Chapter 143

Raising his head, he looked at the expressions of his father and brother.

They seemed to fully understand Noel’s feelings.

Because they were looking at him with worried eyes.

He should have felt grateful, but Noel was slightly angry.

Why did it seem as though Noel is the only one tied to the past?

Shouldn’t everyone be feeling this way?

“. . .Why is nobody scared?”

Noel’s voice was trembling.

Unable to contain his rising emotions, he jumped to his feet to look at the portrait of his mother hanging on the wall.

Then he remembered.

In the past, they had held a ceremony to welcome his mother by kissing that painting.

But that was it.

Maybe it wasn’t sincere.

“Mother . . . hasn’t come back yet.”

His mother hasn’t come back to him.

“I don’t want it!”

Noel let out a scream.

No, it was almost a cry.

“Nobody, nobody can go!”

Noel walked over to the portrait of his mother and leaned his forehead on it.

There was no scent he remembered, only the smell of paint.

“No one in this mansion . . .”

He hastily rubbed his cheek and face.

But he couldn’t hold back the overflowing tears.

He managed to turn his head to look at his family, all with wounded expressions on their faces.

His feelings of regret and hate were tangled together, and his mind became even more messed up.

Noel left the family room without looking back.

Darrel stood up to grab him, but he didn’t look back.

As he ran through the hallway to his room, Noel stopped in front of the front door of the large mansion.

“I will be back when the weather is warmer.”

The place where he greeted his mother.

And where he waited constantly, day after day . . .

“. . .”

Noel shed his tears and made up his mind again.

He didn’t want to be separated from anyone.

It didn’t matter if this behavior was criticized for being immature or selfish.

Anything would be better than going through the agony again of not being able to see them ever again.

* * *

Noel learned some new facts.

In fact, he only thought that none of his family had gone to the Duchy’s estate since his mother had left.

But that wasn’t the case.

His father came to his room and told him that he had been to the Duchy’s estate several times.

He borrowed the power of magic, and he was able to go back and forth quietly in one day.

And Darrel, too, said that, after becoming an adult, he had visited the Duchy’s estate several times in a similar way.

“I thought I should tell you . . . but.”

In the room reddened by the sunset, the Duke continued his words slowly.

“I thought it would be better to talk after you grew up a little. As a result, it just ended up like this . . .”

“. . .”

There was no reply from Noel.

The Duke lay on the bed and gently stroked his unmoved son’s hair.

“I’m sorry.”

If the story about his family going to the Duchy’s estate had been told in advance, the wounds Noel would have suffered now would have hurt a little less.

“. . . I’m sorry, Noel.”

Noel, who was lying down, turned his head for a moment.

He cried so much that he couldn’t properly open his swollen eyes.

“Then.”

The child whimpered and looked up at the Duke obliquely.

“. . . Don’t go.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want it!”

Was it because it was not his desired answer?

The boy buried his face in the pillow again and started crying.

The Duke opened his mouth to comfort him again.

“I have been there several times already. There is nothing dangerous. It’s just a little longer this time around.”

“. . .”

“I promise I’ll come back in good health.”

Hearing the Duke’s words, Noel finally got up.

And he swung the wet pillow helplessly.

The pillow hit nowhere and fell to the floor.

“. . . You’re lying!”

Noel screamed and looked at his father.

His vision was blurry and he couldn’t see what face his father was making.

“I hate Father . . . I hate Brother too.”

Just then, a knock was heard.

It was Darrel.

Without Noel’s permission, the door opened.

Noel had just shouted ‘I hate you’, so he looked around the door in surprise.

“Noel.”

But when he heard Darrel’s voice calling out to him calmly, his anger rose again.

Just as his father had come to convince Noel, he could see that Darrel had come with the same goal.

“. . . I want to be alone.”

Noel shook his head and muttered.

He crushed his anger forcibly.

“But Noel.”

Darrel was worried about his brother who didn’t eat and only cried, so he plucked up the courage and took a few steps.

“Don’t come close!”

Then Noel raised his guard and screamed.

“You . . . you didn’t even want to listen to my words from the beginning! You were just going to leave me here and leave!”

“It’s not like that, Noel.”

“Liar!”

The seeds of hate must have grown in tears.

Seeing the vines coming out of the seeds tighten his heart and begin to move to the nape of his neck and lips.

“I hate you all!”

The red sky was getting closer to darkness.

Perhaps because of that, nothing came into Noel’s eyes now.

“If you really go away, I’ll hate you forever. I won’t even wait for you to come back!”

Noel wept again and collapsed on the bed.

His father and brother spoke more, but he didn’t even listen.

Even if he had heard it, he wouldn’t have answered.

Obviously, they were just saying things to convince Noel.