Dinner came and Cale went down to join his father's family today. His father, step mother, his step brother and half sister were already there. Deruth greeted him with a smile and Cale subconsciously bowed in return. He proceeded to sit in the empty space right next to his father. That was where he always sat when his father hadn't ignored him yet.

"I am glad you made it today," Deruth smiled. His father's attitude was throwing him off.

"Orabeoni, are you alright now?" Lily asked.

"H-Huh? Ah, yeah," Cale answered.

Even though he was still covered with bandages, his family believed Cale made an effort for them today. Cale really did.

When dinner was served, the family ate uneventfully. Though Deruth's new family spoke with one another, catching up what happened to them during the day and updates regarding their studies and duties, Cale remained quiet all throughout that. He didn't have anything to say, more less his family didn't even ask him.

They were having desserts when Deruth decided to address the issue with the person named Choi Han the other day.

"Cale, I am greatly concerned with what happened three days ago. I hope something like that won't happen again," Deruth said. Cale stopped from what he was doing and looked at his father.

"I know I've given you so much freedom, enough for you to do whatever you want as long as you stay in our territory. But what happened the other day was too much," Deruth continued. He didn't want any harm coming to his son.

"Because of this, your mother and I decided to let you recuperate in one of our villas in the countryside," Deruth added.

Deruth looked at Cale, the other members of the family did the same, and they were surprised to see the expression painted on the redhead's face. Cale was crestfallen and he couldn't control his facial expression.

"Am I being kicked out?" Cale asked.

"W-What? Of course not, son. Why would you think that?" Deruth responded, however Cale didn't pay attention.

Of course Father would kick me out eventually. Haha, who am I kidding? You think Father would mind about us? Just because he showed little concern to you today, he'd continue to do so? Wake up, Cale! Stop deluding yourself Father would look our way ever again, Cale spoke to his mind.

His family was speaking with him yet he didn't hear any of it since he was too engrossed with his conversation with himself. Because of this, Cale made a sad expression. Unknowingly, Cale's tears fell from his eyes which surprised everyone in the dining hall—even Cale himself was surprised.

"C-Cale? Are you okay?" Deruth asked as he stood and approached his son. He was hesitating to touch his son 'coz he looked delicate.

Cale touched his falling tears and wondered why he was crying. Then he realized that somewhere deep inside his heart, he still sought for his Father's warmth. Coming to a realization that his father would never do, his heart laments for it.

"Excuse me, I'll go back to my room," Cale said but his voice cracked which worsened his family's concern towards him.

"Cale," Deruth called but Cale never looked back.

He ran fast so he could reach his room immediately. The servants looked at him in shock, he didn't want to know what was going on with their minds, all he wanted was to hide himself.

As soon as he entered his room, he slumped down and leaned on his door, muffling the sound of his cries so it wouldn't escape from his mouth.

What was I hoping for? Cale cried.

After calming down a little, Cale moved to his bed and hid under his blanket. A knock was heard and Hans entered his room.

"Young Mas—"

"Hans, prepare for my departure tomorrow. I will leave quietly at dawn," Cale said, he didn't listen to what the deputy butler would say nor was he interested in anything anymore.

All he wanted was to adhere to his father's choices.

Hans hesitated to speak and just let out a resigned smile.

"As you wish, Young Master," Hans responded.

Hans finished packing Cale's things right before midnight and he resigned for the day. Using this cue, Cale stood up and took his cloak. He wanted to visit his birth mother's grave before he went away. He knew what villa his father was speaking about, it was his mother's favorite.

A wind blew which knocked off the hood of his cloak, revealing his red hair glistening under the moonlight. Due to this, a certain man saw him and ended up following Cale.

The redhead entered the Henituse' Family grave. He kneeled in front of his mother's grave.

"It's been a while, Mom," Cale said in a mellow voice.

The man who followed Cale hid behind the tree near where the redhead was. He could clearly hear what Cale was saying.

"Mom, I am tired," Cale began to speak again. He was sobbing.

"I am tired living this way ... I know I was the one who made the decision to do this but it was tiring," the man could hear the sobbing of the redhead trash.

"I wanted to keep Father's happiness because I know you wanted it too ... but how about me? Nobody cared what I did, nobody asked what I wanted," Cale continued.

The man looked at the fragile figure in front of him. When he first saw Cale, he had this strong look and confident smile. A demeanor fitting for a noble like him, however, seeing him looking so delicate somehow made his heart ache. His voice was filled with sorrow as if he had given up with what was ahead of him. If he had seen him years ago, he might relate to him but he found something precious called family and friends that made all his laments go away as if it didn't exist.

However, the redhead in front of him looked so lonely and alone. He was known as trash, was that the reason why he didn't have any friends? Was that the reason why his family didn't care about him?

"If I didn't do any of it, the nobles and the collateral family would bring our name down," Cale spoke once again. "I didn't want my Father to be sad again ... that's why I acted trash, it was difficult but I got used to it. I was proud that I managed to protect them that way, but it hurt me when they looked at me like that and when they talked about me like that."

The redhead continued to cry.

So he was just acting, the man thought. That person became a lout since he was a kid yet he shouldered everything for the sake of his father's happiness. How admirable, but there is something I don't understand.

"Mom, Father is sending me away this time. He must have found me tiring too. I won't be able to visit you for a while, mom. But when I have a chance to go back to this territory, you'll be the first one I'll visit. I promise," Cale said as he sniffled.

Sending him away? To where? The man thought. His eyes were shaking as if he couldn't believe what he just heard.

He knew for certain the Lord of the Territory dotes on his son. Though, he didn't know in what way. But he saw how worried the Count was when the firstborn was bloodied and passed out. He wondered why.

Cale stayed there for a while and the man kept watching him not far from him. Then, after a good ten minutes, the redhead laid on the ground. The man immediately approached him, he sighed a breath of relief when he found the redhead just fell asleep.

"Ha, why can't I take my eyes off of you ever since I saw you that day?" The man said as he brushed the tears from Cale's eyes and brought him to his arms.

He couldn't let the young noble sleep outside without anyone looking after him. So he decided to bring him home. The knights saw him and their young master. They questioned what happened and the man just told them he fell asleep.

Deruth came out immediately after he was alerted of what happened. He personally took Cale from the knights and he saw how red his son's eyes were. He suddenly felt bad about what he said to his son earlier seeing Cale might have misunderstood his intentions.He decided to talk to his son first thing in the morning, totally unaware of his son's decision.

That night, Cale dreamt of something that would totally change his life.

○○○to be continued○○○