CH 2

Warning!

There are mentions of abuse in this chapter. Please skip this chapter if you can be triggered by such content.

My name is Edward Harvin. I am four years old. A child born to the Harvin family of the Kingdom of Lepherite. But I will soon be Edward Finley. Because my uncle, Marquis David Grandes Finley, has come to pick me up and adopt me.

“There’s no need to be nervous,” he said. “Everyone is looking forward to Edward’s arrival. I told you before that I have a son named Alfred, so I hope you will get along with him. He’s five years older than you, so I’m sure he’ll play with you.”

“Yes. Thank you very much. I’ll be a good boy.”

“Edward is a good boy just the way he is. It’s alright.”

I wondered if my uncle had a habit of saying, “It is all right.” His beautiful short blond hair was slicked back, and he smiled as he looked at me with his kind blue-greyish eyes.

It had been nearly a month since I had been rescued from Count Harvin’s secret room. In the Kingdom of Lepherite, there was something called healing magic, and a healing mage at the temple could cure even the most life-threatening diseases and wounds. However, the temple attendant told me that while injuries and illnesses could be cured, it was impossible to mend a malnourished body or a heart scarred by cruel words and violence.

I didn’t understand much, but after being treated at the temple, I was taken to a quiet inn in a nearby town, where I slept, woke up, ate, and slept again…  Until I was well enough to ride in a horse-drawn carriage to the Finlay estate, I spent a great deal of time doing this and was given exceptional care. My personal maid, Marie, was there with me as well. When I heard that Marie had made it home safely, I was overjoyed.

I learned a few things from the Marquis while I was at the inn. I was told that I had been abused by my real parents and that my father had died in an attack by bandits. On receiving the news, my father’s brother, Marquis Finley then had come to pick me up. That was the first thing he told me. But somehow, I knew more than that…

For the first time in my life, I was riding in a carriage, and we were making our way without incident toward the Finleys’ territory. I assumed I was surrounded by wheat; With the large, golden grains that swayed gently in the wind. A beautiful, lush field. While pretending to look outside, I took a deep breath.

After receiving treatment at the temple, I caught a fever. My uncle told me that I must have been tired. He smiled gently, telling me that my wounds have healed and that I should be at ease and get some rest. However, I believed that my four-year-old body had probably reached its limits, the likely reason why I had a fever in the first place. It was hard to believe but I had other memories than that of four years old Edward.

You think I’m just confused by all that’s been going on? Nope.

I am indeed Edward Harvin.

It was true that I am four years old, but I had a certain “memory” in my mind that wasn’t mine. And it was something that couldn’t be explained by the word “delusion,” just because I was confused. Because the world inside this “memory” was so different from this world that I, a four-year-old, would never have imagined it.

Moreover…

“I think we’ll get there in the afternoon, so if you’re tired, you can go back to sleep. I’ll wake you up before we arrive.”

“…Thank you… very much.” I closed my eyes, ignoring my fidgeting and mounting restlessness, and thanked the Marquis for his kind remarks.

Then, I, Edward, matched my memory with the ‘memory’ I had recalled to confirm them.

The Lepherite Kingdom was a thriving nation that followed the shape of an inverted triangle, sandwiched between the ocean to the south and towering mountains to the north. To Lepherite’s east and west are neighboring nations that go by the names Eastern and Western. countries, respectively. In Lepherite, nearly everyone possesses some level of magical ability to use magic.

Within the kingdom, people are divided into royalty, nobility, and commoners. The nobility is led by the Duke, followed by Marquises, Counts, Viscounts, and Barons, and then those with fiefdoms and others without fiefdoms. As for the Finley family, they were the most powerful of all the marquise families, ruling over a northeastern fief.

Leonard, Edward’s biological father, was the third son of the previous Marquis Finley and a younger brother of David, the current head of Finley. Unable to inherit the Marquis’s title, Leonard married into Count Harvin’s family as a son-in-law after he came of age.

However, he became what is known as a ” playboy” after he got married and continued to engage in reckless sexual behavior, without caring about his wife and newborn son, Edward. As for the old Count Harvin, all he wanted was to have a connection with Marquis Finley.

Emilia, the Harvin family’s daughter who chose Léonard as her groom, had likewise assumed that weddings between aristocracy were commonplace. But Emilia gradually directed her animosity from her husband; who continued his philandering behavior after they had a child, toward their son, Edward.

From the beginning, Emilia had little interest in her son, Edward. She delegated all childcare to the nursemaid and never picked up her child, talked to him, or even looked him in the eyes. Gradually, she began hitting her young son and skipping meals. And, as for the nursemaids, they could not possibly care for the child of a guy who had betrayed their darling young mistress.[1].

Since Emilia, the true owner of the house, and the nursemaids who were supposed to look after Edward were acting like this, the other maids were left in a situation where they could not do anything. As a result, even at the age of two, Edward could neither speak nor walk correctly.

It was Marie, who became Edward’s personal maid, that saved him. Marie, the granddaughter of previous Viscount Eastin, an old friend of the old Count Harvin’s, had come to the Count directly and requested to take care of the child under the pretense of being Emilia’s lady-in-waiting. After all, she was taken aback to see Edward’s condition, who was about to turn two years old. Therefore, Marie told him that if Edward was the heir of the next Harvin, he would have to have a personal maid at his side.

As she was hired directly by the family’s patriarch, neither the butler nor the nursemaid could raise any strong objections when she was immediately made Edward’s personal maid on the same day she was hired. In the end. it was thanks to Marie that Edward was able to speak, express his feelings, and move his once too-thin body normally. However, there was only so much that a young maid could do.

Footnotes

[1] Referring to Emilia. Their master.

Translator’s Notes

Just to make things clear here:

※Edward is Leonard’s son. His biological father is the current acting lord of Harvin (or acting Count) since he married into Harvin’s family, by marrying Emilia Harvin.

※David is the older brother of Leonard, and the current Marquis Finley after inheriting the title from his father.

※Marie is the granddaughter of Viscount Eastin which makes her a lower noble and also Emilia’s lady-in-waiting. Please note that Viscount Eastin is an old friend of the old Count Harvin, not Edward’s father (acting Count).

The hierarchy of nobility is as follows (from lowest to highest): Fiefholders (Peerage nobles), Baron, Viscount, Count, Marquis, and Duke

Hope this made sense!