The Duke Dad I Chose Can’t (Really) See Well - Chapter 28

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 28

 

I didn’t answer. Then Max let out a hollow laugh.

 

“I’ve checked countless times. This is safe. Nothing happened while I was making it.”

 

“But you said it yourself, Max. That we need to be careful not to lose our reason.”

 

“Right. But look at me now. I’m perfectly fine. It’s safe.”

 

Max stubbornly emphasized the safety as if being defiant.

 

“I don’t mean that Max made something strange.”

 

I hastily added and continued speaking.

 

“It’s just that the Stukkyia people are good at reading mana, so if we could just confirm its safety…”

 

We could prevent this dangerous mineral from spreading throughout the Empire.

 

And before that, we could prevent the tragedy that would befall Max.

 

However, his face only hardened further.

 

“…If I had the leisure to get it confirmed, I wouldn’t have entered Stukkyia in the first place.”

 

“Max.”

 

“You don’t know.”

 

Max looked at me with clenched fists.

 

“What kind of feelings I had when I picked up this wrench.”

 

His eyes were a chaotic mix of sadness, pain, misery, and yet a stubborn determination to see it through no matter what.

 

“How desperate a second chance becomes for someone who has lost something precious… you wouldn’t know…”

 

Like someone who had belatedly said something they shouldn’t have, Max’s eyes trembled finely.

 

“…Go.”

 

Max spoke coldly and turned around sharply.

 

“Please don’t tell the family anything else. I’m asking you.”

 

“…”

 

“And… sorry I can’t see you off. Be careful on your way.”

 

Even in the midst of all this, telling me to be careful was so very like Max.

 

‘Safety, safety. Going around singing about it, yet not caring about himself at all.’

 

Max really wasn’t a genius after all.

 

If he were truly a genius, he would have noticed how much shadow was under his eyes.

 

Following the round shape of the magnifying glass on the desk, he should have noticed that red marks had formed around his eyes.

 

‘Mad Max, my foot.’

 

This is complete nonsense…

 

Even while thinking that.

 

“I, I was wrong, Your Grace.”

 

“Please forgive me…”

 

Seeing him make resolutions not for himself but for others reminded me so much of my past self that I quietly slipped away from the scene.

 

* * *

 

After Hanisha left.

 

Max deliberately didn’t leave the stable. As if being stubborn, he clung to the prosthetic leg.

 

Thinking there might be something he had missed, he tightened screws that had already been tightened several times.

 

He checked the precision of the mineral and confirmed its contamination level.

 

Still, there was no change.

 

The blueprint was perfect.

 

So it wouldn’t fail.

 

Only after confirming this himself did his mind ease. Max slumped into his chair as if collapsing.

 

‘I was going to give it today originally… I wonder if giving it before the wedding would be okay…’

 

Perhaps it was because he felt relieved. Drowsiness came over him belatedly. When he glanced outside the window, darkness had already settled heavily.

 

‘I wonder if Hanisha got home safely.’

 

He should have at least confirmed whether she got home safely.

 

Then he should have said it. That he was sorry about what just happened. That he had been too harsh.

 

‘I should have apologized like that…’

 

Even while thinking this, his eyes closed. Max helplessly fell into sleep.

 

And he dreamed.

 

In a cramped living room, Bashel and Anna were promising to marry each other.

 

On Bashel’s left leg was the prosthetic he had gifted.

 

And at their feet lay a roughly woven white cloth. It was a wedding aisle that Phil and Lea had made, pricking their tiny fern-like hands.

 

By walking on it, the two would become husband and wife.

 

But then it happened.

 

“…Huh?”

 

A confused question burst from Bashel’s mouth. He looked at his leg, which had been moving fine just moments before, as if it belonged to someone else.

 

“Brother? What’s wrong?”

 

“Some, something’s strange. My leg seems, a bit, strange…”

 

It was the moment Bashel was about to say that.

 

“Urgh…!”

 

Bashel suddenly covered his mouth as if he was about to vomit. When the panicked Max tried to approach, Bashel held out his hand to stop him.

 

“Don’t come!”

 

“Brother!”

 

“You can’t, come…!”

 

At that moment, Bashel’s eyes instantly turned black.

 

When he opened his eyes again, vertically slit, monster-like pupils had taken their place.

 

Those pupils looked at Max. However, as if recognizing its owner, it slowly turned its gaze away.

 

“Ba, Bashel?”

 

That gaze turned toward his friend and now wife. He slowly approached Riche. Bashel devoured everyone messily.

 

And finally, he attacked Max.

 

When he came to his senses.

 

Max was walking down the street.

 

Though his heart felt hollow as if it had been completely emptied, he was smiling. No, it wasn’t him smiling. Something that had devoured him was smiling.

 

“Sob, Mother…”

 

“Shh. It’s alright. God will save you.”

 

Meanwhile, he heard voices in conversation.

 

Street orphans hoping for mercy, and the clerics beyond them.

 

After the clerics passed by, Max approached those who had fallen into despair and asked.

 

“Do you want a new body?”

 

With an incredibly gentle smile.

 

“Gasp…!”

 

Max’s eyes snapped open. He felt around his entire body. The stable, where the sun had just risen, was bright, and everything remained unchanged.

 

‘What was that just now? Was it a dream?’

 

It was a moment when he was just breathing heavily in a daze. Max’s gaze fell on his desk.

 

“…!”

 

Max’s eyes widened greatly.

 

The prosthetic leg that had definitely been assembled from various parts and had colorful hues was now blackened and rotting, dripping down to the floor.

 

It had a similar aura to what he saw in his dream, but it was still just rippling without growing larger yet.

 

‘If I had attached this to my brother’s leg, he would have…’

 

Just thinking about it was horrifying—no, he had already seen that scene in his dream just moments ago, and he unconsciously got goosebumps.

 

And then deep self-loathing followed.

 

Just as someone had given him a family, he wanted to gift his brother a ‘tomorrow’ as well.

 

But far from tomorrow, he had almost put his family in danger. Blinded by the arrogance that he couldn’t be wrong…

 

That’s when it happened.

 

Someone came inside with rustling sounds.

 

“Max? What are you doing here alone?”

 

It was Riche. The moment he saw her, Max’s eyes began to well up and turn red.

 

“…Sister.”

 

Max said with a suppressed expression.

 

“I failed again.”

 

“…What?”

 

“I wanted to congratulate you and brother, and give you a present…”

 

Thank you for accepting me.

 

Thank you for becoming my family—that’s what he wanted to say…

 

He failed.

 

He couldn’t do anything.

 

Tears finally flowed from Max’s eyes as he realized his own foolishness.

 

Riche, who had been flustered, looked around.

 

Riche smiled brightly when she discovered the form placed on the messy desk.

 

“I didn’t expect you’d still be making something today. So this is why you came in late, my little brother.”

 

“…Huh?”

 

Max, who had been crying, stopped and looked at Riche.

 

‘Today too’? Then that means…

 

“Actually, I knew. That you were trying to make something for our wedding.”

 

“Since when?”

 

“I knew from the beginning. You probably didn’t know, but we use this stable as storage. Though there aren’t many things.”

 

“Then, don’t tell me brother also…”

 

“Of course he knew. I was worried you might be making something dangerous, but… you seemed to be working hard so we didn’t interfere.”

 

Sister smiled, saying she was sorry for pretending not to know all this time.

 

Max’s mouth fell slightly open at that. He had been feeling proud thinking he was hiding it well all along.

 

‘They actually knew all along…’

 

His tears dried up while his face turned red.

 

“So I was going to leave you alone today too, but Hanisha said so. She told me to go check on you, Max.”

 

At Riche’s additional words, he belatedly remembered the existence he had forgotten.

 

Hanisha.

 

The only child who had recognized his foolishness.

 

And the child he had coldly turned his back on.

 

Thinking about it, Hanisha had acted like she knew from the beginning.

 

“It doesn’t mean Max made something strange.”

 

“It’s just that Stukkyia people read mana well, so if we could just confirm it’s safe…”

 

It was a reasonable concern.

 

But he had been stubborn. That he couldn’t be wrong. No, that he must not be wrong.

 

‘I hurt her. The child who was worried about me…’

 

He needed to apologize.

 

Having finished his thoughts, Max rushed out of the stable.

 

“Max? Why do you look like that?”

 

“Brother?”

 

Bashel and his younger brother Phil asked, but Max was just frantically looking around.

 

But whether he looked outside or inside the house, Hanisha was nowhere to be seen.

 

Had she already returned to Stukkyia?

 

If so, he would have to return to Stukkyia as well. Today was his brother and sister’s wedding, but there was no way he could congratulate the two with this feeling in his heart.

 

“Brother, sorry. I have somewhere I need to go briefly. I’ll be right back!”

 

With those words, Max rushed out of the house. It was the moment he stepped into the snow that had accumulated overnight.

 

“…?!”

 

Suddenly his body was lifted up. The moment the bewildered Max turned around, his eyes widened.

 

It was Ralt and the other blacksmiths.

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