The next day, Fabian visited a room located in the eastern part of the fortress just as Adrian woke up.
Evelyn appeared shocked at his arrival, but she only stepped back and didn’t stop him. In any case, Fabian was Adrian’s father, and he was the person who saved Adrian from that incident.
“What about the child?” he asked.
“There’s no significant improvement, but I’m glad he’s in a stable condition,” Philip answered him with a strange expression.
Evelyn cried again as she saw at the demon’s teeth marks all over Adrian’s small body. “Why is the wound still not completely healed?” But, when Adrian, who had fallen asleep, suddenly turned and twitched his eyes, Evelyn quickly hid her tears. As she was determined not to show her weakness to Adrian.
Adrian soon opened his eyes. When his small hands reached out to her, Evelyn hugged him with a gentle smile, “Adrian, did you sleep well?”
“Eh…Blyn.” Adrian’s voice, which rang when he was still sleepy, was very low. Fabian quietly watched the child in Evelyn’s arms until he really woke up. Adrian immediately drove his sleepiness away, looked around actively, and found Fabian.
“Oh, Jimoo!” Adrian’s little hand turned to Fabian. Nora, who was next to him, was amazed as well as Evelyn.
“Jimoo!”
“Adrian, you shouldn’t say that.”
“Evelyn, Jimoo saved Adrian!”
Evelyn’s mouth suddenly became stiff at the moment. Nora, who was watching, quickly lifted Adrian and sat him down on a chair. However, there was no way to stop the child who just opened his eyes for the first time in a long time.
“……Jimoo!” Adrian’s gaze turned to Fabian. Everyone, including Evelyn, immediately looked at him too. However, the person concerned calmly approached the child without even knowing their glance.
“Yes, you remember me.”
After that, Adrian seemed to be in a good mood and jumped from his chair.
“Adrian!”
Fabian quickly caught his small body when Adrian lost his balance and nearly fell forward. Evelyn’s heart almost fell out but Adrian, who was hugged by Fabian in an awkward position, burst out laughing.
“Jimoo beat wing demon well!” and saved Adrian.”
The innocence of children was the most terrifying thing. Everyone, including the servants, immediately became aware of the situation. They all left the room in a rush. Only three people were left. One of them was Evelyn, who immediately apologized to Fabian. “Your Majesty, forgive me, I’ll teach him a proper manner when the child gets better.”
“Well… …he better gives me the proper title.” Surprisingly, Fabian didn’t seem to dislike it. That child was well attached to Fabian. And Adrian seemed to have a big crush on Fabian after he saved him.
“Evelyn, Jimoo……he’s a black hawk!” His dark blue eyes stared fixedly at Fabian, “Jimoo! Adrian wants to be a Black Hawk too!”
At the moment, Fabian felt a throbbing feeling in his chest. It felt strange, like something hot and squishy was spreading in his heart.
“No. A very strong Black Hawk!”
Evelyn felt she had to stop Adrian right now and approached that child quickly. But before she was able to do that, Fabian spoke to him first. “Okay.”
For Evelyn, it was also an unexpected answer. Even though he already knew Adrian was his son, she didn’t know Fabian would deal with a child who didn’t even know basic manners.
“If you grow up healthy, you can be as strong as me.”
“Really?” Adrian opened his eyes wide.
“No, I’m much stronger than the Black Hawk.” Fabian was always serious, even when dealing with a child.
“Wow…….”
Appropriately, when Fabian nodded firmly after Adrian looked at him with admiration, the sight looked so natural. Evelyn forgot what she wanted to say and stopped to watch the scene. When Fabian carried him, it was a blood relationship that seemed so close. So that anyone who looked at them would say that the two were very similar.
Fabian was clumsy, but he dealt with the child with all his heart, and Adrian was already completely in love with his father.
“And I’m not Jimoo. You need to know the etiquette to be a strong guy,” said Fabian. But soon, Adrian had a confused look on his face, “You’re not Jimoo?”
“I’m not Jimoo. When you call me, you should say Your Majesty.”
Evelyn tried to hold her laughter, wondering if Adrian could understand such a complicated explanation. She thought that she would never see a scene like this in her life. Adrian, hugged by Fabian, as he did from the beginning, was so natural.
“Uhm……”
“Do you understand?”
“I’m Adrian. Jimoo is…….” His little pupils trembled. Adrian’s little brain seemed to have reached its limit. But Fabian didn’t lose his composure and said calmly, “You must call me Your Majesty, not Ji-moo.”
“Jimoo… … aren’t you, Jimoo?”
“Noo, Jim-oo is a word that can only be used when I call myself. You must call me Your Ma-jes-ty.”
“But Adrian…Adrian… So, where’s Jimoo?” Adrian gradually began to show a tearful face.
“He’s not gone, he’s…….”
“Ugh…….” Just before he burst into tears, Adrian’s sorrow exploded when he made eye contact with Evelyn. “Ugh…hikkk hikk…Jimoo, there’s no Jimoo…….”
Fabian was even more shocked to see Adrian crying so sadly all of a sudden. He didn’t know what to do, looking back and forth at Evelyn and Adrian as if he was holding a bomb.
“No, I didn’t bother him.” Fabian quickly made an excuse to Evelyn. Then she made an inevitable expression and approached the two. Adrian, whose face was filled with tears, looked so sad.” Please, give him to me.” Evelyn reached out her hands and hugged him.
“Adrian, you said you’re not a baby anymore, are you?”
“Uh…Uh… Jimoo…….”
“Only a small baby who cries like this. Adrian, are you going to be a baby?”
“…Uh..Uh…no.”
Adrian was a two years old child with strong self-esteem. What he hated the most was being treated like a baby. He bit his lips to stop his crying and started to hiccup. However, seeing Fabian looking at him with an unfair look, it felt like something was wrong.
“Adrian, not knowing manners means a baby.”
Adrian, who was embraced by Evelyn, kept looking at Fabian sadly. In Adrian’s mind, he was obviously Jimoo, but why was she denying himself and staring at him with an annoyed expression.
“In the future, you should never call him that way. Understand?”
“Ugh…Ugh…..”
Of course, even though Adrian was her own son, Evelyn still had to apply discipline to him properly. Fabian, in particular, already understood etiquette at a younger age than Adrian. Fabian, who had lived in a normative environment, must have objected to this kind of behavior.
“Well….. it’s also true that Jimoo is me.” Evelyn’s face was hardened by Fabian’s unexpected declaration. Then she turned her head and looked back at Fabian, doubting her ears.
“I’ll allow you to call me that until the age of three.”
“Your Majesty?”
Fabian deliberately avoided Evelyn’s eyes. Instead, he made eye contact with Adrian, who immediately smiled broadly.
“Jimoo!” Adrian quickly opened his hand for Fabian. Without hesitation, Fabian took Adrian from Evelyn quickly. “Jimoo is the best!”
Only Evelyn stood there in a daze, unable to grasp the situation. Even Fabian’s face looked so happy, “Yes, you know the most important fact.”
“Black Hawk! Jimoo is the best! Adrian will be too!”
“Of course, you can.”
Now it was Evelyn who felt a little bit betrayed by Adrian. Either way, the two men seemed already engrossed in their own world.
“Jimoo, I Bung Bung Bung Bung Bung!”
“Bung Bung?”
“High, high like a black hawk! Bung Bung!”
“Ah, I see, don’t worry I’m strong.”
Fabian had always been serious. So he would do his best even if the opponent was a child. Since Adrian was born, maybe this was the first time he felt thrown very high into the air and repeatedly landed in Fabian’s arms. It must have been so nice that he forgot the pain, laughing out of breath.
“Jimoo, one more time! Higher!”
“Yes, men shouldn’t be afraid of high places.”
“Hold up! Yikes… … Jimoo is the best!”
Adrian had wholly forgotten about Evelyn and burst out laughing in Fabian’s embrace. Fabian insisted it was okay not to know good manners. However, the two men did their best and played seriously …… And Evelyn didn’t know which one who was more ridiculous.
Adrian fell asleep as if fainting after playing passionately. Even Fabian was panting a little. Evelyn still couldn’t believe what she saw. And now, there was a very awkward silence in the room.
“Your Majesty.”
Even though Evelyn spoke first, Fabian avoided her eyes for no reason.
“You can’t throw a child who hasn’t even healed yet that high…….”
Uhuk…Fabian suddenly started coughing.
“And …… it’s indeed my fault for not educating him properly, but you shouldn’t spoil him either.”
Of course, Evelyn didn’t think that Fabian would allow Adrian to call him like that. Because Fabian himself wasn’t the type a person who would see a child as a child. But he allowed Adrian to call him that way until he was three years old. Evelyn didn’t want to nag, but it didn’t make any sense at all.
“Your Majesty, are you listening to me?”
“….Yes.” Fabian barely opened his mouth. He still had a neat face as if nothing had happened. And it reminded her of his shameless personality. “Adrian is smart, and he’ll understand soon. He was very strong and brave. Like… … .”
Evelyn didn’t want this conversation to flow in an awkward direction and cut him quickly. “Yes, just like you.”
There was no law, but only Fabian was shameless. Evelyn gave Fabian a tacit warning not to do anything stupid and useless.
“That also makes sense.” It felt really strange when Fabian took her words seriously, “I’m glad he’s a strong child. Something……it was nice to see him laughing.” Fabian said it frankly. “Maybe, it was a scene that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
The eyes of the two met at once.
“Thank you.”
That one word blurred the hatred that existed between the two. There was sincerity in Fabian’s black eyes. When Evelyn looked at him closer, he had eyes that resembled Adrian.
“… … I made a decision earlier.”
“What is it?”
“No matter where this child grows up, I will surely protect him. I just suddenly thought like that.”
Maybe it was when Fabian saw the child’s happy laughter. He wanted to protect Adrian, who smiled and hugged him with infinite trust and wanted to grow up to be strong like him.
“Even if he’s not Your Majesty’s successor… … Will you protect him?”
“Even I don’t like it, but I will. As long as Adrian can grow up safely.”
Evelyn couldn’t believe what he had just said. However, it was clear that there was a deep affection on Fabian’s face, carrying Adrian a while ago. It was a gentle face that she had never seen before. In the past, it was an affection feeling that was a little different from his love for Evelyn.
“You said you wanted to keep the child’s smile. So he can’t stay by my side.”
Only
“……yes.”
“Surely, I’ve never laughed like that.” A lonely, bitter smile engraved on Fabian’s mouth.
“If Adrian is raised in an Imperial family, he wouldn’t know how to smile.”
“Yes, perhaps for the rest of his life.”
After seeing Adrian’s innocent smile, even Fabian hesitated to take him to the Imperial family. Now he understood a little bit what Evelyn felt.
“……It can’t be helped.”
For the first time, the two thoughts seemed to look in the same direction. Somehow it was a heartbreaking and sad moment.
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