Chapter 265: Brother’s Shocking Secret

Igor had mentioned that there were plenty of people in the royal capital with whom he had a complicated history, but this was the first time Qiu Nuoya had ever seen him look so troubled.

"Is that your daughter, Mr. Ignis?"

"Yeah, my daughter, Ve..."

"Her name is Velia! She’s my adorable niece, isn’t she?"

Igor cut his brother off and announced the child’s name himself.

As far as Qiu Nuoya remembered, Igor’s own daughter was named Veria, so even the children’s names were remarkably similar. Was it possible that the brothers shared the same naming sense as well as the same face?

Could they really be twins?

Qiu Nuoya leaned down to look at the little girl’s face.

"How old are you?"

The girl held up three tiny fingers.

"Thwee!"

She gave him a sweet wobbly smile.

This child is ridiculously adorable!

"Still, I’m surprised. Igor never told me he had a brother."

"Yeah, I’m surprised too. I never thought things would turn out like this..."

Igor sighed, then glanced sideways at his older brother with a troubled expression.

Ignis simply patted his daughter’s head and said, "It’s just fate."

Qiu Nuoya had absolutely no idea what the two brothers were talking about, so he tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

However, Igor didn’t answer his question, and Ignis merely continued smiling without offering any explanation.

"Viktor, Nuoya, I’m really glad I got to meet you two."

"Huh? What? Um, thank you..."

Despite being Igor’s older brother, Ignis spoke with such warmth and familiarity that Viktor seemed a little bewildered. Then again, Viktor had always been terribly shy around people, so it was only natural that he would be even more awkward around someone he’d just met.

Igor was friendly toward practically everyone, and apparently, his older brother was much the same. Thinking that, Qiu Nuoya smiled and held out his hand.

"I’m glad to meet you too."

Ignis took his hand in a firm grip. His hand was rough and calloused, and Qiu Nuoya suddenly realized something.

"Mr. Ignis, are you perhaps in the military?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Good eye. I serve in the heavy infantry unit of the Velikorya Kingdom’s army."

Just as he suspected!

That would explain why Viktor’s father and Prince Lucien had seemed to recognize Igor. With the two brothers looking so much alike, it wouldn’t have been surprising for someone to mistake Ignis for Igor.

"The kingdom’s army? The heavy infantry unit? Aren’t you an adventurer?"

Igor looked at his older brother as though this were the first he’d heard of it.

"Well, let’s just say there are a few things going on," Ignis replied with a nod.

"Why did you quit being an adventurer?"

"Well, there were a lot of reasons, but the biggest one was my family."

Judging by Igor’s surprised question, Ignis had originally been an adventurer just like his younger brother. With an easygoing smile, he explained that he had given up adventuring to become a soldier for the sake of his family.

The little girl in his arms began squirming restlessly, so Ignis gently soothed her before lifting her onto his shoulders.

"I gave up being an adventurer for this little one’s sake."

Looking Igor straight in the eye, Ignis spoke without the slightest hesitation. Igor, however, averted his gaze with a complicated expression.

It was true that adventurers lived with danger constantly hanging over their heads. It was a profession that allowed people to earn money through their own efforts, but their income was far from stable.

Hunting monsters, challenging dungeons, and setting off on journeys in pursuit of a fortune all carried a certain romantic appeal. But making a living that way was another matter entirely, especially when one had a family to support. Unless someone was a high-ranking adventurer who could earn a substantial income, providing for a family would be difficult.

And the higher an adventurer’s rank, the more difficult and dangerous their assignments became. As a result, quite a few adventurers retired and took up other professions when they started families.

Ignis had probably made the same choice, leaving his life as an adventurer behind to become a soldier.

"Daddy, Veli, go home, Mommy."

"Oh, is that so? Then let’s go home together, sweetheart."

When his daughter announced that she wanted to return to her mother, Ignis patted Igor on the back.

"Well, see you around. I’ll leave the rest to you."

With that, he turned around and walked away without a second thought.

Qiu Nuoya watched Ignis’s retreating figure, impressed by how casually he had said his goodbyes. Igor, however, remained silent, his expression still unusually solemn.

Leave the rest to him? What exactly had Ignis entrusted to Igor?

And was it just Qiu Nuoya’s imagination, or was something strange about Igor’s behavior?

"Mr. Ignis really does look just like you, Igor. I was amazed."

"Yeah... He really does."

"By the way, were you able to see your family?"

"Well... yeah."

Igor seemed lost in his own thoughts, barely paying attention to his surroundings and responding to Qiu Nuoya with distracted, halfhearted answers.

"Igor, are you okay?"

Growing genuinely concerned by how absentminded he was, Qiu Nuoya grabbed his arm and leaned forward to look up at his face. At last, Igor seemed to regain his focus. He murmured a single word.

"Nuoya..."

Don’t tell me he couldn’t even see me properly?

Qiu Nuoya couldn’t help worrying about what might have happened to Igor while they had been apart. He was an easygoing, considerate man, but he was also the sort who rarely let others see his weaknesses. For someone like him to seem so lost in thought without even trying to hide it, something must have happened to him over the past few days.

"Igor, if something happened, you can talk to me, you know?"

"..."

Igor hesitated, apparently unsure where to begin. Qiu Nuoya quietly waited for him to speak.

"Lilica’s..."

Lilica? That was his wife’s name, wasn’t it? He’d remarried, if Qiu Nuoya remembered correctly...