Chapter 127
While Kierne and Hailon were preparing to cause a major incident.
Cheshire was heading somewhere, accompanying the man impersonating her real father, following Cardinal Miliod.
Cardinal Miliod kept glancing over at them repeatedly.
Each time their eyes met, Cheshire flashed him a beaming smile.
With that innocent smile suggesting she knew nothing, the cardinal seemed immensely pleased.
He appeared greatly encouraged by the fact that the situation was unfolding smoothly just as he desired.
And as soon as they were far from Kierne, he revealed his true colors.
“Let us go to have an audience with His Majesty the Holy King.”
He had said he would give her time for a cozy conversation with her supposed father, but out of nowhere, he brought up the Holy King.
Cheshire stared blankly at Cardinal Miliod.
He smiled back with a benevolent expression.
“His Majesty the Holy King will help ensure your father fully repents.”
She had to bite back the laughter that threatened to escape.
‘So this was the goal?’
If the original aim had been to prevent Cheshire from participating in the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly.
Now that he knew she was a fairy, it seemed the plan had shifted to isolating Cheshire from the Basilian family.
Using the existence of this supposed father to lure out a child and drag her to the Holy King—that must be the ultimate objective.
‘But what do they plan to use me for?’
They couldn’t just recklessly throw her into a lab.
Cheshire had already demonstrated her usefulness.
The Holy Empire, which couldn’t properly manage monsters, needed Cheshire and the Basilian family.
She was truly curious about what schemes the Holy King was harboring.
The place where the cardinal led Cheshire and the man was a large glass greenhouse located in the rear garden.
He had claimed he would arrange a spot for the two to talk, but ridiculously, as soon as they reached the greenhouse, he completely changed his tune.
“Go inside and wait for a moment. His Majesty the Holy King will arrive shortly.”
“What about Mister?”
At the question of whether the man impersonating her father wasn’t coming in with her, the cardinal smoothly spat out his prepared response.
“Your father requires special preparation before meeting His Majesty the Holy King.”
So, he urged her to go ahead and have an audience first, even pretending to scold her about how great an honor it was to have a private meeting.
He was making a fuss to somehow shove this clueless baby into the Holy King’s maw.
The man glanced over with uneasy eyes.
Since he believed Cheshire to be the daughter of a demoness, he was torn, fearing future troubles and wondering if he should somehow stop this situation now.
Cheshire sent the man a glance to stay put obediently and replied compliantly.
“Okay.”
And she entered the greenhouse alone.
The greenhouse was considerably large.
To a tiny baby, it felt downright enormous.
Under the bright sunlight filling the space, all sorts of trees and flowers flourished abundantly.
It was a space filled with the plants Cheshire liked most, yet instead of refreshment, she felt only a suffocating oppression closing in.
That was because of the grotesque sight that caught her eye first, even before the lush greenery.
The greenhouse contained dozens of birdcages.
Hung from trees at varying heights, the cages varied in shape, and the types of birds trapped inside were all distinct, with no overlaps.
Rare birds with vibrant plumage sang in pleasant tones.
The sound of them elegantly flapping their wings and chirping resonated like a chorus of angels.
It was a beautiful yet repulsive scene.
‘Why keep birds locked up like this….’
Inwardly shuddering, Cheshire walked a bit further forward.
Around her eye level, there was one cage hanging.
Inside the small cage dangling from a little tree was a trapped bluebird.
It was a young bluebird with eyes resembling the color of Hailon’s pupils.
Approaching the cage closely, she saw that the bluebird had no energy at all.
It merely drooped its wings limply and huddled motionless in the corner of the cage.
Sensing her presence, the bluebird trembled and opened its tiny beak.
“….”
But it couldn’t produce even a small chirp and weakly closed it again.
It looked parched dry, so it must not have eaten anything.
She examined inside the cage, but there was no feeder or water dish in sight.
‘Isn’t it going to die like this?’
It seemed like she needed to give it something right away.
It would have been good if she had even a biscuit, but her pockets were empty.
‘I wish I could at least give it water.’
Since it was a greenhouse, if she looked carefully, there might be a bucket of water somewhere.
She was pondering this while clinging to the cage.
“You can’t touch that.”
A small voice came.
Prince Remil of Hebaton poked his head out from behind the bushes.
It was the first time seeing him since the incident where, because of Kierne, he couldn’t use his divine power in front of everyone and ended up humiliated.
The boy, still with a pale face, glanced around hurriedly and approached quickly.
Then, he gently grasped Cheshire’s hem and tugged.
“Step back….”
The pulling force was barely more than a feather’s touch, but Cheshire obediently followed the instruction, stepping back a couple of paces from the cage, and asked.
“Why?”
“It’s undergoing education.”
Feeling the explanation was a bit lacking, Remil, chewing on his pursed lips, added one more sentence.
“It’s a bird that His Majesty the Holy King is personally educating.”
He was spouting frustrating nonsense.
Cheshire pointed at the bluebird with her finger and stated clearly.
“But it looks like it’s going to die.”
At the remark that what kind of education was this when it seemed on the verge of death, Remil blinked rapidly.
“Still… it has to receive education to become a useful being.”
There was a hint of bewilderment in his voice.
As if it was awkward to explain something so utterly obvious.
Cheshire narrowed the space between her eyebrows.
‘What nonsense is this?’
It was at that moment when they were staring at each other, unable to understand one another.
“So you were here.”
An old man in simple attire approached slowly, wearing a faint smile.
Remil immediately dropped to one knee and paid his respects.
“I greet His Majesty the Holy King under the name of God.”
Holy King Sianor waved his hand at Remil’s greeting.
Remil bowed lightly and then stood up straight again.
Sianor came to Cheshire’s side and bent his knees to sit down.
Unconcerned that his hem dragged on the dirt floor, he sat and peered into the cage alongside Cheshire, asking.
“Are you worried about the bird?”
“Let it out.”
At Cheshire’s request, Sianor readily opened the cage door.
With a click, he unlatched it and pulled out the bluebird.
The small body of the bluebird rested on his palm, gloved in thin silk.
The bluebird, which had struggled even to open its beak moments ago, suddenly flapped its wings.
The desperately thrashing bluebird clawed at the glove, tearing the fabric.
It seemed like it might fly away any second, but the tiny body couldn’t take to the sky.
At the desperate struggle, Sianor clucked his tongue softly.
“How stubborn it is.”
It was a murmur that sounded like genuine concern for the bluebird.
Just looking at his kindly face, it was as if Sianor were caring for a sick bluebird.
But that absolutely couldn’t be the case.
To suppress the revulsion, Cheshire quietly bit the inside of her cheek.
More than half of the bluebird’s wing feathers had been clipped.
A bird that couldn’t fly….
The meaningless wing flaps were pitiable.
The Holy King sighed, stroked the bluebird, and placed it back in the cage.
He spoke to Cheshire affectionately, as if to reassure her not to worry.
“Once it becomes docile, I’ll let it out.”
“…What if it keeps being wild?”
“That won’t happen.”
Sianor embraced Cheshire with one arm and stood up.
He extended his other arm wide, as if inviting Cheshire to survey the greenhouse.
“All the birds that were here have gone through education and become splendid pets. That bluebird is just young now, with strong wild instincts, but soon it will be tamed and become a pet adored by people.”
Sianor smiled at Cheshire and asked.
“Once the education is complete, shall I gift it to you?”
As she listened to his words, Cheshire unconsciously glanced at Remil.
Remil felt no strangeness in this repulsive act.
The moment she saw the young boy with his clear eyes, Cheshire realized.
The Holy King’s ‘education’ was not limited solely to the birds trapped in cages.
‘…Hailon.’
And that Hailon, too, must have been ‘educated’ by the Holy King.
