Nigel instinctively turned to Inas, startled—but Inas only shrugged, his expression calm.
“That’s an incredible sword.”
“Uh-huh…”
“Never seen anything like it before.”
Of course he hadn’t. It was a holy sword, after all.
Nigel barely managed to swallow back the words that had risen to his throat. Etna seemed genuinely happy to have gotten a great sword, purely as a swordsman—but Nigel was sweating cold bullets.
Sure, Inas wouldn’t just stand there and let himself get hit by a sword like that… and if it only restricted movement, there were always spells…
Nigel began to think more calmly—until he frowned. When he thought about it, it didn’t add up. Unlike when he’d been stabbed by the Cursed Sword Berta, Inas wouldn’t let himself get hit so easily. And even if he were attacked, he had magic. Just killing Inas wouldn’t eliminate him. The timeline would just reset, and he’d loop all over again.
But then, why had Glarus bothered giving Etna this sword at all?
Trying to figure out Glarus’s intentions was like stabbing his brain with a fork. It made no sense.
“Don’t worry too much, Nigel.”
At Etna’s gentle voice, Nigel lifted his head. Right. It wasn’t Glarus’s intentions that mattered.
Inas was right—if Glarus couldn’t interfere directly, then any threats he made were all bark, no immediate bite. Intimidation, yes, but not a looming threat.
What truly mattered was Etna standing in front of him. The greatest danger Glarus could pose was to Etna’s safety. And after he’d already faced Ruder, if Etna were to die again now… their father would be devastated. Nigel didn’t even want to imagine that kind of tragedy.
“You’re really okay, right?”
“Yeah.”
“No pain? Nothing wrong at all?”
“Nope. Not a thing. I’m perfectly fine.”
Etna casually replied as he put the sword away. Only after carefully scanning his brother’s body did Nigel finally nod in relief. Honestly, he wanted to strip Etna down and check for injuries, but that knight glaring daggers at him from behind might actually murder someone, so he held back.
“If anything starts hurting, you have to tell me. Got it?”
“Got it.”
With a bright smile, Etna reached out and roughly tousled Nigel’s hair. Though it left his hair a mess, Nigel didn’t hate the feeling. A faint smile crept onto his lips.
“Hm, my little brother. You’ve gotten reliable. You’d have done just fine as heir even if I hadn’t come back.”
“Don’t say that. Me, the heir? Yeah, right.”
Nigel laughed awkwardly, but seeing Etna again had rattled his confidence in all the progress he thought he’d made. But Etna just blinked at him, genuinely confused.
“What do you mean? Who else could fill the role as well as you?”
“You really think so?”
“Of course I do, Nigel.”
Etna’s answer came without hesitation—and a slight frown.
“Though it seems like Father doesn’t agree…”
“…Yeah.”
“Well, you know how old-fashioned he is. He doesn’t see your worth. But times have changed. An heir doesn’t have to be on the battlefield anymore.”
It was the same thing Inas had said yesterday. Nigel glanced toward him, and Inas silently mouthed, See?
That made Nigel crack a sheepish smile.
“Still, I think you’re better suited for it.”
“Thanks for the compliment. But it’s not so easy for me to claim I’m his son anymore.”
That was probably the reason Etna had come in the first place—to say this. But then he ran into Inas, saw how anxious Nigel was, and the conversation veered wildly off course. Nigel turned to face Etna.
“So what are you planning to do now?”
“Hmm. I was thinking… maybe we could just leave you as the heir, and I could support you. What do you think? I could even take the position as your knight.”
“…What?”
That didn’t sound like something Ruder would’ve decided. Ruder had immense faith in his firstborn. Now that Etna was alive again, there was no way he’d still want Nigel as the heir. Even if Etna was being honest, and did become his knight instead of pushing Inas out…
Nigel found himself instinctively looking toward Inas. If that happened, would Inas just sit back quietly? He was already on high alert just from a hug.
Etna noticed exactly where Nigel’s eyes had wandered and chuckled.
“What, you didn’t want to use Idenbach as your knight. Don’t tell me you’ve gotten attached to him?”
“It’s not like that…”
“You’re blushing.”
…Now that he thought about it, Etna didn’t seem great at taking a hint. Narrowing his eyes, Nigel glared at him. Etna only grinned mischievously.
“If it were up to me, I’d love to be your knight… But that’s probably not going to happen.”
“Mmh.”
“Father has a point, after all. Dukes of Magnus never live long. No way we’re letting our cute little Nigel take on such a brutal role.”
“I’m not that cute…”
“You are, you are. Anyway, that’s why I think Father wants me to take the title. Worst case, I can at least be a meat shield.”
“A meat shield?”
Who would use Etna—the eldest son of the Duke of Magnus and a legendary genius—as a meat shield? Nigel narrowed his eyes, and Etna made a show of being touched.
“You’d protect your big brother? I’m flattered.”
“Quit teasing me.”
“No, I’m serious. You’ve grown reliable. For now, I’m thinking of becoming Father’s adopted son.”
“Adopted?”
“Yeah. I’ll pretend to be a distant relative.”
Nigel immediately grimaced at the ridiculous lie.
“You think people will buy that?”
A grown man suddenly shows up looking exactly like Etna did when he was alive? Anyone with half a brain would assume he was Ruder’s bastard son, not some distant cousin. That wouldn’t reflect well on either of them.
For Ruder, it would be little more than some annoying gossip. No one would dare confront him directly. But Etna—trying to live his life branded as the Duke’s bastard? It would be the beginning of a long, hard road.
“I’m willing to take that risk. It’s better than saying I was brought back by Glarus. I’ll reveal the truth later if I have to—or change identities altogether depending on how things go. But for now…”
Yeah. If people found out Etna had been resurrected by Glarus, it would be chaos. That’d make two sons of the Duke of Magnus directly connected to the god Glarus. And if they got too tangled with a deity, the temple’s interference would be inevitable. Even if they planned to come clean later, it was better not to lay all their cards on the table just yet.
“But still… it’s going to be hard on both you and Dad.”
“It’s not. Don’t worry.”
Etna said it so simply, with such ease, that Nigel couldn’t bring himself to argue anymore. He just nodded.
“And stop worrying so much about Glarus, too.”
“Why do you keep acting like you’re pals with a god…”
“Well, I did meet him once. That makes me closer to him than any priest, right? And I dunno… Glarus just feels kind of familiar. Weird, huh? I wasn’t even religious in life.”
“Probably just your imagination. You only heard his voice, right?”
“True.”
Nigel nodded right away. No way his brother would feel familiarity with that smug bastard. Maybe Etna just had poor taste in people.
“Well then, Nigel…”
Etna offered his hand with a bright smile.
“Let’s go eat. Father’s probably waiting for us.”
“Oh…”
Nigel hesitated before taking Etna’s hand. With all the talking, he’d nearly forgotten—Inas was still in the room. Their eyes met, and the boyish-looking Inas smiled softly.
“I’ll be here, Lord Nigel.”
“Come on, let’s go,” Etna urged.
Nigel frowned. Inas definitely hadn’t eaten yet—it was still early. But Etna didn’t seem concerned about that. Still, if Nigel tried to take care of Inas now, both of them would definitely get the wrong idea. He pressed his lips together tightly.
“Okay. Stay here and play with Rhino.”
Inas glanced at the bed, looking briefly conflicted, then gave a small nod. The tiny puppy lay asleep, completely unaware of the world around him.
Unlike before, Nigel no longer worried that Inas might hurt Rhino. He lingered a moment, watching Inas’s awkward expression, then turned to leave.
Just as they stepped out of the room, Etna suddenly yanked Nigel behind him. He started to draw his sword, clearly on high alert—until he froze mid-motion.
The atmosphere didn’t scream danger. Curious, Nigel peeked from behind Etna’s back to see who it was.
He recognized the person immediately.
“Danil?”
It was Danil, the young servant who’d recently become Nigel’s attendant. Judging by his bird’s nest hair and misaligned buttons, he must’ve rushed out of bed.
“Ah—!”
The moment he saw Etna’s face, Danil went pale as a ghost. He stood there frozen for a moment before bowing, realizing just how suspicious he looked loitering near his master’s door.
“M-My apologies!”
“Were you eavesdropping?”
“N-No, not at all…”
His flustered movements said otherwise. Narrowing his eyes, Nigel stared him down. Danil wobbled like he might faint. He was clearly being scolded, yet his reaction made Nigel feel like he was the bad guy.
“L-Lord Etna…”
Danil looked pleadingly at Etna. Clicking his tongue, Nigel stepped forward.
“This isn’t my brother… Just someone who looks like him.”
Danil’s eyes wavered with shock and doubt.
“Someone who looks like him? No way…”
“Are you talking back to me?”
Danil flinched like he’d been struck, then quickly lowered his head.
“R-Right. Just someone who looks like him…”
“Exactly.”
“But no, I mean—he clearly…”
Danil stammered, looking Etna up and down like he was desperately clinging to the tiniest hope. Watching him, Nigel felt strangely uncomfortable.
No matter how you looked at it, Danil was reacting like someone who’d known Etna personally. Not as a mere servant, but as someone with a deeper, private connection.
