Episode 143
The Divine Beast Thanksgiving Festival was temporarily suspended due to an unprecedented incident.
All events scheduled for the first day were postponed, and the festivities set to take place throughout the capital were also delayed.
Considering it was an event large enough to draw visitors from other countries, one might expect someone to voice their dissatisfaction.
However, no one complained.
The appearance of a fake Divine Beast was shocking enough, but the emergence of a true Apostle of God, along with the appearance of the twin siblings reported dead and the Divine Beast Aether, was simply too overwhelming.
Everywhere one went, the air was thick with talk of these events.
There were even brief rumors circulating that the head of the Monlepe ducal house would leave the secular world to enter a religious order.
In any case, the delay in the schedule provided a moment of respite for those who had been preparing for the festival.
However, Asil, on the contrary, became even busier.
It was because of Karon.
“So you’re saying Marquis Skya said he’s going to harm Brother Briden and Sister Lilibet?”
Currently, Asil was at the Great Temple with Brianna, in the form of a parrot-billed bill, perched on her head.
This was because Brianna, who had been monitoring Karon, witnessed him plotting to harm the twin siblings and had secretly tipped her off.
Karon, Briden, Lilibet, and Aether—the parties involved in this matter—were currently staying at the Great Temple.
Because entry was strictly prohibited to anyone not involved, Asil had barely managed to enter under the pretext of preparing for the Thanksgiving Festival.
Brianna chirped.
“Chirp, chirp chirp. Chirp?” (Yes. Right before being dragged away by the holy knights, Mom saw him giving orders to his own knights. Mom did well, right?)
“Yes, Mom is the best.”
“Chirp chirp, chirp? Chirp chirp, chirp.” (Hmph, I bet that unnecessarily oversized Arcian could never do this. He’s probably still sleeping at home right now. Instead of coming with Asil like Mom did.)
“……Gurururuk?” (……What is it that I can’t do?)
A lizard that looked as if it hadn’t fully woken up poked its face out of Asil’s coat pocket.
Startled, Brianna flapped her wings.
“Cheeeeeerp! Chirp chirp chirp?!” (Why are you coming out of there! I clearly saw you sleeping on the sofa?!)
“I put him in my pocket. Because Dad probably knows the Great Temple well.”
“Gururuk.” (Our daughter is truly smart, taking after me.)
Arcian, who had been kidnapped while sleeping, contentedly tapped his daughter’s arm.
On the other hand, Brianna, having missed out on private mother-daughter time, pouted her beak.
“Chirp…….” (Tch…….)
“Gurururuk.” (The prison is this way.)
Whether Brianna was sulking or not, Arcian guided the way.
Even in his sleep, he had heard everything important, so he knew Asil’s destination.
Asil walked briskly along the path he pointed out.
Then, a thought suddenly occurred to her, and she looked up at Brianna on her head and spoke.
“Mom.”
“Chirp.” (Yes.)
“Make me a younger sibling.”
“Guruk!”
Though the request was directed at Brianna, the pocket shook violently. Arcian had choked on his breath.
Similarly, Brianna, who almost fell off Asil’s head, barely regained her balance and asked in a trembling voice.
“Che-chirp chirp? Chirp chirp chirp?” (A-a younger sibling? What do you mean by that?)
“I saw Baem-baem this time, and he was so cute.”
She had felt envious of friends who had younger siblings before, but after experiencing a presence like a younger sibling in reality, she loved it so much.
Feeding him strawberries, scrubbing his scales clean, tying pretty ribbons on his head…….
Because of that, every time she saw Baem-baem, her desire to have a biological younger sibling grew even stronger.
And a pretty one that looked just like her!
“I’ll carry the egg around every day. I’ll sing to it, wipe the eggshell, and do everything. So please make me a black dragon sibling!”
“……Chirp, chirp? Chirp?” (……Does it have to be a black dragon sibling? Can’t it be another kind of sibling?)
“Yes, other siblings have hair. I like kids who are bald like me.”
“Gururuk guruk? Gurururuk.” (How about thinking of Dad as a younger sibling? He’s already smaller than Asil now.)
“I don’t want to. Dad is Dad, not a younger sibling. I want to play with a younger sibling.”
“…….”
“…….”
The two beastmen fell silent at her unyielding attitude.
Somehow, their eyes had been sparkling whenever they looked at them lately. It turned out it was because she was thinking of a sibling.
Since they were the type who wanted to grant Asil whatever she desired, they found this situation very awkward.
Unaware of how they felt, Asil asked innocently.
“If Mom and Dad sleep holding hands, won’t the stork bring one?”
“Chirp!” (No!)
“Guruk!” (No!)
“Then what?”
“……Guruk, gururuk. Gurururuk.” (……There is something much more complicated than just holding hands. Anyway, we can’t make a sibling for you.)
“Really?”
“Guruk.” (Yes.)
“You can’t make one?”
“Gururuk.” (No.)
“I see.”
Dejected, Asil lowered her head.
Then, suddenly, she looked at her mom and dad with an expectant expression, as if leaning on a single ray of hope.
“But can’t you try sleeping while holding hands anyway? A stork might bring one.”
“…….”
“…….”
There was no way that would work…… because as they said, that wasn’t the condition for having a child in the first place.
However, there was no parent in this world who could coldly say ‘No!’ and reject a child looking at them with such sparkling eyes.
Moreover, it wasn’t a difficult task; she was simply asking them to sleep while holding hands.
If there was one problem, it was that the two beastmen were not an ordinary couple but had separated and broken up long ago.
Still, since they lived in the same house, there was no reason they couldn’t hold hands.
Since the request just a moment ago was “Make me a younger sibling,” just holding hands while sleeping seemed as easy as eating cold bread.
In the end, the two quickly nodded their heads before an even more difficult request could come out.
“Chirp chirp, chirp. Chirp chirp chirp. Chirp chirp chirp?” (Alright, Asil. We’ll sleep holding hands starting tonight. Will that do?)
“Yes!”
“Chirp. Chirp chirp, chirp. Chirp chirp chirp. Chirp!” (Fine. You, Arcian, come up on the bed and sleep starting today. I’ll pile up pillows, so don’t cross over. Only your hand comes over, only your hand!)
“Guruk. Gururuk. Gurururuk—” (You’re the one. Why do you think I sleep on the sofa? It’s because you keep climbing on top of me while sleeping—)
“Che-chirp! Chirp chirp chirp!” (Cl-climbing on top! Watch out for remarks that could lead to misunderstandings!)
The two beastmen bickered from atop her head and inside her pocket.
It could have been noisy, but Asil just smiled happily.
‘If they sleep like this for a few nights, a stork will surely bring a pretty black dragon sibling someday.’
Meanwhile, Asil arrived at the entrance of the underground dungeon where Karon was imprisoned.
However, the gatekeepers who should have been guarding the entrance were gone. Furthermore, a faint scent of blood wafted from inside.
“Chirp, chirp. Chirp chirp chirp?” (Asil, stay here for a moment. Okay?)
Saying she would go on a scout, Brianna flew inside alone. And after a while, she returned and hurriedly relayed the situation.
“Chirp chirp chirp. Chirp chirp chirp. Chirp!” (There’s no one inside. It looks like he just escaped!)
It was a disaster.
Karon was running down the hallway of the Great Temple after killing the gatekeepers and escaping the prison.
His entire body was in tatters from all sorts of torture for the crime of attempting to cause chaos in the Empire using a fake Divine Beast.
However, his eyes remained fierce. He even held a sharp dagger in his hand.
“As long as Briden is gone. As long as Briden—”
The punishment for insulting God is only death.
Facing death, he believed that the master of Aether was Briden.
He thought that if Briden died, Aether would come to him, and since even the Great Temple wouldn’t be able to kill the master of a Divine Beast, everything would be resolved.
“Aa-aaaagh!”
“The prisoner has escaped!!”
The priests who encountered him fled.
Karon grabbed one of them, held a dagger to his throat, and asked.
“Where is Briden?”
“Th-that is……”
“If you don’t answer, I’ll kill you first.”
“H-he is in that room over there!”
The terrified priest confessed obediently.
Karon killed the priest and headed toward the location he had pointed out.
Briden was resting in his room while looking out the window. Since Lilibet had gone out with Aether, he was alone in the room.
Suddenly, someone burst into the room.
Briden flinched at the appearance of the unexpected person.
“Ka-Karon?”
“You should call me Brother. You really were alive.”
If he had known sooner, he would have killed him immediately.
Karon, consumed by spite, strode toward Briden.
Briden, who had no weapon, backed up against the wall. At that, Karon laughed coldly.
“It seems you can see now……. Father was right. Twins are the cause of a family’s ruin.”
“No, the ones who ruined the family were you and the previous Duke Skya.”
But Karon did not answer. Instead, he moved even closer toward Briden.
Briden swallowed hard.
He was relieved that Karon thought he was the master of the Divine Beast. If Lilibet had been in this position instead of him, he would have regretted it deeply.
“Now, please just die!”
Karon, shouting fiercely, tried to strike down with his dagger.
But just then.
Crash!
Someone smashed through the window and jumped into the room.
It was a middle-aged man with sparkling blonde hair and purple eyes, clutching a fluffy little brown fox at his side.
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