"Your father married Lady Ilia. And he inherited the Silverstone surname and became the lord."
"...He married Big Sis Ilia?"
What came next left my head spinning.
My father is thirty-six years old.
He put me into production(?) at fifteen and completed me at sixteen.
My mother, who had always been frail, passed away the year I turned ten... a year of unusually severe drought.
Ah!
Now isn't the time to talk about my mother.
Ilia is the late lord's only heir after he passed away in the Demon Realm.
She always doted on me like an older sister, and since she was twenty-one when I left on the expedition...
She'd be around twenty-three now, which makes a thirteen-year age gap with my father?
That makes no sense.
What could Ilia possibly lack that she'd marry an old widower?
Wait, no way!
"Dominic, don't tell me my father forced himself on Ilia..."
If my guess is right, isn't that a truly irreversible crime?
Father, that's really crossing the line.
Our whole family will be wiped out for insulting a noble!
"It's hard for me to believe too, but it was the exact opposite."
"......"
Dominic's words tangled up my thoughts.
The opposite of what I'm thinking?
Then Ilia went after my father?
"Ilia really went after my father?"
How am I supposed to believe something so unbelievable?
So I had to ask just to make sure.
"That's right, brat!"
"That makes no sense! Why on earth would Ilia throw herself at my father?!"
"That's what I'm saying! Is your father young, or rich? Does he even have a good personality? How the fuck..."
"Shut up!"
You don't mess with a man's family.
I'm the only one allowed to talk trash about my father!!
"Ah! Sorry..."
"Forget it. So my father is at the castle right now?"
"Yeah. He moved all his things out, and someone else is living in your old house now. Head to the castle. He's probably in his office around this hour. Though since it's Sunday, maybe..."
"Got it. See you later, Dominic."
I gave a quick nod and mounted Cruder right away.
The Lord's Castle of Silverstone isn't that far from the village, but I was in a rush.
Running on foot while holding the reins would look idiotic anyway, wouldn't it?
As I rode toward the castle in plain view, my head felt like someone had stuck a fork inside and was scrambling it around.
Just what the hell changed so frantically in the year and a half I was gone?
Two guards were standing duty on either side of the castle gate.
I know both of them.
Which goes without saying.
As I rode up at a gallop, they gripped their spears with both hands and immediately raised their guard.
"Whoa, whoa!"
I tugged lightly on the reins and hopped right down.
"Logan, Joseph! I'm back."
Glad to see them, I called out.
However,
"Gasp! Bellun?"
"What? When did you get back?! Logan! The alarm bell! Ring the alarm bell!"
"Ah! Yes! Right away, Corporal!"
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG...
"......"
They seem to recognize me, so why are they ringing the alarm bell?
Did I somehow become a wanted criminal while I wasn't looking?
As I stood there dumbfounded, Joseph ran up and threw his arms around me.
"You brat! You came back alive! Thank goodness, thank goodness!"
"What happened to the others? Why are you alone?"
"......"
Do I have to repeat the exact same story I just told at the village entrance...?
Hearing the alarm bell, guards and soldiers came sprinting out like mad.
On top of that, someone awfully familiar came running over wearing a soldier's breastplate.
"Father!"
I shouted at the top of my lungs.
It's my father.
Yet he looks unfamiliar.
The beard he always let grow out scruffily is cleanly shaven, and his messy hair is neatly slicked straight back.
He looks like my father, yet somehow doesn't feel like him at all?
And then, running right behind my father with a bastard sword resting on her shoulder is a woman with a lithe build.
It's Ilia.
Her running speed as she overtakes the soldiers sprinting ahead of her hasn't changed a bit.
"Ilia!"
"Kyaaaah! Belluuun!"
Spotting me, Ilia dropped the bastard sword from her shoulder and launched herself straight at me.
THUD—!
"Ugh!"
The impact was practically on par with a knight's shoulder charge.
Ilia wrapped both arms tightly around my head.
It feels suffocatingly tight.
On my face.
"Bellun! You're back! What about my dad? Didn't my dad come back with you?"
"The Demon Realm expeditionary force... was annihilated."
Flinch!
Hearing that, I felt Ilia freeze while still holding my face against her chest.
"Son!"
Right after, my father's voice rang out.
Though I couldn't see him since Ilia was blocking my view.
""......""
Not a single sound came from the other guards or soldiers.
It must be because of what I just said.
The news that the Demon Realm expeditionary force was wiped out.
Even if our contingent was tiny beyond comparison to the troops from other territories, the weight of the word 'death' doesn't grow any lighter.
"Did you see my father pass away with your own eyes?"
Pulling back from me, Ilia asked with all the color drained from her face.
She looks calm.
My father, whose face I can finally see properly, is also standing there with a solemn expression.
Given his personality, he's the type who would've already marched over and ruffled my hair until it drove me crazy.
Damn it...
Looking at my father's eyes, it's clear he didn't step back just because Ilia outranks him.
Should I call it a look of tender pity for her?
I don't mean to think this right after delivering such awful news, but my father's eyes are practically dripping with honey.
Which makes it even more uncomfortable.
Because what I have to tell Ilia is about the late lord's death.
"He fought the Demonic Dragon to the very end and died a heroic death. When he severed the Demonic Dragon's windpipe, he was drenched in the blood that burst out, and..."
There's no need to go into any further detail.
Nobody here is ignorant of how lethal the blood of the Demonic Dragon, a Black Dragon, truly is.
I was the one who severed the Demonic Dragon's windpipe, but no one would believe me anyway.
Since the only proof is my own word.
In fact, among the countless knights and soldiers of the Demon Realm expeditionary force, my skill was nearly at the very bottom.
I was only given the mission to sever the Demonic Dragon's windpipe because I had an undying body.
And if I tried to explain that I took on the mission because I was a skeleton soldier, there'd be no way to explain my current body restored to normal.
When I can't even explain it to myself, how could I possibly explain it convincingly to anyone else?
Saying the late lord slew the Demonic Dragon is far more believable.
"Ah... So he really passed away in the end."
Ilia clutched her head and staggered.
At that, my father stepped up from behind and caught her in his arms to support her.
"My lady wife, I know your grief is great, but wasn't this something we already prepared ourselves for? Stay strong."
"......"
Bullshit...
I just saw something I never should've seen.
There's no way my father would act like that.
The same father who used to do nothing but bark and lose his temper even when my birth mother was alive... has eyes dripping with honey?
My stomach is churning.
What is this, it feels like watching some neighborhood pervert hitting on an innocent girl?
"My lord, just... let me lean on you for a moment. Please just hold me like this for a little while."
"......"
What the fuck?
What did I just witness?
That tomboy Ilia is seriously acting frail right now, isn't she?
I understand that the news I brought is sad, but I can't stand watching the way my father and Ilia are acting and talking.
Anyway...
I pressed my fist to my chest and slowly bowed my head.
"Recruit Bellun Thomas. Reporting back upon completing the Demon Realm expedition."
I'm home.
***
The Silverstone Lord's Manor.
It's a small, worn-down castle, yet it's the only decent building around.
On the fourth floor of the manor, inside the lord's office.
Having returned from the Demon Realm expedition, Bellun was speaking privately with the lord and his wife.
Because there was a serious matter that had to be settled before anything else.
"Am I supposed to call her Mother?"
"Do you know how creepy that sounds?"
Ilia shuddered with revulsion on her face.
Hearing the word 'Mother' from Bellun, who was only three years younger than her, gave her goosebumps all over.
"Then should I keep calling her Big Sis?"
"You brat! Talk sense! What does that make me then? Are you planning to call me brother-in-law? My brother-in-law is my own son? What a fine family tree that'd be!"
"......"
Bellun let out a deep sigh.
Their family tree had turned into a complete mess.
"Seriously! Why did the two of you get married in the first place?!"
Bellun barked at the top of his lungs.
They had been going around in circles on this exact topic for an hour already without reaching a compromise.
"Because I like her!"
"Because I love him!"
"Bullshit!"
Because the two of them answered at the exact same time, Bellun was so dumbfounded that his honest thought slipped right out of his mouth without passing through his brain.
"What was that, brat?"
"Do you have a death wish?"
"Haa... Then what do you want me to do? Didn't you say we had a lot to talk about? How long are you going to drag this out? Wait, seriously! Out of all the men in the world, why did it have to be my father?!"
"Because I love him!"
"What's wrong with me?!"
"......"
Bellun immediately regretted asking.
'Father, is your conscience doing okay? Going after Ilia when she's practically young enough to be your daughter...'
Inside, his stomach was boiling over.
He couldn't call her Big Sis, and he couldn't call her Mother either.
It was a problem that would be solved simply if Ilia backed down, but since she recoiled at the mere sound of the word 'Mother,' there was no solution in sight.
"So being called 'wife' is fine with you?"
"That's what I always wanted to hear from him, so I actually love it."
Ilia gently reached out and placed her hand over Lord Kaiel's.
With her cheeks flushing a soft pink, she looked just like a girl head over heels in her first love.
Lord Kaiel stroked her hand with his other hand and gave a sheepish grin.
"Bullshit..."
Bellun grimaced as if he were about to throw up.
"Why, you little...?"
"Will you only come to your senses once your tongue is ripped out?"
The lord and his wife glared daggers at Bellun simultaneously, looking ready to tear him apart.
'I want to run away from home. I came back for nothing.'
Bellun let out a heavy sigh.
To think that simply coming home would check off 'Becoming a noble,' one of the '98 Things I Must Do Before I Die'!
Meeting 'Kaiel Silverstone' and 'Ilia Silverstone' wasn't on that wish list.
No. It was originally on the list, but he ended up crossing it off during this conversation in the office.
Because wishing to see them only filled him with self-loathing.
"Wife, why don't you yield on this one."
"But, but that's... it gives me goosebumps..."
Kaiel urged her with a troubled look, but Ilia trailed off looking even more troubled.
"Let's step out and talk privately for a moment. Wait here, son."
"Go ahead. Work it out properly between the two of you and wrap it up before we talk. Stop wasting time and wearing me out."
Bellun leaned back against his chair and replied listlessly.
He didn't even bother watching his tone anymore.
'Even when I try to be a dutiful son, they don't cooperate.'
"Tsk!"
Watching Kaiel lead a sulking Ilia out of the room, Bellun clicked his tongue with a sour face.
Shortly after the two disappeared,
"...What the fuck?"
Some sticky, lovey-dovey noises wormed their way straight into Bellun's eardrums.
Who knew that sharpening his hearing through Mana training would turn into torture like this!
About an hour passed like that.
CREAK—!
The door opened, and Kaiel and Ilia walked back into the office with completely nonchalant faces.
The exact same people sat down in the exact same seats as before, yet the atmosphere had completely changed.
"Son, call her Mother."
"Did you two reach an agreement?"
Bellun asked with a frown.
Because he knew the two of them hadn't exchanged a single word of actual conversation.
"Your father, huh, brat? Had a serious talk with my wife, so it's all settled. Isn't that right, wife?"
"How could I possibly refuse my husband's wishes? If you tell me to follow them, I shall. Call me Mother, Bellun."
"......"
Bellun was dumbstruck by Ilia's complete change in attitude and reply.
Baffled, he gave his father Kaiel a thumbs-up.
"Heh, brat... Ahem!"
Kaiel squared his shoulders wide and arrogantly tilted his chin up.
My father was a man.