Etna quietly accepted Danil’s watchful gaze, then let out a long sigh.
“No, it’s me. I really am Etna.”
“Brother?”
Startled, Nigel grabbed Etna’s arm. Etna turned, meeting Nigel’s eyes directly. Those amber eyes, unreadable at first, softened into crescent moons.
“Danil is fine. I know his father, and he won’t go around blabbing.”
“But still…”
Etna gently patted Nigel’s head a couple of times, then turned to Danil.
“But Danil, why are you here?”
“I… I’m serving as Lord Nigel’s attendant now.”
“What?”
Danil’s voice quivered as he answered, and Etna’s eyes widened in shock. It was clear something was going on. It smelled fishy.
“Why? Is there a reason Danil can’t be my attendant?”
“No, it’s just…”
Etna wiped at his lips and chin with his hand, unable to fully hide his flustered expression. The brief touch only emphasized his continued bewilderment. He looked genuinely shaken.
“Then what about Harold?”
“Harold?”
Nigel thought for a second before remembering—that was the name of his former attendant he’d recently kicked out.
“I got rid of him.”
“You kicked him out?”
“Yeah. He wasn’t cut out to be an attendant… and he bullied Danil.”
Etna’s eyes went wide, as if that was the most shocking thing he’d heard all day. This from a brother who always seemed flawless—it was jarring to see his emotions so transparently.
Politics demands a mask. A high-ranking noble displaying emotion so openly wasn’t exactly ideal. Suddenly, Inas’s words came back to Nigel: Your brother isn’t perfect.
Come to think of it, Etna wasn’t an adult. Capable, yes—but he had never actually borne the duties of a duke. Unlike Nigel, who’d carried that burden for four years now.
He stared at his brother, who was clearly just as unpolished as he was. Etna slowly nodded, still stunned.
“I see… I understand.”
“Why?”
“No, you did good.”
As if brushing it off, Etna reached over and roughly tousled Nigel’s hair. His face, looking down at Nigel, was once again composed.
“Harold might’ve stuck around because you liked him, but he wasn’t a good guy.”
“Hmm…”
Had he ever really liked Harold?
…Maybe when he was younger. The guy used to say nice things to him. All the while, he bullied weaker kids behind Nigel’s back. A two-faced bastard—the exact kind of person Nigel despised at twenty-three. But as a child, he hadn’t had the eyes to see through people like that.
“Um… Sir Etna…”
Danil, who had been awkwardly standing aside, finally spoke up in a desperate tone. It wasn’t clear why he was so desperate to cling to Etna.
“We’ll talk later, Danil.”
“Yes, sir…”
Etna shut him down with a wall so tall not even a piece of paper could slip through. Danil’s shoulders drooped.
“I’ll come find you or send for you later. Wait for me.”
“Yes! Yes, sir…!”
Only after hearing something positive did Danil’s face brighten. He gave a deep bow to both of them and quietly took his leave. Nigel glanced between the now-empty hallway and the spot where Danil had stood.
“Are you really sure about this?”
“Yeah. He’s not the kind to run his mouth. And well… I feel bad saying this about Danil, but he’s got no proof.”
“…That’s true.”
Even if Danil tried to tell anyone Etna was alive, no one would believe him—they’d just think he was spouting nonsense. A dead man coming back to life? No one would buy that without overwhelming proof, and even then, people would treat it as a conspiracy theory.
Still, even if there was some basis, it was far too dangerous. Etna had no legitimate claim to the dukedom anymore, and for someone like that to return? Even rumors would be lethal.
So why the hell did he tell him?
A troubling thought crossed Nigel’s mind.
He pulled Etna aside to ask a more delicate question. The tall young man leaned down so his smaller brother could speak in a whisper.
“Brother. What’s going on between you and Danil?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Don’t tell me Danil has a crush on you or something.”
“No! Of course not!”
Etna flailed, instantly denying it, clearly horrified by the idea.
“He’s about your age! Why would he like me? Besides, he’s a guy.”
“But he’s so…”
He’d confessed something he wouldn’t even tell his most trusted aide to a mere servant—and then coldly discarded the kid in front of Nigel?
Something’s up. But no matter how hard he searched his memories, nothing about Danil stood out.
If anything, it made more sense to be disappointed in Etna than to think they were involved in some shady relationship.
Etna straightened up, catching Nigel’s suspicious stare.
“It’s really not like that. I’m not some shameless creep.”
“I’m not an idiot. Who just blurts out something like that to a servant?”
“Well, I’m telling the truth. I just helped him out when Harold was bullying him.”
“You helped him?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t even that big of a deal, but Danil thinks of me as a lifesaver. He won’t do anything to hurt me.”
Even with that explanation, something still didn’t sit right.
Nigel knew Etna hated hierarchical abuse. If Etna had really intervened, there’s no way Harold would’ve stayed around without punishment. And yet Harold had been by Nigel’s side all this time. Etna should’ve at least removed him from his little brother’s life. Letting him stay? That wasn’t like him at all.
Could Danil be hiding something? But his Character Info Window had been completely unremarkable.
Maybe it was time for a deeper look later.
“…”
While Nigel pondered, Etna gazed down at him. His amber eyes gleamed coldly, as if he were looking at something… or someone else entirely. But before Nigel could lift his head, Etna quickly masked his expression with a bright smile.
“Shall we go? Father’s probably waiting.”
“Oh, yeah. Let’s go.”
The two of them headed toward the dining room. As they crossed the empty corridor, Nigel leaned in with a quiet question.
“By the way, brother. If you’re planning to be adopted, you’re not using your real name right now, are you? So what’s your name?”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you.”
Etna shrugged, saying he’d almost called himself by his real name in front of others.
“Taren. I’m going by Taren Lim Montstein.”
“…That doesn’t suit you.”
Nigel scowled at the name.
Taren was a well-known monster hunter in the regions near the Magnus Duchy. Dead for centuries, but his life story had become a legend—how a commoner had risen above knights to stand beside the Duke of Magnus.
To the world, he was a heroic mercenary. But the truth was, he was betrayed by someone close to him near the end of his life.
Etna had always liked the story. According to their father, Etna used to read that book until the pages wore thin. But Nigel had always hated the tale. What kind of hero gets stabbed in the back by his most trusted companion?
…And now, Nigel couldn’t even look at the name Taren. He himself had been killed multiple times by someone closest to him.
Looking back, he’d been so damn foolish. If it were someone else, he’d have called them a dumbass and told them to walk away immediately. But he was that dumbass. Realizing it again made his stomach twist.
“Guess real names are always the best, huh?”
Seeing the serious look on Nigel’s face, Etna chuckled, assuming it was about the name.
Nigel nodded, hiding his tangled emotions.
“What if I mess up and call you the wrong name?”
“Just say you got confused ‘cause we look alike.”
“Should I just call you ‘hey’?”
“That’s what you’re calling your older brother now? Well, if that’s what you want…”
Etna smiled indulgently, and Nigel returned it. There were plenty of things to worry about, but joking with his brother like this felt genuinely good.
Despite the age gap, Etna had always played with him when they were younger. He’d shared his toys, taken him on little outings—Nigel even remembered a spring day when they’d walked hand in hand beneath blooming flowers.
They couldn’t go back to those days. But this? This was enough. After the grief of loss, the sheer joy of reclaiming what was lost filled him completely.
As they walked down the stairs, they began to hear faint signs of life again. Etna subtly stepped behind Nigel.
“Should I walk a little behind you?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Nigel closed the distance and grabbed Etna’s hand. Etna looked down at the small hand in his and smiled softly.
“I’m happy, but we never used to walk around holding hands like this.”
“So what?”
He’d avoided it as he got older, finding it embarrassing. But when he was little, they held hands all the time. Given the size difference, it had felt more like he was clinging to Etna.
“If it makes you happy. I actually like holding your hand too.”
Etna gripped his hand tightly, like he’d never let go again. This hand felt different from Father’s or Inas’s—thinner than their father’s, but larger and rougher than Inas’s. Maybe like Inas’s hand when he was twenty-seven. But what lingered most wasn’t the texture—it was the warmth.
“It’s warm.”
“Would you rather it be cold?”
Nigel shook his head. But the image of Etna’s face from the previous timeline resurfaced vividly in his mind. Bloodless, deathly pale. Nigel was fair-skinned too, but Etna had looked like a reanimated corpse—and just seeing him had made Nigel’s skin crawl.
“You… died.”
“And now I’m alive.”
“Yeah…”
Etna did seem more stable than before—but that only made it harder to understand. How had he come back to life without any restraints at all?
