When they were alone at Luzer’s request, he bowed his head deeply once more.
Jared didn’t stop him. He knew he would. And he wanted to accept his feelings.
“Thank you. Not just for this time, but for helping my mother as you promised. I can’t express enough gratitude for you protecting her… I don’t know how I can ever repay you!”
“Don’t worry about that, we’re brothers, aren’t we? We can’t talk like this, so please raise your head for now. We finally met again, I want to talk while looking at your face.”
At Jared’s words, Luzer slowly raised his head. Tears streamed down his face, from gratitude and from a mixture of other emotions, equally strong.
Jared couldn’t know what experiences he had been through. It was the same for asking a rough question. So he didn’t know how to address him.
He couldn’t help but wish he were someone who could be more considerate in times like these. All Jared could do was wait until he stopped crying.
“… I’m sorry. For showing you such a pathetic sight.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I do worry. I have to. Thank you so much for even thinking about my father’s household. When my body recovers, I will repay you with my life.”
Luzer, now stopped crying, had a face full of determination. However, Jared smiled wryly and gently refused.
“You don’t have to do that. As I said, we’re brothers. It’s natural to help each other.”
To his brother, who frowned with dissatisfaction, Jared asked.
“If our positions were reversed, you would do the same, wouldn’t you, Luzer?”
“Of course.”
“I just did what I should. So let’s stop with the repayment talk. We will lend a hand to each other if one of us is in trouble. If we face difficulties together, we will overcome them together. That’s what we promised at that detestable facility, right?”
“Ah, right. That’s right. I’m glad I met you at that facility back then. Thank you, brother.”
“Me too, brother.”
Jared and Luzer bumped fists strongly.
Though their time together was short, they were comrades and brothers, and that didn’t change. Even when apart, it was the same. After all, they were meant to meet.
“… I’ll ask something I shouldn’t, but you haven’t taken revenge, have you?”
“I guess not. I don’t care anymore.”
Jared knew Luzer had investigated him thoroughly, so he was prepared to be asked. However, Jared now held no hatred or desire for revenge against his father.
“Is that all?”
“That’s all. To be honest, when I returned to the capital, I intended to kill my father straight away. I was confident I had gained enough power to do so. However, what I saw was not a father happy about his troublesome son’s absence, but a father searching for him.”
Needless to say, he was taken aback by the sight, which was far beyond his expectations.
Jared was bewildered, confused, and investigated. He worked as a magician, searched for Rosina’s whereabouts, and investigated his father.
And then, he learned what he needed to know, and stopped seeking revenge.
There were also more pressing matters than revenge, such as finding Rosina’s whereabouts and confirming Luzer’s safety.
In any case, Jared no longer hated his father. He had his thoughts, but it was fine now.
“Seeing him like that, I stopped caring. I don’t understand that man, and I have no intention of getting involved with him from now on. So, it’s fine.”
“… Fathers are difficult. I have my own thoughts about my father too.”
He couldn’t say he understood Viscount Phillips, but he could understand him. He married Rosina as a consort, yet he didn’t protect her from his main wife. It was a shameful act.
Duke Alway was trying to protect Hannelore and Olivier. He prepared a separate residence to keep malicious hands away. Although rectifying the situation had been difficult due to being behind, yesterday, everything came to a complete end.
There was no need to compare the two.
“If the Duke negotiates, I suppose we’ll meet, but don’t do anything rash.”
“I know. I won’t make my mother sad, and I don’t want to trouble you either. So you don’t need to worry, okay? This is making me question who’s the older brother.”
“You’re a handful, older brother. It’s tough being the younger one.”
Luzer laughed at Jared’s jibe.
He couldn’t help but wish that Luzer would stay in the capital with him and his family.
Though it would be left to the Duke, he hoped things would also work out with Viscount Phillips. If so, he would do anything he could to help.
“Oh, right. I’d like you to meet Olivier Alway sometime. She said she wants to meet my older brother.”
“Olivier Alway… she’s your fiancée, isn’t she? Is it, well, appropriate to casually meet a Duke’s daughter?”
“She isn’t the type to care about things like that.”
In fact, she would be angry if she were made to care. Not at Luzer, but at Jared.
He could easily imagine it, and a chill ran down his spine. Jared could fight against any opponent, but he absolutely did not want to anger Olivier.
He always wanted her to be smiling.
“You’ve changed.”
“Have I?”
“It’s not just about your father, whom you hated so much, but somehow, you’ve become gentler than you were back then. Your eyes, they’re warm. Your eyes used to be colder.”
“I think it’s because I’ve met so many different people. Starting with meeting you, Luzer, then Almeida, and Olivier. My friends from the academy, and two senior Court Mages—in these past two years and a bit, I’ve had wonderful encounters.”
There were also sad encounters. He fought people he didn’t want to fight. He took lives he didn’t want to take. Each time, his heart grew colder and wounded.
However, he had more warm encounters than that.
Most of all—meeting Olivier Alway was a turning point for Jared Murphy.
If he had changed, she was likely the one who had influenced him greatly.
“You seem quite smitten. I’m looking forward to meeting her.”
“… I suppose that’s what you call being smitten. I’m not good with romance, but Olivier is very important to me.”
He felt just as strongly about Yeny and the others.
There was undoubtedly affection. It might be familial love, or perhaps a feeling with a different name.
It would be some time before Jared could name and recognize the emotions he held.
“And where is this fiancée of yours?”
“She’s meeting my younger sister.”
