Chapter 80
“I see…”
Reina cleared her throat. His reaction was the complete opposite of how he’d responded about Aiden, so she wasn’t sure how to reply.
Fortunately, Kaiden changed the subject.
“Anyway, what brings you to the study?”
Only then did Reina remember her reason for coming, and her expression turned serious.
“I heard that Dalia still can’t control her aura.”
“Ah, no need to worry. Aiden was the same at first. It’ll get better with training.”
Kaiden seemed to regard Dalia’s condition as no big deal.
Reina hoped that was true. Just in case, she’d even commissioned a magical tool from Aiden, so she figured there was nothing to fret about.
But after seeing Aiden’s state today, it felt like she couldn’t keep it hidden any longer.
She couldn’t allow the brothers’ relationship to fracture and repeat the mistakes of the past.
Unnecessary misunderstandings piling up between siblings had to be prevented. Reina spoke resolutely.
“No. Dalia won’t be able to control her aura on her own from here on out. She might even spend her whole life in anxiety, wondering when her power will burst forth.”
“…Why on earth would you say something like that?”
Kaiden wore a dazed expression. Reina’s words sounded as if she were cursing her own niece.
Coming from someone who usually doted on Dalia, it was all the more shocking.
Reina continued, as if she’d anticipated his response.
“The truth is, I used my ability to see the future.”
Reina gazed steadily at Kaiden, whose face had hardened.
Even at the mention of her using her power, he looked like he couldn’t easily accept it.
But even uncomfortable truths had to be confronted to be resolved.
Looking at him with warmth, Reina went on.
“Soon, Dalia will have an accident during class because she can’t control her aura. At first, they’ll dismiss it as a mistake and move on, but the incidents will keep happening, and Aiden will realize. That it’s not just a simple error. Dalia will gradually lose the ability to control her aura altogether.”
Kaiden’s demeanor grew grave. He knew she wasn’t saying this lightly, which made it all the more serious.
“Does that mean she could go berserk with her aura?”
When Reina nodded solemnly, Kaiden let out a sigh.
“Why is this happening…”
His younger brother was already suffering after losing his wife.
What would become of him if he learned that his child had a body that could fail at any moment, leading to death?
If, by some chance, Dalia died, Aiden would lose his mind.
In the past, there had been a direct descendant in the Crencia family who couldn’t withstand the power and went berserk.
An entire villa had been reduced to a sea of flames.
That’s why direct descendants learned control first and foremost once their aura manifested.
If they couldn’t manage their power on their own, they were fitted with restraints for life and forbidden from using aura.
Of course, the restraints weren’t a perfect solution.
They were merely a safety mechanism to mitigate damage to the surroundings during a berserk episode.
Ensuring that only the wielder bore the full brunt of the backlash…
He didn’t want to resort to such a merciless method on a child as young as Dalia.
“Ha.”
As Kaiden’s face took on a hollow look, Reina gripped his hand tightly.
“Kaiden.”
At her call, he lifted his eyes to meet hers.
His face was a swirl of emotions.
She knew exactly what was going through his mind right now.
To have to clasp restraints on his niece with his own hands and watch over her for the rest of her life. How utterly cruel that would be.
Reina comforted him with genuine sincerity.
“Kaiden, don’t worry too much.”
“…”
“I have a solution.”
“…You have a solution?”
A glimmer of hope flickered in Kaiden’s eyes at the words that suggested it could be resolved.
“Do you remember when I collected the Medusa’s core and the golem’s core before?”
“I do.”
It was a memory he couldn’t forget, as her obsession with gathering cores had startled him at the time.
“But what does that have to do with this?”
“The core of a variant Medusa, unlike regular isolated species, has the property of absorbing energy through a human host and converting it into magic. Conversely, a golem’s core has the trait of strengthening the body using magic. If we convert aura into magic and use it to reinforce the body, she could control it without worrying about aura berserking.”
“But monster cores are dangerous. And using magic on top of that? If something goes wrong, Dalia could end up monsterfied…”
“We can purify the magic with a divine stone. If we purify the cores with the divine stone and convert the magic back into mana, it shouldn’t strain the body.”
Even though Reina spoke with conviction, Kaiden couldn’t easily relax.
“…It’s not that simple. Purifying cores is far more tricky than you think. Especially for variant monster cores—even high priests throw up their hands and say it’s too difficult.”
Variants were the most troublesome among monsters. Having constantly battled them, her proposal sounded like pie in the sky to him.
“Even if a priest steps up to purify it, doing it all at once would be hard. We can’t obtain multiple of those rare Medusa and golem cores…”
Of course, she wasn’t unaware of his concerns. By ordinary methods, Kaiden was right.
Reina smiled slyly and said,
“Kaiden, did you forget that I can see magic?”
“Ah.”
“Since I can see magic, purifying it is easier for me than for others.”
“Right, that’s true.”
Kaiden’s face lit up with belated realization. He’d momentarily forgotten that she could see supernatural forces.
In that case, the cores they had should suffice for attempting purification.
With a dazed expression, Kaiden asked,
“Don’t tell me that’s why you were so insistent on collecting cores? You knew about this back then?”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner. I couldn’t speak lightly because I couldn’t rule out the possibility that it might not happen. Still, I’m glad the preparations I made just in case are proving useful.”
“You really are…”
Kaiden couldn’t close his gaping mouth. Time and again, he’d escaped crises thanks to Reina’s powers.
If he’d tried to protect the north alone without her, he wouldn’t have accomplished this much.
“I don’t even know how to express my gratitude…”
He was the one who’d promised to protect her, yet she was safeguarding not only him but his family as well.
The way she filled in the gaps he hadn’t even considered made her not just endearing, but awe-inspiring.
“Reina, I truly…”
It was the moment he swallowed indescribable emotions and finally managed to speak.
Reina gently wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“Just saying thank you is enough.”
“…”
“We agreed to face everything together, didn’t we? Just as you protect me, I’ll overcome the obstacles in front of you alongside you.”
Her touch as she caressed him, the look in her eyes—everything about her was warm and comforting.
She was like a serene sea of unfathomable depth.
Calm on the surface, yet passionate like molten lava raging within.
The more he knew Reina, the less he could imagine escaping her pull.
As his feelings grew, so did his fears.
Even knowing that their relationship needed to change, his tendency to settle for the present was likely due to that.
Kaiden took her hand in return and said,
“…Thank you.”
Knowing the depth of emotion in those words, Reina smiled brightly.
“Oh, right—I already purified the cores myself and commissioned Aiden. I was surprised that Dalia manifested her aura earlier than expected.”
“You must have been anxious on your own.”
“But since there’s a solution, it’s fine. I plan to tell Aiden once the magical tool is complete.”
“That’s for the best. If that guy found out, he’d push himself to exhaustion.”
It was the same when Amy had fallen gravely ill—Aiden had acted like a madman searching for a cure for a while.
“I just hope nothing happens to Dalia in the meantime.”
“Yes. I hope so too.”
