Chapter 180🧚‍♀️

Chapter 180

“…Was it a dream?”

Those were the first words Kierne uttered upon waking from his faint.

“Dad!”

As soon as he heard Cheshire calling him, he reflexively reached out.

With one hand, he grabbed Cheshire’s wrist first.

With the other, he pinched his own cheek.

Only after the stinging pain fully convinced him that this was all reality did he completely come to his senses.

“What a commotion, honestly.”

Serea clicked her tongue from beside him.

At her reproach, Kierne let out a long sigh.

“Seeing my master makes it feel truly real.”

Serea raised one eyebrow at the words that could be taken as either praise or insult.

Kierne pressed his temples firmly with his fingers.

“It’s been a long time since I fainted…”

Muttering in disbelief, he belatedly looked Cheshire up and down.

Cheshire had already changed into a gown for the banquet.

In truth, before Kierne woke up and before Hailon arrived, she had planned to sneak off to the banquet hall with Serea in a whirl.

Coincidentally, it was the moment when Cheshire had finished changing into her dress and returned to leave a final note.

That’s when Kierne’s eyes snapped open.

“…….”

With terrifying perceptiveness, he grasped the entire situation just from Cheshire’s attire, Duke Ivroiel’s expression, and the subtle atmosphere.

Cheshire told him the truth first.

“I’m going to the banquet.”

“Today?”

Kierne scrambled to his feet in a panic.

“Can’t it be tomorrow? I’ll take you to the banquet hall tomorrow.”

“But the Pope is coming to the banquet tonight, right?”

“…It’s not certain. There’s a high chance he won’t come.”

The Pope, who had been dragging his feet over whether to attend the birthday banquet, was still gauging the situation even after entering the Palen Empire.

With Hailon glaring at him with piercing blue eyes, he wasn’t about to recklessly show himself in public.

As expected, he would likely confirm his safety and only reveal his face on the last day.

However, because of the symbolic importance of the first day of the birthday banquet, there was definitely a possibility he would attend.

Since something dangerous could happen, he didn’t want to take Cheshire along.

“I’m a Basilian too.”

That’s why he knew full well that Cheshire intended to go with him.

Kierne sank into thought for a moment.

Serea looked at him with eyes subtly filled with expectation.

She lacked the confidence to dissuade her goddaughter herself, so she hoped Kierne would handle it somehow.

However, after pondering deeply for a while, Kierne reached an unexpected conclusion.

“Let’s go together.”

They had assumed he would absolutely refuse, but he agreed so readily.

Amid Serea and Cheshire’s surprise, Kierne shrugged his shoulders.

He narrowed his eyes slyly and said,

“Even if Dad says no, Cheshire would do whatever she wants anyway, right?”

He had concluded that it was better to take her himself than to leave her be and have her seek Hailon’s help.

Cheshire was left speechless by the response that saw right through her daughter so accurately.

In any case, she had succeeded in getting permission.

So, they left a simple note for Hailon and decided the three of them would go to the banquet hall.

Before departing, they checked their attire one last time.

Cheshire fidgeted awkwardly with the dress she was wearing for a moment.

It couldn’t have been easy to suddenly procure a dress within the imperial palace.

The hastily obtained outfit had its ribbons pulled tight and tied to barely fit her size.

It was hard to find matching accessories, so she substituted with fairy flowers for decoration instead.

Seeing Cheshire’s hair adorned with small flowers, Serea expressed great regret.

“It would be nice if there were a tiara.”

If she had known it would come to this, she should have prepared a few in advance—she lamented deeply.

In the imperial palace’s private lounge, simple accessories and clothing were kept on hand for emergencies.

But Serea, who preferred practical pants suits for mobility over dresses, wore accessories to match, and naturally, she hadn’t stocked anything like a tiara.

She had managed necklaces and bracelets somehow, but it was while Serea was sighing repeatedly over the lack of a hair ornament.

Flowers bloomed in the empty air.

What appeared between the flowers was none other than the rabbit doll.

The rabbit doll, dressed in the exact same gown as Cheshire, proclaimed boldly,

“I have arrived!”

The last time they had seen it, it had been slumped lifelessly in the bedroom like a real doll.

Now, seeing it chattering away was a welcome sight.

Cheshire embraced the doll with a bright smile, then belatedly realized the situation called for an explanation.

“…….”

Serea and Kierne were staring at the rabbit doll with dumbfounded expressions.

The rabbit doll’s voice couldn’t be heard by humans.

In their eyes, it must have looked like Cheshire had suddenly summoned a doll.

After a brief hesitation, Cheshire held the rabbit doll out to Kierne.

“It’s the Fairy Queen’s crown.”

“…This was a crown?”

Serea, who had thought it was just a stuffed doll, recoiled in shock and asked again.

Cheshire nodded and held the doll out to Kierne once more.

“Right now it’s in this form, but… when it’s time to keep the promise I made with Dad, I’ll turn it back into crown shape to show you.”

She couldn’t give the crown to Kierne right now, but showing it to him briefly was perfectly fine.

However, Kierne’s eyes, gazing at the object he had longed for over so many years, appeared oddly indifferent at first glance.

The rabbit doll summed up Kierne in one word.

“Arrogant Basilian brat.”

It was truly fortunate that the rabbit doll’s voice couldn’t be heard by humans.

Kierne stared intently at the doll, then grabbed its rabbit ear with his large hand.

Grasping it like freshly caught prey, the rabbit doll immediately voiced its complaint.

“How rude! At least show some manners!”

Originally, humans couldn’t touch the Fairy Queen’s crown, but in its current doll state, it seemed possible.

Kierne held it by the ear and observed the doll as its limbs flailed.

Then, as if struck by some thought, he let out a faint smile.

It was a smile that somehow seemed tinged with loneliness.

He placed the rabbit doll on top of Cheshire’s head.

With the doll perched on her head, Cheshire looked up at Kierne with wide, round eyes.

“What a shame. I wanted to see Cheshire wearing the crown.”

At that moment, the rabbit doll shimmered.

The doll transformed into a magnificent flower crown.

The crown muttered in a grumpy voice.

“…I didn’t change because I wanted to.”

“This is the queen’s will.”

“Everything changes according to your heart’s desire.”

It seemed immensely displeased that it had transformed precisely at the moment Kierne said he wanted to see it, but there was nothing to be done.

An enchanting floral fragrance filled the air all around.

Kierne and Serea gazed at Cheshire wearing the crown with momentarily entranced expressions.

For an instant, the truth that the crown was not the sacrifice needed to revive the dead pricked sharply at their hearts.

“Now that we have a tiara too…”

But Cheshire pretended not to notice and smiled brightly as she said,

“Shall we head to the banquet hall now?”

Escorted by Duke Ivroiel and Count Basilian, Cheshire entered the banquet hall.

The bustling venue fell silent.

Everyone was captivated by Cheshire.

Their eyes glazed slightly from the floral scent spreading in all directions.

Only after some time had passed did someone finally speak.

“…The Fairy Queen’s crown?”

It was a noble who had attended the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly.

He recognized the crown at a glance but didn’t recognize Cheshire.

That was only natural.

The last time he had seen Cheshire, she had been a tiny baby.

In the banquet hall, filled with royalty and nobles from other countries as well, there were several who had attended the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly.

They too began to murmur one by one.

“No, that’s definitely… the Fairy Queen’s crown, but how…”

“Wasn’t it lost? Along with Cheshire Basilian.”

Hearing their words, others slowly started to buzz with whispers.

The Emperor hurried over, his face filled with bewilderment, and asked,

“Count Basilian, what on earth is going on? And who is this young lady?”

Cheshire simply blinked quietly.

But before Cheshire could step forward, Kierne smiled gently and spoke first.

In a voice not too loud, but sufficient to carry throughout the banquet hall, he said,

“She is my daughter.”