Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 265

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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 35.
Not Every Child Is an Angel (35)
When I thought about it, the people of Kotzboldt only called Grandfather “the old man with the blue roof,” never knowing his name or family clan. Perhaps he’d deliberately hidden the clan name, but he’d already revealed it to Maximian long ago.
Joshua glanced at Grandfather before answering.
“Hispania Noeltandt von Arnim.”
Maximian immediately burst into laughter.
“Wow, how incredibly elegant. Of course, it doesn’t suit him at all. Wait, what was it—doesn’t it sound like the name of a three-tiered cake specially ordered from a royal party?”
I poked him in the ribs several times with the stick I’d been using to stir the ashes, but Maximian continued giggling. Joshua gazed into empty space as if searching through old memories. In truth, every detail from the portrait came rushing back with perfect clarity.
“The child in that portrait was beautiful like an angel. More beautiful than any child I’ve ever seen.”
Hearing this, Maximian laughed so hard he fell backward. Of course, Hispania struck him three times in succession.
“Ha, ha, haha… How could anyone not laugh? Look at those eagle eyes and the wrinkles around them! Oh right, you can’t see them directly. Anyway, calling that old man’s face beautiful—that’s enough to make even sheep and chickens laugh!”
“You brat, shut that mouth of yours!”
Even as this happened, Joshua remained steadfast in his thoughts and continued speaking.
“But you see, several people have told me that I resemble the child in that portrait.”
Maximian, who had fallen from laughing earlier, got up and stared intently at Joshua’s face, then looked at Hispania’s face again.
“Well, you do look a bit alike. So it wasn’t nonsense that you two share the same bloodline? But if that’s the case, then you’re saying Joshua will have this kind of face when you get old too. No, that’s not it. You said the child in that portrait was the most beautiful in the world, didn’t you? Then that’s just self-praise in the end!”
While Maximian, sharp in peculiar ways, continued finding things to laugh about, Hispania seemed to recall something from the past, furrowing his brow as he muttered.
“I told him to hang the painting, but he went rummaging through the Warehouse and found something unexpected. Wait, don’t tell me he hung it in the Second Floor Corridor?”
“Why wouldn’t he? Of course it’s there.”
“Good heavens…”
Hispania clutched his head in both hands.
“This is ridiculous! I’ve said countless times that I don’t want anything hanging in that corridor, and yet he goes and puts up a painting of me as a child!”
“If you don’t like it, why don’t you have a new one painted of yourself as you are now?”
“Am I insane to do that?”
“Shall I paint one for you?”
“…”
Hispania looked at both of them with eyes full of disbelief, as if they were all the same kind of fools. Joshua chuckled before suddenly speaking.
“But you know, when I only saw that painting, I couldn’t imagine what kind of person Grandfather was. Of course, I didn’t even know he was alive back then. So knowing him only through the image of a child, and then meeting Grandfather as he is now—I became curious.”
“About what?”
“About Grandfather when you were young. After you left the family clan, what kind of life did you lead?”
“I did so many different things that it’s hard to say precisely. Some of it I can’t disclose to children.”
Maximian immediately interjected.
“Really? So you were a criminal after all?”
“Your imagination always goes straight there, doesn’t it? Joshua, what about you?”
“Hmm… A musician? Perhaps a violinist?”
“You prioritize safety above all. Then I’ll tell you something within the range where both your guesses overlap. For a time, I bought and sold antiques. The finest piece I obtained was that violin you’re playing, Maximian. There’s quite a story behind how I acquired it.”
“Ah, so that’s why it sounds so dull because it’s an antique. I prefer shiny new instruments.”
“Is that so? That’s worth more than a thousand new ones.”
Maximian’s eyes widened at first, then narrowed again.
“Come on, you’re exaggerating. How could that piece of junk possibly be worth that much?”
“To someone who doesn’t know, it’s just junk. Well, if you don’t know, you live as if you don’t know. That way, your mind stays at ease.”
“Ah, yes, I understand.”
Maximian said those words himself, yet something about it seemed to trouble him. He tilted his head in thought for a moment before Joshua asked again.
“So you mainly engaged in commerce, then?”
This time, Hispanie narrowed his eyes and spoke.
“Well, if you look at it from a very broad perspective, you could say that.”
Finally, even Joshua narrowed his eyes.
“But when I see the people who occasionally visit, it doesn’t quite seem like that’s what you did.”
Ever since Hispanie began staying in Kotzboldt, strangers had come calling once or twice a month. They were never the same people. They had nothing in common, either. Some carried themselves with the precision of a nobleman’s secretary, others had the rough-hewn bearing of street thugs, some moved with the ease of genuine merchants, and a few possessed the peculiar air of traveling acrobats.
All of them appeared quite close to Hispanie, yet they served with absolute deference and conducted themselves respectfully even in Joshua’s presence. At times, their courtesy seemed excessive—as though they were addressing the heir to some royal house.
Of course, Joshua had been born as the heir to the Duke’s House, but his upbringing had been somewhat unusual. He had spent most of his life in Keltika under the Republican Government. Because of this, he rarely had the opportunity to receive such treatment from anyone outside his family.
Hispanie chuckled softly.
“When you do all sorts of things, you end up knowing all manner of people. They’re all from different places, you see. Those fellows taught me quite a lot as well.”
Joshua hesitated somewhat before asking again.
“When I reach your age, Grandfather, will I also be able to earn the trust of so many people and gain their favor?”
“Why wait until then? You can do it now.”
When Joshua didn’t answer immediately, Hispanie shrugged.
“What, you think being a Demonic will prevent it? That’s not such a tremendous problem. Once you step outside, you realize it’s far less significant than you’d imagined.”
Joshua didn’t answer readily. His expression was caught between affirmation and denial. Hispanie wore a look of exasperation as he spoke.
“That’s why you should leave home early yourself. That wretched Demonic lineage! You put so much effort into refusing to join it! Once you step outside, you realize how much simpler things become.”
Joshua blinked.
“You left home because you disliked being a Demonic?”
Hispanie glanced at Joshua sideways and countered.
“Well then, do you like being a Demonic?”
“That is…”
I couldn’t answer readily. Looking back on my past, there had never been a time I enjoyed it. Yet being a Demonic was part of me—perhaps most of me. In other words, when I tried to actually voice “I hate myself,” a powerful resistance welled up within me.
The cynical child I once was might have answered affirmatively without much sentiment. But now, I was living more happily than ever before. Even so, should I hate myself again?
“Why hesitate? If you liked it, you’d say so without difficulty—so you dislike it? Well, that’s not normal, is it?”
Maximian caught the probing tone in his words. He interjected immediately.
“Ah, that’s right. Abnormal. I cast my vote too.”
“Who asked you to vote?”
“Ah, why not. I’ve seen enough to earn voting rights, haven’t I? I’m a living notepad, a dictionary, an abacus—terribly convenient and useful—but I’m hardly a normal human, am I? You, Grandfather, or this kid here. People like that are hard to meet even once in a lifetime, yet here I spent my formative years surrounded by such extraordinary specimens, basking in my own cleverness. I’m quite normal, really, which makes it all the more pitiful, I must say.”
Joshua looked at Maximian.
“You suffered because of me?”
“Ah, you bet I did. It was too difficult a task for a normal person to handle. If someone had paid me wages, it might have been more bearable, but your idle fantasies and rambling were all I ever got—not even a scrap of bread. A real shame, that.”
After a moment, Joshua retorted.
“By that logic, we met by mistake.”
Maximian chuckled.
“Do you think I’d say, ‘No, that’s not what I meant’? Don’t be ridiculous! Of course we met by mistake! But now that I think about it, these abnormal types seem to like me unusually well. I must have some sort of defective charm. What do you think it is? You’d know, wouldn’t you? Tell me. I need to fix it quickly.”
When Joshua didn’t answer promptly, Maximian furrowed his brow and raised a finger menacingly.
“Hey, I don’t think I insulted you or anything, did I? What’s so thrilling about being normal? Does someone come up and say, ‘Congratulations! You’ve won the normal person lottery!’ and hand you pocket money? I’ve been normal for a long time, and I know for a fact there’s nothing good about it.”
Hispanie answered instead of Joshua.
“Maximian, think about it carefully. You’re not normal either. You’re the type who’s too lazy to live but too lazy to die, spouting sophistry every time you open your mouth, and you forgot to show respect to your elders somewhere in the outhouse.”
“Wait, Grandfather. I don’t think that’s the point right now?”
Hispanie glanced at Joshua around that moment. Noticing his dejected expression, his own face became incredulous.
“Joshua.”
When Hispanie called, Joshua startled awake from his thoughts and looked his way. But no kind words came from that direction either.
“You pathetic fool. What was your father thinking, creating this mess? I shouldn’t have let things go as he wanted. I gave you too much time.”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Month Books
The copyright of this book belongs to the author and 14 Month Books.
To reuse all or part of the contents of this book, you must obtain written consent from both parties.

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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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