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Chapter 10
When I first met Hata.
The poor girl was discarded among a heap of refuse.
After driving away the Underworld residents circling her, hoping to scavenge something edible, Chesa rescued her with her own ‌hands.
Hata was a dog-human hybrid abandoned after experimentation.
Grown dogs were no longer cute, after all.
She existed because of human greed—the desire to possess a puppy that would remain eternally young and small.
Due to side effects from the experiments, Hata was incomplete.
Unlike other hybrids who could transform perfectly into human form, her body ceased growing ‌‌‌‌with her ears and tail still visible.
She ‌became trapped in a ‌‌body that stopped developing around seventeen years of ‌‌‌‌age.
From repeated experimentation, her ‌‌mind was somewhat immature, and she had lost most of her memories.
Thus she ‌‌‌‌could offer no useful information to Chesa, who was tracking traces of her mother.
Yet Chesa treated the dying puppy and used her fairy powers to conceal the ears and tail.
Hata, saved from death's threshold, wanted to swear loyalty to the fairy.
"Hata wants to stay with you forever, fairy!"
It was absurd—she could barely survive alone.
I naturally ignored her and left alone.
But Hata was persistent.
She followed me everywhere, eagerly advertising her usefulness.
"Hata can help! Look at this. I made it for you, fairy!"
She gifted me handcrafted hats and ornaments.
She gifted me various potions manufactured with her hybrid strength.
"Hata brought information!"
She sold ‌‌things she made to gather useful intelligence and brought it to me.
Her desperate attempts to win my favor were no different from a dog ‌‌‌meeting a new master.
Hata was annoying, but I couldn't bring myself to kill her.
Perhaps because she had been experimented ‌‌‌‌on, just like my mother.
I always treated her with uncharacteristic softness.
It was one of those days when I ignored the following Hata and wandered about freely.
Hata disappeared.
The sudden vanishing seemed strange—too abrupt to assume she ‌‌‌‌had ‌‌finally given up.
Concerned, I ‌‌‌set out to find Hata.
And I learned she ‌‌‌‌had been taken by those who harbored resentment toward me.
This was exactly why I had tried never to ‌‌keep anyone by my side.
Furious, I went to find Hata.
I couldn't even remember how many I killed that day.
Only the memory of raging like a mad fairy's daughter remained.
Drenched in blood, I finally found Hata.
She was in terrible condition, ‌‌‌as expected.
I raised an axe toward Hata, sprawled with her limbs twisted in unnatural directions.
"Don't let me see your face again."
I pressed the blood-dripping axe blade beneath her chin as a warning.
"I'll kill you."
I ‌‌‌‌thought she would understand by now.
Yet Hata suddenly began weeping.
"I'm sorry.... Hata isn't cute.... I'm just a big, ugly dog."
The one who hadn't shed a ‌‌single tear or uttered a whimper even when all her limbs were broken while waiting for Chesa now trembled violently as she wept.
"Of course the beautiful fairy would hate Hata...."
The foolish dog-kin didn't even know how to cry properly.
Hata wept while laughing.
"Hata is broken. I'm a worthless mutt."
At words spoken with such familiarity, Chesa's eyes narrowed.
They must have come from the Laboratory.
Repeated so many times that they remained vivid even through lost ‌memories.
"Filthy, disgusting mutt, ugh, not knowing my ‌‌place, to a fairy.... Sob, I'm sorry.... B-but...."
Her forced smile trembled.
Stumbling over her words as tears welled up, Hata pressed her cheek against the cold axe blade.
A thin red line appeared and blood trickled down, yet she didn't flinch as she pleaded.
"Could I... just follow behind you.... wouldn't that be alright...."
It was truly annoying and bothersome.
Still, keeping a dog or two didn't seem like a bad idea.
The first thing Chesa did after deciding to keep her by my side was to seize the leash of her life.
In the Underworld, trusting others was the height of foolishness.
It was simply what had to be done.
I rifled through her tattered clothing and ‌‌placed ‌‌my hand over Hata's left chest.
Brilliant flowers bloomed in all directions.
Wrapped in scattering petals and butterflies, Hata blinked blankly before feeling the pain and gasping.
"Ugh...!"
Though cold sweat beaded ‌‌‌on her brow from the agony, Hata endured.
At the end of that ordeal, a mark binding her heart was inscribed.
Seeing the floral pattern blooming on her own skin, Hata's expression became rapturous.
The ‌‌‌‌dog who now wore a leash controlling life and death was overjoyed by this fact.
Chesa gave a command to Hata, whose face had flushed crimson as she gazed up at me.
"From now on, you'll live as my little dog."
From that day forward, Hata became the fairy's dog.
The loyal dog wagered everything on Chesa.
She worked harder than necessary at anything, and ‌if anyone posed a threat to Chesa, ‌‌she was the first to rush forward and bite.
Excessively so, even.
Still, despite her fluffy dessert-like appearance, her fierce barking was endearing enough that I let it slide.
'This is inconvenient right now! ‌‌‌‌Why did she come so soon!'
Chesa felt as though her soul was escaping her body.
As Chesa screamed silently within, Karha pulled her close with one arm and placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at ‌‌‌‌his waist.
"Wait a moment."
With a metallic ring, the blade slid free from its sheath as a brilliant flash ‌‌of light blazed across the darkness.
The sound of air splitting followed, and a moment later came a heavy, dull thud.
It was the sound of the Fountain that had stood before Chesa just moments ago being cleaved cleanly in two.
Water cascaded and overflowed, drenching the ‌‌Garden's grass in chaos.
Karha laughed crookedly as he swung his blade.
"Let's talk again after I catch one mutt."
Karha's instinct in bisecting the Fountain had been precise.
Hata had been hiding ‌‌‌‌behind a shrub not far from the Fountain.
With a butterfly sent by Chesa perched upon her head to conceal her form, Hata glared at Karha fiercely through the bushes.
Judging by the brilliant violet gleam in her ‌‌eyes, she had gravely misunderstood ‌‌the situation.
She believed Karha was tormenting Chesa.
Hata was poised to leap out and tear into him at any moment.
'Hata! No!'
I sent ‌‌her a ‌desperate look.
The growling Hata instantly grew docile the moment our eyes met.
Like a ‌‌well-trained hound, she gazed at me with gentle eyes.
To her silent question, I subtly gestured toward Karha without his notice.
It was a signal ‌‌to flee at once.
But it seemed Hata would not escape easily.
For Karha, who had pursued me with the keen instincts ‌‌of a beast, was now walking directly toward where Hata hid.
It was entirely different from when he had lazily chased me while catching the scent of flowers.
His eyes gleamed with killing intent.
I glanced covertly at Karha's blade.
Two swords hung side by side at his waist. ‌‌‌‌
They were short swords, their length less than that of ordinary blades. ‌‌
Given his light and nimble movements, it was likely a dual-sword ‌‌‌‌style based on swift strikes.
Swordplay emphasizing aggressive offense was a poor match for Hata's beast-like, hand-to-hand combat style.
For now, he wielded only one blade while holding me, but if a true melee erupted....
My beloved hound might be minced like ground meat beneath the relentless onslaught of two flashing blades.
'That cannot happen.'
My eyes hardened with resolve.
I was about to steel myself and reveal my identity to unleash my power.
Suddenly, the ground trembled beneath us.
It was the ‌‌‌‌vibration caused by dozens ‌‌‌of galloping horses.
Bells ‌‌‌‌rang from the Castle tower, and lights blazed throughout the Castle.
The Castle, shrouded in darkness, was instantly flooded with illumination.
At the loud, clanging bells, Karha's face twisted in displeasure.
"...Ugh."
The sudden commotion caused Karha to abandon his pursuit of the ‌‌‌‌‌dog.
"I need to check the Castle Gate first."
Rather than chase after Hata as she fled, he cradled Chesa in his arms and sprinted lightly toward the Castle Gate.
Then he concealed himself behind the brush where the Castle Gate came into view.
His hand rested upon his sword hilt, ready to draw at ‌‌‌any moment.
Before the Castle Gate stood the ‌‌Knight Order, their crimson banners unfurled.
The flags bore the Imperial seal.
Kieran emerged at a leisurely pace, dressed in simple indoor garments beneath an outer robe.
The Imperial Nobleman who had arrived with the Knight Order remained mounted, looking down upon Kieran.
He spoke with arrogance. ‌‌‌
"Count Basilian shall obey ‌‌‌‌the Imperial decree."
As though roused from slumber, Kieran's eyes were half-lidded as he yawned.
The Nobleman's rebuke fell sharply at such unbecoming conduct.
"How dare you be so insolent! Is this how a nobleman honors the Imperial decree?"
"Ah, well... it would have been better had you come during daylight."
Kieran ran his fingers carelessly through his disheveled hair, his voice ‌‌‌‌‌drowsy as he replied.
"Please, state the Imperial decree."
The Nobleman ‌‌ground his teeth and withdrew a scroll from his robes. ‌
He broke the wax seal stamped with the Emperor's insignia and read the decree in a sharp voice.
"Count Basilian shall enter the Imperial Palace immediately upon receiving this letter. This is the Emperor's command, and failure to comply shall be deemed treason. Furthermore, you must...."
He spoke each character with deliberate emphasis.
"Enter the Imperial Palace together with the adopted child you have newly taken into your house."

---------------
Brought to you by Valir ‌Scans! ‌‌‌‌To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------