The Story Of The Second Son Of The Baron Family [EN]: Chapter 33

Baron’s Family Second Son – Episode 33

“Father!”

No house can block the homeowner. Even if they didn’t recognize his face, they couldn’t possibly stop him, as banners bearing the family’s symbols fluttered behind him. Moreover, as the title of Marquis suggested, his territory included not only the central city but also several other cities. Once it was known that he was passing through, no place, especially Zick Castle, could stand in his way.

“It’s been a while.”

“Why did it take you so long?”

“Sigurd?”

“Can’t you… recognize me?”

Sigurd, the eldest son of Marquis Zick, asked in a trembling voice. It had been a full nine years. Of course, even nine years ago, Sigurd was already an adult and not much different from now, but it had been a journey filled with hardships, so it wouldn’t be strange if his father had forgotten his face.

“How could that be?”

For the same reason as the letters, he hadn’t even taken pictures of his family. But how could a father not recognize his son? The son, who had just come of age when he left the territory, had grown into a father himself, but his aura had only become slightly more refined, and his face was no different from the son in his memory.

“Father.”

“…Signy.”

However, even Marquis Zick couldn’t help but feel a great sense of unfamiliarity with the daughter who had been sending him letters all this time. When he left the territory, Signy was just a little girl barely over ten years old. But now, the woman before him was old enough to be married, so he couldn’t help but feel awkward.

“Why, why did you come so late…”

Signy felt the awkwardness as well. But they had no time to dwell on it. They couldn’t waste any time here.

“Let’s go quickly. Mother is waiting.”

Nine years had passed, but the exterior of the mansion was not much different from when he had left. However, the interior had changed quite a bit, but one place remained unchanged: his room was exactly as he remembered it. It was as if it had been cleaned every day, with not a speck of dust to be seen, but there was no sense of human warmth.

“Since when?”

“It’s been a little over three years since she fell ill. And it’s been about a month since she collapsed.”

At that question, Signy looked at Marquis Zick with resentment. It meant that he hadn’t read any of the letters she had sent him. But Marquis Zick had no time to respond to that look. Only the sight of his wife lying there as if dead filled his eyes.

‘It’s been nine years.’

It was a reunion after a full nine years. The face that couldn’t believe the age of middle age couldn’t overcome the flow of time, or perhaps the life of fighting the disease was so painful, it had changed to a face befitting her age, and she couldn’t hide her white hair. But she was still the only face he had loved in his youth.

“…Everyone, please leave. I want to be alone for a while.”

“Yes. If anything happens, please call us immediately. We’ll come running.”

In that room, from which everyone had left, Marquis Zick could only stare at her face endlessly.

#

Until the sun set and night fell, Marquis Zick did not leave her side. As if to make up for the time they had been apart, he stayed close to her, but was it a little late?

It was a one-sided wait in a different direction than before. As the days passed, he didn’t even do his daily morning training and spent almost all his time by her side. And just as her waiting had ended after waiting for a long time, his waiting also came to an end.

Late at night, when everyone was asleep, Marquis Zick was still awake. He stared intently at her, as if to see what he hadn’t been able to see all this time, and suddenly turned his head towards the moonlight coming in through the window. Unlike his complicated feelings, the moonlight was particularly bright tonight.

“Is that… you?”

A voice that couldn’t be heard. It was a voice he was hearing for the first time in nine years, but it wasn’t unfamiliar at all. Because it was the voice he had always repeated in his head whenever he was having a hard time. The changed appearance of his daughter might have been unfamiliar, but her voice had not changed at all even after nine years and greeted him.

“Are you awake?!”

“…Yes. Did you wait long?”

“It hasn’t been a few days. It’s nothing compared to what you’ve waited for me. Wait a moment. I’ll call the children.”

Everyone in the mansion must have been waiting for her to wake up. And so were those who were waiting for her and his reunion. In the best situation, the two had their own time.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would be like this, or even if I had known, I wouldn’t have come, so I’m even more sorry.”

“…It’s okay. You were just doing your best in your work, and that’s why I loved you. I’m so grateful that you showed me your face even at the end.”

“Like mother, like daughter, Signy acted boldly. I never expected her to move the Emperor when I didn’t move.”

The two talked endlessly, as if to make up for the conversations they hadn’t had. He was mostly the one talking, and she was the one listening. If anyone who knew Marquis Zick saw this sight, they wouldn’t believe it and would rub their eyes or doubt their ears. Marquis Zick was never a man of many words.

The two talked without realizing the time, and only at the end did they call Sigurd and Signy. The sight of them rushing over in their pajamas at the joyful news that their mother had woken up from a deep sleep was not befitting of the Marquis’s heir and daughter, but no one paid attention to their appearance. That was not important at all.

“Mother!”

Father and mother, son and daughter. It was a moment when a family gathered together for the first time in nine years to talk. Everyone in the family did their best not to disturb the meeting, and those who had worked for the family for a long time wiped away their tears with their sleeves.

From that night on, the family shared everything from morning to lunch to dinner. There were also awkward situations in between due to the long gap, but it had no impact on the overall atmosphere. No one wanted to break the current peace for the sake of such awkwardness.

But nothing lasts forever. Just as even the longest wait comes to an end over time, happiness also had to come to an end. On the morning of the second day after the Marchioness opened her eyes, she quietly passed away in her family’s arms. As if to say that what she had endured all along was only for yesterday.

Drizzle-

The sky also rained as if mourning her death, and instead of the flag with the family’s symbol on the castle walls, a black cloth was raised. As expected of the person Marquis Zick, who had lived his whole life for the country, had loved, she was incomparable to other nobles who only thought of themselves, so the entire territory was plunged into sorrow.

#

Her funeral was held quietly but grandly. Marquis Zick was one of only three masters in the Empire, and Zick Territory itself was one of the largest territories in the eastern part of the Empire, so there was no one who would not come to the funeral of the mistress of the house.

Duke Arsen, a great noble from the southern part of the Empire, and Marquis Gunter, another master, could not come himself because of his duties, but he sent his son to comfort the remaining family. But everyone had no choice but to pale at the appearance of this person.

“Did you have a final conversation?”

“Yes. All thanks to His Majesty’s grace.”

Even if nobles die, the Emperor rarely moves himself. But the fact that the Emperor himself came to the funeral of the Marchioness, not the Marquis himself, was like telling how special the relationship between the two was.

“…I’m sorry. If it weren’t for my orders, you wouldn’t have had to leave the territory, and you wouldn’t have been able to meet your wife only at the end. I overworked you too much just because I could trust you.”

“Please withdraw your words. Overworked? It was all what I wanted to do and it was for the Empire.”

At the Emperor’s visit, Marquis Zick entrusted the reception of the guests to Sigurd and talked with the Emperor alone. During the conversation, the Emperor brought up what he had thought while coming here after hearing the news of the Marchioness’s death.

“Don’t go back to the Terra Wall and stay here.”

“Your Majesty. What do you mean…”

“You’ve done a lot of work so far. Fortunately, Marquis Pongke has been working hard, so there seems to be no major problem with the defense of the Terra Wall. So spend the rest of your time with your family.”

Marquis Zick had done a lot of work for the Emperor and for the Empire. If he immediately retired from the front lines, the situation in the Empire would become a little tighter, but it was not at a level that could not be tolerated. And that was the only way the Emperor could do for Marquis Zick. But he flatly refused the offer for him.

“I swore at the knighting ceremony that I would dedicate this body to the Empire and His Majesty the Emperor until the day I can no longer wield a sword, until the day I can no longer stand on two legs. It was Your Majesty who accepted that oath, so how can you go back on your word?”

“You’ve done enough. You have to think about the remaining family too.”

At the Emperor’s words, Marquis Zick recalled the past. It wasn’t a distant past either. He was just thinking about what she had said to him for the last time before she passed away.

[You do what you have to do. Don’t be depressed and shut yourself in just because I’m not here. The you that I loved is someone who really doesn’t suit that look.]

“Anyway, even if someone who hasn’t been a proper father stays, it will only be awkward for the existing people. Sigurd is managing the territory well, and there is no place for me to stay here. The place where I should be is not here but in the north.”

“This person…”

The Emperor looked at him with pity. But there was a firm will in those words, so he couldn’t stop him.

If he ordered as the Emperor, he would accept it, but as the Emperor, it was beneficial for him to go to the Terra Wall, so he could not tell him to stay here as the Emperor.

It was an act of abandoning his duties as Emperor. That’s why he tried to persuade him as an old friend, but it seemed difficult to persuade him from a friend’s point of view.

Thus, the funeral that made everyone sad and regretful ended. And the day after the funeral.

“From today, you are the real head of the family. It is a position where you have to take all responsibilities for the family, as well as for His Majesty the Emperor and the Empire above, and for the people below. Can you do well?”

“Don’t worry. I, Sigurd, am Father’s son.”

“Yes, I believe you when you say that. And… Signy.”

“I’m listening.”

“You do what you want to do. You don’t have to be conscious of the people around you. Major events such as marriage should be carefully discussed with Sigurd. But the most important thing is your will. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“…Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Okay. Let’s meet again.”

Despite the dissuasion, Marquis Zick left the territory and headed to the Terra Wall. For the sake of the 모습 that she loved.

Baron’s Family Second Son – Episode 33 – End