Dinner was ready not long after.
The knights gathered around the campfires first, followed closely by the busy servants. The meal itself was kept very simple,
consisting of a hot soup with thick chunks of meat and a side of fresh bread.
It was nothing extravagant. For someone like my father, who was both a high noble knight and a seasoned battlefield commander, this kind of rugged food was more than acceptable.
Still, the Duke's personal chef was traveling with us.
And it certainly showed in the quality.
The soup was thick and creamy, rich with savory flavor. The meat was tender enough to completely fall apart with very little effort, and the bread was remarkably soft and fluffy. Dipping the bread straight into the hot soup made the flavor even better.
I sat by myself, eating quietly in the corner.
Then, completely without warning, my father walked over and sat down right beside me.
My entire body instantly stiffened up.
He calmly picked up his wooden bowl and began eating his soup as if this layout was completely normal.
It definitely wasn't normal.
I suddenly felt very aware of his massive, intimidating presence sitting next to me. To avoid wasting any of the good food, and to escape from his side much faster, I forced myself to finish my soup quickly.
The moment my bowl was empty, I stood up and stepped away, pretending not to notice his sharp gaze still fixed directly on me.
Just as I was about to leave the circle of firelight.
"Fainyx."
I froze mid-step.
I slowly turned around to face him.
He looked back at me calmly, setting his bowl down. "Did you like the food?"
I gave a silent nod.
"I see," he said flatly, and then he simply continued eating his dinner as if that was all he had wanted to ask me.
'That was seriously it?'
A spark of genuine annoyance bubbled up inside me. I turned away without throwing another glance in his direction, handed my empty bowl to one of the nearby servants, and walked off toward the tents.
***
The knights sitting nearby stared in absolute shock. They had never seen their cold, terrifying commander ask a question that was so... completely normal and fatherly.
Once the men were absolutely sure the Duke was no longer paying any attention to them, the quiet whispers started up immediately.
One knight leaned forward, his eyes practically sparkling. "The Young Master is so cute~ He's so small, I want to pinch his cheeks so badly."
Another knight laughed softly.
"Yeah! He looks just like a soft marshmallow. He's way cuter than my own feisty son back home. I just want to cuddle him."
A third knight nodded his head seriously.
"And he is always so incredibly calm. I heard rumors from the annex servants that he can already read and write perfectly, and he's only a toddler."
The chatter continued across the campfire, full of praise and amazement for the silent child.
Until a massive, terrifying shadow suddenly loomed directly over them.
The gossiping knights instantly stiffened, the color draining from their faces.
Slowly, they turned their heads around.
Their commander was standing right behind them, his blue eyes flashing dangerously in the dark.
"..."
An absolute silence fell over the campfire instantly.
The Duke's eyes narrowed into a cold glare. "Fifty laps around the camp perimeter."
The knights paled. "C-Commander, please have mercy–"
"Do you want a hundred laps instead?"
"No, sir! Fifty laps is absolutely perfect!"
The men scattered immediately, sprinting across the open dirt field as fast as their legs could carry them to avoid any further punishment.
The Duke let out a slow sigh, rubbing his temples. Then he looked around the campsite.
The child was already gone.
He scanned the dark camp once more before heading toward the sleeping quarters. Inside one of the smaller tents, he finally found me, fast asleep on the soft, thick bedding the maids had carefully prepared.
The child breathing was steady and peaceful.
His face, which was always completely blank and detached while awake, had softened beautifully in his sleep. For once, he looked exactly like a normal, healthy child.
The Duke stood there in total silence, watching his sleeping son for a very long time.
He slept incredibly well that night.
***
When morning came, the entire camp was already busy and buzzing with noise.
Servants were quickly packing away the canvas tents, knights were checking the surrounding forest for danger, and the heavy carriages were being prepared once more.
Before long, our group set off on the road again.
Inside the moving carriage, it was just my father and me sitting across from one another again...
The familiar silence returned, feeling heavy and uncomfortable as the hours rolled by. I sat perfectly still in my seat, my fingers unconsciously touching the edges of the small flower vase I carried with me.
The light green leaves trembled slightly with the steady, rocking movement of the carriage.
After a long while, my father finally spoke up, breaking the quiet.
"Did you grow that flower entirely by yourself?"
I gave him a silent nod.
He glanced down at the shimmering plant briefly. "I see."
Another long pause stretched between us.
"Did you use regular seeds to plant it?"
I shook my head to say no.
His sharp gaze sharpened slightly, looking deeply intrigued. "Then how exactly did you manage to grow it?"
I didn't offer an answer to that. Instead, I simply turned my head away and stared out the glass window at the passing trees, keeping my mouth tightly shut.
For a moment, I thought he would press me further for information, but he didn't.
The Duke seemed to sense that I truly did not know how to explain the answer to him.
"...I see," he murmured quietly.
Then, after a brief moment of hesitation, he spoke again, his voice carrying a strange weight.
"Your mother used to grow that exact same plant."
I flinched slightly at his words. My small fingers unconsciously tightened around the ceramic vase in my lap.
I turned my eyes back to look at him.
His stern expression had softened up significantly, and his deep voice sounded unusually gentle.
"She enjoyed gardening very much. She often grew those specific flowers inside the annex garden."
So it really wasn't just a coincidence.
"She never told me how she managed to grow it," he continued, his eyes looking a bit distant as he recalled the past.
"Nor did she ever tell me where she had found the original species. She simply called it kalmia."
My thoughts began to race frantically inside my head.
A mysterious plant that literally required pure mana to stay alive.
I vividly remembered the beginner's magic book I had read back in my room, the text had explicitly mentioned rare, magical plants that fed on raw mana rather than relying on sunlight alone.
If that information was true... then perhaps my suspicions were entirely right.
My late mother might have been a hidden magician... I don't know what circle she reached that time but I think she's not a beginner mage at all...
And maybe the unusually large mana capacity resting inside my body, one that definitely did not match my small, frail frame had come directly from her.
Or maybe it was just a unique trait my body gained when I was reincarnated into this game world.
"She always preferred staying at the annex,"
my father added quietly, staring out his own window. "Much more than living at the main palace."
Then, he fell completely silent again.
I studied his side profile from the corner of my eye. At the very beginning of this life, I had truly believed that he hated me.
I believed that he blamed me for being the reason his beloved wife had died during childbirth.
But now...
He didn't look at me with any hatred at all. If anything, his face just looked deeply conflicted and sad.
Was I completely wrong about him? Or had his feelings toward me simply changed over the course of this place? I truly didn't know the answer.
The travel days passed quietly like that. We spent our time moving between forest camps, quiet nights inside the tents, and occasional stays at comfortable inns located in small farming villages.
And then, finally...
We arrived at our destination.
The grand main palace of the Nocte family stood tall before us, looking absolutely vast, ancient, and imposing against the sky.
My small chest tightened up anxiously.
I clutched the flower vase tightly against my frame. For the very first time since this long journey had begun...
I felt truly, incredibly nervous about my future in this place...