A small laugh burst from Callix, as though something immensely amusing had just happened.
“That’s right, Damian. When you’re scared, you rely on your older brother.”
Carrying Damian, Callix headed toward the dining hall.
As if he hadn’t been fed properly in a long time, the child was so light you could believe he was holding a bouquet of flowers.
The Duke, who was already waiting at the dining hall, raised a single eyebrow when he saw them.
It was a reaction of sheer curiosity as to why Callix was personally carrying and bringing along a younger brother he had never cared about before.
“Your Grace, Damian failed to eat properly and suffered a hypoglycemic shock. He almost died.”
Placing the child in the seat at the very end of the dining table, Callix took a seat right beside the Duke.
“Damian didn’t even have a single servant assigned to him.”
“Ah, I will assign one.”
“Given how young he is, it would be best to assign a nanny as well.”
“I had no idea you cared so much about your younger brother, Cal.”
The Duke showed curiosity as to why Callix was meddling in Damian’s affairs.
Callix quickly manufactured a plausible excuse to explain his suddenly altered attitude.
“Seeing his pink hair makes me think of Mother, so I keep worrying about her. And also……”
Dropping his eyelids like the most virtuous and kind-hearted boy in the world, Callix acted out a longing for his deceased mother.
He would never allow Damian’s identity as a Gem to be found out.
If it became known that Damian was a top-tier “jewel,” he might end up sharing a Gem with his father just like before.
Having been born later than his father and thus forced to share a Gem was an experience he had had enough of with his mother.
Of course, that didn’t mean he intended to commit an unspeakable taboo with his younger brother Damian.
Since simply holding hands provided more than enough divine blessing, why on earth would he go and filthily mix bodies with his sibling?
His only intention was to be the sole person who held Damian’s hand and hugged him.
This level of possessiveness was, in his view, well within the reasonable bounds for a mage who had discovered his own Gem.
“Ever since I returned to the castle after a long time, I met Mother in a dream. She begged me to take good care of Damian……, sob. Mother……”
Spinning a fairly shameless lie, Callix covered his mouth and acted as though he were holding back sobs.
Upon hearing that his dead wife had appeared in a dream, the Duke jumped up and pressed Callix for details.
“Cal, Sierra did—what else did she say? Hm? Didn’t she want to see me? How heartless of her. Why won’t she ever appear in my dreams?”
Callix had never once met his mother in a dream.
And he figured the same applied to Duke Maldini.
Having barely escaped the clutches of those obnoxious mages, there was no way she, having found freedom in death, would ever show up in their dreams.
Duke Maldini gazed with fervent yearning at his second son, whose hair color matched his wife’s, as if the boy were a magical key that could let him meet her again in his dreams.
“Ah, Sierra. I’m so sorry. I was wrong all this time.”
Overwhelmed by a sudden wave of guilt for having neglected his second son all this while, the father broke down.
Ignoring whether the Duke was crying or not, Callix summoned a servant and ordered them to bring Damian easily digestible food.
From this moment on, he would begin his jewel hunt.
Very tenderly and secretly. He would become the older brother Damian trusted and relied upon.
Meanwhile, Shushu figured Duke Maldini must be suffering from depression.
Judging purely by looks, he looked like someone who wouldn’t bleed even if pricked with a needle, yet he was capable of shedding so many tears.
What did it feel like for a mage to lose their Gem?
Having fled desperately alongside his mother, Shushu had never possessed a mage of his own, so he had no idea what that felt like.
His mother had only ever told him that mages were extremely dangerous beings.
They were hypocrites who treated inferior Gems like slaves while serving superior Gems like kings, she had said.
Eating the warm soup brought by the servant, Shushu let out a soft breath at the warmth spreading straight from his stomach.
He felt like he was finally coming back to life.
Perhaps because he was told to bring easily digestible food, following the thin broth came a bowl of oatmeal porridge, which hardly fit a noble’s diet.
Having starved for so long, had they given him meat, he would have failed to digest it properly and ended up with an upset stomach or vomiting.
As he belatedly looked back at the considerate Callix, he caught the eyes of the older boy, who was currently eating.
When the coldest-looking, aloof beauty in the world smiled exclusively at him, it felt like he had become the heroine of an internet romance novel.
Having finished his meal, Shushu stared at the strawberry cake resting on a white plate and swallowed hard.
He poked a strawberry the size of his fist with his fork and popped it into his mouth in one go.
Chewing energetically with chubby, puffed-up cheeks, he tasted the strawberry.
The strawberry coated in sweet fresh cream was so delicious it made his toes curl and the hairs on his head stand on end.
Of course, he had eaten it back in Korea, but because it was his first time tasting it in this world, every single cell in his body seemed to awaken.
Quickly devouring the strawberry cake in an instant, he bit down on his fork with a look of lingering regret.
Glancing sideways at the servant who was continuing to tend to his table service, he debated whether to ask for one more, when Callix—seated far away—brought over his own dessert plate and set it down right in front of him.
“Damian, Big Brother doesn’t really like sweets, so would you eat this for me?”
“……Yes.”
Shushu decided he liked Callix, who lived up to his looks after all.
A strawberry cake simply didn’t suit the heir of a cold-blooded Northern Grand Duke—hell yeah!
Fearing someone might snatch it away from him, Shushu quickly popped a strawberry into his mouth.
To a seven-year-old’s tongue, it was an overwhelmingly stimulating and thrilling taste.
Shaking his hand holding the fork, he eagerly shoveled spoonfuls of the fresh-cream cake into his mouth.
Had Mom ever tasted something this good? It must be expensive, right?
He drifted into a daydream of becoming rich later and buying a whole cake for his mother.
“Damian. Damian.”
Because it wasn’t his real name, Shushu hadn’t even realized he was being called.
Snapping to attention belatedly, he answered in a rush.
“Yes!”
The Duke asked if he had ever received any lessons before.
Shushu thought about lying that he had taken lessons, but shaking his head felt safer to avoid a bigger problem if he were found out.
“No.”
“Ah, no wonder your pronunciation and accent are poor. Then I suppose you don’t know how to write either.”
“……Yes.”
He felt smaller and smaller.
