Epilogue (Part 6)

Anthus knew better than anyone that the Fedeurus family wouldn’t fall in just a year or two.

He continued to go on expeditions and fight battles to quell the embers of the wars Rezeph had started. It was only natural that rumors spread about him being cold and terrifying.

And he met Maxwell, the illegitimate child of the Fedeurus family. His eyes were filled with a desire for revenge against the Fedeurus family. That desire was useful. Maxwell, knowing he was being used, also turned a blind eye.

He was a man who couldn’t be careless, but he moved as desired.

Beonar’s business was always difficult. It couldn’t be helped. He was lazy and foolish. Above all, he was easily swayed by others, so whenever he heard about someone making money, he had to follow suit. Thanks to that, when Anthus heard that Yuliana gave all her expedition rewards to Beonar, he bit his lower lip until it bled to suppress the boiling anger.

“Lady Yuliana is too kind.”

“Indeed, Master.”

He had to somehow suppress his rising anger.

“Ferrell.”

“Yes.”

“Who is the woman Young Lord Beonar is currently seeing?”

“She’s the Young Lady of Baron Wales.”

“If he’s using the money he received from her to win over another woman, it’s no wonder his business isn’t doing well.”

Beonar was cheating with the money he received from Yuliana. He even played with high-class courtesans and gambled.

“The Loengrin family demanded a breakup after learning of Beonar’s infidelity, but it was rejected, saying having a mistress is common.”

“They won’t let her go easily. Unless the Marquis has a daughter-in-law he really likes. So from the Marquis’s perspective, Yuliana must become useless.”

It would take a long time to break off the engagement, but he had to be patient. If Hoden realized that Yuliana was unnecessary to the Fedeurus family outside of her spirit summoning, the breakup would be easy.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just kill him?”

“I’d like to, but that’s absolutely not an option.”

Anthus hadn’t ruled out Beonar’s death. There were plenty of opportunities to kill him, and it would be easy. But he didn’t do it because he didn’t want Yuliana to remember her deceased fiancé with any fondness.

“Every time she thinks of Young Lord Beonar, she should feel nothing but disgust, not any affection for the deceased.”

Beonar acted like the most devoted man in the world, representing all sunflowers, whenever Yuliana returned from an expedition. And whenever Yuliana went on another expedition, Beonar would tell every woman he seduced,

<I’m planning to break off the engagement with my fiancée, who’s on expeditions all year round.>

Anthus was thrilled every time Beonar spoke of breaking off the engagement.

But there was no news of a breakup. He made various plans to break it off somehow, but Marquis Fedeurus wouldn’t let Yuliana go. Time flowed relentlessly.

Yuliana continued to receive imperial orders and go on expeditions. And when Beonar began meeting the perfect Lady Sophia from the Lumichua family, Yuliana became useless in Hoden’s eyes.

“The Marquis Fedeurus will think.”

In Hoden’s eyes, Sophia was at least someone who would be helpful to the Fedeurus family, or rather, she appeared as money.

“If my thoughts are correct, the breakup is imminent. But I won’t expect it until it happens.”

“Master.”

The more Anthus expected, the greater the disappointment. Disappointment piled up and gnawed at his heart. It was painful. As time went by and he got used to the pain, another emotion came. Emptiness.

So he tried hard not to expect Yuliana’s breakup.

And the day Anthus never expected, which seemed like it would never come, arrived like an unexpected Christmas gift.

On the day Cloud urgently summoned him, he met Louis, Yuliana’s brother, at the palace.

Louis, slightly resembling Yuliana, kept catching his eye. Every time their eyes met, his startled, retreating appearance was as cute as a deer.

“I have one good news and one bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”

Anthus’s heart sank at Cloud’s words. For him, there was only one good news.

“Please tell me the good news first.”

“Lady Loengrin’s engagement was just confirmed to be broken.”

The disappointment that had grown as much as his expectations gnawed at his heart and turned into emptiness. Conversely, when what he expected happened, it brought intense joy. He felt invincible, as if he could overcome anything.

“That’s good news. Then please tell me the bad news, Your Majesty.”

Even the bad news sounded joyful.

But the document Cloud handed over was quite serious. All the villagers disappeared, leaving only one boy. He would find out more when he went to Luteons Village.

“Duke Rockbellion, it’s an imperial order. Go to Luteons Village and find out what happened.”

“I, Anthus Rockbellion, will obey the imperial order. It seems the power of spirits is necessary.”

Anthus was delighted to be able to be with Yuliana again.

“It’s just an investigation, but it could be dangerous since it involves monsters. Do you plan to take Lady Loengrin?”

“If anything dangerous happens, I’ll protect her.”

Cloud pointed out it was arrogance, but Anthus heard nothing. Yuliana’s engagement was broken. Her breakup occupied his mind. The persistent Beonar, who had been stuck to Yuliana for nine years, was gone.

“Successfully got rid of the leech…”

“Got rid of it?”

“It’s time to move forward without retreat.”

Anthus had been eagerly waiting for Yuliana’s breakup more than anyone. Of course, he orchestrated her breakup. Even if she found out, the yellow chick that had entered his heart would never leave.

The day he first learned what true joy was.

It was hard to restrain the urge to run to Yuliana and confess.

He wanted to say he had fallen for her since the moment they met, that he liked her, that he loved her.

Isn’t it the most beautiful miracle granted by God to humans when the person you love accepts your heart?

* * *

“What are you thinking about? Yan.”

Anthus looked down, feeling someone shaking him. Javelos, nestled in his arms, was tugging at his collar with a grin.

“Indeed, moving forward was the answer.”

Anthus adjusted Javelos in his arms and smiled.

“Javelos, if there’s something you want, you must go for it without hesitation.”

“Gaa!”

“What are you telling the child, Yan?”

“I was just sharing my feelings… no, my experiences.”

Anthus laid Javelos in the cradle, lightly embraced Yuliana, and kissed her. Through the open window, the warm morning sunlight streamed in with the breeze.

Knock, knock.

As the door opened with a knock, Anthus’s face softened.

“Father.”

“Yes, our Noel.”

“Father.”

“Our Michael.”

Noelis, who turned five this year, and Michaelis, who was born a year apart, snuggled into his arms, making Anthus’s lips curl into a wide smile.

“Sigh… I’m going crazy.”

Anthus alternated kisses on Noelis and Michaelis’s cheeks. The children giggled.

“Our children are so unbearably cute and lovely, Lia.”

“I know how you feel, Yan, but let the children go and prepare to go to the palace.”

“I don’t want to go to the palace, leaving you and the children.”

“It’s an important meeting. You must go.”

Anthus sighed deeply. He was now the only noble left opposing the establishment of an academy for the imperial family and nobles.

“I’m so frustrated, Lia. I hate the idea of establishing an academy.”

He bribed nobles to hinder Cloud’s academy plan. But it only worked initially. As the years passed, they began to reject Anthus’s persuasion, thinking their children might form ties with the royal family.

“I think an academy would be nice.”

“I’d like our children to attend the academy, but I don’t like the idea of them staying in dormitories.”

Anthus strongly opposed the idea of future talents living together in dormitories for unity and socializing.

“I don’t understand why they must live in dormitories when commuting would suffice.”

Anthus gritted his teeth. Even if the dormitories were separated by gender, the thought of Ian wanting to stay late with Noelis made him uneasy.

That alone made Anthus anxious and restless.

“Father, where are you going?”

“I have to go to the palace for work.”

“Nooo. Don’t go, Father. Play with Noelis.”

Noelis’s cute and lovely appearance, asking him to play with her while smiling, made Anthus’s heart ache. It was painful to leave such an adorable daughter, deer-like sons, and Yuliana, whom he loved dearly, to go to the palace.

“Father, play with Michaelis too.”

“Michaelis, I’ll play with you a lot when I return.”

“Nooo.”

“What should you do as a man of the Rockbellion family while Father is away, Michaelis?”

“Protect, Mother, sister, and baby.”

Nodding at Michaelis’s response, Anthus smiled contentedly.

“I want to protect too. Mother, Michaelis, and baby!”

“Lia… Our children are so lovely that I can’t leave.”

“You’ll be late for the meeting at this rate. Hurry and go.”

Watching Anthus reluctantly release the children from his embrace, Yuliana sighed deeply.

“And Yan, you mustn’t fight with His Majesty like last time, and you can’t buy toys in bulk anymore.”

“Lia, it was His Majesty Cloud who started it.”

After Noelis was born, a beautiful princess named Daisy was born between Monica and Cloud.

If Anthus was a fool for his daughter, Cloud was an idiot for his daughter.

Those daughter idiots and fools competed daily, claiming their daughters were cute and giving them gifts.

<I’ll give our Noel something bigger.>

<Our Daisy will get something bigger!>

<Your Majesty, our Noel must have the biggest.>

<Do you know what you’re doing against the Emperor?>

<I can do anything for my daughter, Your Majesty.>

<The same goes for me, Yan.>

<If this continues, I won’t supply magic stones!>

<That’s too petty.>

The ones who suffered from the fights of these fathers fools about their daughters were the people below them. Fortunately, thanks to Empress Monica and Yuliana, the fight was settled for the time being, but for a while, the two men continued to buy toys, making it difficult to handle.

Fortunately, Monica and Yuliana organized a charity auction with the toys to benefit the slums.

“Our Noelis should get the better one.”

Anthus, the doting father, gritted his teeth.

“Anyway, Yan. Don’t fight.”

“Lia.”

“Yes?”

“I think I have a slight cold.”

“Yan, you really need to head to the palace now.”

“Lia.”

Anthus called Yuliana in a serious voice.

“Yes.”

“Thank you for marrying me and giving birth to such beautiful children.”

“That’s so sudden…”

“I love you, Lia.”

Yuliana smiled at Anthus’s words.

“I love you too.”

“I love Mother too. I love Father too.”

“Michael loves Mother and Father too!”

“Lia, I really don’t want to go to the palace today.”

“You have to go as the head of the Rockbellion family.”

Yuliana, as if used to it, gently pushed Anthus’s back. It was the usual happy routine of the Duke Rockbellion family whenever he had to go to the palace.