Damian woke up around noon.
“Where is my mother?”
As soon as he woke up, he looked for Cornelia with a frown, and Sardine answered him in a way that would not make him feel uncomfortable.
“Young Master, the lady will be away for a few days due to important matters.
The trip to the capital is fraught with danger, so please understand.”
"I know."
Damian was surprisingly calm and didn't cry like he expected.
“My mother tries to protect me too much.”
He sat there with an expression of resignation unbecoming his age.
“Little master”
Concerned, Sardin called out softly, and Damian let out a deep sigh.
“I expected this to happen, so I took precautions.”
He couldn't understand what that meant, but Damian looked very disappointed.
'This is the best way to handle this.'
Sardine sighed and took out his secret weapon, which he had hidden.
“Young master, it’s lemon candy.”
As he handed it over, Damian frowned and frowned.
“Does Sadie think I'm a child?”
However, contrary to his words, Damian eagerly opened the candy.
His little fingers struggled with it, making him show a frustrated expression.
'Tch, even though I look like this, I will be the one to lead this empire in the future… Anyway, now is not the time to be like this.'
Sardin calmly took the candy, opened it, and handed it back to Damian.
Damian then shoved the candy into his mouth, puffing out his cheeks.
“I'm not crying because I'm afraid!
I'm crying because I have no choice.”
His pronunciation was imprecise, but Sardine understood that he was eating the candy because he was feeling down.
"Are you in pain?
Should I call a doctor...?"
Damian then took the candy out of his mouth, annoyed.
"What are you talking about?
I'm very healthy!
I don't need to take medicine!"
Sardine guessed what he meant.
Cornelia didn't know, but Damian was careful not to even catch a cold because he didn't want to take medicine.
'In addition, he secretly disposes of the potion that changes the color of his eyes, and which gives him headaches.'
At that moment,
Damien grabbed Sardin's sleeve.
“Sadie, I want to go for a walk.”
With his eyes sparkling, Sardine couldn't help but smile.
“Yes, then let's get ready...”
As he thought of the knights to accompany them, Damian smiled and said, “No, let’s go for a walk, just the two of us.
Powerful sadist!”
At those words, Sardine laughed and nodded.
"concept."
“Then carry me!”
At Damien's request, Sardin carried him on his back.
"There!
Hurry there!"
Whenever there was somewhere he wanted to go, Damien would pull Sardin's hair.
“Young Master, if you could be a little gentler...”
“Yes!
I understand, so hurry over there!”
Although he was worried internally, Sardin was grateful for his thick hair.
"Sadie!
There!"
'Where is it leading me...'
Sardin's face hardened when he saw someone.
The individual had a powerful build that stood out even under the cloak, bright blonde hair slightly visible under the hood, and a defined jaw with tightly closed lips.
Above all, Sardin recognized him because of his distinctive aura.
There was only one person who could blend into the crowd as if he did not exist.
‘Duke Brant, how did he get here…?’
"Sadie!
Hurry!"
Sardin was sure.
For some reason, Damien was trying to follow Duke Brant.
'Why is he…'
With his mind blank, Sardin quickly picked up Damien, who was squirming and calling out to him.
"sadist!"
Despite Damian's resistance, Sardin ignored him and quickly left the alley.
He felt a constant ominous feeling.
Yes, the peace he has now may be shattered.
‘Hurry… I must report that the Duke has arrived in the territory!’
At that moment-
“You haven't regained consciousness yet.”
At the child's clear but bitter voice, Sardin's eyes widened.
Before he could comprehend those words, the ground beneath him began to glow.
'Could it be… magic?'
Unlike alchemists, who lived among the people and provided practical assistance, magic could only be used by a select few.
So people admired and feared wizards, and for a long time, those who were persecuted and exploited by non-witches chose to live isolated from the world, living in a tower.
'But there is a wizard here?'
Sardine rolled his eyes in confusion.
“Put me down.”
Damian, who was in his arms, touched his arm with a finger.
Knock-!
It was clearly a weak force.
So weak that even if he touched a dandelion seed, only a few strands would scatter.
However, at that moment, the arm that was tightly holding Demian became limp.
Startled, Sardin instinctively called out to Demian.
“Young master!”
But instead of falling from his arms, Damian was floating in the air.
It was covered in a bright golden glow that was almost blinding.
‘How could Young Master…’
While Sardine stared in shock.
“Sardine Ichaca.”
Sardine shuddered when his full name, which he had told no one, was called.
'What's going on here?'
Damian, known for using unusually advanced vocabulary for a three-year-old boy, spoke up.
The little boy radiated an unsettling and terrifying aura, like the presence of an absolute ruler, the Emperor himself.
'Yes, and that magic power is definitely Young Master's.'
Faced with the incomprehensible unknown, Sardin came to a conclusion.
'This is dangerous.
I have to run away.'
As Sardine was about to move his legs quickly,
“Stay still!”
The golden magic bound his body.
Now unable to move, Sardine looked at Damian.
The anger was evident on the young Damian's face.
“You were going to report again, weren't you?
To Archduke Tarrant, or rather, to the Archduke's heir.”
At those words, Sardin's face turned pale.
Damian whispered to Sardin, who was trembling without speaking.
“I know.
You are cooperating with him to avenge your father by killing the Emperor.
But, Sardine.”
Damien looked at Sardin with a face that looked like he was about to cry and spoke.
"You know that too.
The Emperor didn't kill your father.
And you… you don't want my mother to die either!"
Sardin wanted to ask what he meant by that.
After all, Reinhardt said he would take Cornelia as his wife.
'But is he saying he will kill my lady?'
As Sardin felt flustered, the little boy's lips parted.
“You'd better meditate here and collect your thoughts.
If you don't want to regret it all your life.”
Sardin looked surprised and asked, “Why, even though you knew I was a spy, you didn’t kill me?
With your strength, you could do that easily.”
The child then frowned and replied.
“Well, even though you were ordered by Archduke Tarrant, you didn't try to kill me, did you?
Of course, Janet was watching, but you didn't intend to harm me in the first place.
Right?”
“How do you know...?”
As the stunned Sardin was about to ask, Damian smiled sheepishly and smiled like sweet cotton.
“Sardin, I believe in you.
You will definitely be my knight leader, protecting me in the future!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a light flooded Demian's body.
《Instant teleportation.》
As the child's figure finally disappeared, Sardine wore a stunned expression.
The child, who thought he was just cute, not only discovered his identity, but also learned how to use magic.
Moreover, he even scolded him.
'It feels like I was bewitched by a fairy and was dreaming.'
Sardine's expression turned bitter.
'Yes, I knew.
The one who killed my father was not the Emperor, but a blind arrow from our side.'
However, needing someone to blame, he sought revenge on the enemy commander.
Although Emperor Schwanhild only ordered the suppression of General Krethan, who invaded first.
‘In the end, this revenge was absurd, and I was so overwhelmed with emotions that I volunteered to be used by Archduke Tarrant.’
At the same time, Sardin recalled another reason that he could not reveal.
‘But I loved being with you two… I thought I would have to leave if my identity was revealed, so I had no choice but to follow his words.
And yet you two...'
Sardin remembered Cornelia and the child who had said the same thing, and he shed tears full of remorse.
Meanwhile, Eric was wandering the territory, investigating Countess Heard.
The more he achieved, the more he liked it.
‘Countess Heard is a brilliant strategist, beyond my expectations.’
Even though she was with the Emperor, he couldn't help but acknowledge her.
Its achievement was that the province, which had been only a remote area for five years, was transformed into a city.
‘Honestly, it would not be an exaggeration to say that she has a talent superior to that of the Emperor as a feudal lord.’
But the admiration was short-lived, and soon Eric's eyes lit up.
'I still can't find any connection to the Emperor.'
Eric narrowed his eyes as he stared at the palace visible in the center of the territory.
'I'd better sneak in there.'
As Eric was about to move, the hem of his cloak was grabbed.
'What is this?'
Eric's blue eyes widened as he turned his head, surprised that the Sword Master didn't sense his presence.
"my dad!"
The child had soft, chick-colored hair and a face like fluffy white bread.
The child he saw in his dreams was smiling brightly at him.