As usual, Sarah went to her son’s bedroom to watch him fall asleep. The child lay quietly tucked under the covers, waiting for his mother.

“Mother, I’m all ready for bed.”

Looking into his expectant eyes, which sought a word of kindness, Sarah spoke indifferently.

“Alright.”

“Today, I received praise from the fencing instructor, and I defeated Grace perfectly. You would have been happy if you had seen it.”

She gently brushed the child’s hair while sitting on the edge of the bed.

“…There’s nothing you do that would make me happy.”

Then she leaned over and whispered softly into his ear.

“You’re just… a substitute for my husband. You should use the life you took from him meaningfully. So, the things you achieve are simply what you’re supposed to do. Understand?”

At that moment, he felt ashamed of his boasting. Trying hard not to show it, he turned his head toward her to respond.

“Mo-mother…?”

But instead of his beautiful mother, he saw a monstrous figure, looking fierce and grotesque.

The murky, dark skin resembled a swamp, with lumpy masses hanging here and there. The long, slit-like eyes were filled with darkness, as if they would swallow anything that approached them. The lips were shapeless, as if slashed with a knife.

Fear choked him, and every nerve in his body was on edge.

Just as the monster was about to kiss his forehead, the child screamed with all his might, loud enough to tear his eardrums.

The room was instantly filled with light.

Startled by the noise, the servants burst through the door to find the lady collapsed and the young duke crying.

***

The next day, when Leopold entered his mother’s room, he found her staring blankly into space.

“Mother, it’s Leopold.”

Even after greeting her, there was no response. It was scarier than when she would yell at him.

A woman he had never seen before stood by the bed, clicked her tongue, and said, “Leo, dear. Sarah is a little unwell. She seems tired, so let her rest, alright? Why don’t you come and talk with me?”

Holding back the tears that threatened to spill, he nodded. He knew he had done something wrong, but he couldn’t understand what it was.

“Sarah, this must never be known. I’ll talk to Leo properly, so make sure the servants keep their mouths shut.”

Despite the stern warning, his mother remained unmoving. The woman sighed deeply and led Leopold to the sitting room.

The mansion was eerily quiet as they walked. The child understood well what this kind of silence meant.

It meant there was a need for discipline…

Sweat began to form in his palms.

“…Is Grandmother going to scold me today?”

“Call me Isabel. And I won’t scold you.”

“Why not?”

“Because you haven’t done anything wrong.”

He was only ten years old, but it was the first time he had heard such words.

That can’t be true. I’m always doing something wrong. Even today, Mother wouldn’t even look at me…

His heart felt strangely uneasy. It seemed like something he should be happy about, yet he sensed that truly being happy would lead to trouble.

When they reached the sitting room, Isabel sat him on the sofa and regarded him with a serious expression. Her heavy voice began to weigh on Leopold.

“Can you tell me exactly what happened last night?”

After hesitating for a moment, he swallowed hard and spoke with anxious eyes.

“Mother… suddenly looked like a monster.”

“You must have been holding in a lot. And then?”

“I was so scared that I screamed, and then I felt something suddenly burst out from inside me.”

“Was there light? Blinding light? Filling the room?”

Her description was accurate, as if she had witnessed it herself. Her assured tone made him feel somewhat intimidated.

“…Did I hurt Mother?”

The child nodded slightly but couldn’t bring himself to look up as he asked. He didn’t want to reveal the tears that kept welling up.

“Yes. I’ve never experienced anything like this.”

Isabel shook her head. She seemed more interested in understanding how such an event could occur rather than in the fact that Sarah was hurt.

“You possess magic.”

Leopold snapped his head up. It was a surprising yet welcome revelation.

Magic was said to be a power that helped people once it manifested. Maybe he could help Mother somehow.

His voice cracked with sudden hope.

“Then can I make Mother better?”

“No. Unfortunately, your magic is a harmful force. It’s a power that disappeared long ago… It’s truly astonishing that it has manifested.”

Isabel continued her explanation in a dry tone as she looked at the child, who stood frozen with his mouth open, unable to speak.

“Anyway, listen carefully. Because of what happened yesterday, Sarah will never be able to use her legs again. But you weren’t able to control your magic, so it was just an accident. You don’t need to feel guilty.”

Being much more mature than his peers, he understood that what she was saying wasn’t meant to comfort him but was simply a statement of fact. However, accepting it in his heart was an entirely different matter.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“…No.”

Even though the breakfast Peter brought tasted like nothing, he couldn’t claim to be in pain compared to the fact that Mother had lost her ability to walk.

“Your power must remain a secret. It’s practically forbidden magic. If we cast a barrier spell, this won’t happen again. Let’s tell people that it was a sudden worsening of a condition she developed during childbirth. This is to protect you, so understand that. If we prolong this, all sorts of rumors will spread.”

She stood up and placed her hand gently on Leopold’s head, murmuring words he couldn’t understand.

He instinctively felt something within him come to a calm stop.

“Since you’re still young, the spell works well. That’s fortunate in this situation.”

Isabel patted his small shoulder as if to comfort him.

Thus, ten-year-old Leopold became bound to never defy his mother for the rest of his life.

***

He found Hazel on a rainy day between autumn and winter when he was seventeen.

That day, Leopold rode aimlessly alone after receiving his usual scolding from his mother.

The wounds from the whip would heal just as new ones formed, leaving his back perpetually sore. However, the cold rain provided relief to the sore wounds.

In a life devoid of satisfaction, he found a certain comfort in that coldness. It felt natural for him to wander in the rain wearing only a thin tunic.

The Lawrence estate had a large hunting ground behind the main house, which connected to the northern White Forest. Although there wasn’t an official path, they were adjacent.

Contrary to the cleanliness suggested by its name, the White Forest was dark and cold all year-round, frequently inhabited by hungry predators like wolves and lions. No sane person would dare to venture there.

That was why he rode more freely in the forest, delving deeper and farther until the duke’s residence was out of sight.

Only when his body began to freeze to the point of numbness did Leopold pull on the reins and stop.

Even after inhaling air cold enough to tear at his lungs, the turmoil inside him refused to settle. The only small comfort he found was knowing that Mother felt similar emotions.

They were connected by intense hatred. The difference was that his hatred was intertwined with a longing for affection.

“Let’s head back now, Carl. If we’re too late, Mother will be angry again.”

Carl, with a mane as black as his owner’s hair, neighed softly.

The horse seemed eager to run more, but Mother became excessively sensitive after sunset, making it impossible to go further.

As he patted Carl’s neck and adjusted the reins, he noticed something white glimmering beneath a large tree trunk in the distance. Yet, even in the northern forest, snow did not fall until winter, leaving Leopold puzzled. None of the animals in the White Forest had fur of that color.

Sensing his hesitation, the clever horse stomped impatiently.

“Let’s just check it out. There can’t be a gem that big, but if there is, I could give it to Mother.”

He mumbled nonsensically as he coaxed the horse forward.

But what lay curled at his feet when he dismounted was neither snow, an animal, nor a gem.

It was a child.

Small, thin, and dirty, the child appeared to have been abandoned, teetering on the brink of death.

To Leopold, who had already grown to the stature of an adult man, the child seemed so small that he could easily lift them with one hand.

Dressed in what could barely be called clothing—made from a grain sack with holes—the child shivered and breathed faintly, resembling a beast left to die alone after being abandoned by its pack.

The bare feet, blackened with dirt, were reddened from the cold, and the swollen fingertips were covered in wounds.

In the desolate darkness, only the child’s hair shone, catching the faint sunlight that filtered through the wind, pure and bright like the first snow.

He carefully examined the child from head to toe.

Ah, there is another life suffering so much.

As much as I am.

Or perhaps even more.

A peculiar sense of kinship spread from the center of his chest.

—
T/N: So that was why he liked going out in the rain. So the cold could somehow soothe the sore wounds from all that abuse from his mother. And here I was thinking that she was a good person for adopting Hazel; she was just taking advantage of her capabilities to heal her legs. What a damn revelation. Next chapter has more gut punches, so be prepared! ^^