Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 348 (Part 2):

“I wasn’t born to a legally wedded couple. Officially, my name wasn’t even recorded on the Imperial registry until I was ten.”

“So you…?”

“I didn’t even know I was of imperial blood. For a very long time. I just grew up thinking I was a commoner. How it happened was…”

Asuka began recounting his backstory. Perhaps he’d always wanted to tell someone, and Sian, his closest friend, was the perfect listener.

Sian fell silent and paid attention.

“I was born and raised in a small village in the northern reaches of the Empire—way off from any city. My mother raised me all by herself.”

His mother was an elegant and beautiful woman, unlike what you’d expect of a country village maiden.

Her father—Asuka’s grandfather—had been a knight, so they technically had noble lineage.

But only barely so, and once Asuka’s grandfather retired, even that title didn’t hold much weight.

Sian cut in briefly,

“You said you were a commoner.”

“Well, Grandpa was a knight, so my mom was effectively a commoner, right? A retired knight’s daughter isn’t really treated like a noble, you know? By that logic, Rodril would be royalty of Greencana.”

“That’s true.”

Satisfied with Sian’s nod, Asuka went on.

Anyway, because of this, his grandmother strictly educated his mother, and his mother grew up to be an elegant yet cheerful young lady unlike typical village maidens.

How exactly his mother came to meet Asuka’s father, Grand Duke Farnese, was almost a matter of fate.

“Father, who was the Second Prince at the time, apparently visited the northern empire for some important matter—supporting the then-Crown Prince, or so the story goes. There, assassins dispatched by the late Empress tried to kill him. Though he managed to deal with the assassins but lost consciousness on horseback after taking an arrow to his back. The horse continued carrying father, and that’s when grandfather, who was out hunting, and mother who had accompanied him, happened to find father.”

His father didn’t look like an ordinary person; the sword and clothing were clearly top quality. It was obvious this was something serious.

But how could they leave a dying person?

They brought him home and quietly treated him.

Because her father had once been a knight, he kept a stash of precious magic potions. That’s how Asuka’s father survived.

Regaining consciousness after a brush with death, the first thing he saw was the lovely young lady who had saved him.

He was drawn to her naturally enough: she’d saved his life and cared for him.
And to her, the mysterious, dignified man who radiated noble charisma was unlike any young fellow from the village.

The two fell for each other almost immediately, and there in that village, they held a small wedding ceremony.

Shortly after that wedding, Asuka was conceived. This left his father deeply troubled.

He was Imperial by blood—how could his child be raised in some tiny village?

The vow he took in the name of the gods made Asuka his legitimate son.

But bringing a powerless young woman into the capital, where the war of succession was raging, would be tantamount to handing her a death sentence.

He promised that once things were secure, he would officially bring his wife and child into the Imperial Family—he swore it under his royal name.

Since he couldn’t remain hidden away forever, he had no choice but to leave the village, departing even as Asuka’s mother carried him in her womb.

Still, he didn’t completely abandon them. A few times a year, Asuka caught sight of the man called “Father,” who arrived in secret.

His father was extremely cautious, traveling with virtually no attendants, so Asuka didn’t realize he was imperial.

Fearing that young Asuka might blurt something out, the entire family hid his father’s true status from him.

Asuka simply thought of him as a wealthy merchant or something along those lines.

He only felt resentment that the man was leaving his mother like a widow.

Anyway, Asuka’s childhood was comfortable and happy. Life in the village was carefree and delightful.

Then came the day when the current Emperor took the throne, the Second Prince became Grand Duke Farnese, and he officially brought his secret wife and child back with him.

Clad in fine clothes Asuka had never seen before, his father smiled and said to them,

“From now on, we’ll be together.”

Amidst countless knights and soldiers, a teary-eyed mother and Asuka climbed into a carriage.

And so, at the age of just ten, Asuka was catapulted into a status he’d never wanted.

The village boy who had once roamed free found himself imprisoned in a gilded cage.

No matter how tasty the food or how fine the bed, they couldn’t make up for his stolen freedom.

Then came all the education demanded of royalty and the stifling life that went with it.

His father was strict, the tutors likewise, and his mother—overwhelmed by her new circumstances—could no longer give Asuka the attention he craved.

It was, to Asuka, a calamity.

Sian summed it up in the simplest possible terms:

“So that’s why you turned out so twisted.”

“My father had this useless sense of responsibility.”

Asuka grumbled in reply.

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