I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 152

18. Flashback (11)

But the Marchioness of Theroux cried too much.

When she heard that the boy was found at the slave auction, and that he must have suffered greatly, she almost fainted.

“This is going to get Sierra in serious trouble. I’ll call a doctor to make sure Johann is okay, and I’ll try to calm Sierra down.”

The Emperor looked at Lizé as he calmed his brother and sister-in-law who had found their lost son.

“So, it was Lady Ludwig who found Johann?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. She said she stumbled upon him at a slave auction when she walked into the wrong place. Lizé saved Johann’s life!”

Catherine emphasized the part that Lizé was Johann’s savior.

Lizé waved her hand away. “It was a coincidence, I just helped him because I felt sorry for him, I didn’t know any of this.”

“Of course you didn’t. It was a top secret matter.”

The Emperor smiled and nodded. “I know you must be surprised, but your errand boy seems to be my nephew. Go home for now, I will contact you to reward you accordingly.”

“My pleasure, Your Majesty.”

Lizé bowed, confused but polite, and returned to the Ludwig mansion.

‘Good. If things are going according to the original story, I’ll be announced as a recipient of the Imperial Medal before Edith comes up.’

Once that happens, Lizé believed with an ironclad certainty that the Duke and Duchess, who had closed their hearts to her, and Cliff, would come back to her.

***

Five years ago, Marquis Theroux, the Emperor’s youngest brother, and his wife, Sierra, suffered what felt like being torn limb from limb.

At an outdoor banquet at the palace, their beloved youngest son, Johann, had mysteriously disappeared.

At first, they thought the child must have wandered off and taken a wrong turn, so they focused their efforts on finding him inside the palace.

But when soldiers searching the gardens came up with nothing but Johann’s shoes and clothes and a note that said, “If you speak of this, I will kill your son,” they realized it was a kidnapping.

Anxiously, they waited to hear from the kidnappers, but to their horror, they didn’t get any word for over a week.

Since then, Marquis Theroux and the Emperor had hired people to search for Johann, but they found no clues about the missing child.

Johann’s disappearance was kept a secret for fear that ill-minded people would try to pull a scam or that Johann’s kidnappers would harm him.

Then, after five long years, Lizé found him at a slave auction.

Marquis Theroux felt as if a stone that had been weighing him down had been lifted.

“My lord, he is well. His lack of memory of the past is more likely due to the trauma of his kidnapping than a head injury. Besides, five years is a long time for a child to forget the past.”

He felt a pang of sadness at the doctor’s words, but decided to be grateful that he was still in good health.

“And Sierra?”

“She’s with Young Master Johann, talking to him.”

“I see. She’s been suffering the most.”

A mother who had lost her young son, barely eight years old, must have been devastated.

For the first time in a long time, Marquis Theroux felt relaxed and happy.

But when Sierra returned to her room after her conversation with Johann, her expression was less cheerful. He could tell something was wrong.

“Sierra……?”

“Honey. Something’s not right.”

“What do you mean?”

Sierra stared off into space, as if trying to recall a memory.

“Johann had a butterfly-shaped mole on his neck, remember?”

“Of course. Why? He doesn’t have a mole?”

“He has a mole on his neck.”

“And?”

Sierra said slowly, locking eyes with the Marquis. “It’s in a different place.”

“What? That can’t be……! How could that boy remember Othello or the tapestry that hung in the mansion if he’s not Johann?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

***

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the capital,” Edith said, looking out the window of the moving carriage.

Across from her, Killian, carrying Erdin, smiled at Edith who looked excited.

“I feel like it was just yesterday that we left for Ryzen, we’ve been so busy I don’t know where the time has gone.”

“I know. I hope everyone is doing well.”

“I hope so too.”

The conversation and smiles were as peaceful as ever in the lightly rocking carriage.

But then, suddenly, the carriage jolted violently.

“Aah!”

“Edith, calm down, it’s nothing.”

Killian calmed Edith, who had been freaking out whenever the carriage came to a sharp stop since Shane’s kidnapping.

Edith smiled embarrassedly and patted her chest, and Killian opened the carriage door.

“What’s going on!”

“I’m sorry, some kid ran out in front……”

Edith stuck her head out the door at the knight’s reply.

“The kid wasn’t hurt, was he?”

“The kid is fine, but I think he jumped in on purpose to beg. I’ll chase him away in a moment.”

Edith stopped the knight escort who was about to get off his horse.

“No, no, bring him in so he can get some money.”

“But madam……”

“Come on.”

Since having her child, Edith has never been able to walk past a beggar on the street.

Even if the money she hands over ends up in the hands of the head of a group of beggars, at least the child will get through the day without being beaten.

A few moments later, the knight returned, dragging the sullen boy by the hand.

“Let go of me, I can walk on my own two feet!” he shouted.

“You brat, you have the audacity to raise your voice to the person who helped you?!”

The boy, who hadn’t bothered to hide his displeasure even in front of a knight of the noble family, bowed as he was brought to stand in front of Edith.

“I apologize for stopping the carriage of the noble family. I tripped over a stone and fell.”

“Are you hurt?”

“My knee is a little scratched up, but otherwise I’m fine.”

The boy’s knee, which was exposed through a hole in his pants, was dotted with blood from where it had been hit by the stone, but he didn’t seem to be in any pain.

Feeling sorry for him, Edith took out a generous amount of coins and handed them to the boy.

But when the boy saw her about to give him the money, he suddenly made a face.

“I didn’t mean to beg!”

That was a pretty cocky thing for a boy who looked like a beggar to say in front of money.

“I’m not giving it to you for that reason, just buy some medicine.”

“It’s better to leave it at that, then I’ll take my leave.”

The boy bowed with the grace of a nobleman to a lady, and was about to turn and walk away. If only Edith hadn’t caught him.

“Hey, wait. Do you have somewhere to go?”

“I’m just going wherever my feet take me, I guess.”

Edith could see that the boy, who looked to be in his early teens at most, was trying not to be looked down upon by the adults.

His shabby clothes and lanky body didn’t suggest he had a parent or caring adult by his side.

Edith felt sorry for the boy, who pretended to be tough in order to survive in the rough back alleys.

“I have to get a job by the end of the day, so I’m busy! Goodbye!”

“Well, that’s good, then, because I think I can give you a job.”

The boy, who was about to turn away, turned his head quickly.

“Really?”

Killian, who was across from Edith, raised his eyebrows and asked, “Suddenly?”

Edith beckoned the boy to sit beside the coachman, and they set off.

***

At the inn where they stayed for the night before entering the capital, Edith sat down with the boy.

After he had bathed and eaten, his features were more clearly visible, he was a handsome boy, fair-skinned and blond-haired.

To the boy whose stiff expression had slightly eased, Edith asked a few questions.

“What’s your name?”

“……just call me whatever you want.”

“Do you have parents?”

“No.”

Edith asked him where he lived, if he had any peers, and how he managed to feed and house himself, but he only gave vague answers.

Then his eyes narrowed and he said, “Are you sure you’re giving me a job? If you’re thinking of selling me somewhere, you’d better stop, because I just ran away from a vicious slave trader.”

“You must have been through a lot.”

Edith’s soothing reply was unexpected, and the boy flinched.

“I am the Countess of Ryzen. I’m on my way to the capital for the National Day celebration.”

“And?”

“If you have nowhere else to go, would you consider coming to Ryzen with us to work? Our castle is always in need of labor.”

The boy furrowed his brow and thought about it, then asked in a more polite manner, “What kind of work would you like me to do?”

“The most likely position would be as a servant in the castle, but if you want to wield a sword, you could grow up to be a soldier in the Order of the Knights, or if you have a mind for learning, you could work as an assistant in the administrative office.”

The boy’s eyes sparkled a little more. But at the same time, there was a hint of perplexity in his expression.

“By the way, is Ryzen…… far from the capital?”

“It’s about ten days by carriage, what’s the matter?”

The boy stammered, rubbing his palms together on his pants. “It’s nothing, I’ll follow you, madam.”

Edith sensed that there was something he couldn’t tell her, but she didn’t push.

“We’ll be staying in the capital for the fall and winter, and I’ll introduce you as my husband’s errand boy, and all you have to do is stand by us and run small errands.”

“Understood,” he answered dutifully, his sulk gone.

Edith had been watching his behavior since earlier.

‘He’s got a certain politeness about him, not like a child who grew up on the streets. Is he a descendant of the fallen nobility?’

The way he greeted her at the front of the carriage was too natural to be considered imitating aristocratic etiquette.

His demeanor is gruff, but he hasn’t once uttered a single expletive or profanity.

The fire in his eyes told her he would learn his job quickly.

‘If I entrust him to Renon, I might get a very capable assistant.’

Edith named the boy Daniel, envisioning a future where he would follow her around as her assistant and learn the trade.