Chapter 160
At Belzeon’s words, Karha fell silent.
His already dim red eyes sank even deeper into shadow.
Watching those eyes darken like a slowly extinguishing lantern, Belzeon twisted his lips into a smile.
“You’ve done things you shouldn’t have, too. If our youngest comes back now, it’ll probably be because of that.”
He spoke in a voice as damp and gloomy as a forest on a rainy day.
“We’ve captured all the fairies, after all.”
At first, they waited.
They believed their beloved youngest would keep the promise.
The Basilians held out for exactly one month.
The moment it stretched beyond that, their patience shattered.
It wasn’t just the Basilians.
The inquisitors of the Holy Empire were the same.
The Basilians and Hailon began committing mad acts.
They stubbornly tracked down the fairy kingdom and captured every last fairy.
Humans cannot enter the fairy kingdom.
So Hailon used holy relics to forcibly drag the fairies out.
Kierne used mind control on the fairies who refused to reveal Cheshire’s whereabouts, forcing their mouths open.
That’s how they learned that Cheshire had entered a place called the “Fairy Tree” alone.
And that once inside, there was nothing to do but wait.
But the promise had been made.
A firm vow to return, so they clung desperately to that small assurance.
Yet as a year passed, the Basilians broke down.
Kierne did, and so did the three brothers—no one was in their right mind.
Belzeon now felt keenly that he was no different from Kierne.
The moment he heard that Cheshire was under the protection of the Skaya royal family, only dark thoughts filled his mind.
With a cold sneer laced with thick suspicion, Belzeon murmured low.
“Mother abandoned us too—won’t Cheshire do the same?”
The past overlapped.
Mother had been very ill.
To the point where she couldn’t even rise from her bed.
They could do nothing but watch her waste away.
And when she declared her intent to leave.
Kierne and Mother argued every day.
Kierne wanted her to die right before his eyes.
So he could at least hold her body in his arms.
But Mother didn’t grant his plea.
She stubbornly left the Basilians and didn’t show them her death.
It was only in the moment his wife vanished before his eyes that Kierne learned she was a fairy.
All the men of the Basilian family suffered.
Why had she kept her true identity secret to the end?
And why hadn’t she spent her final moments with the Basilians?
They speculated and speculated, gradually crumbling.
Around the time they concluded that perhaps she had left because she hated them.
“…We need to prepare the funeral.”
Kierne had come to inform them of Mother’s death.
She had held on for several months even after leaving the Basilians.
“I don’t want to be abandoned again.”
Belzeon snapped out of his brief reverie at Karha’s voice.
His brother’s eyes, in an adult’s body, were chillingly cold.
“So if we’re just going to regret and suffer the same way, then better to—”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but Belzeon knew exactly what he meant without hearing more.
Karha lowered his gaze for a moment, then spoke again.
“I’ll go check Skaya first. If the baby’s there…”
He said it with the eyes of an executioner.
“I’ll bring it back somehow.”
As soon as the conversation ended, Karha vanished.
He seemed to have gone to the inn where they’d unpacked today.
Belzeon let out a quiet sigh, then turned to Jahan.
“Inform the Count as well. He’ll be staying at Duke Ivroiel’s residence now. As for Isuel… I’ll tell him myself.”
Jahan bowed politely and left the room.
Cheshire followed closely behind Jahan, slipping out of the room with him.
Dazedly trailing after Jahan, Cheshire despaired.
‘This is insane.’
To think the Basilians were the ones who had emptied out the fairy kingdom.
She’d expected them to cause trouble in her absence, but the fact that they’d captured every single fairy left her reeling.
Hailon had probably lent a hand too.
Since he was the one who’d found the fairy kingdom.
‘Why can’t they trust me like this!’
The misunderstandings within the family were profound, far beyond something that could be easily resolved.
They were the bloodline of Kierne, who distrusted others easily and was full of suspicion.
From Belzeon and Karha’s conversation, it was clear that if Cheshire just popped up now, they’d assume she’d come back reluctantly because of the captured fairies.
Or perhaps to save the Skaya royal family that Aran belonged to.
No matter how much she protested otherwise, those already twisted men would pile on their own misconceptions.
They might even refuse to release the fairies forever.
As long as the fairies were held, Cheshire couldn’t leave.
‘From the way they’re acting now, they might do even worse.’
Pondering how to unravel the mountain of misunderstandings, free the fairies, and have a touching family reunion, Cheshire suddenly lifted her head.
‘…Ah.’
Right in front of her, walking along, was the most suitable person to ask for help in the current situation.
Cheshire peeled off the flower stuck to her forehead.
The moment she released the power hiding her presence, Jahan reacted with keen alertness.
He whirled around, poised to attack, his hand on the whip at his waist, but froze in that stance.
Jahan stared at her with a dumbfounded expression, speechless for a long while.
His face, so dazed it was hard to imagine him as the emotionless doll he usually seemed, bored into Cheshire.
Soon, in a hesitant tone that suggested he seriously doubted if he was hallucinating from poison, he murmured.
“…Lady Cheshire?”
“Hello.”
It was a relief he’d recognized her immediately, even in her child form.
Cheshire politely greeted her father’s subordinate.
Jahan staggered slightly at the greeting.
“But, how…”
Too shocked to speak properly, Cheshire waved her hands at him frantically.
“Help me. Let’s talk somewhere quiet.”
Jahan grabbed Cheshire’s hand tightly.
His grip conveyed a strong determination to prevent her from escaping at all costs.
Cheshire had no intention of running, so she meekly let herself be held.
Only after entering what seemed to be Jahan’s room did he finally speak.
“How… Why are you here? How have you grown this much? Does the master know?”
To the barrage of questions, Cheshire spread her palm flat.
“I’ll ask first. Why are Karha oppa and Belzeon oppa both adults?”
“…That’s.”
Jahan showed clear signs of flustered hesitation.
Since he hadn’t told Cheshire yet, it was probably a secret the Basilians didn’t want revealed.
But Jahan had no choice but to answer.
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll disappear again.”
“They drank a beastkin’s potion.”
Cheshire frowned at the prompt reply.
‘Where did they get a beastkin potion?’
Beastkins, being illusory beings, were rare.
More common than fairies, sure, but still not something you’d encounter easily.
Most beastkins hid in the underworld because they couldn’t blend in with ordinary humans.
So the beastkins in the underworld were well-known, but to think there was another besides Hata who could make potions.
It was news to her.
Hata, who had been quietly nestled in Cheshire’s arms until now, wore a grave expression.
After exchanging a quick glance with Hata, she asked Jahan who the beastkin that made the potion was.
But Jahan didn’t know that much.
Setting aside the mystery that couldn’t be solved right away, Cheshire got to the point.
“I want to go home.”
Jahan stared at Cheshire, forgetting even to breathe.
Cheshire mulled over how to explain this, then stammered.
“But, the situation’s gotten a bit… weird. It seems like everyone thinks I deliberately didn’t come back. I need to clear up the misunderstanding.”
Listening to Cheshire’s concerns, Jahan’s face lit up with sudden realization.
“…Indeed, if you appear now.”
After a long hesitation, he voiced his thought.
“You might end up confined…”
It was exactly what Cheshire had been thinking.
