episode_0086

“The youngest of the three sons returned from the battlefield.”

Tom did not comfort Khan, who had lost two sons to the power struggles of the nobles. He simply spoke as the head of the same household.

“Everyone is the same. We lost a lot in that war.”

“That’s right. Well, I guess I’m lucky. The others either lost their sons or came with disabilities.”

It was such a heavy conversation that I didn’t dare to get involved, since I was a complete outsider when it came to war.

“It was very hard. Still, I tried to live hard with my youngest son, Cain. But last winter was so hard.”

Perhaps the prolonged winter in the village of Lugeron was an unfortunate coincidence. The cold winds of the north had descended not long after the war ended. If it had been a little further north, it would not have suffered so much.

Well, it’s a bit strange to build a village in a place like this in the first place.

“If you hadn’t given us firewood, my whole family would have frozen to death.”

“I’m glad it helped.”

It wasn’t something I specifically gave, but I didn’t bother to correct it because of the atmosphere.

“But things haven’t gotten any better. Because of the taxes collected under the pretext of war, our family has nothing left, and my second daughter-in-law, who is pregnant, has to work to build up assets through late spring farming. I know that! It’s not fair to a daughter-in-law who has suffered since winter.”

“Second daughter-in-law… Hmm?”

Didn’t the war start almost a year ago? But the one who survived the war was the youngest son, and the second daughter-in-law?

Suddenly, cognitive dissonance arose in the flow of conversation.

“Khan, if you say that, won’t Si-an misunderstand?”

“Is that so? Sorry.”

“No. I grew up only in the forest, so I am ignorant of village customs.”

“Hmm? It’s not a custom in the village of Lugeron to give seeds.”

“Are you going to get the seeds?”

Tom explained it to me, who didn’t understand.

“A kind of criminal surrogacy. If a daughter-in-law who lost her husband at a young age has no one to rely on, her husband’s brother will take her place and continue the family line.”

“There was such a custom.”

So, did the youngest brother marry his brother’s wife at a young age?

It’s really not easy.

“We knew our daughter-in-law was having a hard time, but there was nothing we could do.”

“Shouldn’t you have at least taken a break?”

“That’s right. I was short-sighted.”

Khan bowed his head at Tom’s remark.

Because forcing pregnant women to work to the point of exhaustion is definitely wrong.

‘I think I missed something.’

After taking a moment to collect my thoughts, I asked Khan, who was sighing.

“Where is your youngest son?”

“They should be in the fields by now.”

No matter how busy you are, you don’t even care when your pregnant wife is having a hard time.

I guess I’ll have to go and pay attention.

“I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Cyan, don’t be so angry.”

“I will do it moderately.”

At Khan’s request, Tom started to look at me for no reason. If someone saw me, they would think I was going to beat up someone else’s son. So I headed to Khan’s field, and Helia followed me out of Khan’s house. It seems like she was worried about Tom and made me follow her.

“I’ll go too.”

“It won’t be a problem if I go alone… ”

“That’s not my intention. Something doesn’t seem right.”

“Really?”

Let’s walk for a while.

A young man was seen farming alone in Khan’s field.

The young man, still young, took off his straw hat and wiped the sweat that had formed on his forehead.

“Are you Cain, the youngest son of Khan?”

“Yes? Yes. What’s going on?”

“Let’s start by hitting once.”

“What are you doing?”

“Warrior?”

Helia stopped me from grabbing Cain by the collar.

Of course, I wasn’t the type of person to stop.

“Your wife is having a hard time, what are you doing here?”

“Woman? Are you talking about Anna?”

“So, is it right to neglect your pregnant wife like that?”

“Ha… That’s right.”

Cain did not yield to my oppression. He just laughed in vain.

“I think you’re mistaken. I didn’t marry Anna because I wanted to.”

“This guy?”

I’m shocked that a guy who’s going to have a child can act so irresponsibly. I think I’ll have to hit him once and then talk to him.

“Calm down, warrior. This person has nothing to do with the mother.”

“What?”

I was momentarily taken aback by Helia’s words.

Now, the soon-to-be father is irresponsible and has nothing to do with it?

I was curious, but soon I was shocked by Helia’s words.

“The father of the child in the mother’s womb is the old woman who was in the house, right?”

. . .

As befitting their title as agents of the gods, nymphs were able to use some of the powers of the gods they served. Fores, who served Flora, the goddess of nature and harmony, could converse with nature, while Rabi, who served Sunna, the goddess of the sun and justice, could discern the sins of others.

“Of course, compared to the powers possessed by the gods, it is just a simple ability.”

“Not so simple.”

If the ability to converse with nature and see the sins of others is a simple ability, then what on earth is the great ability of God?

As I was looking confused, Helia touched the golden disc above my head and spoke.

“Thank you for your kind words. And the nymphs who serve our Lady Hestia can simply confirm their bloodline.”

Even in modern times, paternity testing is not easy. And it doesn’t require any materials or time, and can be determined just by looking at it. The existence itself is an infidelity detector.

Anyway, Cain honestly told Helia the truth.

“Wow… So you found out. That’s right. Anna is pregnant with her father’s child.”

“This is crazy… ”

The words that Cain let out with a sigh were as shocking as being hit on the head with a hammer. It was a custom that was difficult to accept even for criminal investigations, so I wondered who on earth came up with the idea of impregnating his son’s wife.

“This may be embarrassing, but I never intended to marry Anna in the first place.”

“It wasn’t the marriage you wanted from the beginning.”

“Yes, I have a woman in mind. But I had no choice but to get married because of my family’s circumstances.”

Whether it was a long-held emotion or not, Cain poured out his feelings as if he was complaining.

“I didn’t like the idea of taking responsibility for my brother’s woman in the first place. What did my brother do for me? Why should I spend my life with his woman?”

“So, you got married, but you didn’t plan on living together happily?”

“She is already a woman who has everything set for her brother’s wife. She also sees me as a brother-in-law, not a husband. On the outside, we are a couple, but inside, we don’t think of each other as a couple.”

“…I see.”

“I also didn’t feel any attraction to my brother-in-law. That’s why we haven’t had a relationship until now.”

It wouldn’t be easy to suddenly accept as your wife your brother-in-law, with whom you’ve lived as family for at least several years, or at most ten years.

But then that brother-in-law got pregnant. Not his brother’s child, not his own, but his father’s child.

“Well, I don’t know what my father thinks. Is it because he wants to have a boy for the family, or because he simply can’t stand loneliness… ”

Cain, who had been silent for a while, sat down on the ground and muttered.

“It’s not just our family. It’s probably the same in other families. It’s a family affair that’s hard to tell others.”

“I see.”

I had nothing to say to Cain’s words. Well, I’ve touched other women too.

However, if there is a difference…

“But why don’t you get married yourself and leave your daughter-in-law to me?”

Why didn’t Khan take responsibility for his daughter-in-law whom he had impregnated? If he had impregnated her because he needed a man in the family, then he should have taken responsibility for it. There was no need to pass it on to his youngest son, Cain, whom he hated.

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s a little older, so he might be worried about that?”

After all, he is old now, so he wants to pass the responsibility on to his son.

Saying that you have no choice for the sake of your family is just empty talk.

“ It is a full bastard.#◦

“개, 개새끼요? 하하, 그 말이 맞죠. 저희 아버지는 개새끼입니다.”

Cain joined in with me in swearing as I couldn’t hold back my anger.

It seems that he hates his father that much.

“Haha, but what can I do? He is my father and I am his son. I have to live with him.”

As Cain said this, he went back to working in the fields.

It felt strangely uncomfortable to think that a boy of only 18 years old had to live with such a burden.

“Haa… Why is this town becoming less and less appealing?”

I feel like I may have opened Pandora’s box for nothing.