Chapter 96
Kierne froze for a moment at the fairy’s words.
It had been a truly long time since he experienced his mind going blank in an instant.
He drew his habitual smile on his face.
And then, as if nothing was wrong, he smiled and asked back.
“…Queen?”
The fairy’s eyes were light green.
A tender color like a sprout, but her gaze was as solid as an ancient tree.
“She was meant to ascend to the queen’s throne.”
The fairy glared at Kierne.
Her voice carried an age-old resentment.
“Have you stolen our queen from us once again? Humans’ greed knows no end.”
“Ah.”
He didn’t fully understand everything the fairy was saying.
But he immediately grasped what she wanted.
Kierne tilted his head to the side and asked.
“So, you’re going to take her to the fairy kingdom?”
“It’s not taking her.”
The fairy, answering firmly, looked at Kierne with calm eyes.
She whispered as if stating a truth.
“It’s merely returning to her rightful place.”
The moment the fairy finished her words.
Kierne felt an intensely murderous intent that was hard to suppress.
He had already lost someone precious.
He didn’t want to lose anything more.
No one could take Cheshire from him.
Whether human, fairy…
Even if it were a god.
“…”
He slowly clenched his hand.
The surface of the leather glove rubbed, creating a small noise.
The shadow at his feet trembled finely.
Kierne struggled to maintain his reason.
He endured by repeatedly reminding himself in his mind how valuable and useful the creature before him was.
However, despite his desperate efforts, the situation wasn’t helping.
The fairy was insolent, not knowing her place.
“Let me meet her.”
It was a truly bold demand, as if claiming what was rightfully hers.
Kierne’s smile deepened.
It was a refreshing smile, but one that those who knew Kierne well would find chilling and flee from.
Kierne replied softly.
“Of course, I have to let you meet her.”
“…Really?”
“Sure. You’re both fairies, right? My child would want to meet her kin too. If the child wants, the fairy kingdom? Well, I’d send her there as much as she likes.”
The fairy widened her eyes slightly.
She seemed not to have expected Kierne to show such a favorable reaction.
It was plain on her face that she thought he was a kind human.
Was it because she was a being born from nature?
The untainted fairy was naively innocent.
Kierne continued speaking kindly to her.
“But before that, there are a few things I’m a bit curious about.”
Contrary to his gentle voice, a chilling gleam swirled in Kierne’s eyes.
As his red pupils gleamed eerily, the fairy’s eyes lost their light and grew cloudy.
Kierne whispered affectionately to her.
“You can answer, right? For me.”
The fairy parted her lips.
But they only trembled, with no reply coming back.
It seemed still a bit insufficient.
Kierne snapped his fingers twice, click, click.
His shadow strangely lengthened.
The shadow, stretching like a snake, reached all the way to the feet of the fairy bound by white chains.
Darkness elongated from the shadow, wrapping around the fairy’s legs like a black snake.
The slow, climbing movement was grotesquely creepy.
It was enough to scream, but the fairy didn’t even twitch.
She just stared at Kierne with a blank expression.
The darkness cleverly wrapped around the fairy, avoiding the chains.
Kierne waited until the fairy was sufficiently engulfed by the darkness.
And when she reached the point where she couldn’t endure without answering anymore.
Kierne smiled brightly at her and asked.
“Do you happen to know about a fairy who looks similar to my child?”
He had grilled the twins and headed to the place where the fairy was trapped.
Karha and Ishuel chattered nonsense the whole time they were bringing Cheshire.
“Baby, aren’t you hungry? You just woke up. The stew here is pretty good.”
“Is your clothes uncomfortable? Should we change them first?”
They were making a fuss because they didn’t want to send Cheshire to where the fairy was.
Cheshire steadfastly ignored their words.
But once, she couldn’t help but fall for it.
“The puppy is in the other room.”
It was because Ishuel mentioned Hata.
He had been barking and causing a ruckus next to the fainted Cheshire, so they had locked him in another room.
Cheshire hurriedly urged Ishuel and went to the room where Hata was.
“Woof…!”
As soon as she opened the door and entered, Hata clung to her, shedding tears profusely.
While they had their emotional reunion, the twins exchanged indifferent remarks from the side.
“Do dogs normally shed tears?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never been interested in puppies.”
In any case, the twins, having effectively achieved delaying Cheshire, were satisfied with the puppy’s usefulness.
Cheshire held Hata in her arms and set out again to find the fairy.
After wandering around the not-so-large inn, going this way and that, dragging out time for quite a while.
The twins finally brought Cheshire to the room where the fairy was.
The place where the fairy was trapped was a room on the highest floor of the inn.
Kierne was visible, closing the door as he came out.
His face was paler than usual.
It was because he had overused his power.
As soon as she checked Kierne’s condition, Cheshire immediately became anxious.
‘He didn’t kill the fairy, did he…?’
It was something Kierne was more than capable of.
She only hoped the fairy hadn’t said anything to irritate him.
‘But Kierne needs information from the fairy too. He probably didn’t kill her.’
While she was anxious, Kierne spotted Cheshire.
His eyes widened.
“Cheshire…!”
Kierne approached in one stride and lifted Cheshire up, puppy and all.
He kissed her round forehead.
“You woke up now? You were sleeping so long, Dad was really worried.”
Even though he had seen Cheshire using the fairy’s power entirely.
Kierne’s attitude hadn’t changed at all.
If anything, he seemed even more affectionate than usual.
After assuring him of her safety by rubbing noses and calming him, she brought up the matter.
“I want to talk to the fairy.”
“…Dad’s hurt.”
Kierne drooped his eyebrows and asked.
“Who do you like more, Dad or the fairy?”
“…”
She never expected to hear such a childish question.
Looking at Kierne incredulously as he asked a question fit for a baby, she felt eyes on her.
Karha and Ishuel were watching with subtly expectant eyes.
It was as if their gaze said, I’ll ask later too.
“The fairy is just someone I’m curious about and want to meet.”
After escaping the crisis with appropriate words, Cheshire muttered sullenly.
“But if I can’t, I guess I have no choice…”
Even without seeing, she could feel the three men quickly exchanging glances.
It was as if the twins’ gaze asking if the fairy was still alive and not killed was vividly drawn.
The men of the Basilian family, who united well only at times like this.
Having reached an agreement with the twins, Kierne tapped Cheshire’s forehead lightly and asked.
“Then, shall we go in together with Dad?”
Cheshire, who wanted independent time alone, made a whining expression.
Then Kierne put on a feigned stern voice.
“You almost got hurt because of that thing. How can I send you in alone?”
It was an attitude of absolute no compromise.
At his firm demeanor, Cheshire nodded.
She had confirmed the fairy’s location anyway.
If she couldn’t have a satisfactory conversation, she could sneak back later and ask.
For now, she decided to obediently follow Kierne’s opinion.
“Okay. I want to see her with Dad.”
Kierne, unaware of Cheshire’s inner thoughts, brightened his face.
Leaving Hata with the twins, Cheshire entered the room where the fairy was trapped, together with Kierne.
“…”
She had to try hard not to burst out a hollow laugh.
The fairy, bound and dangling by the Chains of Condemnation, had cloudy eyes.
As soon as she saw the fairy’s blank face, she could immediately tell what state she was in.
‘Kierne tampered with her mind.’
No wonder he had been relatively compliant in letting her meet…
She could never let her guard down.
But there was one thing Kierne hadn’t considered.
It was the fact that Cheshire had restored a fairy who was going mad back to sanity.
If it had been a human, it might have been difficult to undo Kierne’s black magic.
But it was a fairy, not a human.
Just as she had restored her illusion to normal, she had an intuition that she could also undo the mind control.
“The fairy seems tired… She’s quiet, huh?”
Urging the shameless Kierne who was pretending not to know, she approached the fairy closely.
And reaching out, she cupped the fairy’s cheek and touched foreheads.
The moment flowers bloomed around Cheshire.
Focus returned sharply to the fairy’s eyes.
Trembling slightly, she whispered faintly.
“My queen…”
Kierne, who had been smiling brightly, became expressionless.
