C 58
"I didn't know you two were friends."
"We're not friends."
"We're not friends."
The simultaneous response from both Enosh and me silenced the emperor.
"Imperial Father, how can you befriend a bollo?"
"I'm not a bollo."
"You're a bollo, an ugly bollo."
Enosh snorted.
No, I think I look pretty, but why the heck do you always call me ugly?
"Am I on the ugly side according to this world's standard of beauty?"
I pinched my cheek lightly with my finger and checked my eyes.
I don't think I'm particularly soft like a bollo. When I tilted my head, Enosh frowned.
"Imperial Father, I'm tired. Can you go?"
"...Your mother misses you a lot."
"...Please tell her to come next time."
"Just say a word, and she'll come over, so just speak on a convenient day..."
"Alright, I got it! Didn't I tell you to leave?! Please, get out of here; I'm annoyed..."
When Enosh shuddered, unable to throw away what he had in his hand, the emperor inevitably bit his lip.
"He really seems to care."
Seeing that the emperor couldn't move.
Well, if it weren't for that, he wouldn't have gone so far as to blacken himself just because Enosh died.
"Yes, take this."
The emperor said as he handed over my herb encyclopedia.
"I'll come back tomorrow."
......
Enosh, who didn't respond to the emperor's words, remained silent for a long time after his departure.
"No one allows me to take even a single step because I'm sick. I can't stand it because it's frustrating."
I closed my mouth for a moment at Enosh's words, who weakly opened his mouth with a hoarse voice after a long time.
"I can only go see my mother. At this rate, I really... feel like I'm waiting for the day of my death."
Enosh said as he held his head.
It was a voice full of despair.
Well, I didn't know that if they didn't let him take a single step because he was sick, it would get better.
"Oh, did you deliver the letter?"
"The letter?"
"Yes, to Lily... to the person you said."
"...No, I didn't tell her."
"Why?"
"Because it would be useless if I told her."
The dullness in his eyes contained despair.
Death was too heavy a burden for a small child who was only twelve years old.
Leaning against the headboard as if nothing was expected, Enosh slowly closed his eyes.
"Do you want to play with me?"
"What?"
"I'll come here often. I'll come to play with you every day."
"You're so strange. Aren't you afraid of this body? Has that feeling died because you're a bollo?"
"I'm Eirin! Call me Eirin."
"No, bollo."
"...Stubborn."
I muttered dissatisfied.
"Oh, I'll come next time."
"Whatever."
Enosh snorted and turned his head away. Seeing that disdainful look, I also turned around with my lips pouting.
I left Enosh's room with the book that the emperor had given me.
Enosh's story had been covered in detail in <Adopted>.
In the end, he added an explanation about his tough character to the heroine who came to see him one last time.
"<I have to do that... ... Because it won't make any sense. I'll leave, but it will be sad if many people remember me as a good person.>"
Here, many readers became a sea of tears with the feeling of "Please take care of my son."
There were only "ㅠㅠㅠ" in the comments window, so I thought it was about to explode.
That's why Enosh doesn't call anyone by their name.
That's why Enosh doesn't share his feelings with others.
That's why Enosh wasn't afraid of being stigmatized as a "weak tyrant prince."
"If I didn't know, of course, I would hate him..."
Even after knowing, I couldn't hate him.
Because that was how Enosh lived desperately.
"Are you finished, dear?"
"...Dad?"
With the book in my arms, I was about to use my shoulder to close Enosh's door, but a hand reaching out from the side snatched the book from me.
When I looked up in surprise, Erno Etham was looking at me and even closed the door with his other hand.
"Yes."
"Why are you here?"
"Mmm...."
He fell silent for a moment at my question, then slightly averted his gaze and said.
"I had something to do at the imperial palace."
"Ah..."
Apart from that, his attire was infinitely casual, as if he had just come out of the house.
"...Maybe it's because of my dad's personality that he didn't dress appropriately?"
I heard you have to wear formal uniforms when entering the imperial palace.
"What's this?"
"Um, I received a gift."
I decided not to say from whom the gift was.
"Yes, let's go."
I left Enosh behind and went home with dad.
* * *
"Hello, miss. I'm Hill Rosemont, the eldest son of the Rosemont family, assigned as your tutor starting today... Aaaaack!"
The day after meeting Enosh, a tutor came to visit.
He was a young man who looked somewhat frail.
The young man had greeted me by bowing his head so low that his waist bent in half and then toppled forward.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Aack, are you hurt?"
Seeing him collapsed in front of me, I awkwardly smiled and shook my head.
Blood was dripping from the boy's nose, and soon a couple of nosebleeds followed.
Embarrassed, I handed him a nearby handkerchief. The young man hurriedly took it and skillfully pressed it against his nose.
It seemed very familiar, as if this had happened one or two times before.
The young man with curly hair and a round face wore glasses as round as his face.
It was strange for him to become a teacher at such a young age, as if he were in the middle of his adolescence.
The uncommon light brown hair and green eyes that seemed to have been created by capturing the vegetation caught my attention.
"He's very nervous..."
It was a bit suspicious that he, who seemed somewhat deficient, was a teacher.
"Haha, I'm not very athletic... I often trip even when there's nothing there. I'm sorry."
"Oh, no... Professor, how old are you?"
"Oh, I turned 14 this year. I have a cute 9-year-old little brother."
The young man, with his lips slightly parted, smiled very fondly.
Affection dripped from his eyes for how much he loved his brother.
"But the Rosemont family?"
Why does it seem so familiar? Did I hear it somewhere?
Since he came as my teacher, he probably wouldn't have appeared in <Adopted>.
"Did I just give an extra stage to a 14-year-old genius?"
There's no way the author of <Adopted> would do that.
I stared at Hill Rosemont for a long time with crossed arms and a serious expression on my face.
"Ah... Now that I think about it."
Wasn't a tutor assigned to the female protagonist in the middle of the novel?
"I think it was before the heroine debuted in society..."
It was probably a bit later than now.
Apparently, even then, the young rural baron, who was a genius...
"<Hello, my lady. I'm Hill Rosemont, the eldest son of the Rosemont family, assigned as your tutor starting today... Aaaaack!
"Oh, are you okay?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Aack, are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine, but what about you?"
"Haha... I'm fine too. I often trip..."
He was spitting out the exact same lines.
And as soon as the scene came to mind, I turned pale. I remembered it. What kind of existence is this Hill Rosemont?
He acts like a pushover, but in reality, he's...
The head of the hidden guild "Bright Moon," which said there was no business in the world that didn't go through them.
"Why did he come here?"
Why doesn't he go with the heroine instead of coming with me?!
I held my breath, unable to hide my confusion.
He was scratching the back of his head with a puzzled expression, but he was truly a criminal among criminals.
To get the ending he wants, it doesn't matter if hundreds or thousands die.
Erno Etham was a born psychopath from an early age, to the point where he looked cute. By the age of eight, he had killed his parents, and by the age of ten, he had killed the leader of the "Bright Moon" guild.
Even the author of <Adopted> defined him in one word: "demon."
"......"
Why is my life like this?
"Miss?"
"Yes, yes..."
He wasn't a child who would gradually change like Richard.
A human who's already in the final stage of darkness!
"They said the curriculum could be created after discussing it with the miss. I've prepared a basic curriculum for now; would you like to take a look?"
"Ah, yes..."
He was acting like a child who had just arrived from the countryside, but probably all of this was just an act.
"Why... is he here?"
It was a bit incomprehensible.
I can understand if it were for the female protagonist, but me...
"She's very charming, my lady."
"...Oh, thank you. My teacher's hair is very pretty..."
His hair, as if naturally curly, was fluffy like a poodle.
"My hair...?"
"Yes."
"Wow, it's the first time I've received compliments about my hair. I hate it because it's too curly."
"I like it, it's beautiful..."
I struggled to avoid looking at him and pursed my lips.
"But, miss."
Hill Rosemont, who was smiling softly and playing with his hair, suddenly approached me.
"Why are you trembling like a frightened rabbit?"
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