"Are you asking about the old mistress? Let me think..." Before Calibo stood both Sean and Igunia.
The two held the portrait before the old butler, asking him. If anyone in this household knew the most about the previous generation, it was this old butler—he had served the Viger family since his grandfather's time.
Watching Calibo's trembling hand take the painting from Igunia...
He had always heard the family say that the previous Viger Baron loved oil paintings, even to the point where the national subsidy and Count Hamilton would bring some paintings over, and of course, they would also paint portraits for the family.
"This is the one..." His calloused hand gently traced around the edges, a hint of tears in the corners of his eyes.
"I understand now why the master loved oil paintings back then. Indeed. Even after all these years, looking at it brings back the scene from those days... It's been so long..."
"...At that time, a traveler came, said to have great talent in painting... The young master hadn't been born yet! It was when the master first met the mistress, and he had this painted... Hahaha..."
His laughter carried a touch of weariness.
Calibo was very old, the eldest in the household.
Sometimes he would get confused in his words and actions, and Sean rarely asked him to do things, but he would always stubbornly insist on doing them himself.
No help for it—in winter, he thought moving around was good for him...
Still, his body was quite sturdy; even at his age, he walked steadily.
"When the mistress left, the young master was still small, maybe three or four years old, so you probably don't remember her." He looked at Sean as he spoke.
In truth, Sean's memories from even his teenage years were hazy, since having memories from two worlds sometimes caused confusion... Like a little boy watching the sunrise from a wizard's tower in the snow, or dreaming of foreseeing a witch atop a skyscraper.
But thinking about it, there was no wizard's tower in his past life, and Taylor Mian certainly had no such tower, let alone skyscrapers—that was pure nonsense.
So Sean figured it was the mixing of memories from two worlds causing chaos... It was normal to dream of scenes that felt familiar but, upon closer thought, had never been seen. He recalled reading similar reports in his past life.
Probably because both versions of 'himself' had similar experiences, so once they merged, these scenes transcending time and space appeared.
"Why did she leave?" Sean asked proactively.
From the moment Igunia found this portrait, Sean had a very peculiar feeling.
Technically, the parents here could be called 'parents,' but he had always used the Viger family name.
What was this so-called inheritance...
Bloodline, name, or fragments left in others' words and memories...
In any case, he wanted to know, as if he could find a sense of belonging from it.
"I remember asking the master back then, and he said the mistress wanted to visit her family, but once she left, she never came back... You kept crying then, and though the master always comforted you, I knew he cried at night too. So none of us dared to bring it up, and eventually, we just stopped mentioning it altogether."
No wonder Sean felt that since arriving in this world, he had only ever heard about how the previous Viger Baron was, or the one before that. Since the lineage had passed through so many generations, there should have been some stories about the women, but he had hardly heard any.
"Then... she wasn't from the town?" Sean continued.
Calibo shook his head firmly.
"No!"
"The mistress came from outside. It was raining heavily in town that day. We heard a group of mercenaries hadn't come down from the mountain, so the master led people up to search... That night was pitch black; no one unfamiliar with the town dared to go up. Unable to light torches, we used hand lanterns and walked slowly, step by step..."
Calibo recounted the story from over twenty years ago. Back then, the Viger Baron led his men up the mountain and eventually found the lost adventurer—just one person, who later became Sean's mother.
"The master brought that person home to recover, and gradually we realized she was a very beautiful young woman." Calibo chuckled as he said this.
That period was much like a story of a country boy meeting a beautiful girl.
One was a baron, the other an unknown but very pretty girl...
"We could all tell the mistress was special back then, but we couldn't pinpoint how. None of us had ever seen a noble lady, but we later thought she must be one... Yet even when Miss Aria Hamilton came, I felt her presence wasn't as refined as the mistress's."
"Perhaps the master was drawn by that presence and kept pursuing her. Finally, when she was about to leave, he mustered the courage to confess."
Of course, the outcome was good.
Otherwise, Sean wouldn't be in this world...
"If that's the case, why did she leave later?"
"I'm not sure of the specifics. The master only told us the mistress was going back to her family. Thinking about it... they had lived together for a few years, and after you were born, another three or four years passed without her returning. It made sense she'd want to go back."
"What puzzled me, though, was why the master didn't go with her, and why he never went after her later." Though Calibo was the household butler, he wasn't entirely oblivious to the master's feelings.
The previous Viger Baron never left Taylor Mian town until his death—something Sean had complained about many times before. But now, it seemed it wasn't that simple.
If they were so in love, why didn't he dare to chase after her?
Or had something else happened... Sean's mind recalled the first thing he saw upon arriving in this world: the man on the bed telling him to ensure the Viger family continued.
Hearing this story today and reflecting on those words, they seemed to carry another meaning.
"Niya, come with me."
He grabbed Igunia and ran back up to the room upstairs.
Calibo just stood there, staring blankly at the two, while Igunia politely nodded to him...
"What are we looking for?"
Once in the previous Viger Baron's room, Sean began rummaging through everything.
"Looking for any other clues—anything. Letters, diaries, whatever."
They searched for a long time but found nothing besides the portrait. Since the previous Viger Baron's death, no one had entered this room; most things remained as they were, even the quill on the desk hadn't been put away, left out as the baron had used it.
The nib had long dried out, and the paper on the desk held little meaningful writing.
"Maybe we should go up the mountain and look."
"Huh?"
"In Taylor Mian town, there's always been an ancient tomb that many wizards explore."