60
"……"
I blankly stared at the person lying on the bed. No, not just anyone, Theon Luxior.
'Why on earth are you here?'
Theon Luxior.
Who was he?
The main male lead of the original novel <The Curly-Haired Grand Duchess>, the Northern Grand Duke, heir of the Luxior grand ducal house, hailed as the most handsome man in the world, and above all, the destined partner of the heroine, Genevia.
In short…
'The greatest rival and sworn enemy of my beloved sub-male lead, Sion…!'
He was the very existence I wanted to avoid so badly that I had dragged Sion and Genevia all the way to this borderland on a desperate escape journey.
And yet, Theon Luxior had been right by our side this entire time!
'What the hell—?!'
It was a reality I wanted to deny.
But the hair I had thought was just filthy and unwashed turned out to be unmistakably jet-black once cleaned, and the eyelids that Diene had lifted earlier revealed eyes of a deep navy, close to blue.
It was exactly as the novel had described Theon Luxior's appearance.
I fell into a pit of mental collapse.
'No, seriously, why is Theon Luxior, who should be at the grand ducal castle right about now, putting on an idiot act here!?!'
According to the original story, Theon had set out on the Northern expedition at age twelve, and returned nearly ten years later, at twenty-two, to the grand ducal castle.
So why was he here in the Alpheon Mountains, wandering about in a daze with no memory?
'Don't tell me… has the change in Sion's situation also affected Theon somehow!?'
While I was drowning in despair, the very cause of my breakdown, Theon Luxior, simply lay there quietly on the bed.
"…Theon Luxior."
Sion muttered his name.
At that, everyone in the room turned to him in shock.
"What?! Young Lord, what did you just say…?"
"No way, could it be?"
Garen and Diene looked at Sion with faces full of disbelief.
Sion let out a cold sneer and said.
"That's right. That idiot lying over there is none other than Theon Luxior."
"What-!?"
"That's impossible…!"
"No way!"
While everyone reeled in shock, the infirmary door burst open and Genevia and Shona walked in.
"We've brought the priestess!"
"What on earth happened here!?"
Genevia quickly rushed to the bedside, but then she froze mid-step.
When they saw Alo's freshly revealed face, their eyes widened.
"Huh? Who is this person…?"
"…Theon Luxior. The one you thought was 'Alo.'"
At Sion's firm reply, Genevia and Shona gasped in shock at the same time.
"Whaaat!??"
"Lord Theon, the Grand Duke's heir?!"
Even in the midst of all this chaos, the man in question remained unconscious, unmoving.
A heavy silence of confusion fell over the room.
"…Mmm…"
Alo, or rather, Theon Luxior's—eyelids trembled faintly.
And then, he slowly opened his eyes.
"…Ugh, where is this?"
Theon Luxior sat up slowly, glancing around at us. His eyes darted about as though searching his memories. Then, with a dazed and foolish smile, he spoke.
"Alo… is awake now."
"……"
"……"
"……"
"……"
The air in the room grew even colder.
Garen whispered carefully.
"Um, Young Lord… are you certain? That this man is truly the Luxior heir…?"
At that, the quick-witted Diene nudged Garen in the ribs and murmured.
"Black hair, deep navy eyes. The description fits."
"Unbelievable…"
Sion's face remained frozen, his cold eyes fixed sharply on Theon.
At that moment, Genevia, struggling to mask her confusion, spoke calmly.
"Um… first, are you feeling any pain in your head or anywhere else, Mr. Alo—no, I mean, Your Grace?"
"…Yeah, Alo feels fin-…"
Theon suddenly cut himself off.
Finally realizing that something was off, he slowly looked around at each of our faces.
Then, raising his hand to his chin, he felt his face, realizing that his hair and beard had been shaved clean, leaving his features bare.
"…Ah."
Theon let out a short sound.
And then…
"…I see. So I've been shaved."
This time, his tone and voice were completely different, calm, composed, and much lower.
I shot up like a startled cat, jabbing a finger at him as I yelled.
"Ha! Got you, bastard! You've been exposed!"
"Heh."
"Don't 'heh' me! Who are you, huh?! Why are you here?! Why the hell were you pretending to be Alo and deceiving us!?"
Theon looked down at me, a sly smile still plastered on his face, before slowly rising from the bed.
His demeanor made it clear, he no longer intended to deny it.
"Phew."
With a few cracks and pops, he rolled his neck and loosened his shoulders.
Theon's lips curled into a faint smirk as he looked straight at Sion.
"…It's been a while, Sion."
***
We all sat together in the office.
Commander Valdeor and Deputy Commander Ulrich, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, joined us as well.
Seated at the head, fingers interlaced and eyes closed in thought, Theon finally spoke slowly.
"I'm sure I startled you all. It wasn't my intention, but… I apologize."
His face and voice were deadly serious.
But to me, the image of the fool he had been playing until now still overlapped in my mind, and I could only look at him with cold suspicion.
'Hmph. Not your intention, my ass. If we hadn't found out, you would've just kept pretending to be Alo!'
As soon as Commander Valdeor heard that Theon Luxior was in the fortress, he had hurried over and asked gravely.
"Your Grace, could you please explain what has happened? You've been missing for over a year, and the castle has struggled greatly in their attempts to trace your whereabouts."
At this, Theon lowered his gaze with a bitter expression.
"…I can imagine. I've caused much trouble. I, too, had my own… circumstances."
Resting his chin in his hand, Ulrich Thurman remarked calmly.
"A letter has already been sent to the grand ducal castle. News of Your Grace's whereabouts should reach them in a few days."
"Thank you. And… how is my mother? She must have been deeply worried."
Garen carefully answered.
"Yes, Your Grace. The Grand Duchess is in good health."
At that moment, Sion, who had been sitting with arms crossed and a cold face, refusing to even look at Theon, suddenly spoke.
"…And what exactly are those 'circumstances'?"
His voice was frigid.
"Were they truly so great that you had to abandon your duty and your responsibilities, just to play the fool?"
"……"
The weight of Sion's blunt condemnation silenced the room.
I glanced at Sion's expression from the corner of my eye.
'He's furious.'
For Sion, who almost never spared emotions for others, to be this openly enraged was something exceedingly rare.
But I knew why.
'…Well, of course. The reason Sion turned out the way he is… that main male lead bastard had a big part in it.'
Sion and Theon were half-brothers.
Theon, born of the Grand Duchess, was the legitimate heir.
Sion, born of a common knightess, was the illegitimate son.
Politically, their relationship was ambiguous and uncomfortable. But according to the original story's past events that I remembered, the two brothers had once been quite close.
That is, until the year Theon Luxior turned twelve, when he suddenly left his younger brother behind and set off on an expedition.
~ 'Brother… left?'
The pale blue eyes of nine-year-old Sion Luxior trembled violently.
'When? Where to?'
'Yesterday at dawn. He departed with the knights on a northern campaign. He won't return for at least five years.'
'B-but…'
Sion's eyes went hollow.
He couldn't believe it.
The only one who had ever warmly embraced him since he had come to the grand ducal castle at the age of eight, his half-brother, three years older.
The one who had stood between him and the cold scorn of the Grand Duchess and many others.
That very brother had abandoned him without a single word, without even a goodbye, as though tossing away an old toy.
Sion couldn't believe it.
'No… Brother Theon wouldn't do that to me. There must be a reason…'
The young Sion waited.
A month. Half a year. A year. Five years.
Even as time passed beyond that, not a single letter ever came from Theon.
And so, Sion finally understood.
'…It was all just my delusion.'
That to Theon, the true heir, he was nothing more than an unwanted bastard, a passing amusement, something to kill time.
Sion stopped waiting.
And now, here they were. The Luxior brothers, meeting again for the first time in nearly ten years.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
0 Comments