OPDPS 70

‘Hm? That looked like Young Master Sorel just now.’

The back of that head looked oddly familiar. Aeryl instinctively walked toward the direction he’d seen it. As the distance closed, the child’s figure became clear—it was indeed Young Master Sorel, just as he’d thought.

Curious what he was doing, Aeryl saw that Sorel was practicing swordsmanship with a wooden sword. He was so focused that he was drenched in sweat despite the chilly weather.

Why is he training alone in a place like this? Now that he thought about it, it was strange that a noble child was always by himself.

“Young Master! Long time no see!”

Aeryl purposely raised his voice as he approached. Sorel startled and turned around. The moment he spotted Aeryl, he looked flustered, glanced around, then suddenly turned and started running.

‘Why does he always run away when he sees me?’

“Wait up!”

I don’t know the way! Aeryl took off after Sorel.

Thankfully, Sorel knew the grounds well, so they left the garden in no time. Even though Aeryl could have found his way back on his own by now, he kept chasing after him.

“Young Master! Just a moment!”

“Shut up! Why are you following me?!”

“Your leg! It’s still not right!”

From the way he was running, Aeryl could tell his ankle sprain had flared up again. He couldn’t just let it go.

“I told you to come to the infirmary! Or at least send for me!”

‘If it turns into chronic inflammation, it’ll be serious!’

Even with that ankle, Sorel was impressively fast. As expected of Asirion’s blood. But Aeryl had legs that were longer and in perfect shape—he was twice as fast.

“Got you!”

He barely managed to grab Sorel’s arm and stop him.

“Let go!”

“No. You’ll just run again. Why do you always run when you see me?”

“Ugh, I said let go!”

“Just your ankle. I’m only going to look at your ankle.”

Aeryl scooped him up and sat him on the nearest rock. He worried Sorel might keep resisting, but the boy went quiet with a bright red face. Was hugging him the answer? Aeryl took off his shoe and sock and checked the ankle.

“Oh no—how can you run in this condition? You shouldn’t even be practicing swordsmanship. You hurt it during practice, didn’t you?”

“…”

“For now, no sword practice, no running, and stay calm.”

“No!”

“If you don’t treat it now, it’ll become chronic. You’ll suffer your whole life.”

“But…”

The boy bit his lip, looking so anxious it was like something terrible had happened.

“What’s wrong? Is someone going to scold you if you stop training? I’ll explain everything.”

“No… They won’t scold me, but…”

He hesitated, then barely got the words out in a small voice.

“I have to move on to the second form… But even the first form is too hard. I have to practice on my own just to keep up with Sir Chief’s lessons. My brother mastered all ten forms at my age… and I’m struggling with the first. I’m just… stupid.”

The more he spoke, the more his eyes filled with tears. Soon, they began to fall one by one. Aeryl panicked.

‘He’s crying? Was that the wrong thing to ask? How do I calm him down? Oh no…! I made a kid cry!’

He’d soothed crying children before—when they were sick or scared—but never one who cried just from talking. Pheromones? Maybe pheromones would help now? He released a strong wave of them just in case.

But the boy didn’t calm down easily.

“A stupid little brother like me… My brother doesn’t need me. That’s why he doesn’t like me. And Mother… Mother…”

Waaah. Once he started crying, it only got louder.

“That’s not true. His Grace would never hate you. He wouldn’t.”

“Everyone says that!”

“Then they must be wrong…”

Aeryl truly tried his best to comfort Sorel—but all he realized was that he had no talent for handling children.

“Young Master!”

At that moment, women in navy dresses came running. Lady Merel’s ladies-in-waiting. They hurriedly stepped between Aeryl and Sorel, shielding the boy.

“Step away from the young master.”

“Excuse me?”

They acted as if Aeryl were some kind of threat.

‘…Yeah, okay. That’s understandable.’

He’d chased the kid down, forced him to sit, and made him cry. No wonder they’d gotten the wrong idea. Of all places, they were also right between the East Wing and the Central Wing—someone must’ve heard the noise and come running.

“This is a misunderstanding,” Aeryl said, stepping back and revealing the most important truth. It would’ve been fine if it ended with the ladies-in-waiting. But right behind them came Lady Merel, lifting her skirts as she stormed toward them.

“What do you think you’re doing to my son?!”

Lady Merel shouted in fury, abandoning both dignity and grace as she charged at Aeryl.

“It’s not like that! This is a misunderstanding!”

Aeryl spoke urgently.

“I saw everything! And now you try to talk your way out of it with lies?”

The lady trembled with rage, and finally raised her right hand high into the air.

She’s going to hit me!

Aeryl reflexively squeezed his eyes shut—but then Sorel threw himself forward and shoved Aeryl to the side.

Thud.

Aeryl toppled over with a faint sound, and the lady’s hand missed its mark and struck Sorel’s head instead.

“Sorel!”

“Young Master!”

Lady Merel and her ladies-in-waiting all screamed at once and rushed toward the boy. But Sorel stood in front of Aeryl with his arms spread wide, as if protecting him. Even with teary eyes and short little limbs, he looked surprisingly solid.

Aeryl sat up. He’d fallen, but the ground was grass and hadn’t hurt. Still, his legs were too weak to get back up right away.

“Stop. Please stop, Mother.”

Sorel bit his lip as if something was surging up inside him. His face looked like he might burst into tears at any moment, but he forced the words out.

“The doctor… he’s… a good person.”

“There’s no need to defend him. I saw him chase you down and grab you.”

“But that was… because I… hurt my ankle, and he was trying to treat it!”

The boy hesitated, then shut his eyes tight and shouted. Tears finally rolled down his round cheeks. His small body trembled all over. The fear he was facing was painfully evident. A child who could endure pain without complaint—so afraid of his own mother.

An adult couldn’t just stand by and watch. Aeryl gathered his strength and stood up.

“It’s true, madam. I only intended to treat the young lord’s ankle—there was no other motive.”

“Sorel. Is that true?”

“Y-yeah…”

When the boy answered, shrinking back in fear, the lady’s eyes grew even sharper.

“Why didn’t you say anything? If you’d just told me you were hurt, none of this would’ve happened!”

The child shrank even more. Aeryl couldn’t hold back any longer.

“You scold him like that, of course he can’t say anything.”

“What?! And what would you know?!”

“Sometimes it’s easier for an outsider to see the truth.”

Since he’d spoken up, Aeryl decided to say everything that had been bothering him. He knew it was overstepping to speak on another family’s matters—but seeing Sorel neglected brought back memories of his own childhood, and he couldn’t stay silent.

His maternal family had been one of the most prestigious in the realm. As a grandson, he was never treated poorly—but he had always felt lonely. His grandparents were busy, and the servants only fulfilled their duties. A child whose own parents didn’t care for him had no choice but to grow up in solitude.

“I’ve only been at the palace a few days, but even I can see how harshly Your Ladyship treats the young lord. He’s still just a child, but you leave him wandering alone. You didn’t notice he was injured. You pressure him to continue sword training despite the pain. Aren’t you being far too indifferent toward your own son?”

He kept going—until Sorel suddenly tugged at his sleeve and tried to stop him.

“Stop! Mother’s already struggling because of me!”

Sorel looked up at Aeryl with a hurt expression. I’m on your side—why are you looking at me like that?

Yes, it was personal. But it wasn’t like he was making anything up.

Aeryl, flustered, turned instinctively toward Lady Merel—and was stunned again. Instead of being even angrier, she looked utterly crushed. The phrase a heart breaking into pieces came to mind unbidden.

‘Why…?’

Then, her next action surprised him even more. Without caring about dirtying her dress, she knelt down and wrapped Sorel in her arms. The boy clung to her at once, as if he’d been waiting for it.

With a trembling hand, she gently stroked the back of his head—like she was cradling something unimaginably precious.