# Chapter 29
Chapter 29
“Ha ha...
It seems Prince Kiriel was very sensitive.
Don’t worry, Your Grace.”
“Yes!
Why... didn’t Prince Kiriel follow the late Duke Dios very well?”
“Yeah, he was a remarkable person.
The true hero is definitely Duke Dios.”
To ease the tense atmosphere, the retainers tried to speak one by one, but Rudebrite Udia's face hardened.
He frowned, clicked his tongue, and shook his head in displeasure.
“Tsk.
Why bring up a dead man who already lost to the demon race?”
“No... we just wanted to express the greatness of the late Duke...”
“If you’re going to chatter, then get out.
Or do you want a refresher course in manners?”
“Y-Yes...?
Oh, no.”
The retainers glanced nervously, and when they caught the cold gaze of Kline, who was crossing his arms, they eventually stood up and left.
“You too, get lost in front of me, you guys.”
“You really don’t know how to speak nicely.”
Kline Udia chuckled as he uncrossed his arms.
The muscular man casually shrugged while looking at Rudebrite, who glared at him fiercely like a grumpy old man.
“It’s not really Dad’s fault that my brother died, so don’t worry about it.
The youngest is just being childish.”
“Shut up and get lost?”
“It doesn’t matter if you have a child.
It’s okay to show weakness sometimes.
No one would spread rumors if Dad shed a few tears.”
Kline Udia casually added, resting his chin on his hand, and Rudebrite's eyes narrowed, veins bulging.
“It was sad when my brother died.
Not being able to protect him is on all of us.
So there’s no need to blame yourself.”
“You brats really take your father lightly.
Shut up and leave!”
“Honestly... you’re not being honest.”
Kline clicked his tongue, and Rudebrite glared at him fiercely.
“Well, I’ll take care of this.
I’m curious to see if what my nephew said is true...
If that’s true, I might understand how dungeons are generated.”
It’s bothersome, but...
Scratching the back of his head, Kline picked up a crystal from the table and stood up, waving lightly as he left the meeting room.
“Why aren’t you leaving?”
“Just because.
They say only daughters can soothe things like this.”
“Stop being ridiculous and think about getting married soon.
You don’t seem interested in showing me grandchildren at all.”
“I have a brother for grandchildren.
He’s first in line, and unlike him, he has a good personality.
What more do you need?”
Saramé frowned, waved her hand, and quickly stood up.
Click clack.
As she walked toward the meeting room door, Saramé paused and glanced back.
“Don’t cry too much alone~”
Lightly adding her words, Saramé waved her hand and left the meeting room, closing the door behind her.
“Seriously, all of them are brats...
Who’s crying?”
Rudebrite clicked his tongue in annoyance, raising his large, calloused hand to slowly cover his face with his palm.
“…Father is always like that.
Like my opinion doesn’t matter.
I wish I weren’t my father’s son.”
What good is it for someone who doesn’t deserve to cry to cry?
The last voice of his son echoes in his mind heavily, leaving any late response or apology to just resonate within him for years.
---
As Kiriel walked through the long corridor to return to his room, he turned toward the shrine within the mansion.
While walking briskly, something small and warm suddenly touched Kiriel's cheek.
Startled, Kiriel's eyes widened slightly.
Looking down, he saw Burni, who had woken up at some point, staring at him intently.
With his sparkling pink eyes and flowing water-like hair, he was almost transparent.
“Oh dear, did I wake you?”
“Prince, your face is hard.”
Kiriel paused at Burni's blunt remark.
Chuckling at the child's straightforwardness, he gently ruffled Burni's hair with the arm he wasn’t holding the child with.
“Is my face hard?
I’m not angry.”
“Yeah.
Not angry.
Prince is sad.
Crying?”
Kiriel’s eyes widened slightly as he tried to maintain a neutral expression and resumed walking slowly.
“If the prince is sad... then Burni is sad.”
At the softly ringing voice, he stopped completely.
“Why do you think I’m sad?
I just got a little upset because my father said something that made me angry.”
“…Almost right.”
Burni spoke.
“I know everything.
I’m not a baby.”
Burni stretched his short arms and hugged Kiriel’s neck a little tightly.
Unknowingly, Kiriel took a deep breath at the child’s warmth.
“Luri said that if you don’t express sadness, it rots.
So when you’re sad... you have to cry.”
“…That’s strange.
I’m not particularly sad.”
Kiriel chuckled softly as he carefully stroked the child’s back while standing in front of the shrine.
The shrine was Kiriel Udia's refuge.
When he locked himself in the prayer room, no one would disturb him, and no one would come looking for him.
After Dios’s death, when Kiriel was helplessly holed up in the shrine’s prayer room, Rudebrite had forbidden him from entering the shrine.
After being chased from the shrine, Kiriel was often found on the verge of starvation in his room.
After being found like this a few times, Rudebrite lifted the ban on entering the shrine.
After that, an unspoken rule was established in the shrine.
If Kiriel Udia enters the prayer room, do not disturb him.
It was based on the judgment that at least Kiriel wouldn’t die in the shrine, which was a place his mother loved and where his brother often visited.
Kiriel looked down at the child cradled in his arms, who was gazing up at him with clear eyes.
“When you cry, it’s not just babies that should cry; adults should too.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah!
Not crying is not a big deal.
It’s about crying and then getting back up, eating well tomorrow, and doing fun things like playing and brushing your teeth!”
“I see.”
Seeing Burni wiggle his fingers and give a thumbs-up made Kiriel smile softly.
“So when Burni is sad, he cries too.
And then tomorrow he should have fun.”
“Impressive.
Our daughter is better than me.”
“…Hehe.”
Burni rubbed his face against Kiriel’s clothing.
Kiriel stroked the child’s hair a few times.
“But when you’re really, really crying... you should have Toto beside your pillow and hug Magomi tightly to sleep.
Because Toto eats your nightmares, and Magomi comforts you…”
Burni patted his chest with his small hands and nodded vigorously.
“Now that Burni is a grown-up, I’ll lend you the prince.”
Isn’t that amazing?
It seemed like the child’s proud little nose was asking that.
A faint smile appeared on Kiriel’s lips.
“Did something sad happen to my daughter?”
“Yeah!”
“What was it?”
Remembering when Burni cried a lot when the quail eggs hatched, Kiriel thought it was quite cute and lightly threw out the question.
“Burni parted with Luri...
Mom and Dad aren’t here...
I was a little sad when I was alone...”
At the unexpected words, Kiriel's eyes widened.
Worried that she might be crying, he looked down, but Burni wasn’t crying.
In fact, he was smiling.
“So, to become a great adult, you need a strong dad, and I was happy when the prince said he would protect Burni.”
After wriggling his body, Burni suddenly hugged Kiriel’s neck tightly, and Kiriel silently stroked the child’s back while tilting his head.
He could see the blue sky.
A blue sky that resembled the hair color of his brother and mother.
Now that he thought about it, the child’s hair color was also a similar watercolor.
Maybe he accepted this child because that hair color stood out so much in the room of blessings.
“Daughter, shall we go back to the room?”
“Yeah!”
At the child's lively response, Kiriel, who was standing in front of the shrine, slowly turned and headed back to the mansion.
It wasn’t unusual to spend the whole day with Allen, loitering around the room, eating, sleeping, and playing games together.