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Chapter 70
My mother, driven to madness by the ‌‌‌experiments, ‌‌endured something so horrific that she lost her mind entirely, and escaped the Laboratory with me in her arms.
The end of the mad fairy was ghastly.
Every ‌‌‌story I had heard about my mother was nothing but nauseating.
The power of the maddened fairy defied nature ‌‌itself.
Everywhere her feet touched, life withered away.
Flowers wilted, grass desiccated, and earth rotted black.
Clear lakes transformed into fetid sewage reeking of decay, and animals turned savage, attacking humans.
The Slave Hunters who ‌rushed to capture the ‌‌‌‌mad fairy all became corpses crushed beneath her feet.
My mother continued onward, singing toward some destination.
A song no human could comprehend.
It was the only lullaby I held as a memory of my mother.
"...."
I collapsed onto the floor with a soft thud.
For some reason, my strength drained away, ‌‌‌‌and I simply ‌wanted to sit.
I remained still, breathing in and out.
I felt the presence of someone ‌‌‌approaching.
I quickly rose from the floor and darted deeper into the room.
And I performed the image of a well-mannered infant, as though I had been absorbed in reading all along.
By the ‌‌time I settled onto the sofa, holding a fairy tale book with an appropriately serious expression.
Knock, ‌‌‌knock—the door opened with the sound.
Beyond the slowly opening door appeared two ‌‍tall, handsome men.
It was Hailon and Kieran.
Unlike Kieran, who hesitated and lingered at the threshold, Hailon entered the room without ‌hesitation.
And he stroked my head as if to make a point.
"Have you been playing well?"
"Yes...."
I quickly closed the fairy tale book I had been holding upside down and set it aside, casting my eyes downward.
I had been planning to return to the Basilian ‌‌‌‌Count Estate.
But after destroying the Basilian Estate and toppling the Holy Temple, causing such a commotion, it felt awkward to simply return now.
My ‌‌‌plan was to tell a touching story—one where I endured serious anguish and conflict before ultimately returning to the embrace of family.
Since it had to be the kind of anguish and conflict a two-year-old would experience, I had kept it simple ‌‌and shallow.
It was a perfect plan.
However, the various lines I had carefully prepared
all seemed to vanish the moment my eyes met Kieran's.
"...Chesa." ‌
Kieran, still standing at the doorway, smiled.
It was a smile meant to hide his tension.
"Have you been well?"
The venomous demeanor with which I had subtly pressured Hailon until now had vanished without a trace.
Anxiety was laid ‌‌‌bare in the trembling crimson eyes.
It was unexpected.
Just as with Hailon, ‌‌I had thought Kieran would coax me with shameless audacity mixed with a touch of pity—but instead....
Kieran had revealed his face beneath the mask.
Caught off guard by his unexpected ‌demeanor, ‌‌I couldn't respond, and Kieran's smile vanished.
He bit his lower lip.
But soon he forced his lips upward again.
He asked carefully, struggling to maintain a smile.
"Did you perhaps... miss Father?"
As if forcing a smile weren't enough, Kieran rambled on with increasingly strange words.
"Ah, if you didn't miss me, then what should I do...."
Watching Kieran, who had lost his serpent's tongue, Hailon also appeared somewhat flustered.
He seemed incredulous that this was the same person who, mere minutes ago, had been trading ‌‌‌barbs ‌‌‌with him as if they were daggers.
Unable ‌‌‌to bear it any longer, I deployed all the lines I had prepared to soothe Kieran.
"I did miss you."
"...Really?"
Kieran hesitantly took one step forward.
But that was all. ‌‌‌
He couldn't move any further.
He murmured in a ‌‌voice still dripping with melancholy.
"You don't have ‌‌to force yourself to lie, Chesa."
I sprang from the chair.
Then I approached Kieran and extended both hands toward him.
....
Kieran looked down at me with eyes that held a hint of disbelief.
After a long hesitation, he gently drew me into his ‌‌‌embrace.
His touch was careful, as though I might shatter at the slightest misstep.
The moment ‌‌our warmth met, Kieran exhaled softly.
I felt a twinge of guilt.
I had long known that he was mentally unstable.
Yet until ‌‌‌‌‌now, he had managed to hold ‌‌on, precarious though it was.
This incident seemed to have broken something further within ‌‌‌him.
And it appeared he had developed a slight obsession with me in the process.
'I should take good care of him while we're ‌‌‌‌together.'
My decision to return to the Basilian Estate was layered with countless excuses and reasons.
But setting all of that aside, the truth was that I too....
had missed the men ‌‌‌of House Basilian just a little.
Not much—truly just a little.
During the week apart, they had nagged at me like invisible thorns.
"Father."
Kieran's breath caught at Chesa's words.
"Chesa... would you call ‌‌‌me Father Basilian?"
"Please do."
He answered immediately, without even pausing to ‌‌‌breathe, then whispered again.
"Call me Father Basilian, yes?" ‌‌
"I will!"
Upon hearing Chesa's answer, Kieran crumbled forward and leaned his face against hers.
He buried his ‌‌‌face against Chesa for a moment before pleading softly.
"Chesa... don't leave me now."
In his words, I could sense an ancient ‌wound.
Not even scarred over yet—still bleeding fresh and raw whenever touched.
He leaned his face against Chesa.
"Father is asking you, please."
"..."
Kieran, quick to notice that I had grown too ‌‌‌melancholic, broke into a bright smile.
He swiftly dispelled the heavy atmosphere, whining playfully.
"Without Chesa, Father can't sleep, can't eat..."
He rattled ‌‌off nonsense while affectionately peppering Chesa's cheeks with kisses.
Chesa dignified herself by soothing the whimpering Kieran.
At this point, who could tell who was the child?
"Shall we go home now?"
Kieran was grinning widely and about to leave with Chesa in his arms when—
A pristine white chain suddenly materialized and coiled around Kieran's waist.
"And who gave you permission to take her away?"
Hailon, who had been watching quietly, had drawn forth his chain of judgment to restrain ‌‌‌‌‌Kieran.
Kieran's eyes narrowed as he snapped back irritably.
"You were the one who said you'd leave the choice to the child."
"That was before I knew the Count was a dark mage."
Hailon reversed his position as easily as flipping ‌his palm.
"It's obvious this would be harmful to the child's emotional development and education. I cannot allow ‌‌‌‌‌it."
"...Sigh."
Kieran dragged his free hand across his face with irritation. ‌‌
Then he suddenly whispered to Chesa.
"Chesa, tell the knight that his clinginess ‌‌is unbearable to watch."
Of course, Hailon heard every word of the ‌whisper.
Hailon's eyes narrowed to ‌‌‌‌slits.
Before the mansion could be destroyed, Chesa hastily stepped in to mediate.
"I'll go home with you first. But..."
I knew Hailon wouldn't simply let me go.
So I had already devised a plan of my own.
"You should visit the knight too!"
This time, Kieran's eyes narrowed to slits.
Caught between two men whose gazes had turned sharp and ‌‌piercing, I declared boldly.
"So even if I go home, I want to come see the knight!"
I said this to Hailon with a bright smile.
"And you should come visit Chesa too, knight."
"...."
Hailon ‌‌‌‌averted his gaze for a moment.
He ‌‌‌disliked the compromise, but if he refused now, he feared Chesa would resent him.
Kieran's expression was equally displeased, yet he reluctantly accepted my mediation.
"Since my daughter wishes ‌it... do visit occasionally. You ‌‌‌can come and verify whether she has fallen into depravity or remains virtuous."
Though he did emphasize 'occasionally' quite heavily.
Hailon gazed at me quietly.
He withdrew the chains of condemnation and slowly approached, cradling my hand in his.
As if swearing a knight's oath, he whispered in a solemn voice.
"I will visit often."
Then he placed a gentle kiss upon the back of my hand.
Kieran's expression twisted with genuine irritation as he abruptly pulled up ‌‌‌his shadow.
Before my vision was completely consumed by darkness.
I waved my hand secretly where Kieran couldn't see. ‌‌‌‌‌
Hailon smiled faintly in return.
Thus I departed from the Heresy Inquisitor's mansion.

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