An Unexpected Proposal

October 1, 2020

"151, 152, 153… Huff, huff… W-wait, I c-can’t… anymore!"

"You have no perseverance."

"N-no! Huff… I’ll just… take a break… Huff, huff… and then keep going!"

Though he shouted defiantly, Mikael remained sprawled on the ground, unable to get up. Cabelenus glanced down at the boy, who was panting heavily. Despite his small frame, Mikael’s thoughts were strikingly mature for a six-year-old. If he were a little bigger, he could easily be mistaken for an older child.

‘What am I even thinking…?’@@novelbin@@

Cabelenus let out a bitter smile.

Mikael had reddish-brown hair and gray eyes—colors that no child of his blood could ever have. Mikael was not that child. He was well aware of that fact. And yet, when he looked at Mikael, memories of that child often surfaced. A child who had only resented and hated. Even now, his feelings had not changed, and he had no intention of playing the part of a good father.

Still, lately, his thoughts had been a mess.

‘Have I been too long among commoners…?’

Cabelenus ran a rough hand through his hair.

This was just another quiet, unremarkable rural village. A place where splitting firewood, tending the fire, and spending peaceful days were all there was to life. It was a world that didn’t suit a man who had roamed battlefields from a young age and carried the weight of many responsibilities.

And yet, he didn’t hate it.

Surrounded by this mundane simplicity, the sharp edge of his instincts dulled. Everything began to feel… ordinary.

‘If I had been just a commoner…’

It was an impossible thought. But no matter how many times he pushed it away, it kept returning.

If he had never been Cabelenus von Blanche Schwarhan, if that had never happened… how different would everything be?

"Hey, can I hold your sword?"

A bright voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Cabelenus narrowed his eyes at the boy, who was now breathing evenly.

"No."

"Can’t you at least think about it before saying no?"

Mikael puffed out his cheeks like an angry pufferfish. It’s just a sword, what’s the big deal?

"There’s nothing to think about."

"Why not?"