Black-Haired Dad Isn’t Something You Reap - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 22. Chiron’s Side Story – Why Did You Have to Meet Me (1)
I lived an ordinary life. From childhood, I had no trouble expressing emotions, and my abilities were as competent as anyone else’s.
I was confident I could blend in anywhere. I took pride in my very ordinariness.
I wept when my parents died. I grew angry when I learned my Uncle was responsible. I laughed when I was sent to the Imperial Palace and met Helbatro.
It wasn’t a bad childhood.
My Uncle harbored a grudge against my parents. He had justifiable reasons to kill them. I could understand it.
Even if my Uncle died by my hand someday, I would have legitimate cause, so he too would accept his death.
The reason he sent me to the Imperial Palace and placed me as both attendant and companion to Helbatro, the legitimate heir of Kisomalos, was easy to discern.
Being constantly at the side of Helbatro, already infamous for his recklessness, meant I could die at any moment from his whims.
My Uncle’s miscalculation was that Helbatro was far more stubborn than imagined, possessed a remarkably delicate nature, and was the strange sort who, simply by staying at his side, would grow attached without ever being asked.
Of course, at first I suffered much harassment from his petty provocations and took many blows under the guise of sparring. I brushed past death several times.
But that was all. I did not die. Rather, after spending several years together like that, it became routine for him to strike me down and then bring a healing spirit stone to throw at me before leaving.
He was the one who grew eager to befriend me first. That was probably the day after he beat me senseless during a spear-fighting match, claiming I was going easy on him.
“Look, I didn’t specifically request a healing spirit stone in my name because I was worried you’d be hurt or anything.”
He brought a healing spirit stone, having specifically asked the palace steward, and threw it at me, telling me to use it because he was concerned I might be in pain.
That’s when I thought: this fool is deficient. If I don’t look after him, something terrible will happen.
The way he made excuses, insisting he wasn’t thinking of me when he took care of me—it was tremendously, incredibly… infuriating.
And when I expressed that emotion honestly, he punched me.
After that, I lived quite comfortably in the Imperial Palace. I began attending the same lessons as Helbatro, and when I followed him around as usual, he drove me away asking if I had no hobbies, so I gained leisure time.
As time passed, the temperamental Helbatro changed his attitude toward me once more.
I heard it pointed out that the shared lessons were the problem.
Learn one thing, understand one thing. For ordinary me, that was normal.
But Helbatro, who was anything but ordinary, would forget two things when taught one. He tried, but could not close the gap between us.
Perhaps because of that, Helbatro eventually stopped speaking to me. Tania Listo, his tutor, came to me in tears, begging me to leave the Imperial Palace.
After that, I was conscripted to the Battlefield by my Uncle’s orders and left the Imperial Palace.
It was actually fortunate, given Madam Listo’s request that I avoid meeting Helbatro if possible.
I never sought out Helbatro after that.
When I became a war prisoner, I heard rumors that he had asked the Emperor to pay a large sum to the enemy nation to extract me. Of course, it was merely a rumor.
Thus I survived the war, and upon reaching adulthood, I formally inherited my title and purged my Uncle’s family. I tried to eliminate them all, but I could not kill my cousin.
Everyone believes I chose not to kill him, but that was a grave misconception.
I did not refrain from killing him. I was unable to.
At the time, he was young but possessed tremendous potential. If I fought with all my strength, there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance I could die.
One does not cross dangerous bridges. That was how an ordinary person survived in this harsh world.
In any case, it was a necessary sacrifice, but I ended up killing far too many people.
I was an ordinary human with a conscience, so I had no intention of sitting upon the Duke’s seat and living arrogantly as if nothing had happened.
So I entrusted the management of my Fiefdom to my cousin and decided to hold the Duke’s seat only until my Deceased Brother’s young son came of age, then pass it to him.
Not long after that incident, the Emperor passed away. Helbatro inherited the throne, and to hear news of him from time to time, I voluntarily entered the Political Detention Center of the Imperial Palace.
While confined there for reflection, the only news I heard about him was bad: he was obsessed with women, he was stubborn, he was incompetent.
Honestly, that much I had anticipated. He was like that even as a boy.
But the news that he was living addicted to drugs was unexpected. Though his misdeeds were countless and numerous as the stars in the sky, he had never touched drugs before.
How did he obtain it in the first place? The distribution of psychoactive substances was illegal throughout the Imperial Kingdom.
No matter how many sycophants crawled at one’s feet, they were creatures who lived only within the Imperial Kingdom’s borders. To acquire something completely eradicated fifty years ago, one had to suspect those with frequent contact with foreign nations and legitimate reasons to procure such substances.
For instance, those who diluted drugs to boost the morale of soldiers.
I was troubled by being trapped into marriage with that woman called Lorowi’s Eldest Daughter, but since she was dead, I thought it irrelevant.
Following Madam Listo’s advice to avoid going near Helbatro, I never met him, but one day his daughter came to the room next to mine.
I remained still, but she came seeking me out first.
I had done nothing wrong.
That Little One had a temperament as if watching Helbatro’s childhood self. Moreover, she possessed the stamina to cry for thirty minutes straight without tiring.
Then… wouldn’t one naturally feel inclined to speak?
When a miniaturized version of Helbatro appeared in the adjacent room, wouldn’t conversation be a matter of courtesy?
Wasn’t it the duty of Chiron, who received wages for playing the role of Helbatro’s friend?
With such reasoning, I broke through the wall and spoke with the Little One.
She was remarkably amusing.
That child’s stubborn obstinacy exceeded even young Helbatro’s. Partially, she seemed exceptionally intelligent, but bloodline could not be defied, so she shamelessly exposed her own foolishness to the world.
So when she said she would speak briefly and return to the Imperial Palace soon, I felt a pang of disappointment.
It was as if I had returned to childhood, and for a moment it was pleasant. I possessed emotions and was an ordinary person, so I could not help but feel sentimental.
But that sentiment was fleeting. The young stubborn child returned quickly.
It was curious and welcome that the Little One could see through my essence and call me Prisoner at once, but I thought it wise to caution Helbatro, who had laid hands on a child.
I left the Political Detention Center, which I had entered of my own accord, and headed toward Helbatro. No one blocked my path. Those who had long fed on the nation’s salary recognized me and even showed signs of welcome.
When I met Helbatro after a long time, he did not recognize me. He was completely intoxicated by drugs, his mind utterly gone.
I found his state pathetic and beat him, then reported to the Little One that I had struck him as well.
Thanks to the young stubborn child, I spent some time laughing.
The Little One announced that children should now go to sleep, and because of this, the prisoners in the detention center had to sleep at that time. That night, though it was not Halloween, for some reason Chiron, the household deity, appeared in my dream.
Chiron had the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse. Though his nature was gentle by disposition, when angered occasionally, he had the habit of appearing in dreams and beating me to death.
When he first appeared, it was right after I was driven out of the Imperial Palace. He beat me to death, asking why I could not play nicely with my friend.
The next time was when I purged Uncle’s family, and he beat me to death again in a dream, asking if I was even human.
No matter that it was a dream, the pain was vivid, and I ached as if dying. Moreover, this time I could not even guess the reason for the beating. I had merely spoken pleasantly with the small stubborn child.
In the past, Madam Listo told me not to go near Helbatro, but she never said not to go near his daughter.
I resisted, but it was futile. Eventually, Chiron beat me thoroughly with his front hooves before deigning to explain.
[You are unaware, but the current world has gone back sixteen years in time.]
“I see.”
[You do not believe?]
“When the great Chiron speaks, what choice do I have but to believe?”
Chiron struck my head once more with his front hoof before continuing.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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