Chapter 21

– Kill... you? – Duke Dehsin's eyes were filled with shock.

The man remembered their first meeting, then Esther asked to kill her in the same way.

– Now you can… Please kill me! – in the midst of her plea, thunder struck, the girl covered her ears and buried her face in her knees.

'What the hell did this little girl go through?' – Darwin was extremely angry, unable to tolerate such a thing. 'These are not the words that should come out of the mouth of a 12-year-old child!

I will stay by your side even if you are against it.

I am ready to do anything, fulfill any request and any desire!'

– So, what the hell... – Duke Dehsin couldn't understand such terrible words. Couldn't figure out what caused them.

– I have a knife. I'll give it to you if you need it, – as if to prove that these are not just words, Esther's hand tightened.

Darwin caught his breath as he looked at the pale, almost bloodless hands of the girl. A lot of emotions mixed together.

'If we had met... if I had taken her into the family earlier?..' – Darwin was so ill that his heart ached.

– No. That's not going to happen.

– Not allowed?

– No. No one, including me, will harm you, – Duke Dehsin whispered in his most determined voice.

But as soon as the man reached out to touch Esther, the girl who saw it shrank and closed her eyes.

Darwin clenched his fists, feeling his thirst for murder grow.

– Did someone beat you?

– No, – Esther muttered, shaking her head.

Duke Dehsin was even more hurt by the fact that the girl's heart was blocked from him.

– Esther, look at me, – Darwin knelt down and looked at Esther. So slowly, as if I was learning to do it all over again.

In fact, he never calmed a crying baby. When the twins cried, a nanny always took care of them.

And yet, when the terrified Esther looked up, Darwin caught him:

– Who am I?

– The Grand Duke.

– Yes. I am the Grand Duke, and this is your home. This is the safest place.

The girl nodded slowly in response to Duke Dehsin's words.

– No one can hurt you. I will protect you.

Listening to the man's sincere voice, Esther slowly began to regain consciousness.

– Are you so afraid of thunder?

– ...Yes, – this time, the girl answered honestly and clearly.

– Good.

It was difficult to block the thunder now. No matter how many layers of curtains were used, the sound still continued to penetrate the room.

– You're staying with me tonight.

– The Grand Duke? – Esther's eyes widened, she was greatly surprised by the words of the always cold Duke.

– Let's go to bed. It's too cold here, – while the girl hesitated, not daring to get up and babbling that everything was fine, Darwin easily lifted her into his arms.

To muffle the sounds of thunder as much as possible, the Duke wrapped Esther tightly in a blanket and, hugging her, lifted her in his arms.

– When did you start being afraid of thunder?

– A long time ago, – Esther replied, looking up at the Duke.

– What was the reason?

– I was always locked up, but, on rainy days, Rabien always came... Ah, no.

Esther was so happy that someone was with her that she accidentally couldn't help herself. The lock of her heart was opened and part of the hidden history was opened.

– Rabien?

– Hah? I think I misspoke, – Esther said that she was mistaken, unable to tell Duke Dehsin everything.

'Locked? Rabien?' – however, Darwin did not listen to the girl's excuses. 'As soon as the weather gets better, I will send people to the temple to conduct a thorough investigation.'

Darwin carefully placed Esther on the bed, and then, sitting down next to her, looked at her.

The man's hand was still gripping Esther's hand tightly.

At that moment, someone's footsteps sounded in the corridor and Judy suddenly came into the room.

The boy was hugging a pillow with one hand and rubbing his sleepy eyes with the other:

– Father? Esther? Why are you together?

– Did you wake up because of the noise?

– No. I was worried about Esther, there's a lot of thunder outside," Judy yawned widely, and then, without hesitation, climbed onto the bed.

– Ah? Esther, have you been crying? Your eyes are red, – when the girl continued to avoid his gaze, Judy bent down and, grabbing Esther's cheeks, pulled them. – What a child.

– Judy!

Naturally, when Darwin rebuked the boy, he immediately released Esther and muttered:

– Father, but did you really come here because you were worried about Esther?

– Yes.

– Tc, you never came to me, – Judy grumbled, puffing out his cheeks like a balloon. There was sadness in his words.

Confused, Darwin replied colder than usual:

– You weren't afraid of thunder.

– It's not like that. When I was little, I was scared too, that's why I came to Esther.

At the end of the boy's speech, Duke Dehsin bowed his head.

It was true, up to this point, the man rarely paid attention to the twins, so, albeit belatedly, Darwin expressed his regret:

– ...I'm sorry.

– It's okay, I'm not afraid anymore, – Judy drawled, and turned away.

– Judy, if I'd known you were scared, I'd have done the same for you. I really didn't know. I am so sorry.

– Only in words?

–...What?

– Give me a present, – Judy pouted even more and stretched out his index finger.

Duke Dehsin frowned:

– What do you want to get?

– Immunity. No moralizing!

– This child!..

– Hey, you just apologized!

– ...I knew, – Judy finally extracted a grumpy agreement from Darwin, and then laughed as if nothing had happened.

'I've been fucked,' – Darwin realized that he had fallen for Judy's trick, but he could not take back his words.

– And, Esther, now I am not afraid of thunder, so when you grow up a little more, you will also stop being afraid of this sound, – having won, the boy immediately began to calm Esther.

– Really?

– Um, really. However, as long as you are afraid, I will protect you until you stop being afraid!

'They met not so long ago, but Judy has already entered the role of an older brother,' – Duke Dehsin looked at them with a slight smile. It was a beautiful image of the elder brother in his care.

– Great! Let's always sleep together on rainy days from now on.

– But, this…

– Really? Hurray! Then, it would be great if it rained every day! – Esther was a little uncomfortable with such care, however, she tried to show that everything was fine, but Judy's excited voice interrupted her.

– Hey, boy, – Darwin tapped the boy on the forehead.

Esther's face, watching this, returned to its normal state.

– Ahem, I ... I brought candles, – Ben, who did not have time to enter the room in time and stood silently at the door for a long time, awkwardly walked inside.

The man was very impressed by what was happening inside, because he had never seen such a touching moment in his life.

– Put them there.

– Good.

As soon as the candles were placed on a side table, everything around became bright in an instant. The light also filled Esther's eyes as she looked at him:

– Oh, it's so light…

– Yes. The darker the darkness, the stronger the light. Where the light is on, Darkness will never penetrate, – Darwin said, laying the girl's head on his chest. – Therefore, sleep well.

– Me too. I'll be here too, – Judy said funny and fell in next to Esther.

The heartbeats of these two were not synchronized, so Esther could not fall asleep, but she thought that these were the most peaceful moments in her entire life.

And after a few long moments, the girl realized that she was not afraid of thunder or heavy rain pounding on the windows.

– I'm sorry that you can't sleep because of me.

– No, looking after you, I feel very good, – Darwin gently brushed the hair from Esther's face. – Listen, Judy is already asleep, you should go to sleep as soon as possible.

In fact, as soon as he closed his eyes, the boy immediately fell asleep and began to snore.

– When I fall asleep, will you leave immediately?

– No. I'll stay here until the rain stops.

– You don't have to wait... everything is fine…

Was it because the Duke's words made the girl happy? Or maybe it was because of his warm tone?

Except, closing her eyes, Esther fell asleep much faster than she thought.

Darwin looked at the sleeping Esther, who continued to hold his little finger, as if afraid that he would disappear.

–Are you going to sleep here?

– Yes.

–I'll get you a blanket.

Just in case the children didn't wake up, Darwin and Ben spoke in whispers.

– By the way... her fear of thunder is too strange.

– It looks like a moral trauma. It seems she was abused... oh, Esther said she was locked up.

– Miss? Strange. When I was investigating, there was no information about it, – Ben replied, bowing his head. – I thoroughly found out everything about Esther before she was adopted, but there was nothing strange since she entered the temple.

– They might not have said. What if they hid something important?

– However… There was no way they should have done something terrible to a junior candidate for the Saints.

– Anyway, check it again. Perhaps there is a man named Rabien in the temple.

– Rabien? I've heard that name many times... isn't that Duke Braon's daughter?

–...If you think about it, that bastard's daughter is really Rabien. But isn't that a common name? Check, maybe there is someone else with that name.

– Ok.

Duke Dehsin's gaze instantly darkened as he started giving orders to Ben:

– If Esther was really abused, everyone will have to pay in full.

– These are terrible words. Are you going to fight with the temple?

– Do you think I can't?

Ben, horrified by the Duke's expression, swallowed and shook his head:

– ...Let's find out everything first.

Even after Ben left, Darwin continued to lie and look at the sleeping children.

As he had promised Esther, the man was going to stay with them until the rain stopped.

'And that's not bad,' – Judy and Esther, who did not wake up from the whisper, seemed to be deeply asleep, but the expression on Darwin's face, who was looking at the sleeping girl, was strange.

'I've never looked at my sleeping children. I didn't feel the need for it, but now,' – looking at the faces of the children sleeping like angels, every corner of Darwin's heart rang.

The man thought it would be a boring night, but instead of being bored, he looked after his children.

'How could I have thought before that I would be watching something like this?' – The Duke smiled, remembering words he had never felt anything for. This way of thinking was unfamiliar to him.

At the same time, the man began to remember how indifferent he was to the twins.

Darwin regretted a lot, so he was unable to watch his children grow up. He felt bitter when he realized how much he had missed while in a permanent job.

'I was so stupid,' – Darwin thought that, from now on, he should spend more time with his children, and continued to watch them sleep.