Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 460

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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 230.
Playing Oneself (6)
“If we’re talking about that old man from Hispania, he was perfectly fine the day I first saw your puppet.”
Maximian eliminated the first possibility. Then, furrowing his brow seriously, he asked.
“You’re absolutely certain that old man has no children?”
“That’s what I’ve always understood.”
Joshua was also furrowing his brow. Maximian asked again.
“You said the only two Demonic beings to exist in the same era were you and that old man who lived far too long, right?”
It was hardly a statement requiring fresh confirmation. Yet Maximian twisted his lips to one side and continued.
“But if we’re going by that logic… isn’t it actually you who got the order wrong?”
“Me?”
“You’re the third generation. You’re the one who got the order wrong—you were supposed to be born in the fourth generation just like before, weren’t you?”
A moment later, Joshua could no longer contain himself and cried out.
“But if we’re going by that logic, even if Grandfather actually had children, they’d only be the second generation! Grandfather himself is Demonic!”
“Who knows? That old man might have caused trouble early on and already has a son, a grandson, and three great-granddaughters by now.”
“That’s impossible!”
“That’s just what you think!”
“You’ve known Grandfather for a long time too! And you still think he lied?”
“Are you playing the naive young master again? Use your head for once, you Demonic fool! Don’t you realize there’s plenty of possibility that Grandfather didn’t even know he had children?”
“I don’t want to hear such irresponsible talk!”
“Then do you have another answer? Either way, it’s certain you have no son or daughter! If you actually do have one, confess now! You might get forgiven if you do!”
Joshua’s face flushed crimson as he tried to kick Maximian’s knee, but Maximian dodged, and his foot merely grazed past. Maximian wasn’t laughing, but seeing Joshua’s face, he coughed once or twice.
Joshua spoke.
“Let me be clear about one thing—we’re looking for someone who’s already dead. I don’t like randomly pointing at anyone and assuming they’re dead. And even if I had a relative whose existence I never knew about, if that person died, I would have heard about it. Even if, as you say, Grandfather had a descendant he didn’t know about, it would be the same. At least the child would have known who their father was. Even if they didn’t know before, if they died, they would surely have tried to inform him. Wouldn’t you do the same?”
“Well, if someone in our house died, I wouldn’t waste time searching for some father figure hidden away somewhere just to inform him of the news.”
Though he said this, Maximian understood Joshua’s logic to some degree. The reason their thought processes differed was simple: unlike Maximian, Joshua’s family was the Duke’s House. Someone with that blood would appear to claim whatever fell to their share, whether they had lingering attachments to the family or not. What benefit would there be in hiding?
“In other words, in recent years, the only person who died in our family was… my sister.”
Joshua, who had been continuing his thought, suddenly stopped.
A sharp shock rushed up his spine and struck his head. Joshua couldn’t move a finger and stood frozen in place.
Maximian called out.
“What’s wrong?”
Joshua didn’t answer. Even when called several more times, it was the same. He had suddenly plunged into the depths of his own thoughts. No one could see it. Only the confusion that appeared in his eyes was visible.
“Ah.”
When he came to his senses, Maximian had already grabbed his shoulders and shaken him thoroughly before letting go. Joshua drew a deep breath. As he did, his shoulders trembled completely.
“Tell me. What is it?”
“Do you remember what I said about my sister?”
Maximian’s expression turned equally serious, but his answer was simple.
“That she was foolish.”
“Of course that was true, but my sister—sometimes her memory was even better than mine.”
Maximian’s expression became strange.
“Hey, Demonic. Does that even make sense?”
“Of course, saying she was better than me might be a misnomer… but still, she wasn’t an ordinary person. My sister once told me about something she saw while lying in a cradle as a baby—she spoke of it so fluently. The conversations people had that day, the scenery outside the window, even the color of the Nanny’s clothes. It happened that Mother was gravely ill that day, and everyone was worried we wouldn’t make it through the night, so many people remembered what happened that day. That’s how I could verify it.”
Maximian’s expression grew even stranger as he spoke.
“In your household, do you call such a person a fool?”
Joshua shook his head vigorously several times.
“But my sister couldn’t write her own name correctly even once in her entire life. She remained exactly like a five-year-old even when she turned twenty. That can’t be. It’s impossible.”
“What’s impossible?”
Joshua spoke with force.
“That my sister could have been Demonic.”
Maximian was momentarily taken aback. Joshua’s expression was resolute, but his eyes betrayed anxiety. Maximian couldn’t immediately find a response. Among the Demonic, many were mad. Especially those who went mad early in life. The memory Ivnoa displayed supported the inference that even if she wasn’t Demonic, she was certainly not an ordinary person.
After a moment, Maximian spoke.
“You’ve been stubbornly defending your brother-in-law no matter what I said, haven’t you? Wasn’t that because you believed he genuinely cherished only your sister?”
Joshua had never explicitly said so. Yet it was true that whenever Maximian suspected Theo, Joshua refused outright. Despite possessing Demonic judgment, he had consistently turned away from an obvious possibility. It was a barrier of the heart that transcended judgment itself.
Joshua believed Theo could hate him, but he could not forget the love Theo had poured into Ivnoa. That infinite patience and consideration was a true devotion that neither Joshua himself nor anyone in the family could match. So even if Theo truly hated Joshua and created a doll because of it, Joshua thought he could overlook what happened to Ivnoa, that there was no need to suspect, that even if the doll were destroyed, he didn’t want to know who did it. Trapped in such contradictions, whenever Maximian pointed it out, Joshua had shaken his head and closed his ears.
Maximian could not have failed to notice Joshua’s feelings. But he believed that Joshua would eventually face the truth and have no choice but to accept it, so he left it alone.
But what if Theo had killed Ivnoa?
Even if he hadn’t killed her, what if he had made a doll using her corpse?
“I don’t know. I’ve never even met your sister. You have to reach your own conclusion.”
Joshua lowered his head, then shook it.
“No. It can’t be. I believe it isn’t.”
Joshua ultimately rejected the thought that Ivnoa could have been Demonic—in other words, that she could have been a Demonic damaged since childhood. It wasn’t a lack of courage to face the truth. If that were true, Ivnoa’s short twenty-year life would lose its light. The life of someone who believed in and loved such a person would become too foolish, too pitiful, too wretched.
The truth had to be otherwise.
“A conclusion drawn without evidence might not be valid. If I avoid this, the conclusion itself disappears, but even if I knew now, there’s nothing I could do about it anyway.”
Maximian added words meant to ease Joshua’s mind, then suddenly turned to look at Anarose. He had just realized they had been talking as if no one else were present.
Anarose was watching them both. As always, expressionless… no, that wasn’t quite right. There was an expression there, though it was difficult to describe exactly what. When had it started? After Kelsniti’s story came up?
She hadn’t interjected a single word, nor had she fallen into thought, and her gaze never wavered. Even as Maximian turned to look, she seemed not to notice. It was as if she weren’t listening to their conversation at all. It was something like…
She was gazing endlessly.
While looking at them, she was seeing something beyond them. Like flowers and deer that had become paintings, she was reaching for something visible yet forever beyond touch.
Those two who had left, who once looked like this, whom she had met at eighteen.
Life continues. It repeats. A world that has not perished blooms flowers that are similar yet different each time the seasons turn. Flowers that shine and hold value just as they did hundreds of years ago.
“You came from outside.”
Anarose opened her mouth.
“This place is my tomb, my chamber, the inside of my bleeding heart. You are destined to go back outside, and the world is the tomb where you will be buried. Just as I guard this place, you must guard your own tomb.”
Maximian shrugged and spoke.
“A moment ago you said there was no way to protect it. Have you changed your mind?”
“The one who possesses the fragment of the bleeding spear. If you know who that person is, then the story is different.”
A cold smile played across Anarose’s face.
“Prevent the one who holds the fragment from ever entering this island again. Then the calamity will eventually stop. Complete destruction will be averted. The storm that guards the island has returned, so no one will easily be able to enter, but human affairs are unpredictable, so you must eliminate any future troubles.”
Maximian spread both arms as if testing his opponent.
“How?”
“Kill them, and take it.”
Both their bodies stiffened slightly. Was this a method they had never anticipated? Perhaps not. What had they intended to do if they encountered the one who created the puppets?
“You certainly have a simple way of putting things.”
Even as Maximian spoke those words, he was not smiling. Rather, his eyes narrowed.
Anarose tilted her head to one side and spoke.
“Even if you didn’t know about the fragments, you were never going to forgive the puppet master.”
Joshua did not answer. Anarose continued.
“Let me share my thoughts on the true body you’re searching for. When a puppet master’s power is formidable, the true body and the puppet can be separated by vast distances—even from Jade Ring Castle to Sunset Island here. But without such power, the weaker the puppet master’s strength, the closer the true body and puppet must necessarily be.”
“That means….”
Since they didn’t know who the puppet master was, they couldn’t even guess how strong they might be. Juspian had assumed the true body could exist anywhere. Of course, he would have suspected that the puppet master, having accomplished what he himself could not, possessed immense power. Yet this person had come to Sunset Island seeking to fill their insufficient strength, attempting to touch the dangerous source of magical power. Then wasn’t it possible that the puppet master’s power was weaker than they thought?
“If the true body and puppet are close together, there’s another advantage. The puppet master can concentrate on controlling and manipulating the puppet without needing to expend limited power maintaining the connection between them. A puppet master with scarce magical power would certainly choose this approach.”
From that perspective, where exactly had the puppet master placed their true body? The answer dawned simultaneously in both Maximian’s and Joshua’s minds. Where the puppet was located.
Jade Ring Castle.
“Are you saying that by giving us such information now, you’re confirming the contract’s validity?”
When Maximian suddenly asked, Anarose regarded them both with eyes that had grown considerably calmer.
“Even if you don’t wish to die by my hand, if you fail to accomplish this task, nothing will remain in this sea region before long. I cannot even guarantee it will stop there. No one can measure the power contained in the evil artifact. The power that once annihilated the entire kingdom of the Mages in ages past.”
Perhaps it was because of the shadow cast across half her face in that moment, but Anarose’s expression as she finished speaking appeared solemn.
“Our world has no Princess Evbzenis.”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Months Publishing
The copyright to this book belongs to the author and 14 Months Publishing.
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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