Chapter 57
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 57
Chesa was so startled that she let out an odd, strangled noise.
She wasn't alone in her shock.
Everyone present in the Holy Temple heard Duchess Ibroyel's declaration clearly.
The interior of the Holy Temple erupted in commotion.
News of the Basilian Count Estate's adopted child had already spread throughout the Capital's Holy Temple.
Yet the baby Hailon had casually picked up was that famous adopted child.
It was impossible not to be astounded.
However, Hailon himself showed no reaction whatsoever.
Observing his expressionless face, the Duchess offered a crooked smile.
"Thank you for looking after the child. I shall take her now."
She declared confidently that she would take Chesa with her.
"Y-yes! Please, take her at once."
The Bishop overseeing the Holy Temple answered as though half his soul had departed.
Her status was overwhelmingly, unmistakably assured.
No one could oppose the Duchess taking her granddaughter.
No one, that is, except Hailon.
He simply stood there, still cradling Chesa in his arms.
Duchess Ibroyel's eyes narrowed.
"You there."
She addressed Hailon directly.
"Unless you're deaf, why don't you hand over my granddaughter?"
Hailon finally spoke.
"Your Grace's status as her grandmother is irrelevant."
"Hmm?"
Duchess Ibroyel raised one eyebrow.
Her expression suggested she had never anticipated such a response.
The other Holy Knights and Holy Priests inhaled sharply in shock.
The Bishop's face looked as though he might depart this world at any moment.
Hailon continued in a slow but resolute voice.
"No one can force their will upon this child."
He met the Duchess's gaze directly and declared:
"If the child wishes to go with Your Grace, she will. If she does not, she will remain here."
And the moment Hailon finished speaking.
Duchess Ibroyel burst into laughter.
She laughed so loudly that the Holy Temple resonated with the sound.
After her wild cackling subsided, she waved her hand dismissively.
"How amusing. I haven't heard such a thing in all my years."
She spoke with laughter in her voice.
But as her laughter faded, her expression turned glacial.
The Duchess of the Great Empire would not overlook an insult directed at herself.
"Who are you to speak so brazenly before me?"
Hailon showed no fear or trepidation whatsoever.
He answered with the same composure as before, nothing more.
"I am a guard knight."
It was a simple statement, offered without elaborate explanation.
Yet surprisingly, that single phrase cooled the Duchess's anger.
"So my granddaughter has acquired quite the impressive guard."
Upon hearing he was Chesa's knight, the fierce momentum that had been roiling moments before subsided somewhat.
She even appeared to be in a better mood.
"The child's opinion does matter, after all."
I had heard that Duchess Ibroyel was hot-tempered and emotional, and it certainly seemed to be true.
A warm atmosphere began to settle between Hailon and Duchess Ibroyel.
Of course, it was an atmosphere the Duchess was creating entirely on her own.
I wasn't entirely sure, but somehow...
The Duchess appeared to be imagining removing Hailon from the Holy Temple to serve as Chesa's personal guard knight.
'What an imaginative Duchess she is.'
Hailon likely had no intention of leaving the Holy Temple anyway.
I found it somewhat absurd when suddenly the sound of a cane striking the stone floor of the Holy Temple echoed out.
The sound, ringing out in the silence, was unusually clear.
Kieran, who had been holding back until now, stepped forward.
I watched as Kieran approached me.
It had been only days since I'd last seen him, yet he already felt strangely unfamiliar.
Perhaps it was because I had only ever seen him at home in loosely draped robes, but now he stood before me impeccably dressed from head to toe in formal attire and a coat.
The long coat tails fluttered lightly with his steps.
"Chesa."
He spoke to me with affection.
"Father has come to pick you up."
Duchess Ibroyel frowned at his saccharine tone.
Yet Kieran paid her no mind, his gaze fixed only on me.
"You were frightened by Belzeon, weren't you? Let's go home now."
Kieran extended his hand toward me.
His voice continued softly.
"You are of House Basilian."
At those words, whispered like a brand being seared, my heart ached.
I gazed at the hand extended toward me.
But I did not take it.
As the moment of silence stretched on, the smile that had been playing at Kieran's lips gradually faded.
"Chesa."
He waited with patience, calling my name again with quiet persistence.
His cautious voice made my chest tighten painfully in an odd, persistent way.
I knew better than anyone that he had come to reclaim me out of necessity.
After all, I was the baby most suited to Kieran's purpose.
So even though I understood that he was slithering about like a serpent, cunningly trying to touch the tender parts of my heart to achieve what he desired.
Despite knowing it all, Kieran still weighed on my mind.
Coming out just to see his face seemed to have made it worse.
With Kieran standing before my eyes, it was difficult to turn away decisively.
'I should have just said I'd stay in my room.'
If I had, at least this wouldn't be happening now.
I answered him quietly, regretting it too late.
"I'm sorry..."
Did the words taste bitter?
My mouth turned acrid.
I wanted nothing more than to pop a candy into my mouth.
"...."
Kieran said nothing.
He remained in the same posture, hand still outstretched.
I turned my head away.
Hailon silently pulled me back into his embrace.
As if shielding me from Kieran's gaze.
Kieran, watching the series of actions unfold naturally, let out a short, hollow laugh.
"...How amusing."
He spoke slowly, as if grinding out the words.
"What could my Chesa possibly have to apologize to father for."
His eyes burned a vivid crimson.
Silence fell across the space.
The Holy Knights and priests took on a clear defensive stance.
Cold sweat beaded on their foreheads despite their instinctive dread, yet they could not tear their eyes from Kieran.
It was as though they were witnessing some entirely unfamiliar, new existence.
From Count Basilian, who should have been nothing but ordinary....
They sensed something deeply unsettling.
It was an oppressive weight and foreboding, as if witnessing the onset of an inescapable natural catastrophe.
The Holy Knights placed their hands upon their sword hilts, ready to draw at any moment.
The air within the Holy Temple grew taut with tension.
"...."
Hailon's previously expressionless eyes narrowed subtly.
He did not reach for the holy blade at his waist.
His blue eyes, holding the light of the lamps, shimmered with an eerie quality.
They were the eyes of a hunter laying a trap and waiting.
I immediately understood what Hailon was thinking.
'He's just waiting for me to slip up!'
Kieran taking just one more step inside.
Waiting to be caught in a trap from which there would be no escape.
The moment Kieran so much as made a gesture toward using dark magic within the Holy Temple.
Hailon would immediately condemn him as a Heresy Inquisitor.
Countless eyes fixed upon Kieran.
Kieran himself could not have been unaware of this situation.
The perceptive man clearly understood everything.
Yet he moved with such precarious recklessness, as though he might abandon himself at any moment.
"Now you won't even answer your father...."
Kieran no longer smiled.
Chesa watched as the shadows within the Holy Temple writhed in an eerie, unnatural manner.
Only Chesa could see it thus far.
But if this progressed any further, surely the others would notice as well.
'Why is this happening!'
A low voice reached Chesa, who was contemplating whether to strike him across the cheek.
"It wasn't Belzeon who took me away."
Kieran asked in a flat tone.
"Was it you who left your father, Chesa?"
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org