Chapter 126
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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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Chapter 126
The blond man immediately threw himself flat on the ground.
Before the glinting axe blade, his face drained of color as he spilled everything he knew and didn't know without hesitation.
He had no choice.
There were two beings in the Underworld that people most desperately avoided crossing.
Master and The Witch.
If you wanted to keep living, you had to treat them like natural disasters and stay away.
Master didn't even need mentioning, but The Witch's notoriety pierced the heavens.
If you listed all the people who'd been axed for touching her wrong, you could wrap the entire Underworld in their names.
Especially The Witch—she was famous for never forgetting anyone who'd wronged her.
What good was wealth gained through cooperation with the Cardinal?
You needed to be alive to spend it.
Once you lost your life, it was over. As a man, survival was the obvious choice.
Had he known from the start that she was The Witch's child, he never would have come near this place.
The blond man, trembling, eagerly spilled information despite his poor choices.
But as it turned out, he didn't know much of anything.
He'd been doing petty crimes in the Underworld when Cardinal Milliod caught him, and instead of facing heresy judgment, he'd agreed to cooperate with this scheme.
They'd recruited him partly because he resembled Chesa somewhat, but mainly because he was a Black Mage Impostor.
It was to create the perfect flaw—that Chesa Basilian carried heretical blood and could never participate in the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony.
But this much Chesa had already suspected.
'Should've just chopped him to pieces with the axe.'
He was utterly useless.
Chesa regarded the blond man with displeasure.
Having been thoroughly wrung out in such a short time, the man's withered expression twisted as his mouth worked soundlessly.
"How did things come to this...?"
As if unable to believe it, he kept wiping his face with his hands while studying Chesa.
"The Witch had a child?"
Chesa, arms crossed, raised only one eyebrow.
'Well, it's not exactly a lie, is it?'
After all, she was a related person.
Not a daughter, but herself.
If the opportunity came again, using this strange identity might not be a bad idea.
"Um..."
The blond man, who'd been watching for his chance this whole time, finally opened his mouth carefully.
"I... I'm not lying because I want to, sir. Please speak well of me to your mother, and... if there's anything the young lady dislikes, please tell me...?"
Glancing at the fluttering butterfly and flowers, and the ornate axe, the man spoke with respectful formal language to the child, his eyes brimming with curiosity.
The fact alone that The Witch's daughter was an adopted child of House Basilian was shocking enough.
But to think she was actually participating in the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony!
He must be going mad with curiosity about the circumstances.
As Chesa quietly observed the blond man, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
I thought it was time to make use of this fool.
"You're quite the liar, aren't you?"
"Eh? Y-yes...?"
The Blond Man nodded reflexively.
Though he was a Black Mage Impostor, his actual abilities were far from impressive.
He had survived by compensating for his lacking skills with deceptive acting.
'This isn't something Cardinal Milliod orchestrated alone.'
Clearly, the Holy King was involved in this as well.
If I played this right, I could turn the tables and uncover the Holy King's secrets.
Having calculated every angle, I smiled wickedly.
At that smile—identical to The Witch's—the Blond Man gasped sharply.
"Sir... would you like to be my father?"
***
While I was weaving my scheme.
Cardinal Milliod was delivering a lengthy speech to Hailon and Kieran, who sat before him.
"Didn't I mention this before? I personally commissioned the Master of the Underworld to verify the identity."
He spoke with absolute certainty, insisting it could not possibly be wrong.
Hailon glanced at the Master of the Underworld.
Upon receiving that gaze, Kieran forced his lips upward to conceal his irritation.
The corners of his mouth trembled slightly.
"You should abandon the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony. For Lord Hailon's sake, wouldn't it be best to conclude this matter here?"
He was implying that further insistence would harm Hailon, who had supported House of Basilian.
"For now, I can overlook this on my authority... but if the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony continues to the end, I'll have no choice but to report to the Holy King."
Cardinal Milliod's argument was that the truth would inevitably be revealed publicly, and ultimately, the child would be wounded.
Kieran and Hailon's eyes met.
The two men reached perfect agreement for the first time in ages.
Should we kill this bastard?
Their identical thought was readable in their eyes alone.
To have to listen to such utter nonsense.
They were barely restraining the urge to snap the Cardinal's neck on the spot.
Knock, knock.
The door opened with the knock, and I peeked my head inside.
"Chesa!"
Kieran, who had risen from his seat with a bright smile, froze.
I had entered holding hands with the fake father, standing side by side with him.
To anyone's eyes, we looked like a affectionate father and daughter.
Cardinal Milliod burst into hearty laughter and clapped his hands.
"Blood truly cannot lie!"
While he beamed with satisfaction, Kieran and Hailon's faces rapidly turned cold and rigid.
A thin layer of frost seemed to form across my expression.
Kieran soon asked with a gentle smile.
"Chesa... Did you come because you were bored? But why are you holding his hand...?"
"I want to talk more with mister. Not here—at the mansion."
"...."
While Kieran's words caught in his throat, the Cardinal quickly rose and interjected.
"Yes! It's difficult for a child to stay in such a place for long. Tomorrow happens to be the second prayer day of the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony, doesn't it? The child should leave now."
She would have to leave the Prison anyway to attend the prayer ceremony.
The Cardinal stepped forward with great enthusiasm, saying he would allow father and daughter some intimate time to talk before sending her back to where House of Basilian was staying.
Chesa shook her head firmly.
"I'll come back here."
Then she briefly released the hand of the man impersonating her real father and approached Kieran.
Kieran watched Chesa walk toward me, his mind completely vacant.
Chesa stood before Kieran and made small fluttering gestures with her tiny hands.
As if entranced, he brought his ear down to her, and Chesa, rising up on her tiptoes, whispered softly into it.
"I only have one daddy. I'll be back soon."
So wait just a little while, she said.
At her whisper, carrying the faint scent of flowers, Kieran nodded blankly.
And when he came to his senses, Chesa was gone.
She had left with Cardinal Milliod and the man impersonating her father.
Leaving Kieran alone.
"...Ah."
A short moan escaped his lips.
Kieran murmured, recalling the words Chesa had left behind.
"I only have one daddy..."
He blinked slowly, then spoke abruptly.
"Is that bastard becoming her father now?"
Chesa's whisper was, to anyone's ears, a declaration that Kieran alone was her only father.
But his broken mind twisted the meaning, assuming the worst of its own accord.
His fragile spirit began to waver unstably.
Just before the shadow at his feet could distort, Hailon seized him by the collar.
"Come to your senses."
"Ugh...."
As Kieran hung limply, gripped by the collar, a cold interrogation fell upon him.
"That man is not her biological father, is he?"
"No... It's not like that. It really isn't...."
Kieran muttered in a deflated voice.
"Chesa might miss her real father.... Maybe she believes in that bastard as a father because I'm not enough...."
Hailon, confirming that Kieran was already falling apart, narrowed his eyes to slits and spoke.
"It will be resolved if we simply clarify the truth—that he is not her biological father."
Though Hailon appeared composed, he was far from stable.
His calm demeanor masked a mind spiraling into madness.
"First, we eliminate Cardinal Milliod."
"How...?"
Kieran's face crumpled as he looked up at Hailon.
In place of Kieran, whose mind had ground to a halt, Hailon unveiled his insane stratagem.
Had Daren, Hailon's adjutant, or Belzeon, the heir to House Basilian, been present, they would have clutched their foreheads and collapsed backward at such a method.
Yet neither Kieran nor Hailon perceived it as remotely unconventional.
Both were willing to abandon all principles of morality for their objective.
So long as they could seize the crown and Chesa, the means were irrelevant.
The two antagonistic men aligned their wills with perfect, seamless unity....
On the second prayer day of the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony.
House of Basilian announced its withdrawal from participation in the prayer gathering.
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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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