* * *
The preacher John is waiting for me?
Then was he not on his way to meet the Crown Prince after all?
Joel felt a chill at his father’s words.
“A-But you said His Imperial Highness was waiting just now.”
“…”
“Father, just tell me one thing for sure. Is the Crown Prince down there?”
“Yes, he is. Although it may be difficult for you to understand now, surprisingly, His Highness is there of his own will.”
Naturally, there was no reason for the Crown Prince to willingly hide underground unless he had gone mad.
Considering the kidnapping of the smart and strong Crown Prince and the way his deeply loyal father was now, the preacher John seemed a much more dangerous person than expected.
Joel briefly felt skeptical whether his foolish self could truly rescue the Crown Prince, but worry for the Crown Prince overcame his fear.
He nodded, saying, “Alright. Let’s go quickly,” and forced his reluctant steps forward.
Descending the stairs, Joel thought with a complex heart.
Abe’s reprimand about knowing what a grave crime royal kidnapping was echoed loudly in his ears.
Since he knew about the Crown Prince’s kidnapping and did not inform the knights, his biological father, who was no different from an accomplice, would inevitably face punishment in the future.
Perhaps Joel himself might not be able to save his life.
He really should have just died in that snow field in the past and been done with it.
That would have been better for everyone.
If that had happened, his father would not have suffered this preposterous fate, the Crown Prince would not have been in this dangerous situation, and the baby in his belly would not have had to experience an unwanted birth…
Finally, when they reached the end of the deep, cramped tunnel, a small door awaited Joel. From behind, his father urged Joel, saying, “Open it.”
There was nothing left to fear now, and Joel reached for the doorknob without hesitation.
When he opened the door, a spacious room, strangely shaped like an entrance hall, appeared.
It was an entrance hall so luxurious that it was comparable to Count Lucas’s grand mansion.
The floor was densely tiled in a black and white checkerboard pattern, a thick red carpet covered it, and countless marble pillars were grandly lined up.
Thanks to the dozens of magnificent chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, it was possible to see clearly without the lantern.
Joel placed the lantern on the floor and followed Baron Bennet, who had somehow gotten ahead again.
Strangely, the mansion had a floor structure opposite to those on the surface.
Ordinary mansions had living spaces above ground, and the underground space was only used as a storage room.
However, the splendid marble staircase that appeared after passing the entrance corridor only led downwards.
Joel followed his father down the marble staircase, looking around.
It was a grand and beautiful mansion, incomparable to Baron Bennet’s manor.
There were no windows, but all sorts of splendid and beautiful paintings replaced where windows should have been.
Baron Bennet seemed extremely familiar with this strange mansion, and without any hesitation, he immediately found the drawing room.
Stepping inside the drawing room door that his father opened, Joel discovered a pale figure sitting on the sofa.
“Oh, Mother…?”
Joel, recognizing the face of the person sitting in front of the table, opened his eyes wide in shock.
Although the light was not bright, so he couldn’t see clearly, Joel could feel his mother smiling at him.
“Oh, Anna…”
Behind Joel, Baron Bennet murmured with a voice choked with emotion.
Joel couldn’t take his eyes off her for even a moment, afraid she might vanish.
His mother, who was looking at him with a complex expression mixed with joy and sorrow, rose from her seat.
She opened her arms wide toward Joel, as if telling him to come and embrace her.
“Mother…”
Joel felt his throat constricting.
She was a person he had never forgotten for a single moment.
He had always missed her deeply and constantly resented God for making him part with her at such a young age.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Joel was only able to overcome the terrible pain of loss thanks to her last words.
Just before closing her eyes, his mother had reached out her withered hand, barely holding Joel’s, and pleaded.
[My child. When we meet again, in the very distant future, please tell your mother how beautiful and wondrous this world was.]
That earnest request had motivated Joel to live vigorously.
Joel tried to experience as much as possible on her behalf, who had been bedridden for so long before passing away.
How high the clear sky was, how refreshing and joyful it felt to run across the fields, how beautiful the palace in the capital was, and how handsome and captivating the Crown Prince he had completely fallen for was…
He desperately wanted to tell her all those things and thank her for allowing him to be born into such a wondrous world, when they would meet again in the very distant future, as she had requested.
Joel immediately felt his vision blurring with tears.
Standing stock-still and simply weeping, Baron Bennet gently pushed his back and whispered.
“My child, go to her. Your mother is waiting for you.”
Joel moved his trembling legs and slowly walked forward.
With each step closer, her blue eyes sparkled with an increasingly poignant and sad light.
When he finally reached and embraced his mother, Joel could feel two thin arms wrapping around his back.
“Mother, I missed you…”
Joel whispered in a frail voice.
The embrace, which had felt so large when he was a child, was now incredibly cramped.
And though her skin was cold, her gentle scent, like warm milk, remained the same.
She was definitely his mother.
His mother, who hugged Joel tightly once, then pulled back and looked up at him.
Joel looked down at her, who was a full head shorter than him.
She bore a striking resemblance to him.
From her jewel-like sparkling blue eyes to her bright light golden hair and her delicate features that brought to mind a fairy in a fairy tale—it was like looking in a mirror.
For some reason, she did not seem happy at all about the reunion with her son.
Instead, she looked very sad and anxious.
She pushed Joel’s shoulder and her lips moved, as if to say something.
Joel tried to listen to her words, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t understand his mother.
“Mother? Could you please say that again? I don’t quite understand what you’re saying…”
When Joel tilted his head, Baron Bennet intervened, saying, “That is a natural phenomenon.”
“The preacher John said that the boundary between the living and the dead is clear, so they cannot converse with each other. In truth, it was my fault for simply asking to be able to meet Anna when I first made the contract… I should have asked to be able to converse as well.”
At that moment, his mother’s form suddenly began to blur.
Then, after one last forceful push on Joel’s shoulder, she instantly turned to dust and vanished.
Startled, Joel cried out in a loud voice, “Mother!”
“Calm down. The permitted time is only one hour, from midnight to 1 AM. That’s why we had to hurry so much… You will be able to meet your mother again tomorrow.”
Baron Bennet tried to calm the agitated Joel.
“In any case, do you believe in the preacher John’s power now? He summoned your mother’s soul to the living world with his omnipotent power.”
“Father… what exactly is the identity of this preacher John? Is he the owner of this mansion? And how did you even meet him? Since when has there been such a grand mansion beneath our house?”
An agitated Joel poured out a jumbled string of questions.
Baron Bennet first soothed Joel and made him sit on the sofa.
Once Joel had regained some composure, Baron Bennet began his story in a calm tone.
“After sending your mother away, and even you went up to the capital, I was truly lonely. And I often thought about eternal farewell, that is, death. The more I did, the more anxious I became. There is no doubt that there will be a place for kind and gentle Anna and for my lovely child in heaven, but I, however, killed far too many people on the battlefield in my youth to go to such a place.”
“Father…”
“I was so tormented and miserable by the fact that our happy days as a family of three could never return. And I felt helpless. I would continue to live alone, missing the past like this until I closed my eyes, and a sinner like me would have no chance of reuniting with my family after death.”
Baron Bennet was convinced that he would go to hell after he died.
Joel tried to comfort his father, telling him that God would not count the killing in war as a sin, as he had heard and learned in his religious classes, but then he realized that a devout religious man like his father couldn’t possibly be unaware of that fact.
He, who had never experienced war, could only offer superficial comfort.
Although this was not the time to be idly listening to lamentations, since the one lamenting was his father, a feeling of pity was inevitable.
Joel looked at his remorseful father with compassion.
* * *
