The Daughter of the Holy Spirit
The father had come.
It was hard to believe.
If it had been Kallen, perhaps, but she had never imagined her father would come in person to seize her.
“What if I don’t wish to meet him?”
Claude shrugged.
“There were no orders to bring you by force. Do as you please.”
No, that couldn’t be right.
Since her father had come all this way himself, there was no chance he would leave empty-handed. And when the time came, it would not unfold as quietly as this.
Canna turned to Raphael.
“I’ll go meet my father. Do not follow me this time.”
“Understood.”
As she spoke and began to walk, Claude trailed behind her, grumbling.
“What is this? Why do you report every single thing to that priest?”
“Report? I simply told him my decision.”
“That’s what I’m asking. Why do you act that way with him? What exactly is your relationship? Won’t you explain it to me?”
“Absolutely not. If I told you, you’d just run straight to Kallen and report everything.”
“I won’t. So just tell me a little.”
“Keep lying and I’ll kick you.”
“Yes. Sorry.”
Chatting about such trivial nonsense, they reached the spot where the carriage waited.
Yet her father was not inside. He sat on a tree stump beneath the branches.
Canna stopped without realizing it.
For a moment she thought it was someone else. His appearance differed so greatly from his usual self.
Alexandro, who always wore impeccable formal attire, now wore a loose silk shirt like a ranch shepherd and comfortable leather boots.
He even held a half-eaten apple in one hand.
What was that apple?
“What’s with that apple…?”
Claude muttered the same thought. Then he noticed the man sat beneath an apple tree.
“He couldn’t have climbed it, could he?”
“There’s no way…”
“But His Grace would never eat fruit that had fallen to the ground.”
While they speculated about the apple, his gaze turned precisely toward Canna.
Both she and Claude flinched. Canna stepped closer.
“I heard you called for me.”
Her father rose. A leaf caught in his red hair slid free and drifted down.
In that instant, the Holy Spirit flashed through her mind for some reason.
The Holy Spirit, who despite living more than five hundred years still possessed the face of a young man.
Would her father keep the appearance of a twenty-year-old youth until the day he died?
“Inside the carriage.”
“Ah, yes.”
Canna followed him into the carriage. The moment she sat down she regretted it.
I should have suggested we talk while walking.
Facing each other in the narrow space doubled the pressure.
Why did he always look so overwhelmingly large?
His frame was similar to Orsini’s and Kallen’s, yet he always seemed like a towering mountain.
She hated this feeling of being perfectly crushed with no path of resistance, but there was nothing she could do. Her fingertips tingled and her lips burned. Just as always, it happened again.
…….
A heavy silence filled the carriage.
When Canna’s breath began to choke and twist, Alexandro finally spoke.
“Canna.”
“Yes.”
“Return home.”
…….
“If you wish, you may bring the defrocked priest who aided your escape.”
Instead of answering, Canna simply stared at him. Then she spoke with care.
“I met the Holy Spirit.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. He said strange things.”
Her tongue felt parched. Canna swallowed before continuing.
“Would you like to hear what he told me?”
“It’s obvious.”
Alexandro leaned back against the seat. He muttered with clear mockery.
“He must have said you are not my daughter.”
A trace of irritation lingered on Alexandro’s face as he spoke.
“That statement is correct.”
…….
“You are the Holy Spirit’s daughter.”
Her mind went blank.
Not a single thought formed.
Canna stared at him in utter shock, then her head dropped heavily.
Since when had she been gripping both hands so tightly? Anyone would see the tension in her posture.
The moment she realized it, irritation flooded her.
How could he speak so casually? She had spent days in a near-panic!
“Is that all?”
Fierce anger burned through her skull. Canna lifted her head and glared at him.
“The truth I believed my entire life has been revealed as false, and that’s all you have to say?”
“Are you angry?”
Angry? Was that even a question?
“Of course I am!”
Her suppressed fury exploded.
Fearless, Canna slammed her foot against the carriage floor and shouted.
“I lived deceived for twenty-six years. How could I not be angry?”
Haah, haah. Her breath came in ragged gasps.
She had spoken only a few quick sentences, yet simply because her opponent was Alexandro Addis she had needed to use every ounce of strength.
Silence descended once more.
Alexandro watched her heaving shoulders without a word.
His gaze was so dry… the desert-like expression drained all the fire from her.
She had raged like this, yet none of it reached him.
“Nothing will change.”
His voice was flat and emotionless.
“You grew up as the eldest daughter of Addis. You will continue to live that way.”
…….
“Even if we do not share blood, the fact that you are a member of Addis remains. Therefore.”
He spoke with absolute command.
“Stay in Addis. Without my permission, you cannot go anywhere.”
She was speechless. Canna gave a crooked smile.
“Your Grace, Duke of Addis, I can also choose the Great Temple.”
The Holy Spirit had given her a choice.
He had said she could come whenever she wished, that he would wait. If she desired, she could abandon the Addis name and live as a saintess.
That was why his certainty struck her as ridiculous.
“You?”
Yet it was Alexandro who scoffed.
“Canna Addis, you must return home.”
His unyielding tone ignited her defiance. Staring straight into his eyes, she answered clearly.
“I will go where I want to go.”
“Didn’t you promise me? If I permitted the divorce, you would leave the matter of your residence entirely to me.”
“That was a promise made when I still believed Your Grace was my father.”
She was rebelling on instinct, yet in truth she had already half-decided to return to Addis.
Too many things remained there.
Everything she had built so far existed within Addis; if she left, she would need to take those things with her.
Even so, she hated the idea.
She simply hated it.
She refused to answer with a docile ‘I will.’
When Canna displayed this uncharacteristic stubbornness, Alexandro let out a sigh. He rubbed his brow. The gesture carried deep exhaustion.
“Canna.”
“Yes.”
“Did you think I came here to persuade you?”
Her throat closed for a moment.
Persuade… of course not. Naturally.
No word could be more alien to this man.
He had not come to scold or to soothe.
He had come to command.
The realization pressed helplessness down on her entire body.
Since her father had come for her, escape was no longer possible. Besides, hadn’t she already intended to return to Addis?
But.
“……Tell me the truth.”
Then why did she feel such resistance to obeying?
“Why you raised me. And what relationship you had with my mother. Please tell me.”
“I told you last time. To obtain what you desire, you must pay a price.”
He continued slowly.
“Or remain by my side and play detective. You may stumble across clues that satisfy your curiosity.”
Canna clenched her fists until they trembled and glared at him.
“Do you know this? Your Grace, Duke Alexandro Addis, I hate you. It is so horrible I cannot bear it.”
Yet his eyes never wavered. He simply watched her, as though inviting her to continue.
That enraged her.
It scraped her nerves raw.
No matter how many stones she hurled, no matter how she tried to wound him, he remained unmoved.
As if she were nothing to him. As if she were dust. As if she were meaningless….
“You are the worst villain I have ever known.”
Then the corner of Alexandro’s mouth lifted a fraction. A faint smile, almost invisible, ghosted across his face before vanishing instantly.
“What a shame that you have finally realized it.”
Yoanna Friedrich was the first princess of the Yalden Kingdom. And she was Kallen Addis’s fiancée.
To be precise, his prospective fiancée.
They had exchanged letters discussing the marriage, and this time she had come in person to settle the finer details.
Though called a betrothal, this was a transaction and a significant contract between the Friedrich royal family and the Addis ducal house.
Even amid calculations of numbers and assets, Yoanna felt enormous satisfaction with the arrangement.
Even in Yalden, Kallen Addis was renowned for his exceptional appearance and ability. Securing such a man felt like an incredible stroke of fortune.
“What is this?”
Yoanna shoved Kallen onto her bed. She climbed atop him and smiled with seductive charm.
“What does it look like I’m doing?”
“We are not even engaged yet, Your Highness. It is too early for a wedding night.”
Good heavens. Yoanna burst out laughing.
Even now, to speak in that cold, serious tone with such a boring line.
It was a model-student attitude, yet that only made it strangely more stimulating. To Yoanna, who had sampled every type of man in Yalden, he was refreshingly new.
“You must not know, but the women of Yalden lack patience. Especially when we want something, we seize it aggressively. Like this.”
Yoanna grabbed the cravat around Kallen’s neck and yanked it loose. Kallen frowned in clear annoyance.
“Your Highness, my day is not yet over. I must attend a meeting, so please move aside.”
A resolute voice without the slightest tremor. He even seemed to find her bothersome.
Yoanna was shocked.
There had never been a man who failed to yield after she went this far….
I lost to a meeting?
Offended, Yoanna climbed off him. She had pushed aggressively, but she had no interest in forcing someone who refused.
“Then I wish you a peaceful night, Your Highness.”
Kallen bowed without a single change in expression and left without hesitation.
That is simply too much.
A groan escaped her.
A man who could reject a night with a beauty in a single stroke to attend a meeting. How on earth could she break him?
Hmm, this might actually be entertaining.
She wondered how such a man would change if he fell completely for a woman and lost his reason.
At that moment, a strange sound came from beyond the door. It was Kallen shouting.
Yoanna quickly opened the door and peered out. She was startled.
The always impeccable face of Kallen Addis was completely twisted!
“My sister has disappeared? Are you seriously calling that a report right now!”
The butler shrank his shoulders. Kallen roared.
“Summon the knight order at once! No, forget it. I will go myself!”
“Th-then the meeting…?”
Kallen turned an icy glare on the butler.
“My sister has disappeared.”
Each word burned with scorching rage.
Yoanna doubted her own ears. She had never imagined hearing such heated passion from Kallen.
“Is something so trivial important?”