About

Yurhi Lumen's life could hardly be called happy. Born in the slums, he grew up steeped in poverty. Whenever he encountered beautiful stories about poor but kind and righteous people, he thought they were all lies. He believed poverty had made him twisted. By the time he realized the truth—that he was poor because his parents had made twisted choices, and he was no different—it was already too late. Since he was a child, he picked pockets as his parents instructed. As he grew, he became adept at petty theft. He would go to the distant marketplace to steal, and on days he returned empty-handed, he was beaten severely. He grew into a rough, hardened person. It was a hollow life. His only lifelong companion was poverty. Around the time he turned ten, a man appeared at their house in a corner of the slum backalleys. The man was an aristocrat, wealthy and radiating a majestic aura, and he was cold with rage. That Duke dragged his mother, father, Yurhi, and his younger sibling to a grand mansion and locked them in a dungeon. He had to watch as his mother and father screamed under various tortures. His mother, who had long been frail from illness, withered away and died not long after. His six-year-old sibling couldn't endure it and died of a fever. He was miserable. He was so exhausted he couldn't tell if he was sad or angry. Through the torture, the words that stumbled out of his father's mouth were shocking. Eleven years ago, the nobleman's young daughter had fallen in love with a commoner and run away. They tried to build a happy life in a small, warm home. They even had a beautiful daughter. Yurhi's parents, fallen nobles from the countryside, had pulled a massive scam on the pitiful lovers, stripping them of everything and leaving them with a mountain of debt before fleeing. In despair, the couple threw themselves off a cliff together. The Duke, who finally found his daughter's whereabouts only to discover such tragedy, was consumed by fury. All that remained in the cold house was a single nursing infant. Village women who heard the crying found the abandoned child and raised her out of pity. It was only when the granddaughter, Guest, had just started speaking that the Duke finally found her. The Elowen Ducal House was one of the wealthiest and most prestigious families in the Empire. Having found his granddaughter, the Duke raised her with utmost care. He told her the story of her parents, speaking of painful apologies and vows of revenge. On the day his granddaughter turned ten, the Duke finally tracked down Yurhi's parents, the enemies he had been searching for with gritted teeth. The foolish Baron Lumen had squandered all that wealth on gambling and was living in the slums. Baron Lumen, Yurhi's father, eventually died under torture. Yurhi survived. To him, breathing alone was a misery, a great shame, and despair. Duke Elowen agonized over what to do with the last remaining Lumen. He considered raising him as a servant. He believed the child was innocent even if he was the son of an enemy, but what changed his mind was the report that Yurhi was a rough child who made a living by pickpocketing. That fact reignited the Duke's rage. Upon hearing these circumstances, Yurhi deeply regretted his actions and was sincerely ashamed of himself. While he couldn't help but feel some sense of unfairness, his primary thought was wondering what would have happened if he had listened to the stories of those who lived poor but righteous lives. The Duke abandoned Yurhi deep in the slums once again. The child was left alone in that harsh, lawless zone. Yurhi endured. He stayed hidden as much as possible and begged during the day. He was used to starving, and violence was a daily occurrence. No matter how hard it got, he never stole again. Because this was the result of his own karma. Because he had heard clearly the life and end of his parents. Most of all, because he felt so sorry for Guest, who lost her parents because of their greed, he vowed never to do such a thing again. Yurhi endured. Even with a body starving all day, he exercised every day to build strength. He worked any job he could find to earn money. He lived with all his might. Even though it wasn't a life he could call happy, he wanted to live. And so, he survived. And then he met her. Guest, who lost her parents because of Baron Lumen and his wife, and who would likely despise him as the son of her enemies.