“That little one will be raised as a spy for our household. She came back with something interesting, after all — we might as well put it to good use, don’t you think?”
“…Yes.”
At that, a faint warmth returned to Ariena’s voice.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
“Yes.”
Ariena gave a small bow, gathered the infant against her chest, and walked out of the study.
________________________________________
“……?”
When I came out of the dream, I was looking at the interior of a high-end jeweler’s — the kind of place a noble might wander into for an afternoon.
Above the counter, a small signboard: Litaisha’s Jewel House.
“This is… this is one of House Foss’s secret bases.”
I knew two of them, if nothing else.
There was Fergus’s Bookshop in the north, which had been my own assigned territory.
And there was Litaisha’s Jewel House, here in the heart of the capital.
The question is — why am I here?
House Foss must have abducted me and brought me here. That much was clear. But there wasn’t a single knight watching over me. Not even a guard.
“…What is this? Did they just leave me here?”
That couldn’t be right.
And yet — there was no rope binding my wrists or ankles.
I tested my hands. I tried standing up. Not a single person moved to stop me.
Even my hair, which had been thoroughly disheveled, was now neatly combed — as though someone had carefully tidied it while I slept.
As though someone had arranged me to look like a wealthy noble girl who had simply stopped in to browse.
All right. Look around. Figure out where you are.
I was scanning my surroundings when —
Can you hear me, Aisha?
A buzzing, warbling static, and then Duke Foss’s voice spoke directly inside my head.
What — what is this?
I grabbed my own head in shock.
Don’t stand there looking like an idiot. Smile. You’re about to welcome your father.
He must have been watching me somehow — because he gave the order with a smug little laugh.
And then —
“Ha — ha ha.”
To my profound horror, my own mouth curved upward.
……?
But behind that smile, my eyes were shaking like leaves in a storm.
What — what is this?! Something is very wrong!
Duke Foss’s Poison Affinity was formidable, but controlling a person’s body by speaking directly into their mind wasn’t part of it. That sort of thing — that required black magic.
Wait.
King Arjen had used black magic on me.
In the chaos, I had completely forgotten. But now it hit me — that was it. Whatever Arjen had cast on me had left me open to this.
…How do I get rid of it?
Like this, I was nothing but Duke Foss’s puppet. I could put whoever came near me in danger.
And the most likely target for that danger was Calypse.
Maybe it would be better if I just knocked myself unconscious so I can’t be controlled?
“…Fine!”
With that thought I screwed my eyes shut and slammed my forehead toward the edge of the counter.
Whoa, whoa — not that. Aisha. Straighten up and stand still.
The smug command snapped my head back up before it could connect.
Ah. That option’s off the table too.
I was still sinking into despair when —
“Aisha!”
A familiar voice came with the crash of the door flying open.
Disheveled black hair — he had clearly been running. Rough, uneven breathing. And crimson eyes scanning the room in desperate search.
Calypse.
“…Dad?”
My heart stopped.
He can’t be here. He can’t come in here.
“Aisha. You — “
But against everything I wanted, the moment he saw me, he pulled me into his arms.
“Were you abducted — is something wrong — why did you disappear?”
The questions came out in a jumbled rush. A moment later, both hands came up to cup my face.
He looked at me — really looked — and when he registered that I appeared to be unharmed, his expression shifted into something confused.
“…You weren’t hurt?”
I couldn’t answer him.
His arms around me were the most frightening thing in the world.
“Aisha?”
Calypse asked again. I said nothing — just clenched my jaw until I could feel the pressure all the way up to my temples.
Don’t say anything. Don’t open your mouth. No one knows what I might say.
“Aisha. If you’re all right… no. I won’t ask right now. Let’s get somewhere safe first.”
Dad. Please. Just go back without me.
Just run.
Then —
Tell him you snuck out because you wanted to look at jewelry. And smile when you say it.
The command landed in my mind like a death sentence —
“I — I wanted to…”
“What?”
“I wanted to look at the jewelry. So I snuck out.”
I had pressed my jaw as tight as it would go, but in the end, the black magic forced the words out — and I felt my lips trembling upward into a smile I hadn’t chosen.
“…Jewelry. Out of nowhere?”
Calypse blinked, looking genuinely thrown. He glanced around the shop, and something seemed to settle into place for him — he had apparently only now noticed where he was.
“I didn’t think you were particularly interested in jewelry while we were at the estate. You had a taste for it after all?”
Yes.
Dad. Please.
“Yes.”
At my answer, Calypse’s gaze narrowed. He let out a slow breath.
“Aisha. Did you make a promise to your father or didn’t you?”
I’m sorry. But since we’re already here — can’t we look around together?
“I’m sorry. But since we’re already here — can’t we look around together?”
We can’t look around. Please just leave, Dad.
“…Ha. Fine. Since we’ve come all this way. But when we get back to the estate, you’re grounded for a month.”
Can you really be sure you’ll make it back to the estate? Ha ha ha! — Oh, Aisha, that was just me thinking aloud. You don’t have to repeat that one.
“…….”
Duke Foss’s barb went through me like a needle driven into every inch of skin at once.
Calypse took my hand and stood.
He looked mildly irritated — but underneath it, there was something that looked almost like guilt, as though he was blaming himself for never asking what I liked.
He didn’t scold me any further.
“Where shall we look? Is there no staff here?”
Oh. Now it begins. Tell him to go up to the second floor. Say you want to go into the VIP room.
There was absolutely no way I should say that. And yet my mouth opened on its own.
“How about the second-floor VIP room?”
No. Dad. Say no.
“The VIP room? Sure, why not.”
And that was when I discovered Calypse’s one great weakness.
“Though from now on — if there’s something you like, you come and tell me instead of sneaking off to see it alone.”
He was soft. Too soft, when it came to his family.
“If I’d known sooner that you liked jewelry, I’d have bought you a jeweler’s shop. Or a mine.”
Too soft by far.
Aisha. It’ll look strange if you don’t answer. Quickly — say “Thank you, Dad.”
“…Thank you, Dad.”
I’m sorry, Dad.
I dropped my gaze and murmured it, and Calypse let out a small, helpless laugh — then reached out and ruffled my hair roughly.
I’m sorry for being a daughter like me.
And then Calypse reached for the handle of the VIP room door.
“Alright, just promise me you’ll listen to your father from now on—”
Thud.
A heavy sound. The particular sound of something sharp parting flesh.
The large hand holding mine locked rigid, like stone.
“…….”
Calypse’s mouth was bleeding.
He had been run through — straight through the abdomen — and blood was tracing a slow line down his chin.
But the reason his eyes had gone wide.
The reason his mouth had fallen open — slowly, as though the man who had learned to absorb wounds like this through years of Creature suppression had simply stopped understanding what was happening —
“Hello.”
The one who had driven the dagger in and now withdrew it without expression, standing in front of him as though this were nothing at all, was Ariena.
“…….”
Calypse looked like a man for whom time itself had stopped.
Pressing his hand over the wound. Shoving me behind him with the other arm even so, even now, trying to protect me. Staggering back one step. Two.
Looking at his wife — the one he had lost so long ago — with eyes that simply could not believe what they were seeing.
“She turned out well, didn’t she? Our daughter.” Ariena spoke at last. Her voice carried the unmistakable edge of contempt. “Look how perfectly she carried out the mission.”
“…….”
“You always had a good eye for family — I’ll give you that. The child you adopted? She’s ours. Your real daughter. Your instincts didn’t lie.”
At those words, Calypse’s unsteady gaze fell — and he looked down at me for just a moment.
I still could not say a single word.
“Both mother and daughter, spies all along. What a life you’ve had, Calypse. It was purely business — no hard feelings on my end.”
As though he couldn’t believe it. As though he couldn’t make sense of it.
Thud.
“Khk — Ariena…”
Calypse went to his knees.
His expression was not one of pain. It was one of complete bewilderment.
“…….”
But Calypse was quick to read a situation.
A spy daughter who had vanished without warning and then claimed she’d snuck off to look at jewelry. A wife who had appeared out of nowhere after five years and driven a blade into him — and was apparently a spy all along.
He closed his eyes for a moment. When they opened, the look on his face was something almost like a ruined smile.
“…What happened to you. Why did you become this.”
