Chapter 70
Due to the experiments, her mother, who had been descending into madness, finally lost her mind after enduring something so horrific that it drove her over the edge, and escaped the laboratory while pregnant with Chesha.
The end of the mad fairy was gruesome.
All the stories Chesha had heard about her mother were nothing but nauseating.
The power of the crazed fairy defied nature.
Everywhere her footsteps touched lost its vitality.
Flowers withered, grass dried up, and the earth rotted black.
Pristine lakes turned into foul-smelling cesspools, and animals became ferocious, attacking humans.
The slave hunters who rushed to capture the mad fairy all became corpses strewn at her feet.
They said her mother kept heading somewhere, singing a song.
A song unintelligible to humans.
It was the lullaby that was Chesha’s only memory of her mother.
“…”
Chesha plopped down onto the floor with a splash.
For some reason, she felt drained and just wanted to sit there.
She sat still, simply breathing in and out.
That’s when she sensed someone approaching.
Chesha quickly scrambled up from the floor and scampered deeper into the room.
Then, she posed as if she had been engrossed in reading, embodying the image of a cultured baby.
By the time she was seated on the sofa, holding a fairy tale book with a suitably serious expression.
Knock knock, the door opened along with the rap.
Beyond the slowly opening door, two tall, striking men appeared.
It was Hailon and Kierne.
Unlike Kierne, who hesitated and couldn’t readily step forward, Hailon entered the room without a moment’s pause.
And, as if to make a point, he stroked Chesha’s head.
“Were you having fun?”
“Yes…”
Chesha subtly closed the upside-down fairy tale book and set it down, gently lowering her gaze.
She intended to return to the Basilian count’s estate.
But after blowing up the count’s residence and collapsing the temple in a chaotic uproar, going back so abruptly felt a bit awkward now.
She had gone through serious悩 and conflict, but her plan was to craft a touching story of ultimately returning to her family’s embrace.
It had to be the kind of悩 and conflict a two-year-old might have—nothing too deep, kept simple.
It was a perfect plan.
However, the various lines Chesha had prepared in every detail.
Vanished the moment her eyes met Kierne’s.
“…Chesha.”
Kierne, still standing at the door, smiled.
It was a smile meant to hide his tension.
“Have you been well?”
The venomous, serpent-like demeanor he had used to cunningly press Hailon with words and actions until just before was nowhere to be seen.
His finely trembling red eyes revealed his anxiety plain as day.
It was unexpected.
She had thought he would try to lure Chesha out by being somewhat shameless yet pitiable, just as he had with Hailon…
But Kierne was showing the face beneath his mask.
Surprised by his unanticipated attitude, she couldn’t respond, and Kierne’s smile faded.
He bit his lower lip.
But soon, he forced the corners of his mouth up again.
Striving to maintain a smiling face, he asked cautiously.
“By any chance… did you miss Daddy?”
Not content with forcing a smile, Kierne rambled on with nonsensical words.
“Ah, what if you didn’t miss me… what then…”
Even Hailon seemed a bit flustered seeing Kierne, who had lost his serpent’s tongue.
He looked incredulous, as if doubting this was the same man who had been fighting tooth and nail with him just minutes ago.
Unable to watch any longer, Chesha eventually shelved all her prepared lines and soothed Kierne.
“I missed you.”
“…Really?”
Kierne hesitantly took a step inside.
But that was as far as he went.
He couldn’t move further from there.
In a voice still dripping with gloom, he murmured.
“You don’t have to force a lie, Chesha. It’s okay.”
Chesha hopped down from the chair.
Then, she approached Kierne and extended both hands toward him.
“…”
Kierne looked down at Chesha with eyes that held a hint of disbelief.
After a long hesitation, he gently lifted Chesha into his arms.
His touch was careful, as if she might break if handled wrong.
The moment their warmth connected, Kierne let out a soft breath.
Chesha felt a twinge of guilt.
She knew well that he was mentally unstable.
Even so, up until now, he had been teetering on the edge but holding it together somehow.
This incident seemed to have broken something further in him.
It also appeared to have fostered a slight obsessive tendency toward Chesha.
‘I should take good care of him while we’re together.’
Her decision to return to the Basilian count’s estate was piled with all sorts of excuses and reasons.
But setting all that aside, in the end, Chesha also…
Missed the men of the Basilian estate just a little bit.
Not a lot, really just a tiny bit.
During the week they were apart, they nagged at her like invisible thorns.
“Daddy.”
At Chesha’s address, Kierne held his breath.
“Can I… be a Basilian?”
“Please do.”
He answered immediately without even breathing, then whispered again.
“Be a Basilian, okay?”
“Okay!”
Upon hearing Chesha’s response, Kierne leaned his face against her as if collapsing.
He buried his face in Chesha for a moment, then quietly pleaded.
“Chesha… don’t leave now.”
His words carried an old wound.
A wound that hadn’t even scarred, still bleeding whenever touched.
He leaned his face against Chesha.
“Daddy’s begging you.”
“…”
Quickly realizing he had been too heavy, Kierne smiled brightly.
He swiftly dispelled the somber atmosphere and whined playfully.
“Without Chesha, Daddy can’t sleep, can’t eat…”
Spouting utter nonsense, he peppered Chesha’s cheeks with affectionate kisses.
Chesha maturely comforted the whining Kierne.
At this rate, it was unclear who the baby was.
“Shall we go home now?”
It was when Kierne, grinning widely, turned to leave with Chesha in his arms.
Whoosh, a pure white chain extended and wrapped around Kierne’s waist.
“Who said you could take her as you please?”
Hailon, who had been watching silently, had even pulled out the Chains of Condemnation to restrain Kierne.
Kierne furrowed his brows and snapped irritably.
“You were the one who said we’d leave it to the child’s will.”
“That was before I knew the Count was a black mage.”
Hailon flipped his stance as easily as turning his palm.
“It’s obvious it won’t be good for the child’s emotions and education, so I can’t let her go.”
“…Hah.”
Kierne impatiently ran his free hand—the one not holding Chesha—over his face.
Then, he suddenly whispered to Chesha.
“Chesha. Tell the knight that his clinginess is gross and you don’t want to see it.”
Of course, it was a whisper loud enough for Hailon to hear.
Hailon’s eyes narrowed.
Before the mansion got destroyed, Chesha quickly intervened.
“I want to go home. But…”
She knew Hailon wouldn’t let go easily.
So, she had already thought up a method of her own.
“I want to see the knight too.”
This time, Kierne’s eyes narrowed.
Sandwiched between the two men staring at her with slit eyes, Chesha boldly declared.
“So even if I go home, I’ll come to see the knight!”
Then, beaming, she said to Hailon.
“You come visit Chesha too.”
“…”
Hailon averted his gaze for a moment.
He didn’t like the mediation proposal, but saying no here would make Chesha dislike him.
Kierne also wore a displeased expression but accepted Chesha’s mediation in his own way.
“Since it’s what my daughter wants… Come visit occasionally. You can check if the child is corrupted or still fine, right?”
Though he heavily emphasized ‘occasionally.’
Hailon gazed quietly at Chesha.
Retracting the Chains of Condemnation, he slowly approached and enveloped Chesha’s hand in his.
As if pledging a knight’s oath, he whispered in a solemn voice.
“I’ll come see you often.”
Then, he lightly kissed the back of Chesha’s hand.
Kierne made a genuinely annoyed face and sharply summoned shadows.
Before the black shadows completely obscured the view.
Chesha secretly waved her hand at Hailon without Kierne noticing.
Hailon smiled faintly.
And so, Chesha left the heresy inquisitor’s mansion.
