Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 244

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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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Episode 14.
Not Every Child Is an Angel (14)
“Who were you just greeting?”
Inside the rattling shared carriage sat only Joshua, Theo, and a woman in her forties squeezed into a dress that didn’t fit her frame. Joshua, who had been gazing out the window from his seat, answered after a long pause.
“I’m not sure.”
“You spent two years there. Surely there was someone worth saying goodbye to?”
“Not really.”
Joshua had left with nothing—not a single possession in hand. He didn’t even appear to have a coin for the carriage fare. He hadn’t returned to his room, hadn’t changed out of his school uniform tunic, and had simply walked out quietly to board the carriage.
Had he even told anyone he was leaving school?
His personal belongings left in the dormitory would be collected and brought home by servants tomorrow. The withdrawal papers could be processed slowly and sent later. He understood this well enough, yet an ordinary person could never shed their old life so effortlessly. Because he had given no piece of his heart to anything—not the things he’d used, not the spaces he’d inhabited, not the people he’d known—he could slip away so lightly.
Yes, because he was no ordinary person. Because he was something beyond human. Such trivial matters deserved not a moment’s consideration.
Thinking this way, Theo found himself unable to resist speaking like a normal person would.
“Still, this sudden decision startled me too. Your parents will be quite bewildered when you arrive home. They might even ask you to go back. You haven’t graduated yet, the tuition for next semester is already paid, and most importantly, you were the one who wanted to attend this school in the first place. Whatever happened, isn’t this giving up far too easily?”
Joshua didn’t answer, but Theo continued speaking.
“It can’t be that the coursework was too difficult. Was there someone bullying you? If you’d mentioned it earlier, I would have gone and had a word with them myself. Tell me now. What was most difficult? Is there anything I can help with?”
The woman sitting across from them glanced at Joshua. She found it strange that the small boy stared only out the window while Theo, who resembled an older brother, spoke with such concern. Whether Joshua noticed or not, Theo was skilled at creating such situations.
Eventually, Joshua’s lips parted.
“Nothing like that happened.”
“Then what?”
“It seemed like the time had come.”
The time had come? What did that mean? A nine-year-old speaking of “the time coming” as though he had some momentous task ahead? A nine-year-old Demonic who, when the time came, would overturn the Republic, restore a fallen house, establish a new king, and such? Because he had such critical matters to attend to, he was simply abandoning school now?
Theo’s carefully controlled expression nearly betrayed disgust. At that moment, the woman sitting across suddenly spoke.
“That’s right, what good is school anyway? Those places are useless. You did well to quit. Here, a congratulations gift.”
The woman pulled something from a shabby handbag with burst seams and held it out to Joshua. Theo could see it was an almond nougat with a corner crushed as though someone had taken a bite, the melted portion stickily adhered to the paper wrapping.
Theo found it so absurd he couldn’t even laugh. Joshua would never eat such a thing, let alone look at it. And it had been rolling around in that filthy handbag among all manner of junk….
“Thank you.”
Joshua accepted the paper-wrapped nougat and immediately bit into it. A smile bloomed on the woman’s face.
“Oh, you eat well. And so pretty too.”
“Please have some as well, ma’am.”
Joshua broke the nougat in half and offered it to the woman. Then he looked at Theo.
“Would you like some, brother?”
Theo thought Joshua had lost his mind, but he answered calmly.
“I’m fine.”
“It’s delicious.”
Joshua took another bite of the nougat. Then he spoke to the woman.
“Ma’am, I think you must be a wonderful singer.”
“How did you know?”
Joshua exchanged a few words with the woman, a singer at a cheap café. It turned out she had once attended Mona Sid School. She’d only lasted half a year before being expelled due to lack of tuition. In her youth, she’d worked various jobs, but only recently took up singing. Since the Republic came to power, business had been poor, and she wanted to leave for Hyacan.
The southern kingdom of Hyacan was renowned as a resort destination with many noble estates, which meant high demand for musicians and fame for its festivals. The woman boasted that there were more than a few ways to escape the blockaded Keltika. Joshua listened with an interested expression and said he wanted to visit there too.
“Hyacan has many theaters worthy of performing in. They’re incomparable to the tiny café stage in some back alley. The audiences there are of the highest caliber. It’s truly the perfect place for real stars to be born.”
Soon, as they reached a street lined with cafés, the woman brought the carriage to a halt and blew Joshua a kiss.
“Farewell! Little Primo Warmo! May we meet again in Hyacan someday!”
As the carriage departed once more, Theo observed Joshua.
“You actually ate that filthy thing? I thought you despised such things?”
“I didn’t enjoy it.”
After the woman left, Joshua consumed no more of the pastry. Yet he did not discard it immediately either. He merely held it awkwardly in his hand.
“Then why did you eat it?”
“The lady offered it with good intentions.”
Theo’s brow suddenly furrowed. Something nagged at him from within.
He had observed Joshua meticulously for a long time. Thus he had come to believe he understood this child quite well. The only domain he did not comprehend was Joshua as a Demonic being; regarding Joshua as human, he had long since concluded his judgment.
An unpleasant child who arrogantly looked down upon people while pretending otherwise, masquerading as a well-behaved model student. The students of Mona Sid School must have witnessed this behavior continuously and despised him for it.
As though to say, “Could someone like me ever be friends with the likes of you?”—who would favor such a child who maintained an offensively courteous facade without ever revealing genuine feeling? And how revolting was the pretense of struggling with tasks one could accomplish with eyes closed.
Yet the strange woman from moments ago was someone he would never encounter again. Joshua von Arnim would have no reason to ride in a shared carriage again. Did he truly believe he could not refuse a filthy pastry offered by such a woman simply because she had presented it with goodwill? Joshua the Demonic?
Impossible. Yes, this too must be a stratagem. A performance staged for Theo’s benefit. Though what he intended to demonstrate remained unclear.
Theo possessed confidence in his observational acuity and his judgment. Joshua was a subject he had devoted his entire life to observing. He believed there could be no errors in his perception. He remained unaware that whenever incomprehensible elements arose, he unconsciously relegated them to the Demonic domain.
Soon, as the western sky darkened toward evening, the carriage halted before the main gates of Jade Ring Castle.
The servants who had approached, wondering who could be arriving at this hour, fell into frantic commotion upon realizing who occupied the carriage. They rushed to rescue the young master from the filthy shared carriage, to brush his garments, to summon a proper carriage, to locate his baggage—amid all this tumult, Theo, who descended alongside him, commanded no one’s attention. Well, someone did demand to know why the young master had been conveyed in such a carriage.
Soon both entered the castle. Joshua, declining with a smile the servant’s insistence that he be carried rather than walk, proceeded slowly through the Garden with Theo.
After a servant who had rushed ahead delivered word, Franz von Arnim’s Study blazed brightly with light.
“Have you quit entirely?”
“Yes.”
“Was there a problem I needed to know about?”
“No.”
It was the following evening. Seated across from Father in the Study, Joshua’s face flushed rosy. He had spent the entire afternoon running throughout the castle with Joshua’s Sister, playing.
Word had even come that he had eaten dinner well, which delighted the cook greatly. Given that Joshua had possessed a delicate appetite since childhood and a palate so exquisitely sensitive it bordered on fastidious, nothing pleased the cook more than hearing the young master had emptied his plate.
“What did Mother say?”
“She asked if she should look into other schools.”
“And?”
“I said it was fine. I intend to stop attending school now.”
Franz gazed down at his young son, who sat nestled deeply in the large chair, smiling and swinging legs that did not reach the floor. While relieved that the child appeared content, an uneasy premonition simultaneously seized him.
“Since you have made your decision, I shall respect it. Rest for a while and reflect. Should you wish to return to school, tell me anytime.”
Franz wished to be a generous father, yet simultaneously he had never ceased wondering what sort of figure he represented to Joshua. This child would surely be thousands of times more intelligent than himself. Would such a child perceive his family’s castle as a reassuring stronghold? Would he harbor belief that it would protect him from the world?
If not, how did the world appear to a nine-year-old child?
“That won’t happen. I’ve already decided what to do.”
Startled by this unexpected response, Franz tensed slightly.
“Is that so? What is it?”
“Father. Our Family Clan has had more than just me, hasn’t it?”
Rather than nodding, Franz remained silent. It was a subject he had long avoided.
Likely around age five, Franz had told Joshua to forget it. To live as though it did not exist, as though he were no different from others. Joshua had nodded and answered that he could. Since then, Joshua had never broached the subject of the Demonic of his own accord.
Presently, Franz replied.
“Yes.”
“Is there anyone among them who is still alive?”
This time, Franz truly couldn’t answer easily. After a long pause, he spoke.
“Who told you such a thing?”
Joshua shook his head.
“No one. But if there were, I think it would be wonderful. I’d like to meet them, even just once, and talk with them.”
“What would you want to talk about?”
Joshua laughed silently, his cheeks rounding prominently. With such a childlike expression, he spoke.
“Father wouldn’t understand.”
Franz closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. Not yet. He was still his father.
“Tell me anyway. I possess imagination as well.”
Joshua unexpectedly nodded readily.
“Then, it’s like this. The way I live in this world is through propriety. Without it, I cannot exchange even a single word with others. But sometimes, I wish to behave without propriety. To not be careful, to speak whatever comes to mind. Even just for a moment. I wish there were someone I could be like that with. If it were another Demonic…”
Joshua suddenly stopped speaking, likely remembering that Father had forbidden that word. Franz nodded. It was fine to say it.
“…someone who wouldn’t be surprised by anything I do, wouldn’t be angry, wouldn’t hate me, and would simply listen.”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Moon Books
The copyright of this book belongs to the author and 14 Moon Books.
To reuse all or part of the contents of this book, written consent from both parties is required.

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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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