I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 7

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 7

4. Theon Phil Voltman

I pointed toward the corner of the Training Hall.
As the knights gradually stepped back, my view cleared, and a boy’s figure came into focus.
Who would have imagined it?
‘The Emperor’s son sitting on the floor of the Trabel Estate’s Training Hall, polishing his armor with cloth!’
The boy himself didn’t know, nor did Baron Voltman and his wife who had raised the late daughter’s child in his stead.
He was born during the current Emperor’s days of wandering the Empire in disguise, indulging in pleasures.
At this point in time, the current Emperor himself likely had no knowledge of Theon’s existence.
‘He’s ten years old now, isn’t he? So the Voltman family truly was impoverished enough to be torn apart by poverty.’
The clothes he wore, as if inherited from someone else, were ill-fitting—the sleeves and pant legs folded up to match his frame. Baron Voltman was so poor that even as a nobleman, he couldn’t afford to have a single properly tailored suit made for his cherished grandson.
‘But what does clothing matter? Theon is a rough diamond that only I recognize!’
A smile bloomed unbidden on my face.
Theon was so absorbed in his work that even under scrutiny, he remained utterly focused on polishing the armor’s shine.
“For such a young age, his concentration is impressive. I quite like it.”
Ah. I hear someone casting covetous eyes upon my diamond.
Uncle Rexus gazed at Theon with a pleased smile, then tilted his head to the side.
“But who is he?”
“Have you forgotten already? I introduced him on the first day.”
“What, really?”
“Thank you for giving me another opportunity to explain, Commander. He’s a new apprentice who arrived five days ago. A friend of an acquaintance of the Estate Lord’s… in any case, he came with a letter of recommendation. He’s Baron Voltman’s grandson.”
The name seemed familiar, for Uncle Rexus immediately narrowed his eyes and spoke.
“Baron Voltman? Wasn’t he a knight who served under the previous Emperor? Did that family have a son to carry on the line?”
In response to Uncle Rexus’s question, the knight glanced at me cautiously before lowering his voice to continue the conversation.
“It appears the family’s young lady bore an illegitimate child in her youth. Since the father’s identity was unknown, he was registered in the Voltman family registry. The young lady passed away two years ago, and Theon has been raised by the Baron and Baroness since then.”
“…How old did you say he was?”
“Ten years old.”
Hmm.
Uncle Rexus’s nose twitched slightly as he heard Theon’s circumstances. I could hear him murmur to himself that the young one must have endured much hardship.
Uncle Rexus cleared his throat and spoke to me.
“Ahem, well then, young lady, would you like to go to the Commander’s Office with Theon?”
“Your friend’s name is Theon? Yes! I want to go together!”
“Understood. Theon!”
When Uncle Rexus called out the name loudly, Theon finally lifted his head.
Unlike her tattered clothes, her black hair was neat and her face was clean. It seemed to be thanks to the home education she had received from Baroness Voltman.
Looking at her double eyelids, her full lashes, her upturned nose, and her dark brows.
“Come here!”
He would become a beautiful crown prince.
At his superior’s call, Theon Phil Voltman quickly rose and rushed over.
“You called for me?”
“Pay your respects. This is Miss Sherry.”
“Hello!”
“Hello…you.”
Unlike me, who waved my hand as I greeted him, Theon Phil Voltman spoke with awkward formal speech.
‘He must be doing that because I look younger than him at first glance.’
There were cousins my age at the Trabel Family Estate, but since Theon Phil Voltman had only recently joined as an apprentice, I would be the first direct relative he was seeing in person.
‘Besides, the Voltman Family is also a noble house. Of course it would feel strange for him to use formal speech with a child!’
After finishing his greeting, Theon Phil Voltman looked at Uncle Lex. His eyes held the hope that he would explain why he had been called.
That gaze was composed in a way unbecoming of a child.
‘Ah. So that’s why the other me thinks Theon Phil Voltman is….’
I smiled meaningfully to myself.
Theon Phil Voltman’s black eyes, seen up close, appeared indifferent, but they resembled someone I knew very much.
I feel a warm breeze. Like Father’s eyes.
“Theon, do you know who Master Reytan Quartz Trabel is? The Grand Master who returned to Trabel the day before yesterday.”
“Commander, he’s on ‘leave of absence’…ow.”
The knight uncle, whose foot had been stepped on by Uncle Lex, closed his mouth and swallowed his cry of pain. Uncle Lex spoke in a hearty voice as if nothing had happened.
“He’s on parental leave. Why else would Windis not choose her next master?”
“Is he returning?”
“This little one is quite sharp-minded. I like it.”
Uncle Lex patted Theon Phil Voltman on the shoulder.
“He hasn’t given a definite answer, but I believe it will happen. Then, do you know this? That Miss Sherry here is Master Reytan Quartz Trabel’s daughter?”
“His daughter…?”
Theon Phil Voltman’s black eyes sparkled as he turned his gaze back toward me.
‘Oh ho. This should be easy.’
If he was a child learning the sword, there was a high chance he would admire my father. After all, Father was a man who had risen all the way to Grand Master, the pinnacle of swordsmen!
You like our father? Then would you help me save our father? Hmm?
“Yes! Our father is Reytan Quartz Trabel!”
I smiled brightly and extended my hand to Theon Phil Voltman.
Nice to meet you!
My future best friend!

***

“Reytan, it will be ten days from now.”
“I am aware.”
As I stepped out of the Temple, a voice called after me, and my feet halted once more. The priests trailed behind me like chicks following a mother hen.
The lead chick—their commander—pressed the matter upon me.
“Windis’s rampage is scheduled for ten days hence. You absolutely must return to the Grand Temple before then….”
“Priest Fin.”
“Y-yes, yes.”
“I said I was aware.”
A sharp hiss escaped my lips as my already forbidding expression darkened further.
The priests, who had been pressing so close they nearly touched the back of my head, instantly retreated.
“Of course. I naturally assumed you were already aware, Reytan.”
Priest Fin stammered, worried he had offended me. Though I wondered if such deference was truly necessary, I was currently the sole beacon of light for the Aubaut Order.
The shadows beneath the priests’ eyes deepened with each passing day. No matter how many tonics and nourishing foods they consumed, it was insufficient to replenish the sacred power being drained away by the holy sword’s rampage.
Windis.
That temperamental sacred blade.
“It is simply that Windis awaits you most desperately….”
What made that scoundrel from the Trabel Family so remarkable that the sword was so obsessed with him?
If I did not return as Grand Master, the Grand Temple would soon be torn asunder by the maelstrom.
What choice did I have? After resolving this rampage, I would have to find some way to place the sacred sword back at his waist.
Whether by kneeling before him or by coaxing him with the word “temporary”—the desperation was on our side, after all.
“Travel safely. Sleep well until we meet again, and do take care of your health….”
Even as I climbed into the carriage, Priest Fin’s reminders and expressions of concern continued without pause.
“Very well. I shall go to the Grand Temple without fail. Now, please stop following me.”
I closed the carriage door swiftly. The peace and quiet I had barely reclaimed felt more precious than anything.
Yet as the silence settled around my ears, my worries about my daughter began anew.
‘She will behave herself, surely.’
I corrected my own thought immediately.
The word “behave” had no place when it came to Berry.
She was a child who always brought trouble in her wake—in Bonwell Village, she had held her own against children older than herself, and within a year of learning to read, she had devoured every book in the village library.
‘That maid is also a concern. No matter how well I conceal things, spending time at her side means she will eventually notice Berry’s exceptional nature.’
The maid Mariane had planted.
According to Sherry, she was raising a younger brother and had attached herself to Mariane out of financial necessity.
‘I should learn what weaknesses she possesses….’
As I brooded, my index finger, which had been tapping against the seat cushion, stilled. A conversation from last night with Count Trabel surfaced in my mind.
He had said that Berry’s eyes resembled Julia Quartz, my mother. She had been Count Trabel’s second wife.
After the first wife had borne the eldest son, Hevanth, and the eldest daughter, Mariane, the following year—
the second wife had entered the Trabel Family Estate.

“The finest physician in the Heishal Empire said so himself. That Julia would not survive even one year in Trabel after bearing you, due to the incurable illness she had suffered from since childhood.”

So my mother suffered from an incurable disease.
Hearing this for the first time, Reytan Quartz Trabel’s pupils trembled slightly. Count Trabel continued.
As Count Trabel recounted the old tale, the golden hue of his eyes deepened. Yet in the darkness, no one noticed this subtle shift.

“It was a mysterious high fever that struck intermittently. But as you know, your mother lived another twenty years. Within the grounds of the Trabel Family Estate.”
“…Why are you telling me this now, when you’ve never spoken of it before?”

Reytan’s throat felt parched. He didn’t have enough information to lay down his cards. Words lodged in his throat, desperate to escape.
Count Trabel gazed quietly at his son. The question that followed pierced straight through him.

“How many more years do you think your daughter will live?”

***

Uncle Reks gave Theon Phil Voltman an order.
Namely, to escort Miss Berry all the way to the Commander’s Office, and then play with her!
‘Uncle’s the best! He’s on our side!’
I’d been worried the other knights might follow along, but Uncle Reks dragged me away, saying there was still training to do.
The knights with their drooping shoulders looked like dejected puppies who couldn’t go for a walk together.
But right now, I needed to get close to Theon.
“Say, Theon!”
“Yes?”
“Want to hear something interesting?”
I lifted the hand I was holding with Theon and pointed to the wooden planter in the corridor.
“I’ve already seen this tree three times!”
Ouch!
Theon’s shoulders flinched.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————