Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 359 (Part 1):

They entered the reception room and sat on the sofa.

Ethan, as if feeling a sense of anguish, brushed his forehead with his hand. After a moment, he spoke.

“A mother and daughter came to my mansion not long ago. I was truly surprised when they mentioned your name.”

“Susan and Sarah, I presume.”

“Yes, they’re doing well, so don’t worry. I’ve heard their story roughly.”

A brief silence fell. Helmut asked,

“Where are Susan and Sarah?”

Elaga was frantically looking around, searching for them, which prompted the question.

The white cat’s dynamic movements caught Ethan’s eye. It was even sitting on Helmut’s lap.

Seeing Helmut carrying a cat around was strange at first glance.

But Ethan didn’t have the mental space to dwell on it.

“They went to the village to buy some things this morning. There aren’t many necessities for women in this mansion, you see. They’re both healthy. Especially Sarah, that child… her swordsmanship is quite remarkable.”

“I taught her.”

Ethan Kudrow let out a dry laugh at the calm display of arrogance.

“Right, well… now I’d like to hear your story.”

A story that needed to be heard from the person himself, not through someone else. Helmut began to speak.

From his lips flowed the events that had transpired from that day four years ago up to the present.

A long, heavy, and at times devastating tale.

Ethan Kudrow listened intently, not missing a word.

“You’ve been through… a lot.”

Then he added,

“Thank you for enduring it.”

For enduring, surviving, and coming here to stand before me—thank you.

If Ethan had thought of Helmut merely as a student he supported out of obligation to Darien, he wouldn’t have said such a thing.

Even before Susan and Sarah came to him, Ethan had believed Helmut was alive.

When he first heard that Helmut had gone missing, he felt a deep sense of suspicion.

Helmut had appeared out of nowhere. So, it was possible he might leave in a similar way. After all, there wasn’t much more he could learn in the swordsmanship department.

But if that were the case, he would have let Ethan know before heading to Renosa.

He wasn’t the type to vanish without a word.

He would at least have sent a letter eventually.

Could a person truly disappear so completely, as if erased? Ethan couldn’t accept it.

At the time, Ethan Kudrow had demanded information about Helmut’s whereabouts from Renosa under the name of Greta Academy.

Renosa simply feigned ignorance, saying Helmut had left and they knew nothing more.

Charlotte had done the same. Because Alea had asked her to hide the truth from Ethan Kudrow, she complied.

Afterward, Ethan Kudrow visited Renosa two more times to look for Helmut.

But as an instructor affiliated with Greta Academy, there was a limit to what he could do. He couldn’t resort to illegal means.

In the end, he gained no information about Helmut’s whereabouts.

‘Though I suppose I did gain something else… in another sense.’

A sudden memory surfaced. Before delving into it, Ethan spoke first.

“So, what are you planning to do now? If it’s something you can’t tell me, you don’t have to.”

Ethan Kudrow had already understood why Helmut hadn’t told him the truth about his birth from the beginning.

It was an event too large for him to be involved in, and there was no guarantee he could side with Helmut.

Even Ethan Kudrow couldn’t risk Baden or Greta Academy for this.

But as an individual, he could stand by Helmut. He had already decided.

It wasn’t just because of the life debt he owed Darien.

Listening to Helmut’s story, Ethan felt anger, sorrow, and a sense of duty as a swordsman toward something unjust and dishonorable.

That was what solidified his resolve.

“My plan is…”

Helmut briefly explained his plans to Ethan. As Ethan listened, his expression grew serious.

“It won’t be an easy path.”

“I’ve already walked through a difficult path.”

“Indeed. This is something you must do. It’s your right, and it’s also a way to prove they were wrong.”

A mother who abandoned and betrayed her own child was cruel enough. But Renosa, whom Helmut saved, also betrayed him.

Helmut had saved the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess. He had fought risking his life to save them, so how could they do such a thing?

It’s an act that violates human ethics and tramples honor.

This betrayal wasn’t just because of the Temple. It was likely out of fear.

Fear of Helmut’s existence. The power he had shown. Fear that it would shake Renosa.

However, that decision seemed to have been made without the Grand Duke’s approval—the one who ruled Renosa.

Ethan spoke softly.

“I visited Renosa twice to find you. And on that second and final visit, I met the Grand Duke.”

A momentary change flickered in Helmut and Alea’s eyes.

“The Grand Duke of Renosa…”

“Yes, to be precise, he summoned me. He’s not someone a mere academy instructor can meet.”

The Grand Duke of Renosa, his father. The ruler of Renosa. Compared to his mother, Helmut had a vague notion of his father.

His father was never warm to his children. Charlotte and Michael might have respected him, but they didn’t feel close to him.

And in Helmut’s case, from the moment he was abandoned, he had never once even met the man.

His father was simply “the Grand Duke of Renosa,” nothing more.

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