Stepmothers Are Not Always Evil

“A guest?”

I didn’t even have an appointment? A guest who came in without even sending a letter?

“Is it my guest, not Helios?”

“Yes. He said you would know if it was from a blacksmith in Kingston.”

“The blacksmith in Kingston?”

As soon as I heard those words, the face of the person I had forgotten came to mind.

“Hurry up and guide him to the drawing room. I will go with Helios.”

*****

“I’m sorry that a lowly person came to visit madam without an appointment.”

As I entered the drawing room with Helios, the blacksmith standing next to the sofa looked at us and knelt down.

As expected, it was the blacksmith who I asked for Escal’s sword.

I was about to greet him with a happy heart, but I noticed Helios gazed and kept my mouth shut.

Helios asked him with alert eyes.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Aaron, who runs the blacksmith in Kingston.”

“Aaron?”

Helios, who was looking intently at the blacksmith’s face as if it was a familiar name, muttered to himself.

“You are a person supplying weapons to the imperial family…?”

“It’s a long time ago.”

He must have been more famous than I thought.

Aaron’s answer finally relieved Helios’ vigilance.

“Get up. Sit back and talk.”

Aaron bowed his head and sat down on the sofa.

Helios was in front of him, so he looked stiff, but there was no sign of nervousness and sensitivity like in the blacksmith store.

Helios, who took the initiative in the conversation, spoke first.

“What is your business with my wife?”

“Your wife kept her promise, so I also came to keep my promise.”

“Promise?”

Instead of answering Helios’ question, he placed a large wooden box on the table.

Helios bowed his upper body and blocked me, wondering if it would be a dangerous object.

I smiled softly at his consideration and then glanced at Aaron.

Aaron opened the lid of the wooden box by hand. There were six swords in the box.

“This…?”

“Didn’t I promise to make the best sword in the world if you uncover the atrocities of Baron Rockefeller? It’s a little talent, but it’s a small reward for your wife.”

Aaron looked at me with deepened eyes and said.

I made such a promise.

I remembered it, but I didn’t think I had kept my promise. After all, he never got his son back.

While I was looking at Aaron with a complicated heart, Helios looked at the sword first.

The six swords have different lengths and materials. The shortest sword was about the length of a branch wielded by Escal, and the largest and longest sword was a precious sword with a weight and length that an adult could use.

“Great stuff.”

Even Helios, who had high eyesight, admired these swords.

“Since the master is six years old, he should change his sword every two or three years. The height that your wife wrote down is similar to my son’s age, so I made a guess.”

“It must have been a lot of trouble.”

“It’s nothing compared to what your wife tried.”

Under Helios, Aaron waved his hand and continued his explanation.

“The three short swords were bluntly sharpened so that they were not dangerous.Still, be careful because you can get hurt if you are careless.”

“Thank you.”

“No. Thanks to you, my son will also be relieved.”

The blunt voice trembled softly. His wet eyes looked sad, but he quickly moved his emotions.

Aaron took out the longest sword from the box and pulled it out of its sheath.

The jewels embedded in the handle and the sparkling swords were so sharp and beautiful that they could not be compared with the other five swords.

“This is my last work.”

“Is it a steel sword?”

“That’s right. Whether it be a monster or a human, it is a sword who can cut through bones at once.”

“I think Escal will like it.”

Helios, who finally guessed the whole story, spoke softly and looked sideways at me. It was a mixture of interrogation and praise.

I asked Aaron, avoiding his eyes.

“Why the last? Aren’t you going to make any swords?”

“Yes. I cleaned up the blacksmith’s shop a few days ago.””

“Why? Do you have any problem…”

“I am going to find my son.”

Helios quietly furrowed his eyebrows in response to the blunt answer.

The whereabouts of the children sold by Baron Rockefeller are still unknown.

The emperor was enraged and ordered a thorough investigation into the matter, but with so many people involved, little progress was made in the investigation.

Since it was the disappearance of powerless commoners’ children, there was a lot of speculation that it would take a while, it was worth knowing how things were going without asking.

“Where are you going? Did you get any clues?”

“There are no clues, but… The disappearance of children seems to have something to do with monsters, so I plan to look for areas where monsters appear.”

“A monster? Isn’t that too dangerous?”

“That’s why I need to find him sooner rather than later.”

I realized how stupid I was asking a stupid question.

It’s a place where his child might be, so is it a big deal that it’s dangerous.

“There are some parents who want to accompany me, so I am going to leave. I apologize for not being a witness in the trial.”

“No. I fully understand.”

Aaron bowed his head deeply, thanking me for the understanding.

There was no way to comprehend the complicated emotions that appeared on his wrinkled face, so he just smiled instead of saying a word.

“I will do everything I can to ensure that Baron Rockefeller gets the punishment he deserves.”

“Thank you. Your Excellency.”

Helios looked down at the box for a moment and called Merlin.

“Go to my office and get me a checkbook.”

“There is no need for that. I just kept my promise….”

“It is said that if you receive a weapon as a gift without payment, you will see blood. Even if it’s just a superstition, I want to avoid unpleasant things.”

Merlin, quick-witted, quickly returned with a checkbook.

Helios, who had written the number 50,000 gold on a blank piece of paper, handed out a check.

“… Thank you. Your Excellency.”

“I hope your search is successful.”

Aaron, who received the check from Helios, lowered his head.

Thick tears flowed over the scar from the molten iron.

****

“It was because of him.”

As soon as he turned around after seeing Aaron out the door, Helios’ interrogation began.

I closed my eyes and nodded quietly.

“Why did you go there? Are you going to make a sword for Escal?”

Nodding. I shook my head in a positive way, and Helios smiled bitterly..

“If you need a sword, you can call them to the mansion, what are you doing going by yourself?”

“Buy threads, and get some air… at the same time.”

“You go out secretly because you were afraid I would know?”

He’s like a ghost.

How did you know that I left the mansion after Helios left because I was afraid I might be caught?

“You said you wouldn’t do that anymore.”

As I mumbled sorry, he stabbed me in the cheek.

“Anyway, my wife has a knack for surprising me.”

Hearing his light tone, I don’t think he has the heart to rebuke me again.

“How did you know that man?”

“I asked the coachman to go to the most skillful blacksmith in Kingston, and he took me there. Is he famous?”

“It was famous. A few years ago, all the weapons used in the imperial family were made by that man. He suddenly stopped delivery and disappeared, and I wondered what happened…”

“He said he was looking for a child for a while.”

“That’s what happened.”

Bitterness was mixed with Helios’ answer. I held his hand tightly.

Helios looked at me with deepened eyes and said.

“As you may have guessed, I think this will end with the punishment of Baron Rockefeller.”

“There must be a lot of people who shouldn’t be touched, right?”

“I heard rumors that the Empress’s mother was involved.”

If it was the Empress’s family, it would be the Duke of Eaton.

The Empress’s younger brother, the Duke of Eaton, was a person who regarded Escal as a thorn in the eyes and argued with each other even in the novel.

He is a person who has the Empress on his back and engages in all kinds of arbitrariness, so it would not be surprising if it had anything to do with this.

“Where are the missing children?”

“It will be hard to find until Baron Rockefeller says it.”

And the Baron will disappear as the dew of the guillotine before he opens his mouth.

I sighed in frustration and remembered Aaron’s words.

“What do you mean the disappearance of children has to do with monsters?”

“That….”

Helios, whose words were blurred, avoided my eyes.

“Well, I don’t know either. I don’t know where he heard that, but there was no official announcement, so he might have been wrong.”

“Then why didn’t you say that?”

“I’m afraid I’m going to turn off that person’s hope.”

“…….”

After hearing Helios’ answer, I seemed to understand.

It is highly unlikely that Aaron will find his son safely.

But no one has the right to say that it is useless even if he can’t find his child.

“I wish he could find him.”

I just smiled and prayed.