IFHWPML - Chapter 5
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"Look at this black hair and red eyes! It must be the child that the Duke is looking for!"
The man with brown hair and a sparrow-like face pushed the child standing next to him and made his case with conviction, puffing up his chest and maintaining a solid expression.
"I see. Black hair and red eyes. It certainly matches the child I'm looking for," the Duke said.
The grand reception room was lavishly decorated with expensive ornaments, almost to the point of excessive splendor, designed to impress and intimidate any incoming guests with the Duke's prestige.
In that room, sitting on a luxurious leather sofa beneath a large chandelier, was the Duke of Hailos, Chester Heillos.
He had succeeded the late Heillos and inherited the title of Duke.
Chester was neatly dressed, and his neck was adorned with a cravat.
In the middle of the cravat, an emerald green stone, like a dense forest, was embedded, surrounded by a frame made of gold.
It was a one-of-a-kind jewel made by the most popular gemstone designer of the day, and it was worth several months' living expenses for an ordinary nobleman.
"Yes! This is undoubtedly the child that the Duke is looking for!"
The man glanced at the jewel on the Duke's cravat.
He gazed greedily at the precious stone, which exuded an imposing presence, wondering if it was authentic.
He thought to himself that he had made the right decision by coming.
"That's possible."
Lord Chester glanced at the boy standing in front of him. His sharp red eyes scanned the boy from head to toe.
As advertised in the flyer, the boy had black hair, red eyes, and a small build. But the ashy black hair and hazy red eyes, like dead fish eyes, seemed artificial.
However, it was too early to jump to conclusions. It was possible that the boy really was a Laphelion.
Lord Chester had never seen his nephew, Laphelion, before. He only knew of him from his brother's descriptions.
The boy was said to have the same eye and hair color as his older brother.
"Where did you find the boy?" Chester asked the man who couldn't take his eyes off his gemstone.
"Oh, yes! We found him at the Western Orphanage and brought him here. They said they took care of him after finding him on the streets four months ago," the man quickly replied.
He started to get excited about Lord Chester's interest in the boy. He thought that Lord Chester would believe him and take the boy in.
He would soon receive 100 million shillings, and he was eager to go to the betting house and show those who had ignored and kicked him out that he was a winner.
He would flatten their noses when they came crawling back to him with no betting money.
"Rohan."
The duke, who had been watching everything with a cold gaze, gestured to Rohan standing behind him.
"Yes, my lord."
"Are you just going to leave Laphelion standing there?"
At the duke's words, the man with a weasel-like smile showed a smirk.
It was clear that the duke believed him and accepted the child as Raphaelion.
Finally, he would be able to touch one hundred million shillings right before his eyes.
"I'm sorry. Lord Laphelion, are you feeling any pain in your leg? Would you like to sit here?"
Rohan pulled a small velvet sofa over and spoke to the child.
The unexpected kindness and overwhelming pressure frightened the child, and he hesitated before grabbing the man's pants.
"Ah, f-father... Ahh!"
"It seems Lord Laphelion is very tense."
"The child sat in the chair with a face that seemed like he could burst into tears at any moment.
"Laphel, it's okay," Chester reassured, patting the child's small shoulder.
Rohan stepped out of the reception room to get something to drink.
"Um, about the payment..." the man hesitated, glancing at Chester.
He wanted to get the money as soon as possible and escape from here.
He had heard that as long as he didn't drink the antidote when buying the magic potion, he would never be caught, but he couldn't help feeling anxious about the possibility of being caught.
"Oh, right. We need to compensate you," the Duke said.
Tap.
As the Duke snapped his fingers, the reception room door opened and two of the Duke's men came in, carrying a large chest.
Soon, Rohan also came in with the drink that the children liked.
"Just to be precise, let's confirm it," the men put the chest down in front of the man.
The chest made a heavy thud, resonating throughout the reception room.
"Oh, no! There's no need for the Duke to cheat me. I'll just take it and go," the man protested, but the Duke's men still opened the chest.
Thousands of coins glittered inside the chest, filling it to the brim.
"You must be thirsty, my lord," Rohan handed the drink he brought to the child.
As the child eagerly drank the orange beverage, Chester stared at him intently.
"This is really one hundred million shillings..." The man trembled as he touched the shillings inside the chest.
Even after taking a handful of the coins, they seemed to have hardly made a dent in the chest.
Watching the man being consumed by the shillings, Chester stood up with a scowl on his face.
He took long strides towards the man and stood in front of him with his towering height.
The man, with his eyes fixed on the coins, didn't notice Chester until he spoke with a low, growling voice.
"So, you're the father of this child."
"Yes, yes I am... Wait, what?!" Startled by Chester's voice, the man raised his head.
Rohan appeared with the child in his arms as he sat on the couch.
At that moment, the man's eyes widened in surprise.
"How... this can't be happening."
Perhaps too shocked to move, the man froze.
"Your brown eyes and hair are just like his."
While Rohan and the child were enjoying the drink, the child's jet black hair and red irises gradually turned brown.
"Please, have mercy, Your Grace!"
It was over. They had been caught.
The man quickly fell to his knees before Chester, bowing deeply.
Rohan followed Chester's signal and left the room with the child.
"Surely, you weren't the only one who forged these coins."
The eyes, which had cooled down, stared at the man.
"Please, have mercy...."
As the man grabbed onto Chester's pants with trembling hands, the sharply creased fabric crumpled under his touch.
In an instant, Chester's eyebrows twitched. He kicked the man's hand mercilessly and spoke.
"Take care of it."
It was a cold, merciless tone.
His sharp gaze was as piercing as a well-honed blade, cruelly passing through the man's heart.
Following the Duke's orders, two of the estate's servants grabbed the man by both arms and dragged him away, leaving Chester alone in the reception room.
He buried his body on the sofa, stretching his long legs and pressing his twitching brow with his fingertips.
"Like a bunch of vultures."
It was a husky voice that sounded like a warning of a beast.
This was the eleventh time he had faced such a melodrama since he started searching for Laphellion.
He had hidden the woman he loved and Laphellion securely.
His father and the former Duke, had tried to kill Laphellion and his mother.
According to their logic, they could not welcome a commoner as their son's wife and let a child of common blood become the successor of the Duke.
So, Chester had never seen Laphellion's face.
But somehow, the fact had leaked out secretly.
No one knew what he looked like since no one in the Duke's house had seen him.
Since then, people with blind eyes for money had come to the Duke's house.
Children brought from an orphanage or wandering on the streets, or those who claimed that their child was Laphellion today.
All of them had changed their hair and eye colors with magic potions.
"Selling their children for money."
Chester, who had predicted this situation, had prepared an antidote and mixed it into the children's drinks.
Soon, their original hair and eye colors had returned.
The sacrificial lambs were always the children in the hands of selfish adults.
His head was throbbing with pain. Chester ran his hand roughly through his hair and let out a deep sigh.
Knock knock.
When Chester answered to come in, Rohan stood before him.
"Master."
"The child."
"Fortunately, the mother came looking for her while crying, so we sent her back."
"I see."
Chester lowered his tired eyelids and washed his face with a dry towel.
They had been searching day and night, but there was still no news of Laphaelion.
Chester became increasingly anxious as they searched in vain for him.
Please, he has to be alive...
"Go out."
"Yes. Then."
As Rohan left, the quiet reception room was engulfed in silence.
Chester was exhausted.
And he was disgusted by those who were so obsessed with money that they deceived themselves.
If there were people who staged such frauds to chase money again, he would never let them off the hook.
Behind Chester, who had already gained a reputation as cold-blooded in high society, the sky was filled with a red sunset glow.