The West Wind's Destination - Chapter 59
Bea had always tended to focus solely on one task at a time, immersing herself completely. This time too, she showed her obsession with research, seemingly escaping to the partially constructed lab away from her bedroom due to her workaholic tendencies.
The mages and alchemists who had offered to help with the lab’s construction were present. Bea and Homun sat quietly among them. Since their time in the mine, they had been impressed by Bea’s skills and seemed to seize this opportunity to learn, exchanging questions and answers.
‘I used to seek them out in the past.’
Unaware to himself, Aseph felt a certain satisfaction, almost of a beastly kind. Bea was within his reach, and even when out of sight, she was moving within the territory he had established.
Even with the blood of a mythical beast, denying his near beastly nature became impossible, and Aseph walked slowly towards Bea, a satisfied smile on his face.
Despite having checked his appearance several times already, he once again brushed off any dust from his clothes, straightened his collar, and ran his fingers through his hair.
“Your Highness the Archduke!”
“Lord Guardian!”
The knight who first spotted Aseph saluted loudly, followed by others who, upon noticing Aseph, startled and quickly stood to salute as well.
Aseph was more surprised by their reaction.
‘I, I, shouldn’t have made such a loud entrance!’
Bea was the last to notice Aseph and stood up, her movements seeming precarious. And, as Aseph feared, she stumbled, unable to maintain her balance.
“Bea!”
Almost screaming, Aseph ran to her.
Catching Bea before she fell, Aseph caressed her cheek and checked her complexion.
“Are you alright? Are you feeling very dizzy?”
“Yes…”
For Bea, who is typically oblivious to her own fatigue, to admit she felt dizzy meant it was serious.
“I told you to rest. Work can wait.”
“I wasn’t working. They wanted to see the homunculus.”
“What?”
The ones Bea referred to as ‘they’ stood stiff and tense, maintaining their salute.
Realizing only later that he hadn’t acknowledged their salute, focused as he was on Bea, Aseph had eyes only for her from the moment he reached her.
“Carry on with your duties, at ease.”
With a casual gesture of acknowledgment, Aseph then picked up Bea.
‘She’s too light.’
Authority… Power… What’s the use if his beloved was in such a frail state? The priority was to ensure she ate well and rested enough to regain strength before even thinking about resuming her research, to avoid another collapse.
Nevertheless, Aseph had something he wanted to discuss with Bea at the moment.
“Homun, will you come too?”
“May I stay here?”
“…Huh?”
Leaning on Aseph due to her dizziness, Bea lifted her head. Her expression was typically impassive, but Aseph felt he could read something in it this time.
“You.”
When Bea glared, the homunculus quickly hid the candies and cookies received from the retainers behind his back. His behavior, avoiding eye contact, was exactly like a child caught in mischief.
“Hand them over.”
“These are rewards I received for giving advice. You cannot confiscate them.”
“You gave advice to the alchemists?”
To Aseph’s question, Homun nodded vigorously. Despite claiming to have advised the alchemists like a sage, his actions were unmistakably childlike.
“Rest is necessary for you, Master, so I was answering in your place. Therefore, they are my rewards.”
“This…”
“Alright, little one.”
As Bea was about to raise her voice, Aseph quickly intervened.
“Only have a few of them now. You still need to eat dinner later.”
After instructing the retainers to keep an eye on the child for a moment, Aseph hurriedly carried Bea away from the scene.
“Don’t scold him too much, Bea.”
“He keeps eating just those. He doesn’t lack sugar.”
“He’s just a child.”
While Aseph sided with Homunculus, he inwardly felt proud of the child’s cleverness.
As they walked through the garden, they passed by blooming red roses. The breeze carried their intoxicating scent.
Aseph watched Bea’s reaction closely. He had planted the roses hoping to impress her, pleased when her gaze lingered on them.
Bea, more interested in the principles of flowering than the beauty of the flowers, found roses fascinating for their ability to bloom regardless of season, as long as temperature and light conditions were met. She was likely assessing the temperature and sunlight even now.
However, Bea never refused when Aseph brought her flowers. She would carefully place them in a vase and look at them intently, even adding nutrients to ensure they didn’t wilt too quickly.
Unknown to many, Bea had her own way of showing kindness.
“Lately, he’s been quite rebellious.”
“It’s because he’s at that age. Please be a bit more lenient with him. I was quite the troublemaker myself as a child. Compared to me, Homun is very well-behaved.”
As Bea shivered slightly in the gentle breeze, Aseph adjusted his hold on her and continued speaking.
“The child is very beloved. Not just by the servants of the manor, but by everyone at the last site too.”
“He is not a child.”
Bea’s gaze shifted from the roses. Even though making eye contact with her was not new to Aseph, he still felt a thump in his heart every time.
“Though he looks that way, his mind holds adult knowledge. He knows everything there is to know.”
“Is that so? Hm… Then he’s already learned a lot and has a talent for teaching. His future is truly promising.”
“I keep telling you. He’s not a child. He’s a homunculus.”
“Ah…”
Bea seemed slightly weary of the conversation.
T/N: Though in the English version the term ‘homunculus’ is clearly sailing through Aseph’s head, it isn’t actually too obvious in Korean—unless one knows what the term means. Just think of it as Aseph comprehending the word ‘homunculus’ as an archaic Latin word, which has been used as the child’s name.
Additionally, there aren’t really any articles (the/a/an) in Korean, so whenever Bea refers to the child, it’s just ‘Homunculus’, not ‘the homunculus’ or ‘a homunculus’. So, in the line above, she’s saying “He’s not a child—he’s Homunculus”, and Aseph then interprets this as, “He’s not a child—he’s [kiddo’s name].”
