He’s My Real Brother, Duke – Chapter 126

Author: Nikss

The Crown Prince stepped closer to the Duke of Cornwall, the glass clattering at his feet with each step.

With a shattering sound, the Crown Prince removed the Duke of Cornwall’s coat and whispered.

“So, Astel, the woman you told me about, is she really the daughter of Count Vietry’s?”

“I am sure of it.”

“But it is very strange, I do not believe a word you say. I have no faith in you at all, I wonder why.”

“…”

“Have you been under some spell, Duke?”

The Duke of Cornwall’s gaze met the Crown Prince’s dark one.

“Well, I’ll take you as one of my own, at least for this one thing…”

In a way, all of this was a chance for him to relieve his thoughts of superiority.

“For now, we’ll move forward with the plan. Now that we have a girl to serve as our sacrifice, whether she’s a vixen or not, we can move things along.”

“I’ve been thinking about it…”

Cornwall spoke up, his voice was trembling.

“Couldn’t… that wench be a direct blood relative of House Vietry…?”

“Nonsense.”

“…But.”

“The wench has been in and out of the palace like a nobody. If it’s a direct blood relative of the Vietry family, she shouldn’t be allowed in the palace. Do you think the palace’s security is that poor?”

The Crown Prince simply dismissed Cornwall’s words and turned back to staring out in the window.

In a world of humans, with no such thing as an arrogant prince, he would ascend to the highest throne. Then everything would fall into place in this twisted world.

🐾

“Ahh!”

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot from my wrist.

I dropped the quill in my hand to the floor as the pain stabbed through my wrist like a dagger. I quickly checked the magic circle on the inside of my wrist.

Furthermore, I could see a faint glow coming from my wrist. I gritted my teeth and clutched it.

‘The magic circle is losing its strength at an alarming rate.’

It was natural. The confrontation with Cornwall had pushed me over the edge, and the Crown Prince, or Cornwall, or whoever it was, would be tracking me and my brother.

I lowered my eyes deeply into my hands.

“Then it’s time to get on with what must be done.”

There was more to it than simply preparing for revenge.

“We must begin by reuniting my brother with Rune.”

That way, if Rune were to end up alone in that world, he would still have memories with his father.

I needed to help Rune recognize his father’s face before he joined the upcoming demon war. I tugged on the string to summon Rune, who was playing with Mimi.

“Astel!”

Rune jumped into my arms like a cute little baby he was.

“Do you want to play with me?”

“Hmm!”

From morning to noon, Rune and I spent the day sunbathing in the garden, sitting in the glorious sunshine, and doing puzzles.

But my brother, whom I was secretly trying to summon, was nowhere to be seen.

It wasn’t until later in the evening, when the sun was beginning to set, that I saw Cassian on the garden path.

“You look tired, you must have been very busy.”

Apparently, he’d been up all day and night researching the details of the creature for my request.

I looked toward Cassian as he walked slowly towards the garden tree where I was, and suddenly Rune froze in my arms.

“You’ve been outside with Rune all day for the first time today, haven’t you?”

“Huh? All day?”

“Yeah, and we had a lot of fun in the sun. Didn’t we?”

“Mmm…!”

Rune’s face brightened, then turned sad.

I was distressed, not knowing what was wrong with him, but I didn’t have long to dwell on his words.

Cassian was almost at our front door. He paused at the sight of the milky-skinned baby in my arms.

“What?”

Rune, not knowing what to say, smiled brightly and waved sweetly at my brother.

“You should be polite, it’s Mr. Knight.”

“Huh? Mr. Knight…?”

A blush spread across his cheeks.

“Hello, let’s go.”

“Mmm!”

I hugged Rune tightly and waved at my brother.

Revenge was important, but I also planned to bring Rune and my brother closer together.

“His name is Rune.”

“You’re Rune.”

“I’m Rune!”

Rune grinned broadly and tilted his head from side to side.

Then he tugged at the golden stitches on Cassian’s shoulder and blinked in confusion.

“Clothes…”

“Yeah, nice clothes, huh?”

“The knight’s… my Daddy?”

I scratched my head for a moment. Rune’s words seemed a bit confusing.

“The kid called me father…”

Rune shook his head, looking even more confused than I was.

“Who…?”

“…?”

“If you wear knight-clothes… you’re my Daddy…”

I was stunned by a thought that came to me in a flash.

“So Rune thinks Knox is his dad, anyway!”

…By the way, did I hear that right?

“That’s not true, Rune, there’s only one dad, and not everybody who wears a knight’s uniform is your dad.”

I quickly tried to calm the situation.

But I had forgotten one thing, Cassian. He looked a little shocked and stumbled as if his legs were unsteady.

“What do you mean, you have two fathers?”

“Aah! Duke is my dad!”

‘Not in front of his real dad!’

I was momentarily confused. ‘No, I couldn’t just go and tell Rune that Cassian was his real dad!’

To calm the situation, I whispered urgently in Rune’s ear.

“Um… this guy is more like your dad, don’t you think?”

“Huh?”

Rune tilted his head, his bright eyes twinkling. I carefully leaned in and whispered in Rune’s ear again.

“You look a lot like him.”

Rune’s eyes narrowed, and he clasped his hands in front of his chest.

“But Duke is more handsome.”

“…”

“What?”

Cassian stared at the boy in shock. I felt uneasy at the look of betrayal on my brother’s face.

He looked like a man who had just been told that his childhood friend was the enemy of his parents.

But Rune was not done with his shocking remarks.

“And, yes, Daddy is a good person, and it’s first meeting Mr. Knight.” (Yes, Duke is a good person, and it’s my first time seeing Mr. Knight.)

“See, you’ve seen him, haven’t you?”

“No!”

He’d seen Cassian briefly once before, but he didn’t seem to remember.

While Rune rambled on and on, Cassian quickly came to his senses. He quietly stepped to the side and took Rune from me.

“I’m sorry, I’ll see you often and have fun with you. Put me in the candidate for dad.”

The heavy beads of sweat on his forehead and the clumsy way he held him were typical of a new father.

Rune nodded enthusiastically as he tugged at the golden stitches on Cassian’s shoulder.

“I’ll see you! Because you’re a Knight!”

The brilliant spring sunlight shone between them. I smiled proudly, wondering if maybe they’d gotten a little closer.

But then it happened. Rune gave Cassian a glare, pointed to the gorgeous sunset, and quickly covered his eyes.

“Huh, no…”

Rune muttered gloomily, shielding his eyes from him.

“We’ve been out too long. Come in now.”

“What do you mean, You’ve been outside too long?”

He had been outside often enough, but Rune had never shielded his eyes like that.

I exchanged a puzzled glance with my brother, but Rune didn’t take his hand away from his eyes and spoke carefully.

“No, I’m not…” said Rune.

I gently asked, wondering if it was just a baby thing.

“Huh? Why?”

Rune replied, smiling brightly, “I’m weak, and I have to go home soon.”

“What’s wrong with that…?”

“Teacher said I can’t see too much light, I can play in the dark…” exclaimed Rune.

So far, Rune had been having fun outside, but within a few hours, he’d be back inside.

‘I thought you just preferred to play inside?’

I asked, stunned by the innocence in his voice.

“…Huh?”

I was too afraid to blink now.

“You’ve been out in the light too much, look…” said Rune.

Rune buried his face in Cassian’s chest, as if to block out the light from even the slits in his hands.

“Now die,” added Rune.

The words sounded grim, to say the least. I cautiously opened my mouth to speak to my brother, who was panicking and barely breathing.

“Oh, I guess he heard a lot of bad things about that nursery school…”

The people at the nursery, who knew of Rune’s condition, thought he would die quickly.

‘If he died outside, it would be hard to find his body, so they kept him inside the whole time.’

I bit my lip hard. It’s the first day since he met him, and his scars are showing.

I hadn’t been paying attention to his feelings. I wanted him to be happy for the rest of his life, but he didn’t show me that he was sick, so I didn’t pay much attention to it.

My heart was breaking, but I tried my best to say.

“No, you’re not dying.”

“No! Die!”

I held Rune in my arms and hugged him, unsure of what to say.

Just then, my brother rushed over and said, “You can look at it a lot. If I play with you.”

“Huh?”

Rune, who’d covered his hands as if to shield them from the light, carefully opened his tiny hands and quickly closed them again.

“I’m scared…”

Cassian’s jaw tightened as he carefully took the tiny baby’s hand. I watched them still.

The sight of Cassian’s hands, rough and calloused like a knight’s, contrasted with Rune’s pure white bracken hands, and my heart ached.

“Mr. Knight…”

“Yes?”