Aen still had his head bowed towards me. His face, as I glanced at it, was full of apologetic emotion.
He seemed to be feeling a great deal of guilt for deceiving me.
No one in this family would ever feel such guilt for me.
Not in my past life, nor in this one—
'You are still warm.'
Because he remains unchanged, the ending he will face will also be unchanged.
'I won't let that happen.'
That was why I came here today.
"Okay. I'll accept your apology. But in return."
At my words, he flinched and raised his head.
"I have a proposition for you."
"...A proposition? Out of the blue?"
He stared at me as if wondering what I was suddenly talking about.
I know it's sudden. So what?
I looked straight into Aen's eyes and said in a clear voice,
"Please become my sword instructor."
"Cough!!"
As soon as he heard the words, Aen coughed as if he'd choked.
I subtly offered the green tea in front of him, but he shook his head, saying he didn't need it.
"A sword instructor is too sudden."
The tone he had used with honorifics had returned to normal.
"Are you serious?"
He asked back, with a look as if wondering if I knew what I was saying.
Serious?
Of course...
"Yes. I'm serious."
"Heh..."
He kept letting out empty laughs.
I quietly waited for him to calm down.
Finally regaining his composure, he stared at me intently before sighing deeply and shaking his head.
"It's true that I feel sorry towards you, but I can't grant that request."
His expression was very serious.
Aen continued carefully.
"I don't know if you're aware, but I don't take on disciples. I don't have the leeway to raise anyone, and also..."
He stopped speaking mid-sentence and closed his mouth.
I felt like I knew what he was about to say.
'I could unnecessarily get caught up in the successor war. There could be controversy over fairness.'
Unlike ordinary knights, he was the leader who commanded the strongest knight order in Rodbel.
As such, the influence he held within Rodbel was enormous.
If he were to teach swordsmanship to only one person, it could be seen as a successor war.
It was easy for unnecessary rumors to arise.
So, Aen chose not to teach anyone.
Some may call him a coward, but...
'That's so Aen.'
I could feel his strong will to not even give room for unnecessary conflict.
If it were the old me, I would have respected his will, but.
"Anyway, let's pretend you didn't hear what I just said-"
"First of all, even if you teach me, you won't get unnecessarily caught up in the successor war. As you know, I am a bastard, so I cannot inherit the family."
More precisely, they won't let me inherit it.
"...What?"
"And the training... I know you're busy, but if you just take a little time to teach me, I'll review it on my own. Since building basic physical strength is the priority for now, for the time being-"
"No, wait, wait. What are you talking about?"
Aen's complexion turned pale.
He was looking at me as if I were crazy.
"I clearly said that I won't take on any disciples-"
"It's not a request. It's a proposition."
"..."
Aen's expression became blank.
I didn't miss the opportunity and continued to build momentum.
"I'm not asking you to do it for life. Just until the qualification exam in three months. Once I pass that exam, you don't have to teach me anymore."
"...Why should I do that?"
Aen's expression, which had been filled with apology towards me, had turned cold.
He seemed displeased that his refusal had been ignored.
"If I pass the qualification exam, I can be recognized as a direct descendant. If I'm recognized as a direct descendant, I can enter the non-public area where the secret books of the library are kept."
After taking a moment to catch my breath, I looked straight into his eyes and continued,
"I'm going to find <Ayla's Codex>. Then I might be able to cure my daughter's illness."
"....!!"
Aen's eyes bulged as if they would burst.
His pupils trembled wildly, as if caught in a storm.
"How, how did you..."
His words were choppy.
"...How did you know I had a daughter?"
And also the fact that she was currently suffering from an illness.
"...Who are you?"
To his cold and ferocious question, I wore a bitter smile.
Aen watched me with wary eyes.
I looked at him with a bitter expression.
I was sorry to Aen, but what I knew was not just this.
'Because your daughter, who was discovered belatedly after your death... was already dead.'
Aen's will was like that.
'As soon as you return, go to my house.'
Unfortunately, the knight who heard the will did not consider the content of the will so important.
More precisely, the shock of losing the commander was so great that he did not even have the mental capacity to recall the will.
It was after the funeral that he remembered the will.
When he belatedly went to Aen Rixus's house, what unfolded before his eyes was a terrible tragedy.
Because on his bed, the corpse of a young girl was lying neatly.
At first, people were confused, wondering if Aen had kidnapped the child, but soon the truth was revealed.
That child was actually Aen's hidden daughter and was suffering from an unknown incurable disease.
Aen had hired someone to take care of her while he was on expedition, but when Aen did not return, they neglected the child, and eventually, the child lost her life without receiving any help.
Even more shocking was that the child had died not long before she was discovered.
If the knight who had heard the will had been a little faster, Aen's daughter might have been able to live.
In the end, the knight could not overcome his guilt and left Rodbel, and as ominous rumors grew day by day, Rodbel completely silenced this matter.
After that, Aen Rixus's name could not be heard anywhere.
─Until one year later, when <Ayla's Codex> was revealed to the world.
<Ayla's Codex> was a legendary book in which 'Ayla', who was called the divine healer, had transferred all the medical knowledge she knew before she died.
That book not only recorded things about medical skills, but also the correlation between diseases, materials that could be medicine or poison, methods of creating diseases, and everything that could be done with medical skills.
Since the technology was virtually impossible, there was even controversy over whether <Ayla's Codex> existed.
However, that book, which only appeared in legends, was actually hidden deep in the library of Rodbel Duchy.
The Rodbel ducal family revealed the book, and the medical skills of the empire developed to an extent that could not be compared to before.
Diseases that were impossible to treat could also be cured.
The people of the empire followed and revered the Rodbel ducal family, who willingly revealed the medical book for the development of the empire's medical skills, like gods.
Rodbel's status, which seemed impossible to rise any higher, approached that of a god.
However... a sad voice flowed out from within the duchy.
If <Ayla's Codex> had been revealed a little sooner, could Aen Rixus's daughter have been saved?
At the time, I often stayed in our secret place where I often met with him to feel Aen's traces.
Then, I accidentally found Aen's notebook there, and in it, I saw Aen's secret.
That is-
The fact that Aen had joined the ducal family to find <Ayla's Codex>.
Aen believed that <Ayla's Codex> actually existed, and he thought that the book would be in the Rodbel ducal family.
So he tried his best to rise to the position of commander.
To gain the qualification to enter the place where secret books are collected.
But Aen did not know. Even if he was a knight commander, he could not enter the non-public area unless he was a direct descendant.
So, he is currently looking for another method.
'If he had endured a little longer, he might have been able to save his daughter.'
I felt so sorry for Aen. He was a person who shone like the sun, but his end was too shabby.
So.
I answered Aen, who was asking my identity with wary eyes, in a soft tone.
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