Chapter 121
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Chapter 121
I had endured countless trials and committed unspeakable acts with my own hands, yet even I was caught off guard by what this child could do.
I truly had not anticipated something like this.
Kieran exhaled a quiet breath.
"Who asks to go to prison together?"
No answer came to his murmur.
Upon Kieran's chest as he lay loosely across the bed, a small child slept soundly, breathing in gentle rhythms.
A delicate creature, soft as a dandelion seed.
Fearing she might drift away if left unguarded, Kieran drew Chesa closer against him.
Yet despite his grumbling words, a smile lingered at his lips—one he scarcely noticed himself.
Chesa had agreed to follow me even to prison.
I knew it was wrong, yet I could not conceal my joy.
The confirmation that the child cherished and followed me was simply too precious to resist.
Kieran drew the fallen blanket up and draped it over the sleeping girl.
Chesa, who had stirred momentarily, settled back into even breathing and slumber.
Kieran gazed at Chesa for a long while, then slowly turned his eyes to the side.
Holy King Sianor had not confined Kieran to the Heresy Interrogation Chamber.
He had merely imprisoned me in a cell—though even that was remarkably comfortable for an ordinary dungeon.
This was the place where nobility of high station were held.
Unlike other prisons where only straw was laid upon stone floors, this one was furnished with a bed and simple furniture.
Though iron bars secured the windows, they could be opened and closed.
For a prisoner, it was luxuriously appointed—more than satisfactory.
Save for what adorned both wrists.
Upon Kieran's wrists were fitted crude black bracelets.
Mana suppressors.
The fact that they had placed two of them suggested considerable fear.
Wearing suppressors again after so long felt suffocating.
The sensation of restrained power was deeply unpleasant, yet as recompense for my disrespect toward the Holy King, this price was exceedingly reasonable.
I would not remain confined for long in any case.
The Heretic Inquisitor would intervene on my behalf.
Kieran stroked Chesa's back as his thoughts deepened.
'Demons in the Holy Empire... how could this be?'
Why had demons appeared in the most sacred land of the continent?
The demons that emerged without warning in the dead of night had completely overturned the tranquility of the Holy Empire.
In truth, this had been a method I had considered.
Should the Holy King refuse to move as I desired, I had planned to unleash demons upon the heart of the Holy Empire through dark magic.
To make the necessity of House Basilian known across the entire continent.
Of course, it was a method I intended to employ only as an absolute last resort, at the very precipice of ruin.
For it would be an irreversible act.
Because it's something that can't be undone.
Yet the situation unfolded in a manner strikingly similar to Kieran's final stratagem.
As a result, I gained considerable advantage.
Looking only at my immediate circumstances, confined to the Underground Dungeon with my daughter, one might assume Count Basilian suffered a grave loss.
But viewed from a broader perspective, it was no loss at all.
Now the Holy Empire could not lay a careless hand upon House of Basilian.
Until now, I had managed the monsters of the Black Forest under the Holy Empire's command.
Yet that was merely vague work occurring in a distant, unknown place far removed from holy lands.
What role I played, what calamity would unfold without the Serpent's guardianship—
the people of the continent never truly understood.
Only the Holy King of the Holy Empire and those who inherited House Basilian's sacred duty had secretly shared this truth.
That truth was laid bare today before the assembled high nobility and royalty of every nation gathered for the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony.
Already on the first day of the ceremony, I had let slip hints regarding the Black Forest's covenant before everyone, so unless one was remarkably dim-witted, piecing together the full picture would be simple enough.
Regardless of how matters concluded—
by the time the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony ended, all the continent would know the name of House of Basilian.
In any case, for the child's sake, I wished to escape this prison quickly.
Though I had weathered far worse places and found this environment unremarkable, it was absolutely no place for a child.
'I should ask the Emperor to draft a petition.'
Contemplating a petition to the Emperor of the Palen Empire, I ran my fingers through Chesa's golden hair.
Even in the dim dawn light, her hair gleamed like threads spun from gold.
I still could not believe this small body had purified a monster.
The weight and warmth transmitted through my hands stirred an inexplicable unease, and I stifled a hollow laugh.
Unease, of all things.
Had Duchess Ibroyel heard such words, she would have laughed heartily.
Yet it was genuinely unsettling.
A child resembling my wife....
I recalled the question I had posed to the Fairy under mental compulsion.
"Do you know of any Fairy resembling my child?"
The Fairy's answer was no.
I had hoped to glean some clue, any thread of truth about my wife.
But the Fairy yielded nothing.
She did not even know whose blood flowed through the child.
She simply sensed a Queen's power and called her Queen for that reason alone.
"Perhaps she truly did fall from the heavens...."
I smiled bitterly and overlaid her image upon the small child before me.
Perhaps it was because they were both Fairies.
She too had once held back the monsters.
I turned over an ancient memory in my mind.
***
The woman brought from the Black Forest could not use her legs.
Because of this, I had her carried about by servants, but seeing her frustration was unbearable, so I procured a wheeled chair for her.
After that, she dragged the chair everywhere and spun it until the wheels nearly came off.
The woman loved chattering and gossiping with the servants, and she adored strolling through the Garden most of all.
She burst into laughter at things that weren't even remotely amusing, and watching her, it seemed she found joy in something as trivial as a passing breeze.
Seeing her like that, I could only sigh.
She was truly a woman who did not belong in the Castle of Serpents.
Because of her, the once-quiet castle had grown noisy, and I found myself constantly distracted.
"...."
I gazed down from the window at the woman in the Garden, savoring the fragrance of flowers.
Today too, she was busy laughing and chattering with the servants—like an affectionate dog.
It seemed as though an invisible tail wagged merrily with delight.
After watching her for a moment, I closed the window.
I returned to my desk and picked up my quill pen.
I reviewed documents and continued signing them with indifference, yet part of my mind dwelled on the woman.
How had she survived in the Black Forest?
Unable to use her legs, she had somehow endured among the vicious monsters of the Black Forest.
Moreover, she had lain unconscious in the Forest for an extended period, so she must have been exposed to the monsters' aura, yet she suffered neither hallucinations nor auditory delusions—she remained perfectly sound.
'Her claim of lost memory doesn't appear to be a lie.'
I moistened my dry lips.
When I brought her to the Castle and conducted a brief interrogation, the woman knew nothing.
She was not lying.
I had faced spies trained under extreme conditions before.
If someone possessed acting skills and deception capable of fooling my eyes, there should have been traces of training somewhere on their body.
Yet the woman's body was nothing but soft and unmarked.
I had ordered the servants to examine her thoroughly while bathing her, but they returned only reports of cleanliness.
Her body bore no calluses or scars like a newborn infant, and her skin was remarkably smooth—such was their additional observation.
What could her true identity possibly be?
Had I learned black magic and the art of mental manipulation, I could have forced her forgotten memories to surface.
Swallowing my regret at not being able to take the easy path, I considered alternative methods.
I waved the quill pen in my hand idly, tilted my head, and smiled.
"First, let me verify what connection she has with the monsters...."
Thus, I deliberately took the woman to the Black Forest.
And I threw her before the monsters to observe.
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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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