Chapter 131
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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 131
Tremor, tremor.
Tremor, tremor, tremor.
Chesa felt the violent vibrations.
They came from Norman, who held me, his body quaking uncontrollably.
I understood Norman's terror intimately—perhaps too well.
Because standing before me right now was Kieran, and he was...
'Even I'm frightened...'
...staring directly at Norman.
His lips curved upward in a smile, yet the crimson eyes above them had pupils constricted to pinpoints.
They were eyes that perfectly embodied the word serpent.
Like a frog before a snake, Norman trembled so violently he seemed moments away from losing control.
He had barely escaped the Holy King and the Cardinal, only to face Count Basilian now.
I felt a tiny spark of pity for Norman.
'Why did you have to get involved in this mess?'
I tapped Norman gently on the shoulder.
The quivering Norman finally regained his senses.
I descended from his arms and landed on the ground.
The moment soft grass touched my feet, I began to run.
Pitter-patter—my small footsteps naturally carried me straight to Kieran.
"Daddy!"
I spread both arms wide toward him.
It was a gesture asking to be held.
But instead of scooping me up as he usually did, Kieran knelt on one knee before me.
His clothing rustled softly against the grass.
With his eyes level to mine, he gazed at me quietly and asked.
"What were you doing?"
"Just talking."
"...I see."
His long fingers gently grasped my hand.
These were the same hands that had brushed leaves from Norman's hair.
Kieran placed my small hand in his palm and studied it for a long moment.
My tiny hand resting in his large palm looked almost like a doll or toy.
Kieran's hands were particularly large, with unusually long fingers, which made the contrast even more pronounced.
After gazing at me this way for some time, he covered my hand with his other palm.
With a soft sound, my hand was now trapped between both of his.
Like capturing a butterfly about to take flight, Kieran held both hands together and parted his lips.
"You seem to have grown close already. It hasn't been that long since you met."
His low voice carried an unmistakable undertone of displeasure.
He furrowed his brow slightly as he murmured.
"So it's because he's my real father, huh...."
Even though I knew better than anyone that wasn't true, I deliberately kept saying things like that.
'It's like raising a child.'
I was making it abundantly clear that I was sulking and wanted to be coaxed.
Just as I was about to soothe and comfort Kieran.
He uttered words that sank with a dark melancholy.
"So I'm... a fake father...?"
Chesa was startled out of her wits.
'What kind of thing is he saying!'
It was the kind of remark that would turn a person into garbage.
Chesa, caught off guard, opened her mouth wide, then quickly checked her feet.
The shadow that had seemed strangely long until now was beginning to shrink.
I needed to do something quickly.
Chesa wriggled her hand trapped between Kieran's palms frantically.
As she squirmed so much, Kieran, displeased though he was, slowly parted the hands that had been pressing down from above and below.
Through the widening gap, pop—a small pink flower bud appeared.
Seeing the delicate flower, Kieran whispered its name.
"...A rose."
"It's a gift!"
Chesa, who had gently freed her hand, grasped Kieran's wrist with both hands, holding the gathered flowers.
The pure pink flower and the man with sinister crimson eyes seemed like they shouldn't match at all, yet strangely they harmonized perfectly.
"You're not a fake father. You're Chesa's real daddy."
That's right, Chesa said, making the most adorable gesture she could muster.
Kieran answered only after a long pause.
"...Yeah."
Kieran, who had carefully tucked the pink rose into his front pocket, finally rose to his feet.
He scooped Chesa up and held her in his arms, then fixed his gaze on Norman.
Norman, who had been frozen stiff, let out a yelp.
"C-c-congratulations on your release!"
"...."
I had clearly warned him not to say anything unnecessary.
Overwhelmed by nervousness, the moment his eyes met Kieran's, he made a sound like a barking dog.
Kieran's eyes curved with a sinister smile.
He approached Norman while holding Chesa.
At the sight of the devastatingly beautiful man approaching with those bewitching eyes, Norman looked as though he might faint.
"Your name?"
"N-n-norman...."
"You're the Black Mage Impostor, aren't you. The Underworld Master vouched that you and my child share the same blood?"
"Y-yes...."
Kieran, who had been staring intently at Norman, suddenly burst into low laughter.
His laughter was somewhat convulsive—sharp and brief.
"Yes, Norman."
Kieran pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the cold sweat beading on Norman's forehead.
Then he flicked the soiled handkerchief at him as though discarding trash.
Norman flinched as the handkerchief struck him, swallowing hard.
Kieran tilted his head and whispered to him with deceptive gentleness.
"Let's get along, father and son."
Chesa briefly wondered if the meaning of "get along" had somehow shifted to "dismember" or "sever limbs."
After delivering that greeting dripping with murderous intent, Kieran turned around cleanly.
He spoke to Chesa with affection.
"Let's go home."
"Yes!"
Chesa answered vigorously, then felt something odd and asked again.
"...Home?"
"Our home."
He wouldn't call the lodgings within the Holy Empire "our home," would he...?
Kieran smiled faintly at Chesa's bewilderment.
"I'm quitting the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony."
***
Kieran was insane.
No, he'd always been insane, but he'd clearly gone even more mad since then.
'Aaaaaargh!'
Chesa screamed silently.
He'd suddenly announced he was quitting the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony, so I wondered if there was some hidden meaning—but it was exactly as he'd said.
On the second day of prayer.
House Basilian declared they would withdraw from the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony midway.
The sudden withdrawal announcement from the most prominent house at this prayer ceremony caused an uproar.
Everyone was curious about the reason, but just as with the previous monster incident, the Basilian house made no statement whatsoever.
After dropping the bomb, while the other participants attended the prayer ceremony.
House Basilian was busily packing to leave the Holy Empire.
"Send that one over there. And... ugh, why are we even packing this? Leave it behind!"
Ishuel bustled about, meddling with the servants as they packed.
Meanwhile, Chesa sprawled on the sofa with Hata, watching this absurd spectacle in a daze.
'What about the Fairy Queen's crown?'
He'd said it was necessary to revive the dead Countess Basilian.
A man who couldn't forget his dead wife and had even hidden a coffin in the Black Forest.
Someone as relentless as Kieran wouldn't easily abandon the crown.
He was clearly scheming something to pull off this stunt, but I couldn't even guess what it was.
'And I'm supposed to stay in the Holy Empire!'
I couldn't leave without landing at least one axe blow to the Holy King's head.
It was when Chesa was growing restless.
Cardinal Milliod burst into the Basilian Estate's quarters in disarray.
"What in blazes is this madness!"
His face flushed crimson, his beard trembling as he bellowed.
With Chesa's identity as a Fairy revealed, Holy King Sianor had personally marked her as an experimental subject.
Yet she was simply abandoning the Prayer Ceremony without a second thought.
For the Holy King, who had intended to exploit Chesa in countless ways during the ceremony's proceedings, it was nothing short of a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
Thus Cardinal Milliod, casting aside all dignity, came rushing after us in a flustered panic.
Kieran, who had been verifying the luggage the servants had prepared, regarded the urgent Cardinal with a puzzled expression.
"Whatever is the matter?"
"You're abandoning the Prayer Ceremony!"
"Is that not the natural course? My child carries the blood of a Black Mage Impostor and a Fairy—heretical blood runs through her veins. How could I calmly offer prayers at the ceremony under such circumstances?"
Kieran's eyes grew distant and contemplative.
"I intend to seek out the Underworld Master directly and learn more about my child's origins. I must verify whether he is truly her biological father."
"What, what on earth—!"
The Cardinal asked, utterly bewildered.
"How does the Count intend to meet the Master?"
"It will be difficult, certainly. But I cannot simply stand idle. Surely there must be a way?"
Kieran smiled lightly, as though determined to persevere until success.
That smile—which reeked unmistakably of utter madness—made Milliod burst out in exasperation.
"I!"
Cardinal Milliod, his face flushed with heat, breathed heavily.
His voice trembled as he spoke.
"...I will arrange for you to meet the Underworld Master."
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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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