* * *
“Wow….”
Sean’s voice of admiration echoed in Raizen’s ears.
Raizen carefully shifted his gaze to observe Sean’s reaction.
With both hands clasped close to his chest, Sean scanned the clubroom’s interior with eyes that sparkled unusually bright.
His mother had explained what this place was on the way here.
Naturally, she had mentioned that it was a club consisting of only four people and that, due to certain circumstances, the real clubroom had been hidden.
Sean couldn’t fully grasp what Valencia’s real clubroom meant within the Royal Academy.
Even just knowing that this place actually existed carried immense significance.
Yet, Sean acted as if he had stepped into a whole new world.
It was a side of him Raizen had never seen before.
Everything was truly fascinating and just as intriguing, but perhaps because of that, he was also being extra cautious.
Since it didn’t seem like he needed to explain anything further, Raizen kept his mouth shut.
The real Valencia clubroom still housed a considerable number of undisclosed magic artifacts.
To some extent, the academy students’ speculations had been correct.
Of course, the artifacts weren’t as groundbreaking or remarkable as they had imagined.
Most of them were related to the recording of memories.
On the central wall of the clubroom, several paintings were hung.
In the center stood four boys and girls dressed in the Royal Academy’s uniforms.
“This was painted when we first entered the academy. Though it’s been in a long slumber, it was created by a mouse artist that Allen made.”
“Wow….”
Sean let out a small sigh of admiration and then slowly scanned the painting with his eyes.
It seemed that he had momentarily forgotten to be impressed, too focused on studying the details of the artwork.
Eventually, Sean’s gaze stopped at one particular spot for a long time.
There, hiding slightly behind the radiant smile of the duchess, Liliana, was a young girl with a tearful expression.
“That’s your mother, Daisy Kreveta. Before she was married, her surname was Sheryl. Around the time we were born, there was a trend in the west of naming girls after flowers. Among them, Daisy and I always complained that our names were too common.”
As he listened intently to the duchess’s explanation, Sean murmured softly.
“Sheryl….”
“Your name was created by combining your mother’s surname and your father’s name—Sheryl and Allen.”
“Before you were born, we had already heard what your name would be. Lily kept asking where the most overlapping letters had gone, convinced that they just picked whatever they wanted and probably argued over it.”
Lily. His father, who always addressed his mother with formal respect even in his presence, had unexpectedly spoken her nickname aloud.
Raizen instinctively turned his gaze toward his father.
A faint smile lingered on his lips—an expression mixed with sorrow, joy, and longing.
“They… argued?”
Sean asked in surprise.
The duchess responded with a soft smile.
“Oh, it happened all the time. They would be so excited working on something together, only to argue afterward about whose ideas had been included more. Even after you were born, they constantly fought over who you resembled more.”
“To be honest… at some point, it would have been more strange if they didn’t argue.”
His father muttered quietly, and his mother gave a small nod.
“That’s right. Claude, you even thought for a while that they truly hated each other, didn’t you?”
At his mother’s teasing remark, his father averted his gaze slightly downward.
“I really… thought that was the case.”
“So we made a bet. If they started dating within three years, I would win. If not, it would be my victory.”
“… In the end, Lily won.”
Watching his parents share this warm exchange, Raizen felt an unfamiliar sensation.
He had always known that his parents loved each other.
But he had assumed their love was, to some extent, built upon duty.
He had never had the opportunity to hear about their relationship from before.
But he had been wrong.
There were dazzling, beautiful moments between them that he could never have imagined.
“They fought on the day this painting was made too. I remember Allen coming to me, complaining that he could never understand a woman’s heart.”
“And Daisy came to me, saying Allen must either be an idiot or have buttons for eyes. She even asked me how I managed to keep a firm hold on Claude.”
Raizen’s father turned to look at his mother.
“Daisy said that?”
His mother glanced at him briefly before turning her attention to Raizen.
Then, she carefully reached out and guided Raizen forward.
“Well, I don’t know when I ever had such a firm hold on you. It was so frustrating that I told her that wasn’t the case at all—that I found Claude just as infuriating. In the end, I fell asleep at Daisy’s dorm that night.”
“I… was frustrating?”
His father looked completely baffled, as if he had never heard such a thing before.
His mother chuckled softly.
“It’s surprising that you still don’t realize it, Claudy.”
‘Someone actually calls Father by that nickname?’
For a fleeting moment, that was the first thought that crossed Raizen’s mind.
“… Lily.”
“Well, even back then and now, that’s what makes you endearing. Isn’t that right, kids?”
Raizen was momentarily convinced he had misheard.
‘Did she just call Father… cute?’
Could the words ‘Duke Pantheon’ and ‘cute’ even exist in the same sentence?
Unable to agree in any way, Raizen avoided his mother’s gaze as a silent response.
Then his eyes met Sean’s.
Sean stared at him briefly before abruptly turning his head away.
“…?”
Raizen couldn’t make sense of anything happening around him.
After that, they freely explored the clubroom.
Naturally, the group split into two—his parents on one side and Sean with Raizen on the other.
Though in truth, it was more like Raizen quietly following behind Sean.
Sean’s eyes shone as he examined the clubroom.
As Raizen searched for the right word to describe him, he finally found it.
Vitality.
Sean exuded a sense of vitality.
Looking back, Sean had always been somewhat peculiar since they first met.
He was easily startled and fearful, yet when things actually happened, he remained remarkably composed.
That composure was grounded in the expectation that such things would occur.
Maybe that was why.
At the duke’s estate, Sean had often seemed incredibly bored.
They had spent a considerable amount of time together, yet seeing Sean this full of life felt strangely unfamiliar.
And in that moment, a thought flashed through Raizen’s mind—he had missed something important.
“… Sei.”
Before he realized it, Raizen called Sean’s name urgently.
Sean, who had been looking at a photograph of the Kreveta Marquis couple taken shortly before graduation, turned to face him.
He didn’t seem as withdrawn as before, suggesting that his mood had improved.
But he still looked like he was hiding something.
Like he was holding something back.
Like it was overwhelming.
‘If I ask him why, will I find out?’
But how should he ask?
Should he say that he feels like Sean has been avoiding him since the academic conference?
Or ask if he did something wrong?
‘Something wrong….’
Come to think of it, back at the coming-of-age ceremony, when he learned that Sean had no place to return to—
‘… I laughed.’
He had covered it up quickly, but had Sean really not seen it?
They had been close enough that their noses would have touched with just a slight movement forward.
‘That’s something I can’t say.’
I was glad that you couldn’t go back.
That was the truth.
Apologizing for it would be no different from lying.
If lying was necessary, I would do it—but for some reason, I didn’t think it would work on Sean.
I wasn’t sorry. Not yet.
Sean didn’t rush Raizen, who had called him over yet remained silent.
Instead, he moved toward the photo of his parents.
“Do I look like them?”
His voice, short and trembling, carried an unspoken emotion.
“Be honest with me.”
It was a clear demand.
Raizen nodded.
His gaze captured the faces of the Marchioness and Marquis Kreveta, who seemed to have just reached adulthood, and Sean—all at once.
There was no need for further contemplation.
“You do.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. Even a stranger would immediately see that you’re family.”
It was the absolute truth. Sean resembled both the Marquis and Marchioness of Kreveta in equal measure.
There was no saying who he took after more.
“I see.”
Sean’s eyes curved gently.
For a moment, his blue irises seemed to shimmer faintly, but before Raizen could take a closer look, Sean swiftly turned away.
He disappeared inside as if running away. Raizen was about to follow him when he suddenly stopped.
[To our beloved child]
His eyes landed on a letter sitting on the desk—one that hadn’t been there just moments ago.
He didn’t need to read it to know who had written it and for whom.
Raizen picked up the letter and hurried after Sean.
“Sei.”
Sean was crouched in the corner of the clubroom.
As soon as Raizen called his name, he quickly wiped at his eyes and lifted his head.
“What?”
“This.”
Sean’s breath caught the moment he saw the letter Raizen held out.
His trembling eyes brimmed with fresh tears.
The sight of it made Raizen’s heart ache, as if something sharp had pricked its very edge.
“Don’t cry.”
The words slipped out before he could stop them.
Even to his own ears, they sounded rough and clumsy—an utterly inadequate comfort.
Sean’s eyes widened before large tears began to fall.
“Sei.”
Raizen knelt before him, but he couldn’t bring himself to reach out.
He had no idea what to do.
“Sei, don’t cry, okay?”
“It’s so fucking annoying…”
Sean muttered as he roughly wiped his tears away.
His hands were so harsh that the skin around his eyes and cheeks quickly turned red.
“Sei, that’ll hurt…”
Again, the words spilled out without a second thought.
* * *
