Chapter 115
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Chapter 115
When I first brought Chesa from the Orphanage.
I had already completed all the background investigations.
Tracing the origins of children who simply appeared at the Orphanage was never easy.
Kieran had failed to uncover any meaningful information.
Precisely because of this, I had kept Chesa under close watch, harboring suspicions.
Of course, by now I had resolved to accept whatever Chesa might be.
But the path to reach this point had been anything but smooth.
Chesa, Kieran, the three Basilian brothers—all of us had endured agonizing conflict.
This fragile peace was hard-won through suffering and struggle.
Yet suddenly, that Cardinal had arrived, threatening to shatter it all.
Kieran barely suppressed a twisted smile.
You claim to know truths that even I, the Master of the Underworld, am ignorant of?
The absurdity of this fool thrashing about in ignorance was unbearable.
I wanted nothing more than to tear him limb from limb on the spot.
But...
Even as I recognized that the cornered Cardinal was desperately grasping at lies and deception.
I could not entirely dismiss the darker thoughts creeping in.
My fractured mind conjured up a remote possibility and let it take shape.
What if Cardinal Milliod had truly discovered Chesa's biological father and brought him before her?
What if the severed bloodline were restored?
The revelation of being a "fairy's daughter" had been manageable.
After all, Lichesia was one of the rare few for whom I harbored genuine affection.
Learning that Chesa was a fairy had strained my heart somewhat, but now I was putting that knowledge to good use—as a convenient excuse to command the Heretic Inquisitor Hailon.
But a biological father...
That worthless wretch who had allowed a fairy to abandon her child at an Orphanage.
No matter his claim to be her true parent, I doubted I could ever accept him.
Kieran posed a new question to himself.
But what if her father had been forced to part with her by unavoidable circumstances?
What if he had searched desperately for Chesa all these years, only to be reunited with her in a tearful embrace?
'That would be even more troublesome.'
I was a serpent, nourished by the peculiar essence of the Black Forest.
Born with a dark and obsessive nature, I was incapable of being a normal father from the start.
If someone arrived with something I could never provide and tried to claim the seat beside Chesa, I would surely succumb to jealousy.
Especially if Chesa began to develop affection for this biological father.
I loved it when Chesa called me father.
I did not want to lose that title.
The mere thought of watching her smile and call another man father made my blood run cold.
Blood runs thicker than water, they say.
Perhaps Chesa would shower her biological father with affection the moment they met.
The thought of someone so easily accepting what I had painstakingly earned merely because of a bloodline connection twisted my insides with rage.
"How irritating...."
"What did you just say?"
The words spilled from my lips before I could stop them, and a sharp voice immediately cut through the air.
Kieran smiled thinly and replied.
"Nothing at all, Your Eminence."
I needed to figure out what to do about that Cardinal—the one who had planted such complicated thoughts in my mind.
After all, my biological father likely didn't exist.
I didn't believe the Cardinal had actually found what I couldn't.
At best, he had merely fabricated something plausible from scraps of information he'd picked up somewhere.
But even if he truly did exist....
Kieran swallowed the sinister thoughts and painted on a smile.
"I know nothing of the child's biological father."
The cunning serpent's tongue turned toward the Cardinal.
"I humbly beseech Your Eminence to enlighten me."
***
Though few in number, the Fantastical Races far surpassed humanity.
Among them, the Fairy—the most renowned and widely known of all Fantastical Races—was a species that inspired awe itself.
Miliod could not forget the shock he had felt upon seeing a Fairy for the first time.
They were beautiful, and they were strong.
Witnessing such manifestly superior beings, one could not help but think certain thoughts.
That they were loved by God far more than humans.
It was humans who praised God.
Yet it was heretical beings who were truly beloved—unbearably, unjustly so.
And yet one could not resent God for it.
Thus, the solution I conceived was for humanity to become a "perfect existence."
To draw closer to God, to struggle desperately for His love—the effort seemed almost ugly in its desperation.
But Miliod understood and deeply sympathized with the choices of his predecessors.
It was for this reason that he had willingly thrown himself into experiments spanning centuries.
Holy King Sianor patted Miliod's shoulder as he expressed his willingness to cooperate.
"Thank you. I was certain that you would follow in the footsteps of those before you."
It was a responsibility the Holy King, bearing the heavy truth alone, had shared with him.
Miliod did not find the blood-soaked responsibility burdensome.
Rather, his chest swelled with pride at becoming the Holy King's most loyal servant.
No matter how much those Heresy Inquisitors thrashed about, they were nothing but ignorant fools running about outside, swinging their swords and staining their hands with blood.
It was Miliod who served the Holy King within the Empire and knew the deepest secrets of Hilderd.
He even dared to harbor ambitions for the Holy King's throne in the next generation.
But those grand dreams began to unravel starting with the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony.
More precisely, it was because of those Basilian bastards.
Count Basilian stepped before the Holy King and declared his unwavering loyalty to God.
Cardinal Milliod scoffed at his words.
'Spouting such hollow nonsense.'
Lemil's incompetence had lifted my spirits somewhat from their nadir.
But the situation unfolded in an unexpected manner.
I had naturally anticipated that Holy King Sianor would respond with ridicule as well.
Instead, his face had gone rigid.
What could this promise of the Black Forest possibly be?
It was a secret even I, who knew the Holy Empire's intimate affairs in meticulous detail, remained ignorant of.
Yet the Holy King had visibly grown agitated, and had even cried out.
Witnessing this, I sensed that something was gravely amiss.
Thus I had confined Lemil to the Laboratory and rushed to meet Count Basilian.
'A card I had hoped never to play.'
I barely managed to smooth out my increasingly contorted expression.
It was something the House of Basilian had prepared to prevent the misfortune of them triumphing in the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony, but I had preferred not to deploy it if at all possible.
And for good reason—those wretches of House Basilian were....
'Deeply unsettling.'
I cast a sidelong glance at the men before me.
Count Basilian, Kieran, seated most comfortably at the innermost position.
The three brothers of House Basilian were divided and seated on either side.
And with me seated across from Kieran, we formed a quadrilateral arrangement.
I unconsciously swallowed hard.
They were certainly younger and less refined than myself.
Count Basilian included, but especially the youths who had not yet reached adulthood—their faces retained a youthful innocence.
Yet whenever I met their crimson eyes, I felt a phantom pain.
A sharp, piercing agony as though an awl were tearing through skin, burrowing into muscle, and piercing straight through bone.
In my ascent to the position of Cardinal, I had encountered all manner of individuals.
But the men of House Basilian were different.
For reasons I could not fathom, they sometimes felt like beings of an altogether different species.
Given that Heretic Inquisitor Hailon had chosen this house, they were certainly far from ordinary.
I took care to steady my voice against the tension as I spoke.
"...The adoptive son's biological father is a heretic who practices dark magic in the Underworld."
At that, the crimson eyes gathered upon me widened slightly.
It was certainly a startling revelation, and their reaction was natural enough, yet something felt oddly lukewarm about it.
Their gaze seemed to lean more toward intrigue than genuine surprise.
Count Basilian interlaced his long fingers and reclined leisurely against the sofa's backrest.
It was a posture far too disrespectful to assume before a Cardinal.
Yet in my heightened tension, I scarcely registered his insolence.
"In the Underworld, you say—practicing dark magic."
His languid voice enunciated each word I had spoken with deliberate precision.
"Indeed. With heretic blood coursing through her veins—blood that wields dark magic—quite the uproar would ensue should this truth come to light."
Cardinal Milliod spoke with measured gravity, attempting to sway the Count.
"There is no need to invite such troublesome complications, is there?"
"Well, that much is true, but...."
Count Basilian trailed off, his voice rising with uncertainty.
"Surely you must provide me with at least some evidence of this claim."
His eyebrows drooped with doubt—she was his cherished daughter, and the notion that heretic blood flowed through her veins simply refused to take root in his mind.
"How did you come to know of this fact?"
"Do not be too startled by what I am about to tell you."
Cardinal Milliod cleared his throat before continuing.
"The truth is... I have connections with the master of the Underworld."
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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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