* * *

If it weren’t for the man’s desperate eyes and the others’ tender reactions, Cadel would never have realized they were his family.

“The food is skimpy due to lack of ingredients, but you’ve traveled a long way to get here, so eat up.”

Gently wavy, light brown hair and green eyes. She was an innocent beauty, with a slender face and fine features. She pushed a plate of rabbit meat, potato salad, and grilled vegetables in Cadel’s direction.

“……Thank you for the meal.”

Cadel grinned awkwardly and picked up the knife and fork, causing the boy at the table to wiggle his butt and raise his voice.

“I made it too, Brother! Eat a lot!”

The boy, who appeared to be in his early teens, had blond hair and green eyes. He was a cute kid with a cheerful appearance and energetic demeanor.

Nodding, Cadel sliced the meat as naturally as he could, rolling his eyes intently.

‘That’s Helen Lytos, Cadel’s half-sister, and that’s his half-brother, Mikel Lytos. And that man is…….’

Cadel put a small piece of meat in his mouth and chewed it, catching a glimpse of the man sitting at the head of the table. He almost spit out what he was eating because their eyes immediately met, but fortunately, he was able to avoid making such an ugly sight.

‘Dionyl Lytos, the eldest son, the only one with any chance of carrying on the family name.’

It was one shock after another. That there were survivors other than Cadel in the Lytos family was surprising enough, but the Emperor was the one who gave them shelter.

‘What the heck is going on?’

As far as the Imperial family was concerned, the Lytos were rebels to be vanquished, and their descendants were being protected by none other than the Emperor himself. Perhaps he was merely watching, but it was strange that he hadn’t killed them.

And there was something else that was even more troubling.

‘We met for the first time. How am I supposed to treat them? Cadel Lytos is an illegitimate child. Can I be close to them? Did they use to hang out with Cadel Lytos? Huh?’

He became desperate for Cadel Lytos, whom he wanted to ignore in the past. What kind of reaction was natural? Even though it was an awkward relationship, should he show his joy at meeting the survivors of his family? What if they had a special relationship? While he was thinking about this, what if they were disappointed that the response was lukewarm?

He couldn’t even figure out how the food was digested due to the agony he was going through.

‘Cadel Lytos had a bright personality, so he must have been friendly no matter what their past relationship was. Of course, I have to show intimacy……. No, actually, no matter how I act, they won’t be able to figure out that I’m a transmigrator. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, so I’ll just say that my personality has changed, or that my memories are fuzzy because I hit my head on an adventure…….’

And just as Cadel’s thought circuits were tangling into a mess. Dionyl Lytos opened his mouth.

“Cadel, I fully understand that things are awkward between us right now. You’ve had less interaction with everyone since you were a child. We haven’t had enough time to get to know each other. But that’s just the way things are in our family, and we’ve never hated you.”

As if interpreting Cadel’s troubled expression to mean something else, Dionyl smiled bitterly and put down his fork.

“We apologize if we have offended you in the past. But we are truly glad to see you now, for you are the only family we have left.”

Family.

As soon as he heard Dionyl’s words, he remembered a memory he’d pushed to the back of his mind. Not about Cadel Lytos’ family, but Shin Yeohwan’s real family.

“How are you eating? You didn’t boil ramen noodles again, did you? Why don’t you just come home and live with us? It’s not that far from your company. Next time you come, I’ll give you some recipes so you can learn. It’s no use giving you side dishes. You have to be hungry to make something.”

His mother, who always nagged him with worry on the phone.

“Is everything okay at work? Is it worth going? After all, a man must be able to endure difficult things and overcome them tenaciously. There is growth through suffering. ……IStill, if it’s too much for you, just shake it off and come back. We’ve been supporting you for more than 20 years now, so what’s a few more?”

His father, who quietly gave him words of encouragement in a crude tone.

It was a time when he was hit by reality. When something was difficult, rather than running to his parents, he struggled to overcome it on his own. Then he chose this game as his escape.

‘……Those people aren’t my real family, but whatever. I think I know how to deal with it.’

Cadel nodded slightly as he chewed through his food. He smiled softly at Dionyl, who looked strangely fidgety, and he smiled back.

“The food is delicious.”

The smallest compliment quickly turned into a frenzy. Helen, the cook, flushed with pride, and Mikel raised his voice, telling Cadel to eat the food he made.

They were the descendants of a distinguished noble family, a family that was supposedly in decline but maintained an empire in its own way. But there was none of the nobility or discipline that should have been present at the table. No one tried to control each other, no one stopped talking. Cadel didn’t mind their free-spiritedness.

As they continued to eat in the midst of the chatter, Cadel’s gaze suddenly drifted to the door of the hut. Sorin was not joining them. He hadn’t eaten on the way here and must be quite hungry.

‘How much does Sorin know? He’s the one who brought my presence to the Empire.’

Maybe he too had only just learned of the existence of the survivors of House Lytos. During the Battle of the Gate, he might have acted purely to draw out traitors to the Empire.

‘It’s complicated.’

If you knew the story of the game, it would be clear what attitude you should take in this situation.

‘Well, I will find out little by little.’

At the end of the day, war was what this world was all about. These side stories and relationships didn’t affect his goals. If he chose to stay in this world, it would certainly be an important part of it, but he didn’t want to plan for such an uncertain future. He had enough headaches as it was.

And so, after more than an hour of eating. Cadel joined Dionyl and Helen for tea and further discussion.

“When I saw the name of the new Knight Order’s commander in the newspaper, I never imagined it would be you, Cadel. I thought it would be someone with the same name. It was just too much of a coincidence.”

Dionyl spoke in a melancholy voice. His dark green eyes were darkened as if remembering what had happened. Helen patted Dionyl on the back and looked back at Cadel.

“Even as a child, I knew you had great qualities as a magician, but I never realized you were a multi-attribute magician……. If we had known that in advance, we would have known that the knight commander in that article was you.”

In front of Helen, who sighed ruefully, Cadel rubbed his cheeks with an awkward smile.

‘What? House Lytos didn’t realize Cadel was a multi-attribute magician? How does that make sense?’

There was no way this genius talent would not have been highlighted. Was it perhaps an acquired talent? He was afraid of raising suspicion if he opened his mouth carelessly, so he tried to cover up all the questions with a smile, but Helen continued with a bitter smile.

“We’re not close to you, so we have to rely on rumors for information, and you’re not often mentioned among the adults in the house. It’s an unspoken rule……. But thanks to Grandfather Jenga, I’ve been able to get a glimpse of you.”

“I……see.”

“Grandfather Jenga cared for you very much. Don’t you remember?”

He didn’t remember. He first heard the name Jenga during his first meeting with Mamil, and until now, he hadn’t realized that he was Cadel’s grandfather. He’d vaguely assumed it was either his father or his grandfather.

But Cadel couldn’t show such ignorance, so he smiled wistfully, his eyes brimming with longing and recognition.

“Of course, Sister. I still remember that time vividly.”

“If Grandfather had been alive and well, and our family had continued in its former glory……. you could have been a proud knight of the Empire without hiding your name, and we would not have been heartbroken by your news either.”

“I guess so. But isn’t it because of something like that that we were able to gather like this? If not, we would still have remained in an awkward relationship.”

“……That’s right.”

Helen, who was staring at Cadel with her mouth closed, soon burst into laughter that made him feel warm just by looking at her.

“You’re tough, Cadel. I feel relieved to see that you’re strong. Because you were always bright when I saw you from afar. For a child with such a personality to have experienced something so terrible…… I was worried that you would break down inside.”

“I’m fine, I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“Yes. You’re much cooler and calmer than I thought you would be, and I think you’re much more trustworthy than this eldest son.”

Helen’s teasing smile poked at Dionyl, who had been looking pensive the entire time, and Dionyl’s lips tugged at the corners, but he still seemed to be holding something back. As Cadel waited in silence, not knowing what to expect, Dionyl slowly opened his mouth.

“I apologize for not being able to help you, Cadel.”

“……What?”

“I still don’t know what made you decide to become a knight of the Empire. To be honest, I have no idea, but whatever you choose, even if it is for revenge, I am on your side. I wish I could support you personally, but I can be of no help. I’ll never be of any use to you if I stay in hiding and live out my days. ……I’m sorry about that.”

Dionyl sounded genuinely distressed, which puzzled Cadel. From what he’d heard so far, the relationship between legitimate children and Cadel Lytos, the illegitimate child, was not close at all. Cadel seemed to be isolated, which was not surprising given his status. Honestly, it couldn’t be easy to treat an outsider child like one of your own.

Cadel had even made up his mind to accept it even if they asked for something unreasonable here.

‘But then he apologized for not being helpful. Is he serious?’

Of course, Dionyl was not going to help Cadel. Not now and not ever. But he didn’t begrudge Dionil. It wasn’t like he wanted help.

Cadel wondered if he was being nice or if he had an agenda. Scratching his head and rolling his eyes in frustration, Cadel soon realized it didn’t really matter either way.

“I made the decision on my own. Rather, I feel sorry because I have done something major on my own. Had I known my family were alive, I would have acted more carefully.”

“That’s nice of you to say.”

“And I became a knight of the Empire not out of revenge or anything like that, but because I wanted to rebuild my family, and if my efforts could wash away the stain of my family’s past, I was willing to bow my head to the Emperor who had exterminated my family.”

Cadel looked at Dionyl, vaguely wondering if this would be enough to keep them at arm’s length and pretend to be family, but what he saw on his face was neither relief nor sadness, but doubt.

“What do you mean by His Majesty exterminating our family, Cadel?”

“It’s literally true. Well, even if there is something wrong with what I said…….”

The next thing that came to Cadel’s mind was puzzlement, and after a brief exchange of glances with Helen, Dionyl cautiously opened his mouth.

“It was the Imperial family who killed the Lytos family that day. There were other nobles who took advantage, too. But not His Majesty. He protected us.”

“What? But didn’t you just say that the Imperial family killed them?”

“I was young at the time, so I don’t know for sure, but it is said that the Imperial family at that time was still reeling from the aftermath of the Demon War, and power was severely divided. It is clear that the person who killed our family was a member of the Imperial family, but it was not a person from His Majesty’s side. Aren’t we the proof?”

Dionyl studied Cadel’s complexion, which had stiffened at the sudden blow. He was worried that his words would confuse Cadel, but he didn’t stop speaking because he felt it was information that shouldn’t be hidden.

“We survived that day, with His Majesty’s help, and have been able to hide our identities ever since. I don’t know how you escaped from the family, and I suspect you may have seen things differently than we did, but……. Did His Majesty say anything to you?”

For a moment, his mind went blank. What came to mind later in his empty head were his own remarks from the past.