I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother Chapter 74

Perhaps my gaze had wavered slightly, because Dazar softened his sullen expression a little and waved his hand.

“It’s nothing serious. You’ve probably already figured out that the rebels they’re trying to weed out here are the ‘Followers of Ruben,’ right?”

I nodded. Unless I was an idiot, there was no way I wouldn’t have known.

Then I subtly changed the subject.

“I did think they were probably the ones. But they only said there were ‘Followers of Ruben.’ They never said they were going to arrest them, did they?”

“That’s right. They didn’t. But it seems your Leticia has changed her mind.”

“What? Leticia?”

I blinked, looking as though I couldn’t understand why Leticia was suddenly being mentioned here. Dazar narrowed his eyes as if I were being ridiculous.

“You know Leticia is the Emperor.”

“……!”

Th-that was supposed to be a secret.

When I made a guilty face, Dazar continued with an expression that said he knew it.

“Your Majesty seems to have decided, for some reason, to arrest every one of them during this Hall of Rest. This is something we didn’t discuss beforehand. So I’m just as confused by the current situation.”

“Hmm……”

So he was confused too.

But before that.

“Leticia is the Emperor? I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

Let’s clear this up first.

When I shamelessly denied it with an innocent expression, Dazar raised one corner of his mouth as though he found it amusing.

“Sure. Well, if that’s what you say. Let’s say that’s the case.”

Oh, thank goodness.

I was so grateful that I suddenly wanted to hurry into my room.

“Anyway, about that kid.”

Dazar raised his index finger and poked it toward Axion. So all my attempts to change the subject had been useless.

I hugged Axion slightly protectively and asked,

“What about Axion?”

“Why are you being so defensive? Is someone trying to hurt this kid? What kind of person is he?”

Dazar looked around after seeing my gesture.

I waved my hands dismissively.

“No, no. It’s not that…… Things are just a little chaotic right now. And those ‘Followers of Ruben’ are kind of scary.”

“Yeah. So…… I thought there was a chance his heart might be discovered by them. That’s why I came looking for you.”

Something about his behavior seemed suspicious, but I pretended not to notice and asked,

“……The Demon Dragon’s Dragon Heart?”

“You know the Followers of Ruben want the end of the world, right? They don’t just wish for it. They also commit acts that actually help bring about the end of the world. For example, gaining power capable of destroying the world.”

“Uwaah?”

When Dazar’s golden eyes turned toward Axion, Axion tilted his head.

The sight was incredibly cute, but I couldn’t simply smile at him.

“Why are you only telling me this now? Doesn’t that mean Axion could become their target?”

“……That’s because until now, the ‘Followers of Ruben’ didn’t know he existed. And did you forget that I personally placed a barrier around him? Even the other Transcendents can’t recognize him.”

“…….”

That was true.

“The reason his heart poses a threat to the Transcendents is partly because it itself contains an evil aura.”

Dazar stared blankly at Axion’s tiny hand reaching toward him, then gently took that hand as he muttered,

“But it’s also because it could become a tool for the Followers of Ruben.”

“…….”

Wasn’t he telling me something incredibly huge at a really strange time?

We were in the middle of the Hall of Rest, where rebels were being hunted down, walking along the corridor toward our rooms, when the thought suddenly crossed my mind.

My head began to ache, and I narrowed my eyes while pressing a hand against my forehead.

“I roughly understand what you mean. So is Axion in danger right now?”

“No.”

……What?

“Then why did you come all the way here?”

“Well, that……”

Unlike himself, Dazar stammered.

“I just came to check. Just to check.”

“…….”

Something about that explanation was lacking.

Anyway, unlike Cedric, Dazar hadn’t known that Leticia would arrest the ‘Followers of Ruben’ like this.

So Cedric was the only one who hadn’t told me.

What an infuriating bastard.

As I thought of Cedric, whom I had encountered earlier, another thing that had happened before that suddenly came to mind.

Come to think of it……

“Ah. I saw a strange minstrel earlier.”

“A strange minstrel?”

“Yes. I was with Eishu and Cora earlier……”

I told him everything without leaving anything out—the distortion of space I had experienced, the minstrel’s song, and everything Cora had said.

Dazar listened to me with a serious expression, but his face gradually grew cold.

“The minstrel sang a song like that?”

“Yes. Could that person be one of the Followers of Ruben?”

“…….”

After hearing everything I had to say, Dazar’s face was expressionless. There was no concern or anxiety in his eyes.

He simply looked angry.

“That guy……”

He muttered something under his breath so quietly that I couldn’t hear it, then waved his hand as if telling me not to worry.

“Don’t concern yourself with that. It has nothing to do with the Followers of Ruben.”

“……Really?”

He seemed to know who that minstrel was.

But Eishu and Cora seemed not to know. So why was Dazar the only one who knew?

He seemed to be an incredible existence, powerful enough to surpass even Cora’s abilities.

Something felt off, but Dazar’s expression was so grim that I couldn’t bring myself to ask.

Watching him carefully, I suddenly thought,

‘There’s some kind of distance between us.’

I had gone on picnics with him and Vanilla like a family, and he had helped me at this banquet too.

I thought I was getting to know him in my own way.

Yet it felt as though I had discovered a side of him that I knew absolutely nothing about.

And that was the same feeling I got whenever he talked about things related to his previous life.

‘Something is suspicious.’

Would the day ever come when I could find out?

Thinking that, I remembered Cora.

‘Cora asked me to tell her if I found out anything about that minstrel.’

Judging by Dazar’s reaction, I wouldn’t be able to tell her.

Perhaps because confusing things had been happening one after another since earlier, my entire body felt exhausted.

I looked at Axion, who was toddling around me in circles, and let my shoulders droop slightly.

“So, we’re done here, right?”

Now that he had finished checking on things, I was thinking of heading back to my room.

I asked while holding Axion’s hand, and just as Dazar, who had been standing there with a frown, said, “Ah,” and reached toward me—

“Yes. His business should be finished. No, it should be.”

It wasn’t Dazar’s voice.

Another voice had spoken.

This voice was familiar too.

“Morocanil?”

“Yes, Cilia.”

I turned my head with a startled expression.

There stood Morocanil, smiling, his entire body seemingly giving off its own light.

Morocanil, scattering his own radiance, was a familiar sight.

But the Imperial Knights standing behind him were not.

“……What?”

Dazar raised an eyebrow as he looked at Morocanil, who was standing there as though confronting him, apparently sensing that something was strange.

As tension began to stretch taut between the two of them, I hurriedly picked Axion up.

“Come this way.”

At that moment, Morocanil gently took my wrist and pulled me toward him.

Huh?

Before I could even react, I found myself standing behind Morocanil.

I was still surprised that Morocanil had managed to pull someone with iron arms and iron legs like me so easily when Dazar’s voice reached my ears, making me blink.

“What are you trying to do?”

Dazar looked utterly bewildered.

He stared incredulously at Morocanil, who had taken me away as though protecting me from him, and let out a hollow laugh.

I was just as confused about what was happening.

Then Morocanil’s answer made my body stiffen.

“I am protecting her from someone who may be…… a Follower of Ruben.”

What?

A Follower of Ruben?

The very people Dazar had just warned me to be careful of?

Dazar let out a derisive laugh and stood at an angle.

“Just what kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

Morocanil stood his ground.

“I wish it were nonsense as well, but I have someone’s testimony.”

“……Testimony?”

Someone had testified?

Had one of the captured Followers of Ruben informed on him?

Without answering Dazar’s question, Morocanil nodded toward the Imperial Knights standing behind him.

The knights approached Dazar with a slight hesitation.

Even for them, the current situation must have seemed strange.

They were arresting a great noble of the Empire and a Transcendent who protected the Empire.

Dazar raised an eyebrow.

“It would be best if you came along willingly. As you know, this is the Imperial Palace.”

“……If you’re acting like this, then His Majesty knows about it too.”

At Dazar’s chilly question, Morocanil gave a short nod.

“Yes. Of course.”

“…….”

That meant this was essentially Scarlett’s order.

At Morocanil’s answer, Dazar stopped asking questions and fell silent.

Then he calmly stepped behind Morocanil.

“Well, then. Let’s go.”

“……Dazar?”

Despite being the one getting arrested, Dazar looked far too calm.

And Morocanil, the one arresting him, was no different.

I was the only one watching the situation in complete confusion.

‘What on earth is going on?’

Was Dazar a Follower of Ruben?

‘That makes no sense.’

Perhaps he could read the confusion in my eyes, because Dazar casually spoke as he passed me.

“Wait quietly at the estate. I’ll be back soon.”

……Are you even going to be able to come back?

“And don’t forget to make me that rice when I get back.”

Leaving behind an absurdly carefree message asking me to make him soy sauce egg rice, he strode away.

I stood there blankly, watching Dazar disappear together with Morocanil.

“Waaah!”

Perhaps sensing that I was flustered, Axion began to cry.

I wanted to cry too.

“What on earth is going on……?”