Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 273

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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 43.
Not All Children Are Angels (43)
“….”
Perhaps that choice was the first of its kind. In the end, Hispanie gave Franz ten years to raise Joshua. And when Joshua turned ten, Franz admitted he could not manage the Demonic and sent a letter to Hispanie.
According to their original agreement, he should have sent the boy away and never involved himself in Joshua’s future again. Yet two years later, the Duke who had toppled the Republic and risen as one of the New Royal Family’s two great dukes, intoxicated by his dramatic success, temporarily forgot the fear he had harbored eleven years prior. Glory required an heir. Now he possessed the strength to protect that child.
Joshua survived without incident until twelve. He showed no signs of mental disturbance whatsoever. So what reason could there be not to believe he would continue to thrive? How much longer must he agonize, suspecting his son might descend into madness?
Reclaiming Joshua then seemed an act of proving his love for his son. Even if the entire world doubted the Demonic, he as a father must not. He resolved to stop fearing and publicly acknowledge his son as heir. The pride inflated by success had numbed his sense of danger. He pushed forward as though drunk, determined to paint the picture he most desired.
This was the result.
“I…should not have done so.”
After Franz sent the letter refusing to return Joshua, no reply came from his uncle. It was something he had anticipated to some degree. His uncle’s silent reproach weighed on his heart, yet at the time, completing the picture before him had been urgent.
Only now did it become clear—the picture could never have been completed from the start. It was a drawing made on the tidal flats. One wave, and every brushstroke would vanish.
“It was all my greed. It was not done out of love for Joshua. I wanted an heir. I thought I deserved one. I behaved like a child who believes he need only wait to receive a birthday gift. A father who should have protected his children, yet I acted thus. I beg your forgiveness with utmost sincerity. To Ive, to you, Uncle, to Joshua….”
Unable to finish his words, Franz covered his face with both hands. Silence flowed. No sobs, no comfort—only silence.
Presently, Hispanie’s voice was heard.
“On a day such as this, how could I face you with anger? Why would I withhold forgiveness that cannot undo anything? Yet I will not comfort you. Such things are unnecessary. Only one thing is needed—vengeance, and nothing else.”
Franz lifted his head. In the gaze that met Hispanie’s, blood seemed to seep forth.
“Uncle, I have a request.”
“If it is within my power.”
“Please remain here.”
Hispanie thought for a moment, barely perceptible, then shook his head.
“You refuse?”
Franz turned his body and pointed to the glass on the desk.
“That glass alone bore poison.”
All the champagne glasses stacked in a tower had been examined. Of them, poison was detected in only one—the glass Ivnoa had drunk from. This meant the poison was not in the wine but applied to the glass itself.
Not a kitchen servant, but one of the gardeners who had come to carry dishes when hands were short had vanished without a trace. According to the other servants, he had recently been plagued by gambling debts. Orders had been given to search for him, but if there was someone behind this who aided his escape, he would not be easily found. Perhaps they had killed him. Those who would commit such acts are certainly capable of that.
“Within my Territory, at Jade Ring Manor, someone attempted to poison my son. An impossible thing has occurred, yet I cannot even guess at the culprit. In the darkness, I feel his gaze piercing me vividly. Because of that, I cannot even mourn Ive freely. The threat remains, but the target has been narrowed to one.”
Franz, with his thick brows and deeply carved features, bore the impression of a seafarer rather than a nobleman. Whether facing a servant or a king, he always presented the same face—strong yet gentle. He who had never shown fear before the heads of the Republican Faction or before ruffians wielding scythes now stared at the glass with a devastated expression twisted by defeat. He himself had handed death to his children.
Hispanie spoke.
“You are certain of it. That the arrow shot at Joshua struck innocent Ive instead.”
“Is there anyone who would scheme to poison Ive? The world would undergo no change whatsoever should that child disappear.”
Ive was his firstborn daughter, treasured like a glass flower held in his palm. How deeply he had loved Ivnoa, who bore no fragrance yet shone with brilliance surpassing any flower in the world whenever sunlight touched her. Yet Franz, his dark brows unmoved, ruthlessly dismissed his daughter’s very existence. It was true—there was no reason for anyone to attempt her assassination.
“I know well how tenderly you have cherished Ive. Do not speak thus.”
Franz gazed into empty space for a moment before speaking.
“By now, might not Ive understand as well? She would be a daughter capable of comprehending her father now.”
Ivnoa had been a child who loved her younger brother, with whom words did not flow easily and who was often troublesome, more than her parents who enveloped her in unconditional affection. If that gentle child had now gained such perceptive insight, she would understand her father composing himself regarding his feelings for her in the face of the threat now before them. Never once in her lifetime had he expected understanding or consideration from Ivnoa, yet now he hoped she would grant it.
“Anyone capable of infiltrating so thoroughly without a trace and attempting poisoning would certainly have known that I would make a toast with the topmost glass of the champagne tower today and pass it to Joshua. Yet they could never have dreamed that Joshua would hand it to Ive. That was purely the result of chance. It was her twentieth birthday, and she had only just returned days before….”
Franz suddenly fell silent, unable to continue, but like a man who had endured countless hardships, he quickly suppressed his emotion. Ivnoa could not be recovered. What remained must be protected.
“I do not know who, or why, they target Joshua. To find the culprit, discovering the motive would be fastest, yet I cannot even conjecture now.”
Hispanie rose from his chair and spoke.
“You know well who would be considered the first in line for succession should Joshua disappear.”
Franz shook his head.
“No. It’s not Theo.”
“Are you suggesting there’s someone else who would benefit from Joshua’s disappearance?”
It was more logical to assume the young Joshua had attracted someone’s ambition for his title rather than their personal hatred. Yet Franz remained adamant.
“But consider this—if the conspiracy goes awry as it has and Ive becomes the victim instead, who suffers the greatest loss? Only Theo. Without Ive, what meaning does that child have to our Family Clan?”
Hispanie did not answer. Franz’s voice grew more heated as he continued.
“Today, Theo stood only a few paces from Joshua and Ive. I clearly saw the cup being handed to Ive, yet he showed no disturbance whatsoever. I witnessed it with my own eyes. If that child had known about the poison in the cup, how could he have remained so composed?”
In this moment, Franz spoke with such force that one might think he held his son-in-law responsible for Ivnoa’s death, yet he himself knew his anger was far removed from the truth. Unable to accept his own foolishness, he simply wanted to direct his fury at anyone.
But soon he composed himself and shook his head. Misplaced anger had to be dispelled quickly.
“No matter how well Theo has cared for Ive all this time, had I not witnessed it myself, I would not have abandoned my suspicions. It is not Theo.”
“Then who?”
“My speculation ends there. Is it someone who harbors a grudge because the Republic fell? Or perhaps another noble consumed by jealousy? I have no basis for any theory. Whoever it is lies beyond my insight, beyond the net I have cast. That is why I asked you to remain here, Uncle.”
“My presence will change nothing.”
Franz offered a hollow smile.
“Do not jest with me. Few remember your deeds of old, perhaps, but I have not forgotten. If you remain in this Castle, what conspiracy could escape your notice?”
“That is asking too much.”
“Must I dredge up ancient history to convince you?”
“That is truly a long time ago.”
They regarded each other in silence. Both understood what the other was thinking.
Each Demonic possessed abilities with different orientations, but among them, Hispanie excelled at piercing through secrets. Thus he had long since discovered that while he was his father’s child, he was not his mother’s. And he had uncovered who his true mother was—a secret that Joshua’s great-grandfather, the former Duke Arthur, had sought so perfectly to conceal, yet all in vain.
Hispanie had said he would seek out his biological mother and meet her, but the former Duke had informed him that if he did so, he should consider himself no longer his son. Arthur had his reasons for this necessity, but the young Hispanie at that time had refused to understand his father’s position. After that, the relationship between father and son was never restored.
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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