Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 270

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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 40.
Not All Children Are Angels (40)
Just as Ivnoa had suspected, it was an enormous block structure that Joshua had built. As Ivnoa rushed through the white box archway, Joshua leaped down from the precarious box tower and embraced his sister.
Ivnoa held him for a long time, rubbing her face against his, so it took Joshua a moment to see her face clearly. When she finally pulled away, Ivnoa was startled to see tears glistening in Joshua’s eyes.
“Why are you crying? Does it hurt? Is it because of me?”
“No. I’m just happy to see you after so long.”
“You’re happy but still crying?”
Ah. Joshua suddenly understood.
Two years had passed since I was ten, growing into twelve, yet my sister remained unchanged. She was not a single step different from how I remembered her. Had I unconsciously hoped she would mature on her own? It seemed I had believed her congenital brain damage—something that could never be healed in a lifetime—would fade like a common cold.
Watching Ivnoa ask childish questions just as she always had, I steadied myself. I cannot. I cannot behave as recklessly as my sister does.
With that thought, the overwhelming emotion that had filled my chest subsided completely. I became composed in a way that even surprised myself. My tears dried at once.
“When I saw you after so long, it reminded me that we hadn’t met in all this time, and that’s why I cried. But now that we’re together, I’ll be fine soon.”
“Ah…”
Ivnoa rolled her eyes, her expression unclear as to whether she understood. I remembered again: when conversations grew long, my sister had always grasped only half of what was said.
Just then, the door of the carriage ahead opened, and Theo descended, approaching the siblings. For a young man his age, two years was not enough time to change one’s face noticeably. Yet to Joshua, something was different. The eyes of the boy I had once called “Elder Brother Theo”—composed and careful in my youth—now held the ease and confidence of a twenty-five-year-old. Most of all, that peculiar formality he had once shown before me, that sense of pretense, had vanished, replaced by something far more natural.
Theo began with a customary greeting.
“Joshua, it’s been so long. You’ve grown so much.”
“Elder Brother Theo, I… it’s good to see you.”
Joshua suddenly found his words failing him. Just as my unchanged sister felt uncomfortable, my transformed brother-in-law felt equally unfamiliar. How had this happened?
It made no sense. They should have all changed, or none should have changed at all. Yet I was confused about what I actually wanted. The versions of them I remembered and had anticipated had quietly vanished, and in their place stood new counterparts sent from somewhere else. It was like the bewilderment of entrusting a cherished, well-worn possession for repair, only to receive a far superior new item in return.
That feeling reached its peak when I saw the baby the nursemaid was carrying.
Ivnoa exclaimed proudly.
“Our baby!”
Joshua stared at the infant with wide eyes, forgetting all propriety. It was difficult to explain, but suddenly my head felt as though it might spin. This was not one of the countless dolls that always lay in Ivnoa’s room. This was a living child—a baby my sister had given birth to.
Could it really be true?
It had to be true, didn’t it?
If I had thought my sister could not bear a child, why had I been disappointed that she hadn’t changed? If I had hoped my sister would be different, why did this child seem so strange? Neither made sense, and my mind was in chaos.
Theo gestured for me to come closer. Joshua gathered myself and approached the baby, peering at its face. Bright golden hair caught my eye first. Both parents had blonde hair, but if anything, it seemed to favor Ivnoa’s shade.
“We named him Franz, after Father’s name. After all, we decided to take the Arnim name. Look, doesn’t he resemble Father? Especially the eyebrows.”
Listening to Theo’s words only made my emotions more chaotic. Joshua found myself nodding mechanically and murmuring that the baby was beautiful. As if anticipating my confusion, Theo stood quietly beside me, a gentle smile on his face.
Soon Ivnoa pestered me to ride in the carriage home with her, but for one reason alone—I found it difficult to continue looking at the child’s face—I had no choice but to say I would come a little later.
By the time the sun rose the next day, Joshua was already awake.
The room at the top of the Eastern Tower was a practice studio that Joshua used alone. It was a place I had used before—that is, since before attending Mona Sid School. It was spacious but contained no furniture; only a few instruments I played lay scattered on one side. The four bare walls held nothing but a single door for entry and exit.
Instead, the ceiling soared toward the tower’s peak. Looking up, one could half-overwhelmingly appreciate the sight of the sloped walls finally converging to a single point at the sharp roof’s edge. Sunlight poured through the tall windows. It whispered down, then burned with radiance.
When I was young, Joshua loved to lie on the studio floor and gaze at the ceiling. Gazing, gazing, and when my feelings seemed to converge to that single point, I would suddenly spring up and sing.
It is the ship of one who returns
The footsteps of one who returns
Ringing in ears that have been away
For so many long years—
The voice of one I cannot forget
But things were different when he stayed in Kotzboldt. No matter how beautifully Joshua sang, no one offered him praise. Maximian would simply fidget with his ear or pretend not to hear, turning his attention elsewhere, while Grandfather would merely shrug as if to say it was nothing special. The crows in the Meadow reacted far more enthusiastically, fluttering away with a rush of wings.
A song without praise… At first, I struggled to adjust. But as I gradually discovered that satisfying myself brought far greater joy, it ceased to be a problem.
I wanted to go back.
More than a month had passed since I arrived at Jade Ring Castle. The promise to return kept being postponed, and eventually, whenever Joshua even broached the subject, Father would cut him off. Mother’s face grew increasingly pale. On the day Joshua insisted stubbornly that he must leave and stepped outside, Mother rushed after him and wept without regard for the servants watching. It was the tenth day since leaving Kotzboldt.
Mother was someone who had risked her life to give birth to Joshua. She had conceived despite warnings that her life could not be guaranteed, and she had given birth to Joshua despite being told that both mother and child would die. That was why Joshua’s childhood nickname had been “the Miracle Child.”
Perhaps because of the difficulty of his birth, Joshua was not a healthy child either, but Mother suffered far more. Though she recovered considerably over the years, she spent half of each day sleeping. During the two years that Ivnoa and Joshua were away, she grew even more frail, until finally she could barely walk alone and a maidservant always accompanied her for support.
I could not bring myself to abandon such a mother and leave. In the end, I turned my steps around and re-entered the Castle, but this time my eyes grew clouded.
It was I who had insisted on leaving quickly despite being told not to return.
I should have written a letter explaining that I could not keep my promise, but Joshua could not even do that. More than anything, I hated accepting this situation as inevitable. As if by continuing like this, one day I could suddenly return.
As the temperature rose, a thin film of perspiration formed at my temples. After finishing the song and lying down on the floor, I sensed someone making a great effort to open the door silently. I could easily guess who it was.
“My little brother!”
As expected, Ivnoa burst through the door. In a quiet place like this, Joshua’s keen ears from childhood could not be deceived. Yet she, unable to learn anything from experience, repeated the same prank regardless of whether it succeeded or failed.
Ivnoa wore a pink dress with bare shoulders—one she had put on without permission, prepared for the evening’s party. Today was Ivnoa’s twentieth birthday. It was said that a promise had been made long ago to return on this day. It was the result of messengers traveling diligently back and forth between Keltika and Hyacan.
Duke Arnim intended to introduce to Keltika’s high society his daughter Ivnoa, who had grown into a proper adult, his son-in-law Theo, who was no less worthy, and his young grandson. Therefore, a grand banquet with many guests invited was prepared for this afternoon. On such days, it was no strange sight to see Ivnoa dressed in her gown and fussing about from morning.
Joshua sat up. My sister… Yes, she was my sister. The one who had poured one-sided affection on Joshua since childhood, the one who could only continue thinking like a tree in the Garden’s Backyard, and who thus remained unchanged. Looking at Ivnoa, Joshua realized that his sister was equally unprepared for the changes in her brother.
Ivnoa, just as she had in her girlhood, gathered up her dress skirts and rushed to her brother’s side. Then, embracing him with only his upper body raised, she said:
“My adorable little brother! Your song was truly wonderful!”
I felt Ivnoa pause as she lowered her head to rub her cheek against mine, as was her old habit. It seemed Ivnoa had only just noticed that her brother had grown nearly a hand’s breadth taller. Joshua smiled bitterly. His sister was still looking for a small child, but by next February, he would be thirteen.
“Surprised? Your little brother grows even without his sister around.”
Then Ivnoa spoke seriously, her voice sharp.
“No! You must stay small forever! Otherwise, I won’t like you anymore!”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Month Books
The copyright to this book belongs to the author and 14 Month 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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