The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 48

—

**Tap, tap, tap!**

Aden urgently ran down the corridor.

Damn, could the culprit have already moved?

**Bang!**

When Aden arrived in front of Elise’s quarters, he saw Joseph and the guard monks gathered there.

Joseph was in the room, hurriedly comforting Elise, who was trembling in his arms with a terrified expression.

“Elise! Calm down, Elise!”

“Sniff, ugh…”

Despite Joseph’s calls, Elise remained in a panic.

Aden quickly surveyed the surroundings.

There were no signs of intrusion or attack.

“What on earth happened?”

When Aden glared at the guard monks and asked, they directed their gaze towards a low-ranking priestess who was trembling in a corner of the room.

The priestess, unsure of what to do, tearfully explained.

“I-I was just trying to replace the candles! But I accidentally extinguished one, and then Lady Elise…”

From her words, Aden quickly grasped the situation.

‘Is it her trauma acting up?’

Elise had been locked in a dark solitary cell for three weeks by the Cerberus Guild.

It was a miracle that a child like Elise had endured in a cell that could drive even adults mad.

‘Come to think of it, they always said she sleeps with the lights on at the Duke’s house.’

Although she appeared fine on the surface, it seemed she was deeply traumatized.

Aden sat down to meet Elise’s eyes directly.

“Look me straight in the eyes.”

Elise’s body still trembled finely.

Her usually vibrant eyes were clouded with fear.

In her vision, the remnants of the solitary cell must have been lingering.

Aden spoke again in a calm voice.

“This isn’t the underground cell where you were. Snap out of it.”

At those words, Elise flinched, and her eyes began to stabilize.

“…Aden oppa.”

“Yes, it’s me. Now take a deep breath.”

Following Aden’s words, Elise slowly exhaled.

Gradually, her trembling subsided, and her breathing steadied.

Seeing that she had calmed down somewhat, Aden left Elise in Joseph’s embrace.

—

About an hour passed.

After the incident, the priests who had gathered were dispersed.

The low-ranking priestess who accidentally extinguished the candle received a light punishment, and the others were dismissed.

Just as Aden was about to leave as well, Joseph approached him.

“Elise is asking for you?”

“I’m sorry, sir. My daughter wants to have a brief conversation with you alone.”

Joseph bowed his head apologetically.

“If it’s too much trouble, it’s okay, sir.”

“No, it’s fine. Just for a moment.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Aden agreed since there was no reason not to.

Upon re-entering the room, he saw Elise curled up on the bed like a small ball, looking downcast.

Aden pulled up a chair and sat beside her.

Despite having called him, Elise remained silent.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“…”

Even after a long time since Aden asked, Elise just mumbled without saying anything, as if she was pondering deeply.

“If you have nothing to say, I’ll leave. Joseph is waiting outside the door.”

“W-Wait…!”

As Aden rose from the chair, actually looking like he would leave, Elise hurriedly spoke up.

But even then, she hesitated, unsure of what to say.

“Spill it.”

Aden sat back down, looking at her with calm eyes and speaking in a steady voice.

“Tell me. Don’t keep it bottled up inside.”

Aden’s voice, though somewhat stern, carried kindness and sincerity in his eyes.

Encouraged, Elise finally spoke up.

“Is it okay for me to do it?”

“What?”

“To become a saintess.”

Elise began to unravel the bundle of thoughts she had been holding inside.

“Is it okay for me to become a saintess, Aden oppa?”

Her bundle of thoughts was filled with many considerations and questions.

“In fairy tales, all saintesses are strong, kind, and cool.”

It was a childish remark, akin to saying, ‘All princes are handsome and kind.’

Elise continued speaking.

“When those scary men dragged me away, I could only be dragged. When I was locked in that dark room, I could only tremble. The darkness was so scary that even now, just thinking about it makes me feel like I’m still there, suffocating.”

‘I’ am not strong at all.

Just a child who trembles in the dark.

“I was cold. I was lonely. I was scared. I wanted to cry. I wanted to go home. And, I wanted to kill them.”

As she continued, a grim expression that didn’t suit her age appeared on Elise’s face.

Her cute doll-like appearance was overshadowed by a chilling aura, emphasizing the contrast.

Elise hated the members of the Cerberus Guild.

She despised those who mocked her when she cried and begged to be let out.

She wanted to kill them.

She wanted to eliminate all those she hated. She didn’t want to suffer anymore.

A voice whispered in her ear.

Yes, kill them.

Eliminate all those you hate.

Otherwise, you will continue to suffer.

The voice kept whispering.

Elise couldn’t tell if it was her own voice or someone else’s.

In that dark solitary cell, the child harbored malice and murderous intent.

The whispering continued even when the tightly shut cell door opened, and she was told she could go home.

The whispering stopped only when…

**Stab.**

When she stabbed the Cerberus Guild leader in the heart with the dagger Aden had given her.

As the guild leader let out a death cry and died coldly, Elise felt liberated from the whispering and cried.

With a tearful expression, Elise spoke.

“I am not kind.”

‘I’ am not kind.

“I am not strong.”

‘I’ am not strong.

Elise concluded.

“The adults here are nice to me and kind, so I like them. But… I have no confidence.”

Could someone like her really become a saintess?

Elise shook her head.

There was no way she could.

Despite this belief, the only reason she came here was because of one thing.

“Dad looked really troubled.”

Seeing Joseph agonize over the old comrades who visited the Duke’s house made her want to go.

But Elise also missed Aden’s ducal household.

“I want to see Kitty sister and play with Choco…”

Kitty sister was what Elise called the alchemist, Cassie.

Cassie, though she didn’t show it, was affectionate and liked children.

Even though she pretended it was bothersome, she played well with Elise.

In the short period of about a month, the ducal house had become a place Elise longed for like her own home.

Elise, having said everything she wanted to, stopped speaking.

Her face was full of sorrow.

Her round face drooped, making her look like a dejected rabbit.

“…”

Watching her silently, Aden reached out his hand towards her.

**Flick!**

He flicked her forehead.

“Ow!”

“For a little brat, you sure have a lot of gloomy thoughts.”

Elise looked aggrieved, but Aden just chuckled.

‘Goodness, she sure has a lot of thoughts for such a tiny head.’

Aden thought Elise was like a little kid who grew up too fast and clicked his tongue.

“Do you think a bad kid would worry about their dad like you? Would a weak kid start throwing punches at adults right after coming out of a solitary cell?”

Aden reached out his hand again.

Elise flinched, thinking he was going to flick her forehead again…

“You are a good kid.”

But this time, he patted her head.

In a future ravaged world, children had to struggle fiercely to survive.

Being kind was equivalent to being easily killed.

However, the world now was still a place where it was enough for a child to be kind.

“And you are a very strong child.”

His touch was rough yet very gentle.

Aden told Elise that she was strong.

‘Perhaps…’

Stronger than me.

Aden swallowed the last words.

He understood Elise’s feelings.

‘Dark, cold, and a desire for revenge…’

Those words didn’t feel like someone else’s.

The emotions Elise spoke of were ones he had felt when he was betrayed and trapped in the Void.

Sympathy.

That word could summarize his feelings.

He felt a complicated emotion.

Aden tried to clear that feeling and spoke.

“When people are pushed to the limit, they have all sorts of bad thoughts. They did bad things to you. So what you did is completely justified.”

Aden smirked playfully.

“And don’t worry. There’s no law that says a saintess can’t do bad things or hurt people.”

“Huh?”

Elise blinked her round eyes.

Aden thought of another saintess, the Iron-Blooded Saintess of the Massacre Church.

A noble yet ruthless saintess who stained her priestly robes red with the blood of monsters and villains.

People called her the Iron-Blooded Saintess because she judged sins with death, showing no emotions.

‘She was a very cruel and terrible woman.’

But at the same time, she was trustworthy and someone he could rely on.

As her comrade, Aden knew well how much she hid her human side.

Thinking of Spaca, the Iron-Blooded Saintess, a sharp pain and bitter feelings surged in his chest.

‘In the end, she was also in league with the traitors.’

When his comrades betrayed Aden and imprisoned him in the Void, the Iron-Blooded Saintess remained silent, doing nothing and just watching.

Aden shook off the bitter, sticky feelings and spoke to Elise.

“There’s no need to think grandly about being a saintess. A saintess is also a human, isn’t she? If you’re angry, you can be angry. If you want to be selfish, you can be selfish. Just be yourself, the Elise who loves playing with Choco and enjoys martial arts training. You are still a child.”

A saintess was also a person.

If a god placed the heavy duty of being a saintess on someone and then dictated their every action, that wouldn’t be a god.

Perhaps because they were both saintesses, Aden thought this young prospective saintess was a bit similar to the Iron-Blooded Saintess.

“…Can I really?”

At Elise’s question, Aden nodded as if it were obvious.

“If you want to. No one here is above you.”

The one with authority equivalent to a saintess was the High Priest, but since he was currently in a coma, Aden’s words were true.

“You can do whatever you want. Others will take care of the rest. So if you want to come back, you can, to your home.”

“Home?”

“Yes, home.”

At Aden’s words, Elise muttered, “Home…” in a daze.

Then, her face gradually brightened.

Elise nodded cheerfully, looking pleased.

“Yes! I got it!”

Thinking of the Remes Ducal House as her home, Elise smiled brightly.

—

“Elise fell asleep after talking for a bit. Please stay with her, Joseph.”

“Thank you very much, sir.”

After speaking with Aden, who had stepped out of the room, Joseph smiled sincerely, expressing his gratitude.

However, Joseph’s expression was still uneasy.