way, no one else will find out, right?”

Julia, hearing the unexpected words, realized that she had been deceived.

Sure, she said she would let me meet Eugene… but it was her own judgment that she thought the place was outside.

Julian had planned to bring Eugene here from the beginning.

“Profit! Why is your personality so bad? You feel good when you deceive me like that!?”

“Yeah, of course? It felt so good because Julia was so amazingly innocent?”

“… I can’t forgive you! Come here right now! Have you never been hit by a spirit before!?”

“Ahahahaha!!”

A chase took place inside a small, confined room, but…

The same smile hung over the faces of those two people.

No matter what they say or do, the two of them have now become inseparable.

After a while, in a somewhat calmer atmosphere, Julian told them the plan he had made to bring Eugene here.

“Soon, a large-scale operation to purge demons will take place in Daeseolsan. I heard that Eugene will be participating in it too, so I’ll go there and talk about it.”

“… Isn’t that a dangerous place where demons appear? Let’s just postpone it until next time.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m with the elite troops including the knights of the family.”

What, what could go wrong?

Some time later, Julian headed to Daeseol Mountain to keep his promise to meet Eugene.