Though this handsome man could look quite intimidating depending on his expression, his current demeanor appeared refreshingly different to those with an eye for beauty. In other words, this large man somehow looked adorably cute.

With a smile playing on her lips, Carlie asked in a teasing tone:

“Why that expression, husband?”

“Carlie……”

Approaching the ladies with an energy that didn’t match his large build, Raham spoke in a pleading tone.

“I miss our children……”

Suddenly, everything went quiet, with only the sound of tree leaves rustling in the wind.

“……Oh my.”

The sound of fabric tearing came from someone who had hastily clutched their picnic dress. Willa, who had been firmly linked arm-in-arm with Carlie, toppled sideways. Amid silent screams flying around, Carlie burst into laughter. Only Raham stood there with a sad face, staring at his wife.

Carlie wiped away the tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes with her fingertips.

Willa perceptively released her hold on Carlie’s arm, and Carlie extended her freed hand to place it on her husband’s handsome cheek. Raham placed his hand over hers and tilted his head, half-burying his face in her palm.

Carlie whispered unnecessarily softly:

“Then shall we go get our children?”

Life immediately returned to Raham’s gloomy face. His eyes sparkled as he answered.

“Yes.”

Carlie’s eyes curved into round crescents.

“Alright. Let’s go, then.”

⁕⁕⁕

Two horses climbed the frozen hill. As they crossed the gentle slope, the view opened up dramatically, revealing a glass-like lake and a majestic castle that appeared to be built of ice.

“Wow.”

White breath rose from Carlie’s lips as she let out a delighted exclamation. Raham urged his horse closer to hers.

“Luhra looks prettier in winter.”

“Indeed it does.”

As the two stood side by side admiring the fairy-tale ice castle scenery, the massive doors of the enormous castle parted. Before they could fully open, a small girl squeezed through the gap.

“Daaaad! Mooom!”

Rarien waved her hands energetically and came tumbling toward them. Seeing his daughter running across the snow field, Raham jumped off his horse in alarm.

“Rari, don’t run! You’ll get hurt.”

Ignoring his warning, the girl with the adorable rabbit-fur scarf continued at full speed. Raham quickly ran to meet her and caught the jumping child in his arms.

“Rari!”

“Dad!”

He embraced his daughter who had thrown herself into his arms and let out a cry of joy. Then he rubbed his cold cheek against her soft one.

“Did you miss Dad?”

“Yes. I wrote to you every day.”

“Dad missed you so, so much too.”

The girl burst into bright laughter. Raham briefly separated his tightly embraced daughter from his chest to examine her face thoroughly, then hugged her tight again and kissed her.

“My daughter. Have you been well? Nothing happened?”

“Yes. It was fun.”

“I missed you……”

After this one-sided but touching reunion, Rarien looked toward Carlie.

“Mom!”

“Rari!”

Raham lifted his daughter up and transferred her to Carlie’s arms on horseback, then looked around. As he scanned from the castle gate in reverse order, he belatedly noticed a small pair of boots floating in the air.

“……?”

As his gaze moved upward from the feet to the knees, fur coat, and scarf, he discovered Calsien floating in mid-air. Raham exclaimed in shock:

“Calsi!”

“Hello, Dad.”

Raham looked with wide eyes between his hovering son and the ground.

“Calsi, are you flying right now?”

The boy made a contemplative face for a moment.

“Hmm….. It’s a bit different, Dad. Usually flying involves wings and relying on wind. What I’m doing is temporarily weakening the gravity around me to lift my body, with the height fixed at fl*id coordinates and……”

While listening to the explanation that went in one ear and out the other, Raham waved his arm through the empty space beneath his son’s feet. Nothing was there. He confirmed:

“So you are flying, right?”

After brief consideration, Calsien nodded.

“Yes.”

Raham carefully spread his arms. The boy moved gently through the air and settled into his father’s embrace. Raham held him tight and whispered:

“I missed you, son.”

A childlike, innocent smile spread across the face that so closely resembled his own.

“Me too, Dad.”

Raham held his young son and patted his bottom. Walking toward the castle at Carlie’s pace, he asked with serious gravity:

“What if you fall while flying like that?”

“I won’t fall.”

“Even birds make mistakes while flying. If you fall, Dad’s heart would hurt so much.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“Yes. Promise.”

As the father and son pressed their foreheads together and linked pinky fingers, the mother and daughter watched happily. Then the lord and lady of the region emerged from the fully opened castle gates.

“Sister. You’ve arrived.”

“Carlie. Sir Raham.”

Carlie’s eyes crinkled into a smile at the sight of her brother and his wife wearing fluffy fur hats.

“Have you been well?”

Raham also turned his head in their direction. Their faces had become dear to him even after just a few months apart, and he greeted them as well.

“Have you both been well?”

“You’ve worked hard.”

Setrion was nestled in Carlisle’s arms as he approached. The nephew who usually turned his head away whenever their eyes met was now staring blankly at his uncle. Raham froze, unsure what this expression meant.

Sierra followed Raham’s gaze to her son and said with a smile:

“Seti has been missing his uncle.”

Raham muttered with a face full of disbelief:

“No way……”

Everyone knew that his only nephew found his aunt bothersome and his uncle even more so. Look at him now. He seemed displeased that someone who had conveniently disappeared had shown up again.

But contrary to his thoughts, Carlie snickered.

“Of course he’d miss his handsome uncle who used to kiss him every day. Children naturally gravitate toward familiar faces.”

Raham’s face turned red, having firmly believed no one knew about his secret actions.

“N-not every day….. I only did that when he was sleeping.”

“He’s from the ruling bloodline too—did you think he couldn’t sense that energy?”

Raham asked in confusion:

“Do I have energy too?”

“You know, that protective spell. My energy is on it too.”

“Ah.”

“Come on, hurry. Hold him. He’s waiting.”

Where? Just a moment ago he was merely staring, but now there were even wrinkles forming on his tiny brow.

But even Carlisle extended his son as if encouraging Raham to hold him. Though Raham reached out his hands in confusion, he still verbally hesitated:

“I don’t think he’ll like it……”

Regardless, the doll-like nephew was transferred to his arms. Raham startled slightly and carefully adjusted his hold on the child.

Contrary to his worry about the child disliking him, his toddler nephew didn’t respond with irritable crying but simply turned his head primly. His clear cheek rose up, perfectly positioned for a kiss.

“……”

Beside him, Carlie repeatedly poked his side with her elbow. After struggling until the very last moment, Raham finally gave in and pressed his lips firmly against his nephew’s cheek.

“……”

“……”

The beautiful eye corners that had been closed in apparent displeasure twitched. The tightly closed small lips seemed to mumble something, and then a smile that could melt the frozen ground spread across the baby’s face that had been pretending to be aloof.

Beaming—

Everyone gathered around, heads close together to look at Setrion’s face, burst into laughter.

“Hahaha, look at our Seti smiling!”

“See? I told you he was waiting.”

“Seti, are you happy that uncle gave you a kiss?”

“Me too, me too, show me, Dad!”

Raham’s face brightened as well. He showered more kisses on the cheek of his nephew, whom he had previously only dared to glance at furtively or secretly kiss while he slept. The face of his nephew, wrapped snugly in a warm blanket, shone brightly in the sunlight.

“Kyahahahaha—”

The heir of Luhra, who had just turned one, burst into happy laughter surrounded by his mother, father, aunt, uncle, and cousins. As everyone wanted to hold him, he moved from one embrace to another, the smile never leaving the face of this beloved baby.

Even the expressions of the knights guarding the castle entrance softened.

Thud.

At the sound of a staff striking the ground, everyone turned their heads in the same direction. The lord of Luhra, with his fortress-like countenance, stood with both hands resting on a black staff.

“Why are you all standing outside in the cold? Come in quickly. You’ll catch colds.”

His black eyes touched on each person gathered there laughing together—Sierra and Carlisle, Carlie and Raham, Rarien and Calsien, and his grandson beaming in their midst. A barely perceptible smile appeared on his stern face.

As if to hide his expression, he turned abruptly and walked inside. The tap of his staff sounded somehow satisfied.

Carlisle and Sierra silently laughed at his retreating figure. They turned back with affection.

Carlie and Raham both burst into laughter as well. The couple followed behind, each holding their spouse’s hand in one hand and their daughter’s or son’s hand in the other, walking into the warm castle.

Unlike the biting wind outside, a gentle warmth welcomed them from the corridor onward.

“So, Dad. I kissed Hersa—”

“Rari, you shouldn’t be giving kisses so freely at your age.”

“But I was the one who did it!”

“My heart feels like it’s breaking……”

“What does ‘breaking’ mean?”

“Um…. Well…. It means your kisses still belong to Dad.”

“Tsk, there you go again. I want a husband just like Dad too.”

“In 20 years……”

“It was 20 years last year and the year before too!”

“Hahaha!”

Along with Carlie’s laughter as she wiped away tears, the father-daughter banter continued deep into the warmly lit castle.

Behind them, the northern knights pulled the heavy doors closed.

Thud—

<When Master Asks to Be Tormented> Side Story – The End