249 – The Weakened Sorcerer -3-

In the original work, Mikhail’s mother had died.

She left her child behind, carrying bloated dreams.

She had made the decision to part ways, for a slightly better life. It wasn’t that she had completely abandoned Mikhail. She realized her maternal love belatedly.

She must have promised to come back for him.

Mikhail’s mother went to find her child’s father. She sought the man who had shared a passionate love with her and then suddenly vanished.

Despite the numerous letters, he never replied until now. Mikhail’s mother abandoned Mikhail as per the father’s condition and went to him alone.

-“Wait for me until I settle down.”

She had believed in the promise of waiting, a promise without a set time.

To hide her identity, she was treated like a maid in the mansion, her meetings with him grew less frequent, and the persecution continued.

As if they were telling her to leave on her own.

It was a continuous cycle of disregard and oppression.

One day, Mikhail’s mother read a line in the newspaper and knew her fate.

-The owner of the Western Canal.

The eldest son of the Wolfgang Duke’s family announced his marriage… proudly stating his union with a capable daughter from a prestigious family…

The choice of a mother who abandoned her child returned to her as a few coins in hand and a cold warning to stay out of sight.

-“Pack your bags and disappear right now.”

-“How can you do this?”

-“Don’t call me that. I am not like you.”

-“You said you loved me…! That you would stay with me till the end, that you would try to persuade your family.”

-“Pfft… Me?”

-“Please, don’t do this. I made such a choice because of you.”

-“Speak properly. I never forced you. Right? And I’ve never had a wife like you. Don’t talk to me as if we’re close. I’m not here to block the path of someone successful…”

-“Our child… Can’t we do something for our child…! I’m fine, so at least for our Misa…”

-“Misa? Ha…”

-“Please take him in, even as an adopted child. He’s smart and will surely be of help to you…”

-“Hey, that’s not my child. It’s yours. A child born to a commoner woman.”

-“Let go!”

-“Don’t show your face to me again. And don’t spread any strange rumors. If you do something foolish, I’ll kill you and your child. Just so you know.”

A gloomy tale.

The story of a woman who fell for the sweet nothings of a typical nobleman. The story of a woman who was tricked into erasing the aftermath was the story of Mikhail’s birth mother.

In the novel, Mikhail had reunited with his birth mother. It wasn’t a touching reunion but one that happened from an unexpected encounter.

Mikhail’s mother had continued to search for him, and the meeting that took place when she finally found Mikhail was…

Of course, the result was.

-“I never had a mother like you.”

-…

-“You try to act like a parent now, after abandoning me when I needed you most? Is it because I’ve succeeded? You promised to come but left me waiting my whole life, and now you ask to live as my mother?”

Mikhail coldly ignored his birth mother.

Spitting out sorrow and resentment,

He vomited anger.

His mother sat down on the floor, crying.

With a final plea to never come back, the reunion of the two in the novel ended, but Mikhail’s mother ended her life burning with the last flame of maternal love.

Dying in place of her child, who was nearly killed by his own father.

I didn’t want to recall the details. Being someone far removed from gloomy thoughts, I didn’t want to dwell on such dark stories, especially when I had so much time to spare and no desire to use my brain.

“…”

I never thought I’d meet you here. How ironic.

I looked at the eyes of the sniffling child with a cold expression. I knew it was pointless to blame a child for sins, but in the novel, this little one had turned dark and killed many, so I couldn’t harbor good feelings.

Still an ignorant child, but as someone who knows how Mikhail will destroy the family later, I couldn’t feel affection.

‘Hmm.’

I knew how deeply the ‘Wolfgang’ family was involved in the underworld.

Bribes and solicitations for power.

As a possessor, I knew they had grown their family through all sorts of cruel deeds.

‘I’m not sure.’

I sighed softly, looking at the lady who was puffing up in anger.

“Lady.”

“Wait.”

The lady was flicking her fingers, counting numbers.

“One long head. Two. Three. Four.”

Looking at the knights with their swords and the elderly butler, the lady diligently counted heads and then nodded slightly.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“Shall we kill?”

“Why?”

“They’re looking down on us arrogantly.”

The lady crossed her arms, exuding the dignity of nobility. She was puffing up with authority, like a frilled lizard, asserting that our family’s influence was greater than yours.

“Just because you own a single boat… You dare to look down on me?”

“The lady does seem quite petite.”

“Eeeek!”

The lady nodded and said,

“That’s correct.”

“Right?”

“Still, your gaze is irreverent.”

“That’s correct.”

Within the confines of nobility, the lady, with a mischievous glint in her eye, declared,

“Let’s kill them!”

“Please, hold back.”

“Hmm.”

Was the lady in conversation for a while when the reinforcements arrived? The little one, emboldened, straightened his shoulders and began to hasten his days.

“Hey!”

Quite a provocative statement.

He thought it unlikely he’d live long.

The kid, with eyes blazing, challenged with a cocky tone as if asking to repeat the earlier words,

“Why so silent? Got cold feet?”

“…”

“Now you realize who my dad is, right? So kneel down, apologize, and get lost…”

At the moment the child’s brazen provocation seemed to cross the line, the lady opened her eyes coldly and muttered softly,

“What kind of upbringing leads to such talk?”

I whispered into the lady’s ear,

“That doesn’t seem like something you should say.”

“Really?”

“Yes. If it were you, you would have thrown a fireball in their face.”

“That’s true.”

“At least that person tries to solve things with words, which is quite noble.”

“Hmm.”

The lady nodded in agreement with her own slip of the tongue. It didn’t seem right for the product of poor home training to speak thus. The lady, with a lofty shake of her head, opened her mouth to speak again.

“Hey.”

“Hey?”

“Not you, you fool.”

The young lady lifted her head to look at the elderly butler gazing down at her. The butler, who would usually address her with respect, now stood with his shoulders back, looking down on us as if we were beneath him.

Annoyed by the old man’s audacious gaze, the young lady spoke again, bewildered.

“You don’t listen when a noble speaks?”

“Ah… my apologies.”

“Apologies?”

She clicked her heels as she walked, staring straight into the eyes of the old butler.

“Is there nothing proper about your family?”

As the guards moved to calm the irate young lady, I threw them a soft warning in a low voice.

“Don’t move.”

“…”

At a single word, the knights with their hands on the hilts of their swords froze like ice. Even as they shivered in surprise, wanting to protect their master, they didn’t remove their hands from the hilts, prompting me to chuckle and continue.

“The moment you draw your sword, you die.”

“…”

The knights took their hands off the hilts.

The old man, observing the knights unable to move easily, bowed his head with a bent posture. It was clear that if a knight could subdue the family’s knights, then the young girl before him must also be a noble of high rank.

“…”

With a sly expression, the old man began to speak.

“I apologize for not recognizing the offspring of such esteemed nobility. I am Lude, the butler of the Wolfgang family…”

“Quiet!”

The young lady sharply turned her head, cutting off the old man. ‘I’m not interested,’ she said. A fine example set by the young lady, discarding any respect for the elderly, just as one would expect from a deeply rooted villainous family. I nodded in approval.

‘That’s a true villainess.’

I much preferred the unwavering demeanor of a villainess who was equally wicked to everyone over those who were ambiguously bad.

The young lady opened her eyes coldly and said,

“How dare a lowly western noble look me straight in the eye.”

-Crack.

“What’s that?”

The young lady’s eyebrows twitched as she saw a knight clenching his fist and a child. Once the switch was flipped, the young lady was quicker than anyone to find something to criticize.

“Won’t you unclench your fist?”

Just like at the academy, the lady began to curse fiercely.

“If you’re upset, say something. Don’t just swear under your breath.”

“…Haha.”

“You’re laughing?”

“Excuse me, but the family…”

The lady turned her head to look at me.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“What should I say?”

“Um…”

It was indeed scary to think of the rumors that would follow if the young lady, who had clearly become more difficult, was to be called Desmont. That Desmont had a late-born child. It would be troublesome if it led to gossip.

I stood slowly in front of the lady, smiled faintly, and said,

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Hmm. Crush them.”

“That might be a bit difficult.”

“Heek… Then I’ll be hitting that kid.”

“Who?”

The lady rolled up her sleeves, looking at the little kid sticking out his tongue from behind the old man’s back.

“I’ll go kill him.”

“Just make sure he can walk.”

“Hmm. I’ll try.”

After the lady left, the old man looked straight at me.

“Hmm…”

With the noble gone and the arrival of someone from the same profession, the old man’s pride seemed to have grown. Lifting his eyelids, he looked at me and said in a subdued voice,

“Which family do you belong to?”

“Senior.”

“At least you have manners. You seem a bit better than your master.”

“Senior, didn’t you feel the chilly mood just now?”

“…Hmm?”

“It’s an instinct to not meddle with things that should be left alone. Isn’t it the butler’s rule to bow your head when something feels off?”

“…Insolent brat..”

“People who learned the same things shouldn’t act like amateurs.”

The sky darkens.

-Rumble-

Looking up at the darkened sky, I said,

“You’ve arrived.”

The old man twitched his eyebrows and lifted his head, sensing the ominous magic approaching.

The Desmont family has always been blessed with magic.

A place full of monsters that surpass boundaries, with innate talents that even the Tower Master would acknowledge.

With their quirky nature,

Balancing precariously on the line between light and shadow,

A family not even the Emperor dared to meddle with.

“OLIVIAA!!!!!”

That was the Desmont family I belonged to.

“Hmm?”

The lady stepping on the child looked up at the middle-aged figure flying in the sky, her eyes wide and hands outstretched.

“Daddy!!!!”

Cracks began to form on the old man’s face.

“…Desmont.”

For they had touched the worst family in history.