Though the kidnappers muttered, “What’s wrong with this kid?”, they thankfully debated how to handle the kidnapped mother.
“Should we just let her off?”
“Of course not. Let’s just kill her here so there’s no loose ends.”
“Let’s not cross that line. Just let the woman go. What can she do all by herself? She doesn’t even know who we are.”
“That’s right. We’re not real kidnappers anyway. That poor, pitiful child will thank us later.”
The arrogant men must have thought that letting a commoner child live as the son of the Northern Grand Duke was some immense act of charity.
Listening to their conversation, the mother couldn’t suppress her anger and clenched her fists tightly.
Shushu wrapped his tiny hand around her clenched fist.
“I love you, Mom.”
“Shushu…….”
“Shushu is definitely going to come back home. So please wait for me, Mom.”
Fortunately, as soon as they reached the village, the men stopped the carriage and forcibly dragged his mother out.
She tried to climb back into the carriage, begging them to take her along, but was knocked backward by a rough kick from one of the men.
“You bastards, shut up!”
Unaccustomed to hearing a young child swear, the men froze and stammered, stuttering in confusion.
“Y-You! Wh-What did you just say, you little brat?”
“I was happy with my mom, but you guys ruined my life! Go rot in hell, you damned assholes!”
As Shushu glared and fumed, the men fell silent.
Fortunately, these bastards seemed to have a shred of conscience.
Wiping away his tears, Shushu looked out the carriage window.
This was no time to just sit around crying.
His primary plan was to gather funds and escape the castle before the Northern Grand Duke and Callix arrived.
Though it would be difficult for a lone child to make it back to Springfield all by himself, he figured he could rely on the assistance of adults along the way, given how everyone kept making a fuss over how cute he was.
If Plan A failed and he ended up coming face-to-face with the Northern Grand Duke and Callix, he would have to win them over to his side by turning on the charm.
If he managed to make them his personal lapdogs, he might be able to escape the guillotine when his “fake” identity was eventually discovered.
Of course, as long as he remained a beta, the moment a name manifested on Callix’s body, his life would be forfeit once again.
Therefore, he had to escape the castle no matter what before that happened, meet his mother in Springfield, and flee together to a foreign country.
Until then, he resolved never to let the Northern Grand Duke and Callix realize he was a fake Damian.
As expected, the destination of the carriage was Wintergarden, the capital of the North.
The carriage pulled into the Grand Duke’s castle and came to a halt right in front of the stables.
One of the men stuffed Shushu into a large burlap sack and hoisted him over his shoulder.
He could feel himself being carried somewhere, continuously ascending what felt like stairs.
Even knowing he wasn’t going to die right this second, his entire body trembled like an aspen leaf.
At a certain moment, the sack opened, and Shushu squeezed his eyes shut against the sudden glare.
Feeling a sharp sting on his cheek, he opened his eyes to find long fingernails firmly pinching his plump cheek.
“Child, do you know where this is?”
“N-No.”
“This is the castle of Maldini Vesper, who rules the North. From now on, you are going to live here as his second young master.”
The red-haired woman gripped Shushu’s cheek even harder.
Though his tender skin stung as her fingernails dug in, Shushu was frozen stiff and unable to move an inch.
“If you play the role of Damian Vesper’s stand-in well, I will send your mother 10 gold coins every month. Ten gold coins is a fortune a commoner can’t even begin to imagine. Let me explain it in a way you can easily understand. Ten gold coins is such a huge sum that you could eat a bowl of meat soup every day, hire five maids, and still have enough left over to save.”
To a genuinely impoverished commoner child, it would undoubtedly sound like an offer too good to pass up.
Yet Shushu did not naively believe she would keep her word.
It was just a lie to make him easy to manipulate.
“However, if the fact that you’re a fake is discovered, you and your mother will both be dragged to the guillotine and have your heads chopped off. Answer me if you understand.”
“……Yes.”
He tried not to show any sign of fear, but his young body shook violently against his will.
Shushu could barely force out a reply through his constricted throat.
Finally releasing his cheek, she stepped back.
Only then did Shushu take in his surroundings.
It was a room furnished with nothing more than a dilapidated bed.
The floor was covered in thick layers of uncleaned dust, and old food was rotting in a dish placed on the floor like a dog’s bowl.
He gasped, drawing in a sharp breath.
Damian grew up in an environment like this?
It suddenly made complete sense why, the moment he regained his sanity and awakened as a grand archmage, he came to kill Meiyou.
No matter how long he and his mother had spent wandering and living a nomadic life, they had never stayed in conditions this wretched.
A single thin sheet lay atop the bed.
Since they certainly wouldn’t provide a cotton quilt just because winter arrived after locking Damian in a place like this, winters must have been unimaginably freezing here.
Swallowing hard with tension, he wondered if this was where he would be staying from now on.
Seeing this, Meiyou let out a high-pitched laugh.
“What? Are you worried you’ll be staying here?”
She kicked hard at Shushu’s rigid body.
Coming up only to her waist, Shushu tumbled over and over until he slammed hard against the wall and finally stopped.
“If you commit any wrongdoing, this is where you’ll end up. I mean, if you dare utter any nonsense to the Duke that you aren’t Damian, or if you talk behind my back. I am a very gentle and sweet mother to you, understand?”
“…….”
“Are you not going to answer me at once?”
She looked ready to kick him again with her high-heeled foot.
Reflexively curling his body into a ball, Shushu hurried to answer.
“Yes.”
“Damian, get up. Before your father and your brother arrive, I need to beat that vulgarity out of you.”
Clutching his aching stomach for fear of getting hit again, Shushu scrambled to his feet.
Tears welled up and spilled down his cheeks on their own accord, but seeing Meiyou raise her hand into the air, he cowered and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Ah, right. I mustn’t hit your face, should I?”
She chuckled lightly, as if she had just remembered something terribly important.
Wondering if it was safe now, he cautiously opened his eyes, and the instant he did—as if waiting for that very moment—a palm crashed down onto the back of his head.
“Ugh.”
“Don’t play the victim.”
She apparently had no idea how fragile a young child’s body truly was.
Feeling dizzy, Shushu leaned against the wall, vomited, and collapsed.
