“I was just about to report to you, but since you summoned me, I came immediately. This is a letter from Her Majesty the Empress.”

“…”

The Marquis’s expression hardened. He quickly opened the letter and read its contents.

The elegant and refined handwriting, which felt more like a snake coiling around one’s neck than a floral vine, unmistakably belonged to the Empress.

[Have you found the successor of the Holy Spirit?]

The letter, with no sender or recipient indicated, contained only one sentence.

But the Marquis immediately understood its meaning and scowled deeply.

“Impatient, aren’t we?”

Already stressed by the mountain of tasks piling up, the Marquis felt even more irritated by the Empress’s pushiness.

“Though, of course, this is an important matter…”

The Marquis raised a hand and irritably ran it through his neatly combed hair, messing it up.

He looked up and asked the butler,

“What is Cesare doing right now?”

“If you mean Priest Cesare… According to the latest report, he is traveling to orphanages near the capital with other priests, interpreting the scriptures for the children. It’s his usual routine around this time.”

“Ugh, such a useless endeavor.”

The Marquis clicked his tongue in displeasure.

For orphans, a single sweet treat meant more than a line from the scriptures.

The Marquis couldn’t understand the current High Priest’s insistence on strictly adhering to such formalities.

And because of that, he couldn’t summon Cesare immediately when he needed him.

Well, in any case, he didn’t have the time to dwell on such matters.

The Marquis spoke coldly.

“Tell him to see me once he’s finished. The successor of the Holy Spirit could be an orphan, after all. I’ll need to ask if he’s noticed any unusual children.”

“Understood. Then…”

“…Wait.”

As the butler was about to leave with the letter for Duke Bryan, the Marquis called out in a hurried voice.

“My lord? Is there something else you wish to instruct?”

The butler, though puzzled, answered politely.

The Marquis’s brow furrowed slightly.

“They said the traces lead toward the capital.”

After a moment of contemplation, the Marquis slowly parted his lips.

“Just in case, have Cesare informed of the child’s features as well. If he happens to see them by chance, tell him to detain them.”

“Understood.”

—

After the commotion on my first day at the orphanage, the days passed peacefully without any major incidents.

People hoping to adopt children frequently came and went at the orphanage.

The children were called by the teachers, and they either left the orphanage with smiling faces or returned to their rooms looking somewhat downcast.

Among them, the child who was called out the most was, of course, Benjamin.

He was the oldest among the children at the orphanage, had a neat appearance, and possessed a calm and gentle demeanor.

But…

“Again, it’s someone else and not you, huh?”

“Yeah…”

“Why though?”

The children gathered by the window, standing on their tiptoes and peering outside.

Through the window, they could see a middle-aged couple smiling warmly as they lifted a child into their arms.

However, the child receiving their smiles was not Benjamin.

The children poked their heads out beyond the windowsill and muttered one by one.

“It’s not like he’s shy or anything.”

“Then why doesn’t he answer properly or smile much when he’s in front of adults?”

“Maybe that’s why the adults feel awkward around him and end up choosing someone else.”

“Is he bad at handling real situations?”

“What’s a real situation?”

“I don’t know. I just heard it somewhere.”

Having grown somewhat closer to the children over the past few days, I found myself among them, holding a baby in my arms. I tilted my head in curiosity.

‘It’s strange. He doesn’t seem like the type to hesitate like that.’

[What’s your deal? There are plenty of kids here who are desperate for adoption, even without you. I’m no different.]

On my first day here, Benjamin had noticed my strangeness with just a small action and had even gone so far as to push me into a pit. That same Benjamin had said he was desperate for adoption.

But the Benjamin I saw now didn’t seem desperate at all.

“We’re family now. Let’s get along well, okay?”

Outside, the middle-aged couple was smiling brightly as they patted the child’s head.

A little distance away from them, Benjamin stood next to the teacher who was seeing the child off. His lips were tightly pressed together, and his fists were clenched.

But his expression didn’t seem to convey frustration at not being chosen. It was something else entirely.

“Oh, he’s leaving.”

“Where’s he going?”

At that moment, Benjamin turned around and started running somewhere.

The teacher tried to stop him, but he ran so fast that he quickly disappeared from view.

‘Hmm.’

After a brief moment of thought, I handed the baby I was holding to another child and stepped out of the room.

[There’s a rope ladder next to that pit. I use it sometimes to avoid the teachers.]

Could he be there?

With that thought, I headed toward the backyard of the orphanage.

Unexpectedly, however, he wasn’t in the woods connected to the backyard but was instead sitting under a tree not far from the back gate.

I wondered if he might be crying, so I held my breath and observed him from a distance. But his breathing was steady, and his shoulders weren’t shaking.

After confirming that Benjamin wasn’t crying, I quietly approached him.

Hearing the rustling of grass underfoot, he flinched and looked back. When he saw that it was me and not a teacher, he turned his head away again.

I brushed my wind-tossed hair behind my ears and sat down beside him.

Benjamin stubbornly kept his gaze fixed straight ahead, refusing to look at me.

After a long silence, I finally opened my mouth.

“You…”

“What, what! What is it?”

“…I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“Ugh.”

Even before I could say anything meaningful, he yelled as if to drown me out, then let out a groaning sound and turned his head away.

But his outburst didn’t last long.

Benjamin soon curled up, hugged his knees, and lowered his gaze gloomily.

For someone who was usually cheerful and confident when facing me, his face now was uncharacteristically clouded with sadness.

I quietly observed his profile and then spoke.

“You said you have a brother, right?”

At those words, Benjamin jumped up in place.

He hurriedly looked around and lowered his voice as he scolded me.

“Hey! What if someone hears that…!”

“It’s fine. I just saw one of the teachers say they’d hand out snacks, and all the kids ran off in that direction. There’s no one around here right now.”

“…Really?”

“Why would I lie about that?”

I shrugged as I replied, and Benjamin gave me a suspicious look.

But since there wasn’t a single lie in my words, I met his gaze confidently.

Eventually, Benjamin sighed deeply and turned his head forward again.

Resting his face on his arms, which were wrapped around his knees, he muttered sulkily.

“…What do you want to know?”

‘Duck lips.’

From the side, his slightly protruding lips resembled a duck’s beak.

I found it amusing as I observed them and asked,

“What does it feel like to have a brother?”

“What?”

Perhaps not expecting such a question, Benjamin looked at me with wide eyes.

Meeting his gaze calmly, I continued.

“I don’t have any siblings. From the moment I was born, my family consisted of just my mom. So I’m curious—what does it feel like to have family other than your mom?”

“…”

As I spoke, Benjamin’s gaze gradually softened.

He stared at my face for a long time, his expression difficult to read—whether it was pity or sympathy, I couldn’t tell.

I didn’t rush him but waited patiently for him to speak on his own.

After a long wait, Benjamin let out a deep sigh and finally opened his mouth.

“…I don’t know.”

“Why not?”

“Because that person isn’t someone I can call my brother.”

A twisted smile appeared on Benjamin’s lips. It looked more like self-mockery than anything else.

He turned his gaze toward the trees swaying in the wind and continued.

“…What would it feel like if your dad was called ‘dad’ by someone else too?”