Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 163
Harrison was from a small estate by the western border of the empire.
His father had been a knight loyal to the lord of the estate, and his mother was a maid who served the lady of the manor and acted as a nanny to her children. Naturally, Harrison grew up alongside the lord’s children.
The lord’s children were twin siblings, clever and adorable, and they were beloved by all the people of the estate.
Harrison’s mother was always strict with him, teaching him, “You and the young masters are of entirely different status.” His father taught him the same.
Harrison believed that one day he would follow in his father’s footsteps and become a sword that protected his milk-siblings.
It was the dream of a very young boy.
But peace was short-lived.
A sudden accident claimed the lives of the lord and his wife, and the once poor but peaceful estate quickly descended into chaos. Relatives of the lord, who had only visited a few times, appeared to take control of the funeral, and they began to quarrel over the title and inheritance.
Harrison remembered those days as if they had happened yesterday.
His father, who had once passionately argued that the estate must protect the lord’s children, was now laughing alongside those very same relatives with a look in his eyes Harrison had never seen before.
Harrison had once been a boy who admired his father more than anyone.
But the sight of his father’s face flickering in the candlelight, with his eyes gleaming like those of a rat, was treacherous and sly.
‘Where’s Mother?’
Harrison’s parents had been fighting more frequently, and they had been sleeping in separate rooms for some time.
It wasn’t until he realized that his mother had been missing for days that fear seized Harrison. His father terrified him. He felt as though the world would end if he didn’t run away immediately.
The place Harrison fled to was his milk-brother’s room.
“Keith, where are you?”
“Harrison?”
“Keith, do you know where my mother is? I’ve looked everywhere but can’t find her.”
Anyone could see that Harrison, gripping Keith’s shoulders, was terrified. Keith calmly patted Harrison’s hand and said,
“Don’t look for her, Harrison.”
“What…?”
“It’s better if you keep living without knowing anything.”
“What are you talking about…?”
“Don’t ask. Don’t listen. Don’t look. Just stay by your father’s side and live safely.”
“What do you mean?!”
“Harrison, I can’t take you with me.”
“Where is my mother?!”
“…”
“Keith!”
“Your mother wanted you not to know. Harrison, listen carefully.”
Keith was acting strangely.
It was the middle of the night, but he wasn’t wearing his pajamas.
Keith, who preferred reading books to swinging a wooden sword, was a thoughtful and gentle boy. While Harrison and Kaitlyn would run around the manor causing trouble because they didn’t want to go to bed, Keith would avoid joining in, knowing he would get scolded by the nanny, and he’d obediently get into his pajamas and go to sleep.
But now, he was lacing up the leather boots the lord had gifted him for his birthday and fastening his dark navy cloak carefully.
There was nowhere to go at this hour.
“If you want to stay alive until we meet again, you have to stay ignorant, Harrison.”
“But, I….”
“If you’re alive, one day, I’ll come back for you.”
Keith left only those words behind as he fled.
When Kaitlyn, who was waiting outside, briefly turned her head, Harrison’s eyes met hers through the window, but he couldn’t say anything.
He thought that was the last time he would ever see them.
*
The fate of a traitor was always miserable.
No one would trust a knight who betrayed his lord.
With the disappearance of the twin heirs, the new lord, who inherited the title and estate, appeared to rely on Harrison’s father for a while.
But over time, the new lord replaced the castle’s staff with people he brought with him.
The old retainers were either dismissed over trivial matters or met with unfortunate accidents.
Harrison’s father was no exception.
The money he received in exchange for his betrayal didn’t last long. Within a few years, it was all gone, and he ended up where he belonged—imprisoned.
“You think you’ll get away with this? I know everything! You miserable bastard, I know what you did…!”
