Interlude 4: The Last Descendant of the del Kunas Family

037.M40, Cassidorius del Kunas was twelve years old.

He lived with his mother in what was now the del Kunas Family's only remaining residence, leading a simple life wholly unbefitting their status.

There was not a single servant in the house, not even a servitor. As a result, thick dust had settled over many parts of the mansion, making it seem as though no one lived there at all. Only the places mother and son frequented remained reasonably tidy.

Every morning, young Cassidorius awoke to the automatic chime of the mechanical clock that had been passed down for thousands of years. He then washed, dressed, and left for school, not returning home until evening.

He did not live like an aristocrat's child. Many young masters and ladies his age had already begun to amuse themselves by toying with servants or commoners, or worse—developing a taste for chemicals. He was different. His only daily pastime was chess, and his opponent was his gravely ill mother.

His mother did not have much time left. Young Cassidorius had heard the news from the doctor a year ago. He understood what death was, after all. He had watched every relative and elder in the family die. He had grown up amidst death—how could he not understand what it truly was?

It was simply that his mother was the last person left besides him, and realizing that made him somewhat sad.

More precisely, he wished he could die with her.

His mother naturally did not want that.

She never said so outright, instead making her stance known through her actions. She endured the pain of her illness and the torment of her body, forcibly dragging out the death sentence given by the doctor for an entire year.

Her condition did not improve, but neither did