I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 66

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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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Chapter 66

The quiet place Demian had mentioned turned out to be the branch director’s office at the 17th Branch.
Father, Theon, and I sat side by side on the sofa he offered as though it were his own.
Father asked Demian, who was clinking a teacup at one corner of the office.
“Where’s the room’s owner?”
“On leave.”
“Seems like you’re the one who should be taking leave. You must have quite a bit of work. Your face says it all.”
“Well, yes. The Emperor is furious because of a newspaper article.”
Cough.
“Berry, are you alright?”
“Oh, no. I just swallowed wrong.”
It was a choking fit worth noting. There had been only one article recently that could anger the Emperor.
‘Daily Sunrise….’
Imperial decree violations and the non-human issue.
Thanks to it, that day’s newspaper sales had reportedly hit an all-time high this year.
With such a windfall, other newspapers couldn’t stay idle. It was Demian who was suffering from the barrage of follow-up reports.
‘That’s why the punishment was swift. He came out after just a month.’
Marquis Ash received a demotion in rank and confiscation of his vineyard-bearing territory, while Count Roslyn received total confiscation of his lands. Throughout the process, Father’s name was never mentioned once.
It was thanks to Marshall Grandmother controlling the journalists and Baron Voltman silencing the villagers.
“You mean Marquis Ash’s land development. I saw it in the newspaper.”
“Right. So the Emperor—”
Demian suddenly fixed his gaze on one spot.
….
It was the seat beside me. His eyes stretched straight ahead as though observing Theon.
‘Surely not.’
Demian had seen the Emperor up close many times. He was the Grand Master and the Investigation Department head of the Central Investigation Bureau.
Theon’s appearance resembled Baron Voltman greatly, but his black hair and black eyes were the Emperor’s.
Black hair and black eyes weren’t particularly rare, so they couldn’t be identifying features. But what caught my attention was how clear and beautiful Theon’s eyes were, and how his hair had a fine texture and lustrous sheen. He simply looked precious.
‘Not yet. I need to wait until the Emperor develops hope for his child and grows desperate to find him.’
The Emperor placed great importance on bloodline because of his deep inferiority complex about not seeing his child. One could see this from the fact that the Empress and Imperial Concubines were at least of royal status.
A son born to the daughter of a poor baron, whom he’d met during his crown prince days. To the current Emperor, Theon’s existence only amplified his inferiority complex.
Then who in the Imperial Palace would treat Theon kindly? As long as power existed there, it would be similar to Trabel.
‘I’ll make Theon shine with Father and me.’
I’ll send him to the Imperial Palace as a polished diamond who won’t be trampled by anyone, even alone. That way, no one would dare openly disrespect Theon.
‘I can’t hand Theon over.’
I quietly linked my arm through Theon’s.

***

‘It couldn’t be.’
Demian dismissed his suspicions about the boy before him. Reytan’s disciple was only ten years old.
The child had been born during the Emperor’s dissolute years as crown prince, but that held little significance.
‘His Majesty suffers from azoospermia.’
Though still kept quiet, it was virtually confirmed. The Emperor’s body could not produce children. So regardless of any resemblance, that boy could not be his son.
“Hmm, Reytan. Your daughter seems to be wary of me.”
“Berry? …She does, doesn’t she. Berry, what did Demian do?”
But while I pondered for a moment, the situation took an odd turn.
Reytan’s daughter, Berry, was eyeing me with the wariness one might reserve for a kidnapper. My disciple beside her stood rigid, their arms linked with hers.
Suspicion gleamed in Berry’s round, emerald eyes.
“Mister Demian was looking at Theon like he wanted to take him away.”
“That would be troublesome. Demian, just because you don’t have disciples of your own, you can’t go eyeing my one and only disciple like that. That’s too much.”
“…You’re not a bad person.”
Demian suddenly found himself having to defend his character. Inwardly, he felt dejected. In truth, he had been actively considering how to become closer to Berry.
But even his explanation failed to soften her gaze. Sometimes distance was the answer in such moments.
In the end, he had no choice but to employ a new strategy.
He retrieved cookies from the cabinet—ones the branch director treasured—and called over an employee passing near the director’s office.
“Could you watch the children for a bit? Give them these as a snack.”
“Yes, of course!”
“Is that alright with you, Reytan?”
Normally Reytan would have refused, but he nodded instead.
“Go ahead.”
With Reytan’s permission granted, Demian handed the cookies to Berry and offered one more explanation.
“I’m not a bad person.”
“I know. But you can’t have Theon.”
I remained under suspicion until the very door closed. In the end, I had failed to befriend either my friend’s daughter or my disciple.
Reytan let out a dry laugh at Demian’s forlorn figure.
“Children show no mercy.”
“Especially since she’s your daughter. She’s grown into quite the capable young lady.”
“Capable, perhaps. But also terribly adorable.”
“Brown should have seen her.”
A pause.
Reytan’s hand, which had been examining the fountain pen on the table, stilled. Though Demian and Reytan shared the common distinction of being Grand Masters, there existed a deeper connection between them—Brown.
Demian had been Brown’s closest friend.
“With that gentle nature of his, he wouldn’t have left such an adorable niece unwatched. You wouldn’t have had the chance to raise her alone.”
“….”
Reytan fell silent for a moment, then, rather than continuing the conversation about Brown, he spoke of something else.
“So then, what is this matter you wished to discuss in a quiet place? You haven’t even offered me tea.”
The fact that he’d sent the children away suggested this was a conversation they shouldn’t hear.
That’s why Reytan had remained silent when Berry and Theon were dismissed.
Demian’s gaze turned cold and sharp. The hesitant demeanor he’d shown moments before vanished entirely.
This was how he always looked when he was an investigator.
“Reytan, did you come to Goldport because you know someone here?”
“No, I’m here to invest in the Blue Company.”
“…The Blue Company?”
“I heard they have significant growth potential.”
“Good timing then. In that case, there’s something I need you to dig up from the merchant lord.”
“Dig up? Should I play investigator too? That’s your job, or your staff’s.”
The Investigation Department head of the 17th Branch.
Demian’s position within the Central Investigation Bureau was second only to the director. While there were multiple Investigation Department heads, his unique status as Grand Master made him function as the second-in-command of the entire bureau—answering directly to the Emperor himself.
I was being asked to uncover something for him.
Reytan found the mere thought tiresome. He already had enough on his plate simply honoring his investment promise with Berry.
“I’m not doing it.”
“Yes, you are.”
Despite Reytan’s refusal, Demian pressed forward. His resolve to make this happen was unmistakable.
“We received information that he was at the scene of Brown’s accident.”
Click. The cap of Reytan’s fountain pen snapped shut. In that same instant, a heavy, cold silence fell over the room.
Reytan looked at Demian.

***

‘What are they talking about?’
I gazed through the glass door toward the branch director’s office.
Akum was sleeping in my pocket, and Jeffrey was likely earning his keep at Stone House under Anne’s orders.
‘There’s no way to eavesdrop.’
The branch director’s office was too far for me to listen in directly.
We were in the conference room. A staff member had left us here briefly, saying they’d bring refreshments.
“Theon, Theon.”
Then I should do what I came here to do.
Theon was a boy who admired the Grand Master, after all. If Demian were to joke like Father and offer to take him as a disciple, he might be tempted.
I’d like to think our Theon would never abandon us like that, but nothing in this world is a hundred percent certain.
Theon had been staring at the edge of the desk this whole time.
“Mm.”
I pressed my head against the desk and looked up at Theon. My face suddenly appearing before him made him jump, and he quickly turned away.
“Look at me for a second.”
“…It’s hard to look.”
Wait. Theon was avoiding my eyes.
Like someone with something pricking their conscience.

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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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