"What do you mean... did I hear you correctly?"

The hands of the Duchess, Soset, who was asking her husband back, began to tremble slightly.

"Yes. Stun has abandoned the family name."

"That's absurd. That can't be. I have to go and see Stun."

As Soset shot up from her seat, the Duke quickly stood in front of her.

"It's no use..."

"It will be different if I go and see him. Our Stun is not that kind of child. You know that...!"

Soset was so shocked that she couldn't even cry. She just wished that all of this was a dream.

Her precious and childlike son had abandoned the family name? It was absurd.

He must have been angry for a moment, just wandering for a while.

"Please move aside. I'll go and see him. I... I..."

Soset, who held her husband's arm, was now trembling all over.

"Didn't I say it's no use? He has already gone to His Majesty the Emperor and asked for a new surname."

-Thump.

The Duchess, who heard the Duke's words, finally collapsed on the floor.

"Sob... that's absurd... absurd!!!"

"Honey..."

The Duke's eyes also reddened as he wrapped his arms around the shoulders of Soset, who had collapsed on the floor and was wailing.

"Stun... Stun!!!"

"Khuk..."

"You should go and talk to him. Our Stun, Stun is not that kind of child... he's not..."

Soset, who held the Duke's hand tightly, was sobbing and begging.

But Soset also knew. What it meant to go to the emperor and ask for a new surname.

It was too much to be an act done out of anger.

It might have been an act done out of anger to have conveyed the contents of the gifts and letters exchanged with the Rodrigo County.

Since the O'Neil Duchy was a prestigious family in the empire, the emperor could have easily turned a blind eye to something like this.

But abandoning the family name was different.

Putting aside the fact that he had asked for his own excommunication, if he had gone to the emperor himself and even requested a new surname, it must have all been sincere.

No, it had to be sincere.

It was an irreversible act to have been done as a childish act.

"Honey... honey! Please do something about our Stun. Huh!?"

"We have to... forget."

"How can you say that! He's our son... my child!!!"

Soset's face, who was crying out Stun's name as if she were half out of her mind, was already a mess with tears.

And so, they lost their son.

***

Duke Cirus's office.

"I have to go to the Rodrigo County."

"Now... you mean?"

"Yes. Prepare a scroll to Citata. I will go without anyone knowing."

"Yes. I understand."

The Duke, who was sitting in his office, had finally decided to go to Citata.

A great trial of losing his son had come, but there was no one to whom he could complain about this feeling.

He wanted to see his old friend. It was shameless, but he wanted to go and see him after ten years and pour out his complaints.

It was uncertain whether he would accept him. But he felt a strange sense of certainty from the letter and gift that had come to him this time.

The certainty that he would forgive him.

'I miss you, my friend...'

It was okay even if Cibie cursed him.

No, he would rather he pointed his finger at him as a traitor and poured out a bowl of curses.

Because then his guilt would be lessened a little.

As he sat in his office and thought for a long time, his secretary, who had returned at some point, had prepared a scroll to Citata and brought it.

He also showed the sense to roll up a return scroll and carefully put it in the Duke's bag.

"I will be back before the sun sets tomorrow."

"Yes, have a good trip."

The Duke, who had finished speaking, nodded his head once and then tore the scroll without hesitation.

The Duke's body was once engulfed in a bright light and then disappeared without a trace.

***

The Duke, who had arrived in Citata, looked around.

The secretary must have given him a scroll with the coordinates near the county estate, and a mansion came into view before he could even turn his head completely.

'Is that it...'

It was a completely different appearance from his own duchy.

The main gate, which symbolized the family, had no common gold decorations, let alone silver foil, and the knights guarding the main gate were of an age where it seemed difficult for them to just stand and look around.

The wall starting from the main gate was old, and it was doubtful whether it would faithfully perform its role as a wall, as it was just piled up with things that were hard to see as bricks.

"Who are you?"

As he approached the main gate, the knights on guard went on alert.

And for good reason, people rarely visited the county estate, and besides, the Duke's attire was very luxurious.

The knights even trembled at the sight of his attire, as if they remembered their time in the capital.

"You've worked hard. I am... Cirus O'Neil."

"Cirus... O'Neil? The O'Neil Duchy?"

The knights, who faced the protagonist of the bad memory that remained like a trauma, put strength into the hands that held their scabbards.

"Don't be so wary. Can you just tell Cibie... no, Count Cibie Rodrigo that I have come?"

"Ha, what brings the great O'Neil family all the way to Citata? Is there still a place for us to be driven out to?"

Despite the Duke's polite attitude, the knight curled up one corner of his mouth and sneered.

"...Just tell him that I have come. The kind of thing you're thinking of won't happen again."

"How can we believe that? Huh? Aren't you the one who drove the Count all the way to this border?"

He was ashamed. It was not wrong.

He had sent his friend to this barren land, and he had spent his days intoxicated with power.

The feeling of guilt was only for a moment. At one time, he had even been under the illusion that he had saved his friend's life.

And wasn't it an unavoidable choice to save his sons?

The Duke persuaded himself and compromised with himself. And so, he slowly made himself understand.

"..."

"Ha, never mind, go before you see a bad sight. I can't bear to see our Count suffer like that again, even if it means I have to give up my own neck!"

"Stop it."

Another knight stopped the knight who was roughly confronting the Duke, who was standing there like a mute who had eaten honey.

"Go and inform him. We are people who follow the Count. Didn't the Count tell us not to treat anyone who visits the estate carelessly?"

"Khuk! If it weren't for the Count..."

"Hurry."

"I understand."

The man, who seemed to be his senior, swallowed a bitter breath as if in resentment and then walked to the county estate.

Not long after, the knight returned, and the tightly closed gate of the county estate opened.

The Duke, who entered the county estate under the bitter glares of the knights, felt the short time it took to cross the courtyard as an eternity.

He felt like a prisoner on his way to the guillotine.

The feeling of having to confess his own sins that had been dormant for ten years, and the feeling of not knowing if he would be forgiven even if he confessed all his sins... was miserable.

He even regretted for a moment that he had done something foolish because he couldn't overcome his frustration.

The return scroll in his bag also came to mind for a moment.

As he walked, thinking about this and that, he had reached the door of the mansion at some point.

The stairs. If he went up those stairs, his old friend would be waiting.

Was he angry? Would he curse him? Or would he draw his sword and point it at him?

-Clack.

The door opened, and the warmth of the county estate, which contrasted with the chilly night air, leaked out through the crack in the door.

"Cibie..."

He was there. His old friend, whom he had not seen for ten years, whom he could not see.

As he called his name, the Count, who had an unreadable expression, walked towards him.

-Hug

The Duke's body, who was surprised by his sudden embrace, began to tremble.

And then, tears began to pour out from the uncontrollable emotion.

"Khuk... khuk... C-Cibie..."

"Don't cry. Why are you crying? It's okay. It's okay..."

Cibie, who hugged him, slowly patted his back. He comforted him with a low voice, as if comforting a child.

"Khuk... Cibie!!! I, I... I was wrong, I..."

"Don't cry... don't cry... It's okay, it's okay, so don't cry."

The Duke was wailing like a ten-year-old child.

"I, I was a fool. I... I!!!"

All the thoughts he had had while walking through the courtyard were shattered.

What if he cursed him, what if he drew his sword at him, all those thoughts... were wrong.

As always, he was wrong. His friend, Cibie, was there.

"Cibie... Cibie... I, I... khuk!"

"It's okay... don't cry. I've always been waiting for you in this place. I've been waiting for you to come..."

The Duke's tears, who hugged Cibie who was patting his back, soaked his shoulder.

"You should have cursed me... you should have drawn your sword! Why, why are you...!"

"Hoho... how could I curse you? How could I point my sword at you..."

"Cibie... khuk...!"

The Count was just patting his back, as if he knew the Duke's heart, who could not continue his words.

Cibie was not okay at first either. When he first found out that Duke Cirus O'Neil was the main culprit who had sided with the second prince Grad and had driven out the first prince, he had also been enraged.

He had tried to go and confront him, asking why he had made such a decision.

He wanted to confront him, curse him, point his sword at him, and get angry.

But he was not even given a chance to do so, and he had been miserably driven out to this Citata.

He had not been able to forgive Cibie even after a year of being driven out to Citata.

He had sharpened the blade of revenge every night, unable to sleep. He had promised himself that he would one day stab the back of his best friend who had betrayed him.

But all the situation changed when his son, Lucas, was born.

As the existence of a child was held in his arms, everything in the world began to change.

At first, he was worried that he might raise his child without a father if he dreamed of revenge.

Then he began to try to understand the heart of Cibie, who had had a child before him, and then he just came to think that his friend must have had a reason for it.

As time passed, his anger faded, and the feelings for his friend that had been hidden by that anger began to raise their heads.

He missed him. He wanted to ask him directly why he had done it, and if the reason was the same as the reason he had thought of, he wanted to forgive him.

In addition, when he saw Skir, who had come to his house, his longing for him became even more certain.

The flower-like days when they had attended the swordsmanship academy together had filled his head.

The Count, who had received the gifts that had come to him, had prepared the same gifts and sent them to the Duke.

With a short one-line letter.

-The blue deer meat in Citata is very delicious.

A one-line forgiveness for his old friend. The meaning it carried was great.

He had actually been waiting for him since the day Skir had returned to the capital.

He believed that his friend would come soon.

He would glance out the window while working in his office, he would stroll through the courtyard for no reason, and he would reduce the number of times he left the county estate to see the mine.

He wanted to greet his friend at this door at any time.

"Khuk... Cibie...!"

"Stop crying. I've stocked up the warehouse with blue deer meat, knowing you would come."

The Duke, who had been crying for a long time, burst out laughing when the Count whispered 'blue deer meat' as if it were some secret.

"Khuk! Is the blue deer meat that delicious?"

It was a habit he had when he had secretly brought alcohol when they were at the swordsmanship academy.

"Of course! Now, let's go in. Your face is a mess! Hahaha!"

"Khuk! Right, let's go in!"

The Duke, who sniffled and smiled like a child, held his friend's shoulder tightly.

Although they had taken a long detour, their friendship was there.

(End of Chapter)