Lost and Found

“What?”

Tears welled up in his eyes, directed at Sian. A glimpse of his own reflection appeared fleetingly in those hazy golden eyes.

Sian was startled by the unexpected words, but soon realized that Theodore wasn’t looking at him.

“Mother, I… I was wrong….”

“……!”

A weak voice escaped from Theodore’s mouth.

The small voice, as if it was about to break, was difficult to understand, but Sian, with his excellent hearing as a dragon, could understand some of his words.

Mother? Was he referring to Empress Anastasia? Sian’s brow furrowed.

The novel didn’t delve into Theodore’s childhood in much detail.

However, from the descriptions whenever Theodore reminisced about his past, the relationship between the two didn’t seem to be that close.

Theodore’s mother, Empress Anastasia, wasn’t a good mother to Theodore.

Around the time Theodore was five years old, Emperor Helic died in a sudden accident, and his younger brother, Kasar, seized the throne, taking control of the council as if he had been waiting for it.

Furthermore, Empress Anastasia remarried Kasar in order not to become a deposed empress.

Because of that, Theodore, the son of the former emperor, was left in the cold.

When Kasar and Anastasia had an heir, Kasar became even more openly determined to remove Theodore.

Due to this, Theodore had to flee from the empire as if he was being chased out, and he came to this place.

Naturally, Anastasia ignored Theodore. She probably had no reason to protect Theodore.

It seemed that her own well-being was more important than her child.

“Hoo….”

Sian had the novel that he had read when he was Suh Ji-han stored in his mind like a book.

Dragon’s memory was truly amazing, and even though 200 years had passed, the memories he had when he was human remained almost intact.

However, too much knowledge and memories were stored in the dragon’s mind, so he didn’t usually recognize them himself.

Even now, it was only because Theodore was crying and calling for his mother that he was able to recall the setting regarding Empress Anastasia.

“I, everything… was wrong.”

“…….”

“So, please… don’t abandon me….”

Tear, tears from Theodore’s eyes rolled down his cheek, dripping below.

Sian looked down at that figure with a complex state of mind.

You don’t need to cling to her like that. She’s not even worth it.

She wouldn’t even know you’re suffering like this and would be living her life without a care.

The child, unaware of the cruel truth, was clinging to the one who had never looked back at him. In a heart-wrenchingly sorrowful way.

“It’s not your fault.”

“Huuuk….”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Theodore.”

“……”

Up until now, Theodore was just one of the characters in the novel to Sian. The protagonist, but only felt slightly special among them.

But seeing Theodore in such pain and agony, his heart ached. Sian realized anew that Theodore was not just a character in a novel. Just as he existed in this world, Theodore was also a living person.

“Really… is that so?”

“Of course. No one hates you.”

“That’s… a relief….”

Theodore, relieved by Sian’s words, closed his eyes again. And he fell asleep, with a faint smile.

Touching his cheek, the fever had also gone down a little than before.

Sian, relieved, exhaled deeply. He kept watching over the sleeping child.

For now, he only hoped that Theodore wouldn’t be in pain.

“Uhm….”

Theodore, who had been sick for three days, opened his eyes in the morning.

Theodore, who let out a weak groan, blinked his eyes.

‘Where is this?’

It was an unfamiliar ceiling. It was distinctly different from the gorgeous ceiling of the Imperial Palace, which he had seen countless times.

Looking closely at the plain brown ceiling with the simple pattern, it seemed to have a tree-like texture. Theodore slightly frowned.

“Uh…?”

Moreover, there was an unfamiliar person sitting beside him. Theodore turned his head in surprise and looked to the side.

‘Wh, who is it?’

A man with long, black hair draped down his shoulder and closed his eyes. Theodore rarely saw such a grown man.

His uncle hated seeing him, and the attendants around him changed every day, and even those were mostly young boys.

The only adult man Theodore had confided in was the Captain of the Knights who had sacrificed himself to save him until the very end. Theodore’s chest ached when he thought of him.

But the man in front of him felt different. Above all, his hair color was black.

There were not many people with such dark hair color where Theodore lived.

Come to think of it, his nanny had told Theodore one day.

Beyond the continent, there were children of the devil who had been abandoned by God, and their hair and eye color were like the dark colors of the devil’s symbol. Theodore shuddered, recalling those words.

‘The devil? …Is this person?’

Theodore was suddenly terrified. If this person was really the devil as the nanny had said, he would try to eat him as soon as he opened his eyes.

As Theodore, terrified, pulled his body back, the wet towel, which was precariously placed on his forehead, fell to the bottom.

“……Huh?”

Looking at the towel, which was now dry, Theodore widened his eyes.

Theodore didn’t immediately understand why it had been placed on his forehead. Come to think of it, before he lost consciousness, he had been in terrible pain, but now he didn’t feel any pain.

Could it be…

It was then when Theodore was glancing at the man again with trembling eyes.

“Theodore?”

“……!”

The man who called his name looked exactly the same as when he had closed his eyes.

He opened only his two eyes and was staring at him. Theodore was at a loss for words, embarrassed when the black eyes stared intently at him.

Sian looked down at Theodore, who was stiff, from head to toe.

Theodore had opened his eyes briefly last night due to a fever, but he wasn’t in his right mind.

So, he wondered if it was the same now, but it was distinctly different from the reaction he had seen at night.

He looked cute, with his eyes wide open, curled up like a cautious herbivore.

Sian had to suppress his laughter so Theodore wouldn’t be surprised.

“Are you okay? Is there any place that hurts?”

“Uh….”

Theodore, despite the hint of a smile, was able to calm his beating heart.

Theodore, who had only been looking at the eyes of others from a certain point, almost instinctively realized.

The man with the appearance that the nanny had called the symbol of the devil had no intention of harming him.

Theodore, glancing again at the towel that had fallen on his head, cautiously opened his mouth.

“Did… you save me?”

“Huh? Well… yes.”

“Th… thank you. I don’t hurt anywhere.”

“That’s good.”

Sian, who had originally intended to leave Theodore, who was injured and collapsed, hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

Then, he looked at Theodore, who was as calm as he shouldn’t be, with a questioning gaze.

It was said that when Theodore fell into Drake’s hands in the novel, he was around 10 years old. So, isn’t he the same age now?

However, his body was quite small for a 10-year-old, and the sight of him trembling in fear but pretending to be okay seemed so pathetic.

How much must he have been looking at the eyes of others to be like this. Besides, if he was the Crown Prince of the empire, wouldn’t he be familiar with treating even older people with respect?

The only people who had higher positions than Theodore in the palace would be the emperor and empress…

‘Damn them.’

It seemed they hadn’t treated him properly as the Crown Prince.

The novel didn’t go into detail about how Theodore lived in the palace when he was young, but now, looking at Theodore, he seemed to know clearly. Sian unconsciously frowned.

“I, uh, but….”

“Hmm?”

Sian snapped out of his thoughts at the small voice. Theodore asked, still looking around with a worried look.

“Where am I?”

“Ah.”

That was what Theodore, who had just woken up, would naturally be curious about. Sian opened his mouth to answer.

However, he hesitated for a moment, unable to say it easily.

Should he tell him the exact place name?

It was possible that Theodore, who was almost out of his mind due to the injury, wouldn’t realize that he had crossed the boundary.

“Here is, um… Well, it’s Outchamber, for now.”

“Out… chamber?”

“Yes.”

Sian imagined Theodore’s surprised expression.

However, contrary to his imagination, Theodore was not surprised. Far from it, he seemed to be doing very well.

Theodore added a question to Sian with an innocent face.

“What is Outchamber?”

“What…?”

He hadn’t even thought of that. He didn’t know at all.

He should have been educated to some extent in the Imperial Palace, even if he was 10 years old.

‘These damn bastards, really.’

Even so, they had abandoned this child to such an extent?

Wasn’t this child, strictly speaking, the Crown Prince of the Empire?

Sian again ignited his hostility towards the people of the Imperial Palace.