Chapter 69
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Chapter 69
The arrogant runaway child had become humble.
'If they come looking for me, I should obediently return home.'
In her current state of mind, she could even stage a tearful reunion with the Basilian family.
"Sigh..."
Chesa exhaled a sigh so heavy it seemed to shake the earth itself.
If Kieran discovered she was a fairy, she would surely die.
'First, I need to survive the present moment.'
Hata had disappeared, promising to brew another potion, but it would likely prove useless.
Until she found a way to restore her body to its adult form, the fragile infant Chesa resolved to hide within the Basilian Count Estate.
As a bonus, she decided to attend the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony as well.
'I had to enter the Holy Empire anyway.'
Yet worry gnawed at her.
For now, she had managed to patch the problem temporarily, but how long could she remain a child?
Worse still, a child who would never grow.
After just one year, suspicion would inevitably arise.
She needed to solve this problem, but as a fairy, she had nowhere to turn for answers.
'Well, there is one place...'
The legendary Fairy Kingdom—where fairies fleeing from humans had pooled their power to create a vast Illusion Realm and hidden themselves away.
Yet Chesa knew no way to find it, and they had never made contact with her, despite her aberrant power.
From the occasional reports of fairies being hunted, it seemed they simply ignored and abandoned half-human fairies like her.
'I'll think about this slowly for now.'
Having settled her mind, Chesa waited only for the day Kieran would arrive.
And finally, the promised day came.
A carriage bearing the Basilian Count Estate's crest came to a halt before the mansion.
Hailon, holding Chesa and gazing out the window, murmured softly.
"Persistent fellow."
"..."
They had promised to meet a week later, yet Kieran had never been told where to come.
It was absurd that she hadn't told him, but equally impressive that he had found the place on his own.
Chesa shook her head inwardly in disbelief.
"Stay in the room for a moment."
After setting Chesa down in a room filled with dolls, toys, fairy tales, and various baby items collected from every shop in the Capital, Hailon descended to greet the uninvited guest.
'I can't miss this!'
Today the two would exchange information about fairy experiments, and she absolutely had to eavesdrop.
With a determined expression, Chesa pressed a butterfly sticker to her forehead.
Concealing her presence, Chesa succeeded in slipping into the Reception Room.
Having taken a moment to mask her movements, she arrived slightly late—Kieran had already begun sharing information with Hailon.
Hailon sat on the sofa, his expression blank as he turned through the papers one by one.
Glancing over, Chesa recognized the contents from what she had witnessed in the Black Forest.
Kieran, seated across from me, was elegantly sipping black tea.
His face had grown slightly gaunt, his jawline sharper than before.
After reading through documents for a while, Hailon lifted his gaze to look at Kieran.
"Even if all this information were true."
Hailon spoke in a cold voice, as though interrogating a heretic.
"There seems to be no reason for the Count to take interest in fairy experiments."
Kieran struck with a heavy blow from the start.
"My wife is a fairy."
"...!"
Even Hailon could not help but be startled by such a statement.
Kieran continued without missing the shock that crossed his face.
"She did not initially know she was a fairy. She had lost her memories and was abandoned in the Black Forest. Naturally, I did not know either."
A fairy's body resembles that of a human.
There was no way to distinguish between human and fairy until they revealed their true nature through the use of power.
If one had to point out a distinguishing feature, it would be nothing more than exceptional beauty.
Thus, neither the fairy who had lost her memories nor Kieran, who took her as his wife, knew the truth.
"Then how did you come to know she was a fairy?"
At Hailon's question, Kieran smiled faintly.
"My wife vanished before my eyes."
"...."
He continued speaking calmly, without a trace of sorrow.
"Just before death, she used fairy power to show me the Illusion Realm. And I watched her disappear."
Kieran smiled.
His lips curved in a smooth arc.
"Because that form of death was different from an ordinary human's... I could not help but know."
Beneath his serene tone lay a madness he could not quite conceal.
It was a chilling madness that even silenced Hailon.
Chesa, who had been quietly eavesdropping from her corner, stifled a hollow laugh.
'A lie.'
It was a statement that cunningly wove truth and falsehood together.
Creating an Illusion Realm required an enormous expenditure of a fairy's power.
It was impossible for a fairy on the verge of death to create an Illusion Realm.
Not unless she possessed the strength of a queen.
Based on what Karha had said before,
the Countess Basilian had likely created an Illusion Realm to deceive Kieran's eyes and fled before death claimed her.
And she had met her end alone, in some quiet place.
'Why did she flee? Did she not want him to see her die?'
As Chesa pondered this, the conversation continued.
"I wish to find those who abandoned my wife in the Black Forest. And the Heresy Inquisitor is not one to turn a blind eye to the injustices of the Holy Empire. Since we share the same purpose...."
Kieran smiled crookedly, keeping his true intention—to resurrect the dead—hidden beneath his tongue.
"Let us join hands," he said.
Hailon breathed holy power into the paper he held.
The characters inscribed in dark magic were purified by the holy power and vanished.
"What benefit could I possibly gain from joining hands with a dark sorcerer?"
Hailon returned the blank page to Kieran, his gaze meeting his with unwavering intensity.
"If I drag the Count to the Heresy Interrogation Chamber right here and now, I would naturally obtain all the information I need."
The meaning behind Hailon's words was unmistakable.
He was telling Kieran to stop probing and lay all his cards on the table if he had any.
And Kieran more than satisfied what Hailon demanded.
"How cruel of you."
Kieran feigned displeasure, drawing his brows together as he spoke with mock indignation.
"When you entered my domain before, did I not send you off courteously?"
"...."
Hailon's eyes narrowed.
Kieran smiled knowingly and leaned back against the sofa's armrest.
His arrogant demeanor suited him like a perfectly tailored garment.
"I buried the fact that the noble Heresy Inquisitor invaded the Underworld...."
Kieran spoke, his crimson eyes gleaming with sinister amusement.
"As the master of that place."
"...Ha."
Hailon let out a hollow laugh.
It appeared he had been entirely unaware that Count Basilian was the master of the Underworld.
Kieran laughed with satisfaction at this reaction, as if he had landed a decisive blow, and waved his hand.
Shadows surged forth and swallowed the blank paper whole.
Kieran, who had wielded dark magic before the Heresy Inquisitor's very eyes, tilted his head and asked.
"Now, do you feel inclined to have a serious conversation?"
***
Kieran and Hailon formed a temporary alliance.
It was an extraordinarily fragile pact between beings who were the very antithesis of each other.
Yet thanks to these two men joining forces, Chesa found herself in a far more advantageous position.
Especially with Hailon's assistance, her capacity to maneuver within the Holy Empire would expand considerably, granting her even greater leverage.
Before their conversation concluded, Chesa had already returned to her chamber, lost in contemplation.
The dead Countess Basilian....
Kieran often saw her reflected in Chesa's features.
'Why must I bear such a resemblance to the deceased Countess Basilian?'
There was no possibility that she was Chesa's mother.
Lichesia was born before the Countess Basilian and Kieran ever met.
The timeline simply did not align.
'And the Countess Basilian likely died before her mind fractured.'
Her death would have been noble.
Unlike Chesa's mother.
'My father could not possibly be someone like Kieran.'
Chesa found herself speculating that she had been born from a union neither party had desired.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org