Chapter 7
Reinhardt let Mrs. Sarah leave and remained lost in thought.
Bill Corona was the reason why, in her previous life, Reinhardt could not easily revolt even though she had gathered so many soldiers.
Mikhail Allanquez was a man who couldn’t care less about anyone. Just like he had abandoned Reinhardt, the moment his closest friends were deemed useless, he immediately threw them all away too. There was only one prince after all, so it didn’t matter.
Many people asked for the prince’s information when they were discarded by him but the crown prince did not spare them.
Hu Linke had been a proper soldier, knight, and veteran of the war so certain knights were outraged about his death. Reinhardt was confident that the rebellion would be a success.
But that was before Bill Corona appeared.
He was a knight the Crown Prince Mikhail Allanquez brought out one day. He had a vengeful spirit and hated people. But Bill, who was known to be of mixed northern barbarian descent, acted as if he were a loyal dog to Allanquez.
His mother was said to have been attacked by a barbarian tribe, after which she gave birth to him, and then hanged herself.
But that was a lie.
Reinhardt knew the real reason why Mikhail Allanquez was the way he was with Bill because of some leaked information she had received.
About 17 years ago, the emperor left the northern inspection to honor Chang. At that time, Viscount Corona went to pay tribute to the emperor on behalf of the Feyrdon family of Luden, a northeastern estate. His daughter carried out her own work because there was no suitable attendant for the small family.
When the empress found out that a lady, a noble from the outskirts of Allanquez, had the emperor’s child, she raised her hand against them.
‘The reason Mikhail is the Emperor’s heir is because of the Empress.’
The empress was the one who put the third prince on the throne and she knew very well that the more blood-related relatives the emperor had, the more threatened her son’s position would be.
So, naturally, the Corona family was destroyed by her hand.
But somehow Bill Corona survived.
When Mikhail Allanquez turned 34 years old, in the 10th year of Reinhardt’s expulsion, he brought Bill Corona and made him his knight.
Of course, many people were surprised to see he’d brought Bill Corona. He was the most brilliant man on the battlefield. It was also thanks to Bill Corona that Mikhail gained popularity.
Naturally, it was a threatening name to the enemies of the Allanquez Empire. Bill Corona had destroyed the Sioux in the eastern part of the empire and presented Mikhail with a vast territory. The northern barbarians did not dare to invade the territory when they heard Bill Corona’s name.
And it was the same for Reinhardt. She was not confident in dealing with Bill Corona despite her huge army and fortune.
‘He isn’t just a good puppet……’
Once, when Reinhardt was collecting Mikhail’s information, she received a portrait of Bill Corona.
He first appeared in the Royal Palace, and he grew his long black hair like a wild man and the artist must’ve had a hard time drawing it secretly because she could barely see his eyes. His beard was shaggy and untouched, and he wore Mikhail’s armor every day like it was a treasure, making him stink. The ladies hated seeing him, but Bill Corona didn’t care about that.
And just two years later, Bill Corona became a name that could no longer be ignored.
The prince’s nickname for him, which was the prince’s mad dog because he fought like a madman, had become the prince’s loyal dog. It was Bill Corona who led 10,000 soldiers through the snow and conquered all the barbarians’ homes.
Mikhail rose to the throne amid cheers and support from the people. That would not have been possible without Bill Corona.
Reinhardt clenched her fist because of the cold sweat on her palm.
“….Is he really Bill Corona?”
She still remembered the portrait of Bill Corona she had seen in her previous life. She had collected updates on him every year because he was the first person she had to deal with to get to Mikhail.
And she had met him once in real life too.
He had led the army to the front of the empire because of a war and he passed Helka on his way back. As he was Mikhail’s confidant, she treated him just as she would a lord.
Although they did not have a long conversation, his intense eyes and his quiet personality remained imprinted in her memory.
Plus, the last thing she saw was Bill Corona standing next to Mikhail at the spring banquet.
Mikhail did not let the hero next to him look like a savage. He cut his hair and dressed him up. So standing next to Mikhail after trimming his beard, Bill Corona had a hero’s look.
He had a handsome visage and a good physique. His gray eyes were shining like a gun and he was even taller than Mikhail, who was a tall man himself.
The child she brought had black hair and black eyes.
However, the color of his pupils could change several times as he grows. And the shaggy, long hair was also the same.
Her body trembled tremendously.
‘If it’s real…’
Reinhardt closed her mouth. If the child, who she had brought with her, who brought her white bread every morning and disappeared through the window, was really Bill Corona…
Her eyes trembled with tremendous joy.
“For God’s sake, Father.”
When she came to Luden, she didn’t think this could be the case, even if there is a God above.
She had been exiled to such a barren land and driven out without money because of her sin and all the family knights were scattered because of her unexpected behavior.
In her previous life, they gathered under her because of her father and his unjust death. But in this life, Reinhardt stabbed the Crown Prince, so they didn’t want to serve her without justification.
But…
What if this was all her father’s plan?
“Oh, God, no, Father.”
Reinhardt put her hands together. Her heart felt like it was about to burst.
“Father, did you know everything?”
Maybe all those trials were to give her Bill Corona.
At that moment, she blew away every single bit of remorse that had engulfed her mind. The thoughts that she might have made a mistake could have blown away the golden opportunity her father gave her.
This opportunity isn’t over yet.
Reinhardt closed her throbbing eyes. It wasn’t the time to shed tears yet.
She will stab Mikhail in the chest with her own two hands and avenge her father. And she’ll take the child’s guts out and kill him too.
Reinhardt thought it was time for him to shed tears.
Reinhardt tilted her head.
‘He is…18 years old.’
When she was thirty-five, Bill Corona was known to be twenty-nine. So, if her calculations were correct, the skinny little boy in front of her must be eighteen years old. However, no matter how much he’s grown, the little boy only looked about 12 to 14 years old.
No matter how much she looked at him, he didn’t look older than 14.
She still couldn’t believe it, so Reinhardt called Mrs. Sarah to ask when the tragedy of the Corona family had occurred.
Mrs. Sarah said, “Well, it’s been about 10 years….”
She counted her fingers and continued.
“It was 17 years ago.”
“……Are you sure?”
“It happened the year my first daughter got married, and the next year my grandson was born. My grandson is sixteen years old this year. I’m sure.”
That meant that Bill Corona was at least sixteen years old right now.
Perhaps Mikhail was wary of Bill Corona being too young and added several years to his original age.
Reinhardt beckoned the little boy.
The child, who was suddenly called, rolled his eyes and approached Reinhardt’s side joyfully.
Reinhardt glanced at his little finger.
She had handed the copper ring he was now wearing back to him before, but the child threw it away soon after as if it was hers. It wasn’t until Reinhardt set it back on his finger herself that he kept it on.
She wondered if the child was someone missing from the royal family, but she couldn’t ask him because the child couldn’t speak.
Reinhardt erased her thoughts and asked a question.
“What has he been doing these days?”
The old lady hesitated. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t been doing anything.
Reinhardt nodded as if she knew everything. He is a difficult child to deal with. It wasn’t easy to get acquainted with him. He lives in a castle now, but the child still acts like an animal. The people of the Luden Province, who were also busy preparing for the winter, could not afford to take care of the child.
“I’m not blaming you.”
The old lady sighed while looking at her.
“I’m trying to take good care of him, not even being thrifty because he’s the one who’s been brought by the lord…”
“I didn’t give any instructions.”
“Yes, there’s that, but it’s also that he doesn’t want to be in the hands of the maids.”
Well, it is not like he’s had separate education or training.
Reinhardt has been trying to find a good parent to adopt the child as long as it was okay with him. This is because many houses needed a strong boy in a place like Luden, but the child could hardly get close to other people. He was clumsy and often ran away when people talked to him.
“He is especially afraid of older people.”
“Men? Or….”
At that point, the old lady glanced at the child. The child flinched and came a little closer to Reinhardt.
He is afraid of both men and women.
Reinhardt gestured, pulling the child’s shoulders closer.
“Okay, get out.”
The old lady went out politely. Now only Reinhardt and the child were left in the room.
She looked at the child while holding him gently on the shoulder.
Reinhardt was sitting and the child was standing, and their gazes met. If he was really sixteen years old, it must have been hard to get him to eat.
The maids of the castle had managed to wash the child and the child’s hair was neatly trimmed and tied. He also managed to wear something nice. It looked like he was wearing a small version of the servants’ uniform.
Reinhardt found and grasped his thin arms that were exposed under the sleeves of his clothes. Reinhardt’s hands were small, but the child’s arms were thin enough that she could envelop a single one with her hand.
“…Is your name Bill?”
The child blinked at her. It was clear that he didn’t quite understand what she was saying. But it didn’t matter.
Reinhardt gently swept the child’s forehead.
In the middle of his right eyebrow was a small scar. There was no hair on the spot, so the eyebrow seemed to cut off. And Reinhardt had seen this same scar in Bill Corona’s portrait.
I am sure.
This is Bill Corona.
“Bill…..no.”
Reinhardt shook her head while calling the child’s name.
Bill Corona was Mikhail Allanquez’s dog. She didn’t want to recall that fact every time she called the child’s name.
From now on, he would grow up under her, and he would never be touched by Mikhail Allanquez.
“Wilhelm. Yeah, Wilhelm would be nice.”
[T/n: In the raws, the name she just gave and the name Bill had the same character, and thus Wilhelm should be pronounced as ‘Vilhelm’ as not ‘Wilhelm’, as per the Korean characters.]
Reinhardt smiled and stroked the child’s head.
Wilhelm shrugged his shoulders when he felt ticklish and reciprocated Reinhardt’s smile.
It was a clear smile without a speck of malice.