Chapter 127
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------
Chapter 127
While Kieran and Hailon prepared for their grand scheme,
I was being led somewhere by Cardinal Milliod, accompanied by the Fake Father.
Cardinal Milliod kept glancing sideways at me.
Each time our eyes met, I offered him a bright, innocent smile.
The Cardinal seemed deeply pleased by my naive expression of ignorance.
He appeared thoroughly delighted that circumstances were unfolding exactly as he desired.
The moment I was far enough from Kieran, he dropped the pretense entirely.
"Let us go pay our respects to the Holy King."
He had promised me time for an intimate conversation with my father, yet suddenly invoked the Holy King without warning.
I stared directly at Cardinal Milliod.
He smiled as though he were a good-natured man.
"The Holy King shall assist your father in achieving complete redemption."
I barely suppressed the laughter threatening to escape.
'So this was the true objective?'
If the original plan had been to prevent me from participating in the Minor Saint Prayer Society,
now that they knew I was a Fairy, it seemed they had shifted their strategy to isolating me from the Basilian Family.
Their final goal was to use this paternal figure to lure a child and drag me before the Holy King.
'But what do they intend to use me for?'
They could hardly throw me into some laboratory carelessly.
I had already demonstrated my necessity.
The Holy Empire, unable to properly manage monsters, needed both me and the Basilian Family.
I was genuinely curious what scheme the Holy King harbored.
The Cardinal led the Fake Father and me to a massive glass greenhouse situated in the courtyard.
"Go inside and wait a moment. The Holy King shall arrive shortly."
"Aren't you coming in with me?"
When I asked why the Fake Father wasn't entering as well, the Cardinal smoothly delivered his prepared response.
"Your father requires special preparation before meeting the Holy King."
He pressed on, asking if I understood what an extraordinary honor it was to have this private audience, urging me to go meet the Holy King first.
He was desperately trying to shove an innocent child into the Holy King's presence.
The Blond Man's eyes flickered with unease.
He knew I was the Witch's daughter.
So he was torn, fearing future complications, wondering how to prevent this situation.
I gave the Blond Man a reassuring glance to stay calm and obediently complied.
"Understood."
Then I entered the greenhouse alone.
The greenhouse was quite spacious.
For a small child, it felt positively immense.
Beneath the brilliant sunlight flooding through the glass, the greenhouse overflowed with countless trees and flowers.
It was a space filled with plants I loved most, yet instead of refreshment, I felt a suffocating sense of dread.
It was the bizarre sight that caught my eye before the lush greenery.
The glass conservatory housed dozens of birdcages.
Suspended from trees at varying heights, each cage was unique in shape and species, with no two alike.
Rare birds with brilliant plumage sang in delightful melodies.
Their graceful chirping, accompanied by elegant wing flutters, sounded like the chorus of angels.
It was beautiful yet unsettling.
'Why are the birds locked away like this...'
Chesa shuddered and ventured a few steps deeper into the conservatory.
At eye level, another birdcage hung suspended.
Inside the small cage dangling from a modest tree was a bluebird, trapped and confined.
It was a young bluebird whose eye color resembled Hailon's.
As I drew closer to the cage, the bluebird showed no vitality whatsoever.
Its wings drooped limply as it huddled motionless in the corner of the cage.
Sensing my presence, the bluebird trembled and opened its beak.
"...."
But it produced no sound, closing its beak again weakly.
Its skeletal thinness—bones nearly visible—made it clear it hadn't eaten anything.
I examined the cage interior, but found neither a food dish nor a water container.
'Is it going to die like this?'
I felt compelled to give it something immediately.
But Chesa's pockets were empty.
'I wish I could at least give it water.'
Being a conservatory, there had to be a bucket or something filled with water somewhere if I looked carefully enough.
I was absorbed in thought while clinging to the cage.
"You... you mustn't touch it."
A small voice reached my ears.
Lemil, the prince of Hebaton, was peeking out from behind a shrub.
It was the first time I'd seen him since the incident where he'd been humiliated, unable to use his holy power in front of everyone because of Kieran.
The boy, still pale-faced, hurried over while glancing nervously around.
Then he gently grasped and tugged at the hem of Chesa's garment.
"Step away..."
Though his pull was barely stronger than a feather's touch, Chesa obediently took a couple of steps back from the cage and asked.
"Why?"
"It's undergoing education."
Sensing his explanation was insufficient, Lemil, whose cracked lips trembled slightly, added one more thing.
"The Holy King is educating it personally."
He was spouting nonsense.
Chesa pointed at the bluebird with her finger and spoke deliberately.
"It looks like it's about to die."
At her remark about the bird seeming on the verge of death, Lemil blinked rapidly.
"Still... one must receive education to become a useful existence."
Bewilderment tinged his voice.
As though explaining something so obvious felt awkward to him.
Chesa narrowed the space between her brows.
'What nonsense is this?'
They stood staring at each other, utterly unable to comprehend one another.
"So you were here."
An elderly man in simple attire approached with a faint smile.
Lemil immediately dropped to one knee in reverence.
"In the name of the Divine, I bow before Your Majesty, the Holy King."
Holy King Sianor waved his hand dismissively at Lemil's greeting.
Lemil bowed his head lightly, then rose again with perfect posture.
Chesa stood motionless, merely observing the scene unfold.
Despite her lack of proper courtesy, Sianor did not rebuke her.
Instead, he approached her side and lowered himself to sit.
His robes dragged across the dirt floor without concern as he settled beside her, peering into the birdcage.
"Are you worried about the bird?"
"Please let it out."
At Chesa's request, Sianor readily opened the birdcage door.
With a soft click, he unfastened the latch and drew out the bluebird.
The small creature rested upon his palm, which was covered in thin silk gloves.
The bluebird, which moments before had struggled even to open its beak, suddenly fluttered its wings.
The thrashing bird raked its talons across the glove, tearing at the fabric.
Yet despite its desperate flapping, its small body could not lift into the sky.
Sianor clicked his tongue softly.
"How remarkably stubborn."
His murmur seemed to express genuine concern for the bluebird.
Judging by his benevolent expression alone, one might think Sianor was tending to a sickly bird with care.
But that could never be further from the truth.
To suppress her revulsion, Chesa quietly bit the inside of her cheek.
More than half of the bluebird's wing feathers had been severed.
The flightless bird repeated its meaningless fluttering.
The Holy King sighed and stroked the bluebird before placing it back in the cage.
He spoke to Chesa with affectionate reassurance.
"Once it becomes docile, I shall release it."
"...What if it remains wild?"
"That won't happen."
Sianor drew Chesa into his embrace with one arm and rose to his feet.
He extended his other arm broadly, gesturing around the greenhouse.
"All the birds that were here have undergone education and become splendid pets. This bluebird too is merely young now, its wild nature still strong, but soon it will be tamed and become a beloved companion."
Sianor smiled at me and asked.
"Once your education is complete, shall I give you a gift?"
Hearing his words, I found myself glancing at Lemil without thinking.
Lemil felt nothing amiss about this repugnant conduct.
As though the Holy King's words were absolute truth itself, he simply stood there with an innocent expression.
The moment I saw the obedient boy, I understood.
The Holy King's "education" was not confined merely to the birds trapped in their cage.
'...Hailon.'
And Hailon too must have been "educated" by the Holy King.
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------