Chapter 170
The three brothers’ plan was to attend the emperor’s birthday banquet in secret alongside Chesha, without Kierne ever knowing.
Not as the three brothers of House Basilian, but under entirely different identities.
They would all drink the beastkin potion, appear in their adult forms, and scatter Kierne’s attention throughout the banquet. Then, at the perfect moment, they would dramatically reveal the Chesha they had kept hidden from everyone’s eyes.
Strictly speaking, it was only delaying their reunion with Kierne by a mere few days.
The brothers were utterly confident that even this small delay would be punishment enough for him.
“And right now, it’s better if we don’t announce your return.”
Belzeon spoke as he carefully pulled the robe’s hood firmly over Chesha’s head.
In truth, there was a far more serious reason beyond simply tormenting Kierne.
“The Holy King has confirmed his attendance at the birthday banquet.”
The Holy King had long been targeting Chesha.
There was no telling what he might do the moment he learned she had returned.
Especially not in the current situation.
A cornered rat would bite even the cat that hunted it.
The three brothers had chosen to protect Chesha above all else.
Of course, the fact that they had deliberately left Kierne out of that protective circle was nothing but pure, petty spite.
Ishuel was the first to leave, using teleportation magic to head straight for the imperial capital.
He was going to ask Duke Ibroiel for help with their operation.
Watching Ishuel cast the long-distance spell with such effortless skill, Chesha felt a quiet surge of admiration.
It was plain to see how much his power had grown.
The rest of the brothers and Chesha would slip into the empire by blending in with the Skaya royal entourage.
Belzeon and Karha covered their faces and, together with Chesha, made their way to the place where the Skaya party was staying.
Instead of the luxurious inn whose roof had been blown clean off, they were lodged in a far shabbier establishment.
It was the kind of place the precious Princess Aran would never dream of entering.
The whole group waited inside the inn, faces pale and drawn with tension.
The confident mood they had set out with had completely vanished; the atmosphere now felt no different from a funeral hall.
When Chesha appeared with unfamiliar figures who looked like subordinates of the underworld master, everyone quickly lowered their eyes.
It seemed that while Chesha had been briefly staying in the underworld, they had endured no small amount of hardship.
Yet even as the others avoided her gaze, Aran spotted Chesha and ran straight into her arms.
“Chesha…!”
Aran’s face, already gaunt and worn, crumpled the instant she saw that Chesha was safe, and she burst into tears.
She must have been terrified by the sudden disappearance in the middle of the night.
She looked as if she had a thousand things to say, yet she couldn’t bring herself to ask many questions.
Glancing nervously at Belzeon and Karha, she could only hiccup between sobs.
Chesha was gently patting Aran’s back when she blinked in confusion.
Itar was nowhere to be seen.
She had been certain he would cling to her like a burr and refuse to let go.
Unable to ask the weeping Aran, she looked toward Belzeon and Karha, but both pretended they had no idea.
“Let’s set out.”
At Belzeon’s cold command, Aran hiccuped once more and reluctantly stepped back.
Chesha took Aran’s hand and gazed up at Belzeon in silence.
“……”
Belzeon slowly turned his eyes aside, feigning indifference.
Part of her wanted to scold him for making the child cry, but she held her tongue.
‘After all, right now we’re supposed to be strangers.’
The story was that Kierne had asked the underworld master for a favor, and his subordinates were personally escorting Chesha all the way to the capital.
That was why Belzeon and Karha attended to her as if they were nothing more than servants.
“Chesha-nim.”
Karha offered his hand with perfect courtesy to help her into the carriage.
Chesha still wasn’t entirely used to his adult appearance, so she climbed in feeling a little awkward.
The carriage door closed, and Chesha immediately flopped onto the seat.
“Haaaa…”
Because she was so small, there was more than enough room even when she lay down.
The only thing beside her was the rabbit doll.
She had left Hata behind in the underworld.
Hata had desperately wanted to come along, but they couldn’t bring him because of Kierne.
Since they had made a promise to the “Master,” watchful eyes would now be fixed on the hat shop and on Hata from this moment forward.
To make sure they didn’t break their word and run away.
“After you meet the sorceress, bring her here on the first day of the week following the end of the Palen Emperor’s birthday banquet.”
“You can manage that much, can’t you, mutt?”
Remembering Kierne’s voice, cold and carrying that chilling smile, Chesha let out another deep, helpless sigh.
She could not return to Lichesia, nor could she create the illusory realm.
There was simply no way to fulfill Kierne’s demand to meet the sorceress.
But if she had refused him there, Hata’s neck would have been severed on the spot.
So she had no choice but to agree and leave the mansion, even though the situation left her deeply troubled.
Yet inside Chesha’s mind, worries about the future were nowhere to be found. Only one thought filled her completely.
“……”
Could the Countess Basilian who had truly died really be her mother?
She wanted to tell the entire Basilian family everything and search for the truth together, but she had no proof whatsoever.
‘Because I was the only one who saw her.’
She had gone back in time and confirmed that the previous fairy queen was her mother, yet only Chesha had seen her face.
No one in House Basilian, no one at all—not even the fairies themselves—knew who Chesha’s mother was.
Even if she told them that Countess Basilian’s face was exactly like her mother’s, it would sound like nothing more than her own wild claim.
And even if she somehow forced the story out…
‘Kierne would never believe me.’
He was the most distrustful person she knew.
His suspicion of others ran so deep that it had taken him a long time even to accept Chesha.
If a child who had disappeared for an entire year suddenly reappeared and said something like this, the trust they had built so carefully might collapse in an instant.
‘I wish Hata were here.’
This was exactly the kind of moment when she should be stroking his soft fur and soaking in his warmth.
Instead of the puppy Hata, she could only fiddle with the rabbit doll as a poor substitute.
The rabbit doll stayed completely silent.
“……”
Staring at the silent rabbit doll, Chesha suddenly felt a fierce surge of annoyance.
It was the fairy queen’s crown; surely it could offer some useful advice in a situation like this.
As always, it only talked endlessly when no one needed it to.
For no reason at all, Chesha punched the rabbit doll with her small fist.
She hit it hard and neatly, but there was no response.
Bored, she was about to grab its ears and yank them when—
The rabbit doll let out a voice that sounded half-dead.
“Truly… a merciless queen…”
Never in her life had she imagined she would be happy to hear the rabbit doll speak.
“What… you could talk?”
Even as she scolded it for staying quiet all this time, Chesha couldn’t hide the joy that lit up her face.
But the rabbit doll had no strength left.
Its usually lively limbs hung limp and lifeless.
The button eyes gazed at Chesha for a moment, then it suddenly spoke in a strange tone.
“Is it possible to bring a dead fairy back to life?”
“Is it possible to defy the laws of nature and escape the eyes of the gods to rekindle a life that has already been extinguished?”
Chesha narrowed her eyes.
The first thing it chose to say after so long was still nonsense.
Staring straight into the rabbit doll’s button eyes, she answered.
“Even if it’s impossible, I’ll make it possible.”
If Countess Basilian truly was the previous fairy queen and Chesha’s mother,
then Chesha wanted to meet her again too.
She wanted to help Kierne commit the forbidden act of reversing time—the very thing the gods would never allow.
After all, she herself had been an existence that should never have been.
She knew it was madness, but still.
“I miss Mom…”
She whispered the words she had never told anyone, so softly they were almost lost in the air.
The rabbit doll quietly looked back at her.
“Resurrection demands a price.”
“The one who seeks life must offer a sacrifice of equal value.”
At that moment, a chill ran down Chesha’s spine.
She already knew what the rabbit doll was going to say next.
Without pausing, the rabbit doll delivered the final words.
“The only sacrifice needed to revive the dead queen is one.”
“The new queen.”
