Chapter 121
He had experienced all sorts of things, and even committed acts beyond common sense with his own hands.
Yet the child managed to surprise even Kierne time and again.
This was something he truly hadn’t anticipated.
Kierne let out a low breath.
“Who said anything about going to prison together?”
There was no response to his murmur.
Loosely sprawled on the bed, Kierne had a small baby sleeping soundly atop his stomach.
A child as soft and delicate as fluffy dandelion seeds.
It seemed as if she might float away if left alone, so Kierne pulled her a little closer.
A smile hung on his lips without him realizing it.
He liked that Chesha had said she would follow him even to prison.
He knew it shouldn’t happen, but it was hard to hide his joy.
Confirming that the child cherished and followed him left him no choice but to feel good.
Kierne pulled up the trailing edge of the blanket and covered the child with it.
Chesha stirred briefly as if turning over, then settled back into even breathing in sleep.
Kierne gazed at Chesha for a long while before slowly shifting his eyes to the side.
Holy King Sianor hadn’t been able to lock Kierne in the heretic interrogation room.
At best, he had confined him to a prison, and even that was quite comfortable for what it was.
It was a place meant for holding people of noble status.
Unlike other prisons with stone floors covered only in straw, this one was equipped with a bed and simple furniture.
Though there were iron bars, there was also a window that could be opened and closed.
It was a luxurious life for a prisoner.
Having spent time in far harsher places, Kierne found this satisfactory enough.
Except for what was fastened around his wrists.
Kierne wore crude, black bracelets on both wrists.
They were mana restraints.
Seeing that they had put two on him, it seemed they were quite afraid.
Wearing mana restraints after so long felt stifling.
The sensation of his power being suppressed was unpleasant, but considering it was the price for his rudeness to the Holy King, it was a bargain.
He wouldn’t be locked up for long anyway.
The heretic inquisitor would pull some strings.
Kierne patted Chesha’s back and sank into thought.
‘To think there were demons in the Holy Empire…’
Why had demons appeared in the land that should be the most sacred on the continent?
The demons that had suddenly appeared in the dead of night had completely upended the once serene Holy Empire.
In truth, this was a method Kierne had considered.
If the Holy King didn’t move as he wanted, he had planned to use black magic to unleash demons right in the heart of the Holy Empire.
Of course, it was a method for the very last resort, the absolute end, only to be used at the edge of a cliff.
Because it would be an irreversible act.
Yet the situation had unfolded similarly to the final plan Kierne had devised.
Thanks to that, he had reaped significant benefits in the end.
Looking only at his current predicament, locked in an underground prison with his daughter, it might seem like the Basilians had suffered a great loss.
But taking a longer view, it was absolutely no loss at all.
Now, the Holy Empire couldn’t touch the Basilian County recklessly.
Up until now, the Basilians had managed the demons of the Black Forest under the Holy Empire’s orders.
But that had always been a vague affair happening in a mysterious place far from the sacred lands.
The people of the continent didn’t properly know what role the Basilians played, or what would happen without the snakes’ guardianship.
Only the Holy King of the Holy Empire and those who inherited the Basilian family’s mission had secretly shared the truth.
That truth had been laid bare today, before the high nobles and royals from various countries gathered for the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly.
Since Kierne had already dropped hints in front of the Holy King, anyone not utterly foolish could easily infer the full context.
No matter what conclusion was drawn.
By the time the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly ended, everyone on the continent would know the name of the Basilian County.
In any case, for the child’s sake, he wanted to get out of prison a bit sooner.
‘I suppose I should ask the Emperor to write a petition or something.’
Thinking of commissioning a petition from the Emperor of the Palen Empire, Kierne fiddled with Chesha’s golden hair using his fingers.
Even in the dim dawn light, her hair gleamed like threads spun from gold.
It still seemed unbelievable that this tiny body had purified the demons.
Overwhelmed for a moment by the weight and warmth he felt, Kierne swallowed a hollow laugh.
Overwhelmed, indeed.
If Duke Ivroiel had heard that, he would have laughed uproariously.
But it was truly overwhelming.
A child who resembled his wife…
Kierne recalled the question he had posed to the fairy under mental control.
“Do you know of any fairy who looks similar to my child?”
The fairy’s answer had been ‘I do not know.’
He had hoped to gain even the slightest clue about his wife.
But he had gotten nothing from the fairy.
The fairy didn’t even know whose blood the child carried.
She had simply called the child the queen because she felt the queen’s power.
“Could she really have fallen from the sky…?”
With a bitter smile, he overlaid her image onto the small child.
Was it because they were both fairies?
She, too, had once held back demons.
Kierne ruminated on old memories.
The woman he had brought from the Black Forest couldn’t use her legs.
Because of that, she was carried around by the servants, but he disliked seeing her frustrated, so he procured a wheeled chair for her.
Then she wheeled it all over the place until the wheels nearly fell off.
She loved chattering with the servants and strolling in the garden the most.
She always burst into giggles over things that weren’t even funny, and upon closer look, she seemed delighted by even the blowing wind.
Watching her like that inevitably drew a sigh from him.
She truly was a woman ill-suited to a snake’s castle.
Because of her, the once quiet castle had become noisy, constantly drawing his attention.
“…”
Kierne looked down through the window at the woman in the garden, savoring the flower scents.
Today, too, she was busy laughing and chatting with the servants, resembling an affectionate puppy.
It was as if an invisible tail was wagging excitedly.
He watched her blankly for a moment before closing the window.
He sat back at his desk and picked up the quill pen.
Indifferently checking documents and continuing to sign them, while on the other hand thinking about the woman.
How had she survived in the Black Forest?
Unable to use her legs, yet she had survived among the vicious demons of the Black Forest.
Moreover, having lain collapsed in the forest for a long time, she must have been affected by the demonic energy, but she showed no signs of hallucinations or auditory illusions and remained perfectly fine.
‘The memory loss doesn’t seem to be a lie.’
Kierne licked his dry lips.
He had brought her to the castle and conducted a simple interrogation, but she knew nothing.
She wasn’t lying.
Kierne had dealt with spies who had undergone extreme training.
If it were acting and lies skilled enough to fool his eyes, there should be traces of training somewhere on the body.
But the woman’s body was endlessly soft.
He had ordered the servants to examine every nook and cranny while bathing her, but the report came back that she was simply clean.
Along with the addition that her skin was astonishingly smooth, with no calluses or scars, like a newborn baby.
What on earth was her identity?
If he had learned black magic and could perform mind control, he could have forced her forgotten memories to surface.
Swallowing the regret of not being able to take the easy path, Kierne pondered other methods.
He tilted his head while gently waving the quill in his hand and smiled.
“First, let’s check her relationship with demons…”
Thus, Kierne deliberately took the woman to the Black Forest.
And threw her in front of the demons.
