863 – Crassius Assemble – 4

The day has finally come.

The day has come when my siblings and I are reunited for the first time in nearly 20 years, and the day has come when I, who had abandoned the surname Crassius, must once again act as Crassius.

‘It’s fortunate that we’re not gathering at Tileglen.’

I let out a small sigh of relief and ended up smiling bitterly.

Teilglen is the hometown where I was born and raised. Now, my father is no longer with me, and the current lord of Teilglen is not my brother, but my nephew. There is no need to be afraid of going to Teilglen any longer.

But the human mind is really strange. Even though my head says it’s okay, my heart still trembles with fear. Even though I have bad memories, I’m afraid of my hometown, the land ruled by my nephew, not my father.

‘It’s embarrassing.’

If I were to be more merciless in my evaluation, it would be beyond shameful, it would be outrageous. Now, I have spent more time in the arms of my wife and children than in the shadow of my father. How is it that this is happening?

Even I tried to be a husband who would not be ashamed of my wife. Although it was not a marriage that was based on love, I was able to fill it with love because I had nothing else.

And I tried to be a proud father to my children. It was surprisingly easy to be a good father because I knew the clearest negative teacher better than anyone else.

On that subject, I was not able to become a trustworthy younger sibling, older brother, or older brother. I told my children that families should be friendly, but I actually failed to do so.

‘It’s time to change.’

Sadly, the fear still did not go away. Even though I knew that I shouldn’t do this, I couldn’t overcome it as I headed to my nephew’s mansion where the siblings were supposed to gather.

Still, I will go forward. I will be afraid, but I will not give up. If only for the sake of the lady who held my hand when I was trembling after receiving the invitation.

“Honey, are you feeling better now?”

“Yes. I feel a lot better now that I’m with you.”

Even now, I think of my wife who is gently holding my hand.

“Have a nice trip. It’s not like your father had a bad relationship with your grandfather, but it’s not like he had a bad relationship with his uncles or aunts. If you actually meet them, you might be able to become close with them easily!”

“Please be friendly with me. One of my cousins ​​is the Minister of the Interior, but I have never been able to show off to anyone.”

“Wow, the Inspector General is your cousin. You’d be successful even if you just kept breathing.”

At least for the sake of the children who sent encouragement in their own ways to ease the tension of this father.

Two out of the three seem to have a bit of selfishness mixed in, but that level of selfishness is completely understandable. They are hot-blooded guys, so if there is a blood relative who has risen to a high position, they would want to show off and secretly benefit from it and become successful. It is a natural thought for a person to have.

Moreover, if it is just a thought, there is no problem. Our children did not go around bragging that their cousin was the inspector general or that their war hero was their relative. They did not show their ugly side to get the benefit of their blood relative. It was just a joke for their father.

“ma’am.”

“Yes, honey.”

“…If the name Deast remains deeply in my nephew’s head, it will be helpful to our children, right?”

My wife smiled faintly at my words.

“Don’t leave it too dark. I don’t want my children to become people who can’t do anything without a backing.”

“That’s the same for me. Any position that you climb up by relying on someone else is bound to eventually collapse.”

And my nephew, the Inspector General, is not the type of person to unconditionally protect his blood relatives. Considering that Count Narzen, Elin’s father-in-law, was involved in a large-scale inspection, he is a person who treats even his blood relatives fairly.

That’s why it’s more believable. If someone treats you better simply because you’re a blood relative, you will treat them like a superior without even knowing it. If you please them, they will give you everything, so it’s no longer a horizontal blood relationship, but a vertical relationship of ruler and subject.

On the other hand, if you treat blood relatives fairly, you can meet them as uncle and nephew without thinking too much. If you do what you can, your nephew will see you as you are. He won’t expect anything from you or be disappointed.

With that thought in mind, I headed to my nephew’s mansion, the banquet venue.

“Ouch! Hurry up! Hurry up!”

“Ouch! Faster!”

“Guys… If you go any faster than this, you might fall…”

I came across my nephew pulling a cart in the garden of the mansion.

‘What is this?’

It was such an unexpected sight that I couldn’t react at all.

No, what the hell is going on? Children are playing in a cart? And not just one or two, but more than five children?

Is that really a normal situation? Even for a knight with great physical strength, it is not easy to carry that many children. Putting children with endless greed and physical strength for pleasure on a cart is like asking for their own death.

‘…Not a nephew, but a servant?’

Eventually, a plausible hypothesis came to mind. That young man was not my nephew, but a servant who happened to have black hair and black eyes.

Common sense tells us that a great lord, a count of the empire, a minister of government, and a member of the Knights of the Order of Lissizarione would not be walking around the garden pulling a cart himself. No matter how much he cherishes his children, it is impossible for a noble to save face─

“Oh, are you Uncle August?”

In an instant, the hypothesis collapsed.

The words of the young man who saw me and my wife as we passed through the main gate. The young man’s identity became clear when he called me uncle, not a guest.

‘That’s my nephew.’

I looked back at my wife next to me with a bewildered heart, and she was blinking blankly as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

‘A nobleman who pulls a cart for his children.’

How did our nephew inherit Crassius’ blood? What kind of blood did he receive alone to become such a father?

“Huh? Your Highness?”

“Suk-ppu? Appa Suk-ppu?”

“What is the modern sukpu?”

“It means Dad’s family. It’s family to our Friedrich too.”

“elegance!”

It is truly amazing.

***

My first meeting with my second uncle and aunt was the worst.

No, it wasn’t the worst, but it wasn’t a normal first meeting.

“I’m sorry for making you feel so embarrassed. The servants were moving the luggage onto the cart, and all of a sudden, the kids wanted to get on the cart. As you know, uncle and aunt, once the kids get hooked on something, there’s no stopping them.”

I tried to make excuses that weren’t really excuses, as casually as possible and with a smile on my face.

I never intended to pull a cart around the mansion garden. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, it was something the kids wanted to do. You know very well that when kids that age are stubborn, you can never stop them.

To be honest, it was an ugly and desperate excuse, but it’s true. I’m not crazy. Would I do something like this on the day of the reunion of my seven siblings after 20 years? Also, this is the first time in my life that I have to meet my uncles and aunts. If I do something like this on a day like this, there has to be a reason.

‘This is ruined.’

Thanks to that, I was desperate and moved my tongue, but it seems like I’ve already become a crazy cartman in my uncle and aunt’s hearts. No matter what I say, their bewildered expressions don’t change.

…Actually, I think I would have done the same. It was a historic day to reunite with my siblings who had been separated for a long time, and to escape the shadow of my father who had already passed away. The first thing I saw on that day was my nephew driving around with his nieces and nephews in a cart. It was legendary in many ways.

“It’s true that children are different an hour ago and an hour later. It’s completely understandable that adults can’t control their whims.”

Still, perhaps because he felt sympathy for my desperate excuse, my second uncle barely agreed with what I said.

In the meantime, I felt sorry for him for using formal language towards his nephew. I don’t know if it was because of his trauma towards Crassius, or because of Crazy-Wagonman.

“…What a peculiar mansion. The entire hallway is covered with mats, not just in some rooms.”

“Oh, yes. It’s because there are so many children, perhaps because God is protecting them. It’s hard to take care of them one by one, so I created an environment where no one gets hurt.”

“An environment where no one will get hurt. Indeed, the Count loves children very much.”

I almost shed tears of emotion at my aunt’s admiring words.

Yes, this was the original plan. The uncles and aunts were surprised to see the mats laid out throughout the mansion. When I told them why I chose the mats over the mansion’s aesthetics, the adults were amazed to learn that the family was completely centered around the children.

At the same time, he felt that the Crassius family of today was distinctly different from the Crassius of the past, and after that, he enjoyed a banquet prepared with care by his mother. He received his father’s sincere hospitality during that banquet. This was the original plan.

But because of that cart…

“But nephew. This is our first time meeting you, but how did you recognize me right away?”

“I heard stories from my father about my uncles and aunts. Among them, my uncle August was said to be as strong as my father, but at the same time he had the wisdom that my father lacked. He said that at first glance, my uncle August looked like someone who had read books at the library.”

“Phew.”

When I told the truth, 100% pure, without any exaggeration or distortion, my aunt, who was looking around the hallway, let out a small laugh.

“Huh. Is that what you said, hyung?”

“Yes. He said that if he had been born in a different family than the Crassius family, he would have made a name for himself in the government or the judiciary.”

“Is that so?”

Then my uncle’s expression changed mysteriously.

“That’s what you thought, hyung. Whenever I secretly picked up a book instead of a wooden sword, my father would scold me more than he would punish me. He said that since the eldest one is a mess, the ones below him are also a mess.”

‘No, what.’

I felt suffocated by the downward scolding towards my child. No matter how much I viewed my child as a tool, wasn’t that a bit too much?

“So, I thought you wouldn’t like me reading books either. You said you had a wisdom that I didn’t have…”

“My father is not a man who would lie.”

“Yes, I know. But I know because we’ve lived in the same house for nearly 20 years.”

After saying that, my uncle walked away with a brighter expression than before.

It was a dynamic first meeting, but fortunately, it seems to have been resolved to some extent.