Rather Than The Son, I’ll Take The Father

Chapter 171.2

Still in Aedis’ arms, I tilted my head.

“Uh…… right?”

“Then I can tear it up.”

“I heard that I looked so beautiful in a wedding dress that it was blinding?”

“The wife is always very beautiful at all times.”

How brazen.

“Hold me.”

Aedis lightly lifted me.

“I’ll tell you in advance, there is no mark on my head.”

How did he know I was going to touch his head?

Unlike me who made a sad face, Aedis smiled.

“I am happy. Although there was some bleeding.”

“So what is that bleeding?”

“I heard you’ll let me go today, Eve.”

The spring sunlight was shining on the corners of his long eyes.

I was about to say more, but Aedis gently kissed me, so I failed.

* * *

Andrei Kallakis had a problem.

Before him was a man confined to the land of beasts. His bored face said that nothing in the world was worthwhile, but he dutifully saved himself from danger.

‘I owed him my life, and I brought him because he was trampled in the snow.’

The man was like a statue. But if he occasionally saw something interesting, he would talk like a living person.

Like now, when Andrei came to his room with work.

The man couldn’t be bothered by Andrei, who never left him alone.

“If this is the case, why did you give me a room?”

“Don’t be so sad. It’s something you’ll have to take over soon, so wouldn’t it be better to learn it in advance?”

Currently, Grand Duchy Kallakis has no heir.

Andrei and his wife intended to pass on the grand duchy to the man to whom they had owed their lives many times.

But the man, not yet understanding what Andrei was saying, brushed it aside and pointed out what intrigued him.

“That picture. Who is it?”

Buried in a pile of papers, Andrei picked up the portrait, on which only the head was visible.

An elderly nobleman with light pink hair had a solemn face.

“Ah, he is the head of the Morgana family.”

“…….”

Andrei had never even met the person. The Morgana family wanted to increase their power in the capital city, and they asked for help from Grand Duchy Kallakis. It was an attitude that if they could solidify their position as a great family, they would be willing to risk even a damaging contract.

“I don’t think it will be, but does it look familiar?”

“…….”

“Hey, since I answered you, can you answer me, too?”

When Andrei grunted, the man opened his mouth.

“Do all the families have that hair color?”

It wasn’t an answer, it was another question, but since he was such a stoic man, Andrei was happy with even this.

“Well, most of them?”

“…….”

The man’s eyes shimmered the deep blue color of the sea.

Andrei’s own eyes lit up.

“Do you like pink hair? Huh? Don’t be shy and tell me!”

“It’s not like that.”

“Huh. You’ve been staring at it.”

“At least not him.”

“So pink hair?”

“…… maybe.”

Andrei stroked his chin.

In the meantime, Andrei was thinking about how to keep the man in human society.

The man was a very nice person in Andrei’s eyes. In particular, compared to the beings out there who belittled him and his beloved wife who couldn’t even beget a successor, he was close to a saint.

‘Because he has been alone for a long time, I’m sure he’s twisted.’

As if someone had pointed the way, the man had no big troubles.

Suddenly, Andrei remembered the first time he met the man.

“Come to think of it, who did you say you were waiting for? Could it have something to do with the pink hair?”

The man furrowed his eyebrows as if it were an unpleasant topic of conversation.

“I’m not sure.”

“You still don’t remember?”

The man affirmed in silence.

Looking at him, Andrei shook his head.

“If it were me, I would have died of frustration, but you are enduring well.”

The man thought it was bearable, but he wouldn’t let it out.

—…… Do you want to marry me when you grow up?

All he remembered were bits and fragments.

Hair that seemed to be pink, reminiscent of spring, and a sweet voice.

―Anyway, if you wait, I will make you happy.

As if now wasn’t the time to think about it, trying to think about it gave him a headache.

Still, wouldn’t it be worth the wait, the man thought. There was nothing left of him anyway.

Andrei cleared his throat.

“Actually, I have a meeting with the head of the Morgana family…….”

The man looked at him, his face asking if it had anything to do with him.

“Ha, haha, nothing!”

Andrei laughed exaggeratedly and hid the portrait behind his back.

The man watched Andrei like that and asked.

“So what should I do today?”

“There are still countless things I want you to help me with……Where are you going to spend that money?”

Andrei was the only one who knew that the man was slowly accumulating wealth in the cave where he used to live.

“To use it when I get married.”

“Married…… ?”

Andrei looked at the paper in front of him.

It was a crappy marriage contract. It was a draft written without much thought, and it would have to go through the hands of several people before it would become effective.

“Hmm. Marriage…….”

Andrei was anguished.

Pinkish hair was a hallmark of the Morgana family. The more direct, the more distinct the color.

Therefore, the probability that the person the man was waiting for was a direct lineage of the Morgana family was quite high.

However, it was unclear whether that person would feel the same way as the man.

‘I guess this is the only thing I can do for you.’

After weighing it for a long time, Andrei picked up a quill.

With the quill, Andrei traced the part where it was specified that the subject of the contract would be a child recognized by the head of the family and of marriageable age.

‘Of course, even if the head of the household is not married, they can have children, right? He’s three digits old, but on the outside he can be shiny. This is a very strange condition… … Well, normal people wouldn’t even consider it in the first place. Let’s leave the rest to chance.’

It was such a small detail, it was a change that no one would notice even after time passed.