# Chapter 65
“What on earth are you saying?
My dead brother had a daughter?
It’s been years since he disappeared.
Are you suggesting he had a child with someone posthumously?”
“Pegasus found her.
She is confirmed to have Eudia’s bloodline.”
“…Hah?”
Klein Eudia let out a dry laugh, crossing his arms and running a hand roughly through his hair.
The story was so absurd that disbelief welled up inside him.
But with the sacred beast making the confirmation, there was no room for argument.
Sacred beasts were divine creatures by nature.
They did not lie.
If Pegasus had identified her, it was unlikely to be wrong.
Even Rudebrid, sensing Klein’s disbelief and frustration, ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.
“I hear she’s about six years old now.
Coincidentally, that’s around the time he went missing.”
“So, you’re saying he must have been seeing someone before he disappeared?
With his personality?”
“Precisely because of his personality.
After he wielded Orhator, the sacred sword used by the founding patriarch, he was pushed endlessly.
Perhaps he was lonely.”
At Rudebrid’s words, Klein’s expression twisted further.
“How exactly did you find out about this?
And why now?”
“I don’t know.
Perhaps she was too far away until now.
Pegasus only recently detected her and informed me.
Her face… it resembles him unmistakably.”
Rudebrid murmured softly, his voice tinged with a longing he hadn’t expected.
Kiriel Eudia, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke, her voice steady.
“…Are you saying our eldest brother’s child is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then why haven’t you brought her here yet?”
Kiriel’s tone turned sharp, and Rudebrid hesitated.
The quiet anger emanating from her revealed how deeply Dios Eudia still occupied her heart.
“I intend to bring her.
But the family she’s with now seems overwhelmed by the idea of her suddenly becoming part of the ducal house.
They’ve refused so far.”
“Is it just the child?”
“No, her mother is with her.
It seems she’s the woman he briefly met before his disappearance.
We even found a letter he left behind.”
At Rudebrid’s revelation, Kiriel’s eyes widened in shock.
Not even remains of Dios had been recovered.
No fragments of his body were ever found.
Kiriel, who had been the last to storm the Demon King’s castle, had found nothing.
The emptiness of it all had left him feeling desolate and defeated.
The only thing he retrieved was a pendant that had fallen after the Demon King’s death—reduced to dust.
It was a silver pendant engraved with the emblem of the Eudia ducal house, one he had gifted to his brother long ago.
Inside it was a tiny photograph of a newborn baby, eyes not yet open.
At the time, he hadn’t had the chance to think about what it meant.
Later, he had quietly investigated without telling anyone, hoping to find answers.
But nothing came of it.
“Even so, is there proof that she’s truly his child and not from a branch family?
Pegasus can’t distinguish between direct and collateral bloodlines.”
“She looks too much like him as a child.
You’ll understand when you see her.
There’s no mistaking it.”
Rudebrid sighed heavily.
“Her mother also described a man who matched his appearance.
Of course, until proper tests are conducted, it’s all speculation.
But we’ll know for certain when she’s brought here.”
“…It’s true that our brother had a child,” Kiriel suddenly said, breaking the silence.
All three turned their gazes to her, startled by her abrupt statement.
“Wait, are you saying our elder brother had a child?
For real?
How would you know that?”
“Yes.
After defeating the Demon King, I found his pendant.
Inside was a photo of a newborn with the same aquamarine hair as him.”
Rudebrid’s jaw dropped.
Not only was it the first he’d heard of Kiriel finding the pendant, but the revelation that it contained a photograph of a child left him utterly dumbfounded.
“There was a photo?
Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t think about it at the time… Later, I used ‘White Shadow’ to investigate, but nothing came up.”
“Even White Shadow couldn’t find anything?”
Klein furrowed his brow, questioning Kiriel’s words.
She nodded solemnly.
“Yes.”
“It’s strange that what White Shadow couldn’t uncover has suddenly been discovered now.”
As the name suggests, it signifies a white shadow—a covert, specialized unit that has long served the Eudia Ducal House.
In a family where senseless killing was forbidden, White Shadow existed for meaningful eliminations.
Operating in the deep shadows under the glaring white light, they were experts in silent movement and intelligence gathering.
White Shadow was an independent entity within the Eudia household, with none of the family members as part of its ranks.
It was a unique institution that did not serve the head of the house but instead chose one direct descendant of the family in each generation to be its master.
This generation, they had chosen Kiriel.
They were unparalleled in their ability to uncover anything and would lay down their lives without hesitation to complete their missions.
Even the selection of its members was solely the responsibility of White Shadow’s leader.
While the Eudia family was their employer, they could not interfere with the unit’s recruitment.
This untouchable autonomy made White Shadow a trustworthy entity, even if internal conflicts or betrayals arose within the Eudia household.
And once they pledged loyalty to a master, betrayal was not an option until that master’s death.
***
“So, are you trying to say that child is truly our brother’s?”
“I’m saying it’s a possibility.”
White Shadow had chosen Kiriel—not the eldest son, who had drawn the sacred sword Orhator, nor the second son, who triumphed in every battle he fought.
Instead, they had chosen the youngest—the boy everyone whispered was cursed by the demons and avoided.
***
“And you want to bring her here?”
“She carries Eudia blood, after all.
Whether she’s Dios’s child or not still needs more verification…”
“If she’s a direct descendant rather than a collateral one, someone has to take her in,” Salame interjected.
Rudebrid narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze slowly.
Only one person came to mind as suitable to take in the eldest son’s child.
“If the child agrees to come, will you take her, Kiriel?”
Since he had admired Dios so much, Rudebrid figured Kiriel would raise her without issue.
Especially now… since adopting two children had seemingly changed him.
At Rudebrid’s question, Kiriel hesitated and remained silent.
Under normal circumstances, he would have agreed readily—or perhaps even volunteered to take her in himself.
But…
“…Four kids?”
Kiriel furrowed his brow.
The thought of managing so many seemed daunting.
Just taking care of Bernie felt like managing three children at once.
***
“Dad… the man who couldn’t be chosen.”
The words resurfaced in his memory, making Kiriel pause.
To be known as the man who couldn’t be chosen yet be burdened with four children seemed ironic.
Taking in another would feel like managing six children, and that was a challenge he wasn’t sure he could handle.
“I’m already managing three kids as it is, so I’ll need to think about it,” Kiriel finally replied after a long pause.
Rudebrid’s expression grew peculiar at the response.
“Three?
I understand Bernie and Allen, but who’s the third?”
“Hmm.”
Kiriel’s voice was nonchalant as he gave Klein a lazy once-over.
“One of your sons declared he didn’t want you as a father anymore and moved into the annex.”
“What?!”
Klein flinched, his face twitching in frustration before snapping back angrily.
“You’ve got no room to talk!
Acting like you’re so much better than everyone else, but who’s more isolated than you?”
“Well, your son still ended up with me, didn’t he?
I didn’t realize I was so popular with the kids.”
“Hah?”
“How much did you torment the boy?
One compliment and he turned bright red, completely overwhelmed.”
Kiriel smirked at Klein’s flustered expression, rising from his seat with a faint chuckle.
“You used to complain endlessly about how strict Father was… and now you’re doing the exact same thing.
Anyway, I have to go.”
Thud.
Kiriel left the room, his face blank as he dropped the verbal bomb.
The door closed behind him, and a heavy silence descended upon the room.