TMLOH 05

Chapter : 5

Arellin collapsed and came home!

Just yesterday, with that sudden news, the Halbern ducal residence turned upside down.

Arellin’s personal physician was summoned, all medical staff were gathered, and the childcare team immediately held an emergency meeting.

Even Mehen checked only the most urgent documents before joining.

“This is a declaration of war against House Halbern!”
“Something must have happened at the Imperial Palace!”
“We must demand an explanation from the Imperial Family!”

The butlers and maids raised their voices in unison. Mehen had a headache.

“Does no one know exactly what happened?”

“Since it happened inside the Crown Prince’s palace…”

Butler Ern trailed off with a troubled expression. The rest of the sentence was left unsaid, but Mehen understood easily.

“So the Ministry of the Imperial Household didn’t give a proper explanation.”

Mehen’s eyes darkened.

From experience, if the Imperial Household acted this way even toward House Halbern, it was highly likely that a member of the royal family was involved.

Putting aside the relatively less important matter of conflict with the palace, Mehen asked about the far more urgent issue.

“Is the young lady… all right?”

“Mehen-nim, the thing is…”

The atmosphere instantly turned solemn.

Sensing something unusual, Mehen tilted his head.

“What happened?”

“Well…”
“She woke up, but…”

Everyone lowered their heads with gloomy faces.

“She issued an expulsion order. She said she didn’t want to see anyone and kicked us all out.”

“…”

Mehen fell silent.

I’m a sunfish, seriously?

I groaned and held my forehead as soon as I opened my eyes. Ugh, this is insane.

“I actually fainted.”

Even though I had only briefly lost consciousness, I remembered everything that happened earlier in the day very clearly.

“I knew this would happen, but still—how can someone collapse just from running a little?”

There’s a huge difference between knowing something intellectually and experiencing it physically.

“How am I supposed to live with such a fragile body? If I lived alone, I’d probably die within a day—I’d bet a hundred won on it.”

I felt like I was mentally shutting down. This glass body is mine? Really?

In a disaster—like a fire, earthquake, or flood—this body was perfect for dying alone.

It was a body incapable of doing anything independently.

Hopeless.

I was a sunfish.

“…Ha.”

Desperately, I tried to think of something I could still do. Even with this body—wasn’t there anything?

The only things I’d done before were playing piano and violin, but even playing instruments required a certain amount of strength and stamina.

Especially violin, which relied heavily on arm strength.

“Great. There’s nothing I can do.”

A wave of helplessness swept over me.

It felt like being swallowed in darkness. As my weakened mind drifted, memories I had barely managed to suppress started invading my thoughts.

I’d felt these emotions before—but they were no less disgusting and horrible each time.

“You used to act so high and mighty. Look at you now.”
“Do you still think you’re a genius?”
“That’s all your talent amounted to?”

They built me up, then mocked me.

Jealous, envious—rejoicing in someone else’s downfall.

Were they really that happy to see me fail? But in the end, those were just the words of people who didn’t matter.

The thing that truly broke me—

“You…”

—was something else.

Memories I didn’t want to remember kept trying to drag me back to the past.

I tried to escape by standing up, but the sudden movement sent a wrenching pain through my chest.

“Ugh.”

They say that when something hurts that badly, you can’t even scream. I bit my lip and silently endured the pain as it washed over me, barely managing to gasp for breath.

A searing loneliness crept in. The pain of being alone.

It felt like I was right back in that place—on that day—when my mother left me behind.

“Mom…”

I just… wanted to be loved by my mom.

Knock knock.

“My lady, it’s Uni. May I come in?”

The polite knock and gentle voice snapped me out of it.

“No, don’t come in. Go away.”

“Pardon? But…”

“Don’t come! Leave!”

I didn’t want anyone to see me like this.

Why is God doing this to me? If I was doomed to die anyway, why bother letting me reincarnate?

‘I’d already given up…’

I’d already lost everything and let it all go. Was that still not enough?

My eyes burned.

Tears threatened to fall.

I clenched my teeth and focused all my strength in my eyes.

I didn’t want to cry.

Even in this miserable life that kept piling misfortunes on top of misfortunes, I didn’t want to lose to whatever god or being had revived me.

That was the last shred of pride I had left.

“Haa…”

Exhaustion washed over him.

Mehen pressed his temples and waited for the throbbing headache to subside. The mansion had already grown utterly quiet in the deep night.

He spun a fountain pen with his slender fingers.

“What the hell is the problem?”

Everything else was running smoothly. The only problem—was raising Arellin.

Mehen buried his face in his hands.

‘I didn’t think raising a child would be this hard.’

He had known, but this was harder than he’d prepared for.

Mehen was an orphan. He had never received parental love. Talking about love felt laughable—survival had always come first.

By sheer luck, he had met the Duke of Halbern and lived to this point. But honestly, raising a child was beyond him.

He wasn’t even that affectionate a person.

That’s why he’d left it to others…

‘Then why does it feel like things are getting worse?’

He had no idea what the child was thinking. She was a complete mystery. He didn’t know what she wanted either.

His heart felt restless. This wouldn’t do. He needed to at least see Arellin’s sleeping face. Mehen stood up.

Knock knock.

“Young lady.”

Just in case she was still awake at this late hour, Mehen knocked softly.

“It’s Mehen.”

There was no response or sound from inside. She must be asleep. Relieved, he opened the door quietly.

“My lady?”

Mehen’s eyes met Arellin’s—she was sitting by the window.

“You’re not asleep?”

It was well past bedtime—why was she awake?

That question lasted only a moment. Then Mehen noticed Arellin’s tiny figure leaning by the window.

“You’re not sleeping either, Mehen.”

“Well, that’s because I…”

She looked so small.

Was she always this small?

What were other kids her age like? Was this normal? Mehen tried to recall, but he didn’t know enough to answer.

Under her gaze, Mehen abandoned his wandering thoughts.

‘Come to think of it, she used to smile a lot before.’

When did that stop?

“My lady…”

He didn’t know what to do.

It was truly frustrating.

He wanted to reach out and hug that fragile body, but Mehen stopped himself with a long sigh.

He was just her guardian—responsible for raising her. Nothing more. Not family.

‘Don’t overstep your bounds.’

“You should sleep now. You won’t grow otherwise.”

“Will I even be alive by then?”

“…”

He was momentarily speechless. He should’ve reassured her that of course she would—but faced with those clear eyes, he couldn’t utter any lies.

A death-like silence. Fortunately, Arellin broke it first.

“I’ll sleep. Goodnight, Mehen.”

He tried to help her into bed out of habit, but the child moved on her own, as if she needed no help. Once she pulled up the blanket, a small hill formed.

He should leave now. There were still many documents left to handle.

But he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

In the end, he stood like a statue for a long time before finally returning.

And the next day—

“Who came, you said?”

Crown Prince Pession had arrived at Halbern.

And now, the present.

Mehen had little difficulty figuring out the reason Arellin had collapsed at the palace.

‘It was the Crown Prince.’

“The doctor said she must rest completely. Please return, Your Highness.”

“I just want to see her for a minute!”

“Absolutely not.”

The tense standoff continued without breaking.

Griam, the Crown Prince’s attendant, felt like dying at the moment.

And it was all because of his master, Crown Prince Pession.

“Take the Crown Prince and offer a proper apology to the young lady.”

By the strict command of Empress Azenny, they had brought rare artifacts and gifts as tokens of apology.

Was all this necessary for a mere squabble between children? The atmosphere was unusually heavy.

However—

“We’ll accept the gifts, but the Imperial Family must give Halbern a proper explanation for this incident.”

Faced with Halbern’s infamous “mad dog,” those words vanished immediately.

“What should we do, Griam?”

As expected, they were turned away at the door.

‘Of course. It’s Halbern.’

Moreover, the Halbern young lady, Arellin, had a complicated past.

Griam sighed.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to leave for today.”

“But…”

Pession didn’t look satisfied.

‘No way. Don’t tell me…?’

Griam grew tense. Whenever the prince acted like this, something always happened.

Just as Griam grew nervous—

“No choice. Griam, I’m counting on you.”

“Pardon?”

“Buy me a little time.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll go meet her myself!”

“Wha—?”

Before Griam could stop him, the Crown Prince disappeared. Griam was crushed.

“Ugh. I want to quit.”

Pession avoided the butlers and maids and wandered around the mansion.

Normally, this would’ve been nearly impossible, but because all attention was focused on the official visit, he found a window of opportunity.

Besides, wasn’t he the one everyone expected to become the youngest Sword Master?

‘Something’s weird here.’

As he roamed the mansion without guidance, Pession tilted his head.

There was no warmth in the ducal house. Only a cold, chilly air lingered.

To Pession, it felt unnatural. His world was always warm and full of affection.

‘Why is it so big?’

He began to feel anxious that he might not be able to find Arellin.

“Ugh, I really wanted to apologize…”

It wasn’t just because the Empress told him to. Pession truly felt bad. If he had known she’d actually collapse, he never would’ve made her run.

“What should I do?”

As he hesitated—

Pession suddenly felt something strange. The presence of maids and butlers disappeared.

All he sensed was…

A faint, flickering presence—on the verge of vanishing.

What was that?

Pession expanded his still-developing aura and, as if drawn by instinct, began to walk toward it.

Normally, it would’ve been a presence he overlooked—but this time, an intense feeling told him he had to check.

He found a room with the door slightly open.

Rustle—

Leaves brushed in the wind. Pession looked inside without thinking—and froze.

Arellin was there.

Thump.

In that moment, Pession swore he clearly heard something inside him break.