Is This… a Grandson?

The building had been renovated into a flawless prison. Endless rows of iron bars stretched into the distance. The eyes of the slaves inside were exactly the same now as they had been in the past—dead eyes that had lost all sense of self. I could feel, viscerally, that even the slightest ember of hope had been extinguished.

I had expected this before coming, but it didn’t stop my mood from souring. I felt as if the stagnant, treacherous air would infect me. I became desperate to buy what I needed and get out as fast as possible.

“Hey. How much further are we going? The conditions I asked for shouldn’t have been that difficult to meet.”

“Just a little further!”

The trader couldn’t hide his anxiety, glancing around restlessly. From the way he was urgently searching for something, you’d think he was trying to find a ‘product’ that perfectly fit my criteria… Yeah, right.

His predictable behavior reeked of a cliché. He was practically shouting, ‘I’m actually setting a trap to kidnap you!’ I came to a dead halt.

“M-Mage? My apologies. But truly, we only have to go a little bit further!”

“You. How old do you think I am?”

“Pardon?”

“I have a bit of a baby face. How old do I look? If you guess correctly, I’ll follow you wherever you want to go without another word.”

“Did you perhaps… just reach adulthood yesterday?”

“…You misunderstood me. I wasn’t asking for flattery; I meant I’d go with you if you got it exactly right. I’ll give you one more chance, so stop acting pathetic.”

I turned my head toward the opposite end of the dark corridor. To an ordinary person’s eyes, it would look like a dead-end wall. It was plastered with spatial distortion and illusion formulas. But it couldn’t deceive the eyes of an Archmage.

“Are you… thirty?”

“Wrong. I turn two thousand this year.”

“…What?”

“Do you know what that means? It means I’ve seen enough humans and lived through enough incidents to last a lifetime. Hmm… Perhaps you’ve prepared a trap to capture a mage?”

The toad-trader’s complexion shifted instantly.

“Y-You truly have a… wonderful sense of humor, Mage!”

“Well, some crazy bastards would try it, since catching one is like hitting the jackpot.”

“Hahaha. Ahahaha.”

I filtered out his awkward laughter and focused on what was behind the wall. The space was larger than I thought, and there were many people. However, it seemed a problem had occurred.

Rumble. Thrummm…

The vibration, small and shallow at first, grew stronger as something approached.

K-Boom!

Wreathed in smoke, it burst through the magical barrier. The empty air shattered like glass. I was purely impressed. That was at least a 4th-Class barrier spell. To break through it physically like that was impossible with ordinary strength.

‘He’s a monster.’

My eyes sparkled at the thought of how good he’d be at housework—until the smoke cleared and the monster’s identity was revealed. For once, I was taken aback.

“A child?”

He was emaciated from malnutrition, his clothes were filthy, and his body was covered in scars. The dagger he gripped tightly was thicker than his thigh.

It feels odd to say it myself, but honestly, if you live long enough, you see everything. In plain terms, when a war breaks out, dead and injured children are scattered all over the streets.

That doesn’t mean I feel nothing when I see it. I’m a sunfish, not a cold-blooded monster. I’m just saying… I’m used to it.

But this child caught my attention. My eyes kept drifting to his tattered clothes and the dried bloodstains. What is this strange sense of déjà vu? My upturned bangs began to bother me again.

“He’s outside! He broke out of the magic circle!”

Armed mercenaries flooded the hallway, their footsteps clattering with the sound of metal.

“Damn it, how did he break through that?” “He’s a total monster…” “Hey, you idiots! Don’t let your guard down! Any half-wit who lets him get away dies by my hand before he kills you.”

A large, one-eyed man who seemed to be the leader fumed. His rolling eye landed on the dagger in the boy’s hand, and his face turned bright red.

“Which moron got his weapon stolen?!” “It was Powell, sir!” “Where is that bastard now?!” “He’s dead, sir!” “…….”

So that’s where he got the weapon. It was a trophy. They say old habits die hard; seeing this talented sprout made this old sunfish’s heart race. He was so young, yet so green and full of potential—it was almost like watching Vanessa’s childhood—

My jaw dropped. The source of the déjà vu finally revealed itself.

‘He looks exactly like Vanessa, doesn’t he?’

The black hair and black eyes could be a coincidence. Those colors are rare, but not unheard of. But the thick eyebrows, the sharp gaze, and even the habit of wrinkling his nose like a cat when facing an enemy… It was Vanessa herself.

No, Vanessa. You’re the Emperor. What on earth are you doing here? …I quickly shook myself out of it. When we parted, she was a fully grown adult. And the gender is different. This child was scrawny and small, but he was undeniably a boy.

Is he just a look-alike?

I covered my face with both hands.

‘As if!’

You want proof? His face is the proof. Those features didn’t need a paternity test. I looked up with hollow eyes and a deep sigh.

‘Is he her son?’

My feelings were complicated. When I left, Vanessa had no lover. I had hinted at the topic a few times, but each time she would stare at me and insist she wouldn’t marry unless it was to her fated partner. To hear such fairy-tale nonsense from a woman who conducted such ruthless deception against her political enemies… it left me speechless, so I just nodded.

But nothing is as changeable as a human heart. Even if she was sincere then, it wouldn’t be strange if her heart changed later.

Now, what to do? As I debated whether to kill all these s*ave traders or just quietly take the boy and leave, I locked eyes with the child.

The small predator, rolling his eyes fiercely as he looked for an escape route, decided, ‘This is it!’ and lunged at me. His flexible body coiled and snapped like a spring. In the blink of an eye, the boy had scrambled up my body and was holding a knife to my throat.

I tried to move slightly, but he didn’t budge. Instead, he locked his legs tighter around my torso to warn me against any tricks. The wand I’d been holding since I entered the building clattered to the floor.

The trader, who had stepped far back to watch the situation as soon as the boy appeared, had a glint in his eyes. I knew what he was thinking, but I’d deal with him later.

For now, Vanessa’s little flesh and blood took priority. Why was the Emperor’s son in such a hellhole, and as a s*ave no less? Was Vanessa doing well? Had something happened to the Empire? I had a hundred questions.

“Don’t move, any of you.”

The boy’s voice had a resonance I was hearing for the first time. It was still immature and unrefined. But with a little polishing, no matter what rags he wore, he wouldn’t be able to hide his lineage.

“You too. If you make even a single move to cast magic, I’ll slit your throat.”

The blade was pressed precisely against my carotid artery. It wasn’t an empty threat. I felt a surge of pride.

‘Vanessa raised him well….’

I knew she wasn’t the type, but I’d worried the throne might have forced her to teach him flashy, useless “noble” swordsmanship.

‘A needless worry.’

The boy’s knife-work was closer to an assassin’s, and the killing intent he radiated was like a viper’s. He looked like a scruffy kitten, but he had bite.

The trader signaled his men. The quick-witted thugs began to creep forward to surround the boy.

“Hey. s*ave trader.”

“Y-Yes?!”

There was a crack in his voice—guilty conscience, no doubt.

“I told you not to move!” The boy reacted sensitively as I shifted.

“Right. I didn’t move; I just spoke. Anyway, trader, as I said, I’ve lived longer than I look, and I hate complicated things.”

I gave a casual tilt of my chin. Suddenly, as if a clock were winding backward, every object and wall in the room—excluding the people—began to return to its original place. The smashed stone walls and iron bars were restored. Shards flew back to where they belonged.

The magic circle the boy had broken was the same. The tattered formulas were repaired one by one, glowing blue as they reconstructed the massive barrier.

The ignorant thugs were dazed, but the trader’s jaw hit the floor. He, who must have personally invited a mage to set up such a high-class barrier, would know. He would know the magnitude of the miracle I had just performed. He would know what it meant to cast such extraordinary magic through thought alone, without a chant or a staff.

I met the stiffened trader’s eyes. Grinning, I gestured to my chest. Beside the three white Melampodiums, four more flowers bloomed. For a moment, there were seven flowers, then they reverted to three before anyone else could notice. The trader’s plump body began to shake uncontrollably.

“Trader.”

“Y-Yes!”

“I’ll buy this boy. How much?”

“The—The cost of repairing the barrier is more than enough!”

“Right. You’re smart. You’ll live a long life.”

As the situation seemed to wrap up, the thugs were left bewildered, and the “kitten” hissed.

“I told you no tricks! You think showing me this makes me fear you? My knife will hit your throat faster than you can blink.”

“Yes, yes. You’re amazing.”

I reached back and supported the boy’s bottom. Flinching, the boy jabbed the tip of the dagger into my neck.

“Last warning. Don’t think I won’t do it.”

“Sure, sure. Let’s go home.”

I patted the growling boy soothingly and began to walk. It was a bizarre sight—like a mage uncle carrying his assassin nephew on his back. I could feel the indescribable looks of bewilderment from behind.

But none were as bewildered as the boy on my back.

He wasn’t even chirping anymore. He hung there hollowly, rattling as if something inside him had broken. The stray tip of his blade grazed my neck, creating a few scratches. Droplets of blood trickled down, wetting my chest.

I felt a slight dizzy spell, but it was manageable. It’s times like these I feel all my efforts at nursing my health were worth it.

‘There was a time when I would have bled out from a scratch the size of a rat’s tail.’

While I was getting sentimental about the past, the black cat snapped back to reality.

“I’ll stab you. I’m really going to do it. One step… two… no, f-five more steps and I’m really killing you!”

Gurgle.

A sound just as loud as the boy’s shouting erupted from his stomach.