“Haha… It seems Lord Kyriel was quite sensitive. Please, pay it no mind, Your Excellency.”
“T-that’s right! Why… Lord Kyriel followed the late Young Duke Dios very closely, didn’t he?”
“Indeed, he was a magnificent person. The true hero is certainly Young Duke Dios.”
As the retainers scrambled to diffuse the chilling atmosphere, Ludbreed Yudia’s face hardened. He clicked his tongue, his brow furrowing in deep displeasure.
“Tsk. Why drag a dead man—a man who lost to the demons—back onto the table?”
“No… we just… we were merely speaking of the late Young Duke’s greatness…”
“If you’re going to wag your tongues so noisily, get out. Or do you want your wits re-educated?”
“Yes…? O-oh, no.”
The retainers glanced around nervously. Seeing Kline standing with his arms crossed, his gaze equally frigid, they retreated from their seats.
“You lot, get out of my sight as well.”
“You’re being harsh with your words again.”
Kline Yudia let out a faint laugh and uncrossed his arms. The muscular man shrugged, looking nonchalantly at Ludbreed, who glared at him with the rigidity of a grumpy old man.
“My brother’s death wasn’t Father’s fault, so don’t let it weigh on you. The youngest is just acting that way because he’s still young.”
“Are you going to shut up and get out?”
“What is the point of children you went to the trouble of raising? If you show a little weakness, it’s only natural. There isn’t a person here who would spread rumors just because Father sheds a few tears.”
Kline rested his chin on his hand, his tone indifferent. Ludbreed’s eyes narrowed, veins bulging at his temples.
“My brother’s death was a sad event. It is a matter for us all that we couldn’t protect him. You don’t need to blame yourself.”
“You insolent brats, treating your own father like a fool. Enough, get out!”
“Honestly… you’re so dishonest.”
Kline clicked his tongue, and Ludbreed glared at him with renewed ferocity.
“Well, I’ll take care of this matter. I’m curious if what my niece candidate says is true… and if it is, maybe we can figure out the principles of how the dungeons are generated.”
*Even though it’s a bother.*
Kline scratched the back of his head, grabbed the crystal from the center of the table, and walked out of the conference room with a casual wave.
“Why aren’t you leaving?”
“Just because. They say only a daughter can soothe someone like this, don’t they?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Think about getting married soon. Do you have no intention of giving me a grandchild for the rest of your life?”
“If it’s a grandchild, you have one from my brother. He’s first in line, and unlike my brother, he has a good personality. What more do you need?”
Salame, who had been waving her hand dismissively, frowned and rose.
*Click, clack.*
As she walked toward the door, Salame paused to glance back.
“Don’t cry too much on your own~”
With that light comment, she waved and exited, shutting the door with a thud.
“Honestly, every single one of them is insolent… Who’s crying, anyway?”
Clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction, Ludbreed raised his large, calloused hand and slowly buried his face in his palm.
*…Father is always like that. As if my opinion doesn’t even matter. It would have been better if I weren’t his son.*
What use is there for a man who doesn’t even deserve to cry to shed tears?
His son’s final words remained deeply ingrained; for years, his own belated answers and internal atonement had echoed only in the silence of his mind.
* * *
Kyriel walked down the long hallway, eventually turning toward the temple within the mansion.
*Tap.*
Something small and warm touched his cheek. Kyriel’s eyes widened. He looked down to find Bunny awake, staring at him blankly. Her pink pupils sparkled with a translucent glow, and her hair cascaded down like soft, watery silk.
“Oh my, did I wake you?”
“Young Lord, stiff face.”
Kyriel faltered at the child’s blunt observation. He let out a faint laugh and gently stroked her hair with his free arm.
“Is my face stiff? I’m not angry.”
“Un. Not angry. Young Lord is sad. Are you crying?”
Kyriel tried to smooth his expression, walking onward with a nonchalant mask, but he widened his eyes slightly.
“If Young Lord is sad… Bunny is sad.”
At the softly echoing voice, he stopped walking entirely.
“Why do you think I’m sad? I was just angry because Father said something that upset me.”
“…Liar.”
Bunny reached out her short arms and hugged his neck tightly. Kyriel unconsciously drew a sharp breath as the child clung to him.
“Luri said. If you don’t say you’re sad when you’re sad, it, um. It rots, she said. So when you’re sad… you have to cry, she said.”
“…That’s strange. I’m not particularly sad.”
Kyriel laughed softly, stroking the child’s back as he stood before the temple. He tilted his head back, staring blankly at the architecture.
The temple was his sanctuary. If he holed himself up in the prayer room, no one would disturb him.
After Dios’s death, when Kyriel lived in lethargic despair, Ludbreed had once banned him from the temple, unable to bear the sight of his son’s grief. But after Kyriel was found starving to death in his room several times, Ludbreed had lifted the ban.
An unspoken rule had since taken hold: *When Kyriel Yudia enters the prayer room, do not touch him.*
It was the only place his mother had loved and his brother had frequented—the only place where he might survive.
Kyriel looked down at the child in his arms.
“Look, crying isn’t just for babies; adults have to do it too, she said.”
“…Really?”
“Yes! Being a real big adult isn’t about not crying. It’s about crying your eyes out and then getting back up to eat your meals tomorrow, and doing the *bok-bok-bok-bok* and the *uh-pu-uh-pu*, and brushing your teeth, she said.”
“Is that so.”
Kyriel chuckled as he watched Bunny give him a serious thumbs-up.
“So Bunny cries when I’m sad too. And tomorrow, I do my *uh-pu-uh-pu* diligently. And my *bok-bok-bok-bok* too!”
“You’re thoughtful. My daughter is better than me.”
“…Hehe.”
Bunny rubbed her face against his clothes. Kyriel stroked her hair.
“But still, when the tears are flowing *pong-pong* a lot… I put Toto at my head and hold onto Magomi tightly while I sleep. Because Toto eats up all the nightmares *wagu-wagu* and Magomi says it’s okay, it’s okay…”
Bunny puffed out her chest, tapping it with her small hand.
“Bunny is an adult now, so I’ll lend them to you, Young Lord.”
*Amazing, right?*
The slight lift of her nose seemed to ask that very question. A faint, genuine smile graced Kyriel’s lips.
“Did my daughter have something sad happen to her too?”
“Yes!”
“What happened?”
Kyriel tossed the question out lightly, expecting a cute anecdote about a lost toy or a quail egg.
“Bunny, I parted with Luri… I don’t have a dad or a mom… When I became all alone, I was a little sad…”
Kyriel’s eyes widened sharply. He looked down, expecting tears, but Bunny was smiling.
“So, to become a great adult, I needed a super strong dad, so when you said, ‘Shall I be Bunny’s guardian?’, I was happy…”
As she hugged his neck tighter, Kyriel tilted his head back to gaze at the clear blue sky. It was the same shade of blue as his mother’s and brother’s hair.
*Was the reason I accepted this child because her hair color caught my eye in that chamber of blessings?*
“Daughter, let’s go back to the room, after all.”
“Shall we head back?”
“Yes!”
At her cheerful reply, Kyriel turned away from the temple and headed back toward the mansion. Spending the rest of the day lounging with Alan, eating, sleeping, and playing games in the room—it felt like something new, something he hadn’t known he needed.