Chapter 93
She was more emotional than necessary.
It was because the emotions of the fairy going mad were influencing her.
Even buried memories from the past resurfaced, pushing her to the brink of completely losing her mind.
A black darkness enveloped Cheshire.
The rage that had been soaring endlessly was subdued by the serene darkness, losing its momentum.
The darkness and silence that Kierne had created for her.
And the warmth transmitted from his hand.
The comforting sensation gradually dulled her sharply pointed emotions.
Nestled in his broad embrace, Cheshire watched as Kierne and Hailon tore into each other while dealing with the slave hunters.
The two men, positioned at opposite extremes, loathed each other yet joined forces.
It was all to protect Cheshire.
Watching them made the inside of her chest tingle intensely.
In the place where the anger had vanished, unfamiliar emotions filled in.
In the spring when she was fifteen, she manifested the fairy’s power and fled from the slave hunters.
She struggled desperately just to survive.
In the winter when she was sixteen, she realized how to wield illusions.
As soon as she fully awakened her power, the first thing she did was eliminate the slave hunters.
How had she felt back then?
She couldn’t remember clearly, but surely, Cheshire had enjoyed it.
For nearly two years, she had been relentlessly tormented by the slave hunters.
She hadn’t even dreamed of revenge for her orphanage friends and the director.
The moment she transformed from prey to predator was so exhilarating.
The caterpillar that had writhed pitifully on the dirt ground became a splendid butterfly, and the fugitive who had begged for her life while being chased turned into a ruthless killer.
Cheshire had taken revenge enough to forget all the suffering she had endured.
After ending it all, drenched in blood, she stood alone in front of a mountain of corpses and laughed like a madwoman.
She laughed, and laughed, and laughed some more, then burst into tears.
She screamed and wailed, pouring out all her emotions.
That day, when she wiped her tear-streaked face with bloodied hands, was the last time.
After that, she had never been greatly shaken by anything.
It was similar even after she reached adulthood.
If she had to point out a difference,
it was that during the years she wandered searching for traces of her mother, she earned the name of a witch, and she came to raise a dog named Hata.
But was it because her heart had weakened due to the fairy going mad?
Intense emotions kept surging toward Kierne and Hailon as they killed the slave hunters right in front of her.
She couldn’t even understand the reason herself.
Just, really just…
Cheshire wanted to cry.
‘How embarrassing.’
She wasn’t a child, yet here she was, getting emotionally synchronized with a fairy and recalling some old memories, acting like this.
She was so ashamed of herself for trying to reveal a weak spot over something so trivial.
But even knowing she shouldn’t show her vulnerabilities, it wasn’t easy.
Her eyes grew warm at the corners, and the tip of her nose tingled.
To hold back the rising tears, she gripped Kierne’s hem with all her might.
With her small hands, she clutched it as best she could and panted heavily.
To steady her trembling body, she buried her face in Kierne’s chest and just focused on breathing.
After a while of that, she felt a careful touch cupping her face.
The large hand gently lifted Cheshire’s face.
The thought of shaking off the touch flickered briefly.
But it was just a thought; she followed where the hand led.
Kierne and Hailon were looking at her.
Eyes of completely opposite colors held the same light.
It was worry and affection directed at Cheshire.
‘I shouldn’t have lifted my head.’
Cheshire regretted it immediately.
Because when their eyes met, really…
She couldn’t hold it back anymore.
Her vision blurred, and everything in front of her grew hazy.
Finally, a tear dropped with a plop.
“……”
Silence fell over the illusion.
Kierne and Hailon froze in place.
The two men stopped like puppets whose springs had unwound, just staring at Cheshire.
Amid their flustered gazes, Cheshire sobbed alone with hiccups.
She tried to stop crying, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop the tears.
They poured out like a dam had burst.
Seeing Cheshire cry until her face turned red, the frozen Kierne finally opened his mouth belatedly.
“…Cheshire, why, why are you crying? Did Daddy scare you too much?”
He was so surprised that he even stuttered in the middle.
Hailon also looked clearly tense.
She wanted to answer, but it was hard because the crying wouldn’t stop.
Cheshire just shook her head side to side.
Then the two men became even more at a loss.
To reassure the fretting pair, she wiped her tear-soaked face with her small hands.
It was a clean hand, unstained by blood.
What clung to her white palm was only clear tears.
Not mixed with blood or filthy grime…
“It’s not because I’m scared.”
“Then?”
To Kierne, who asked right away, she gave her answer only after a long pause.
“I don’t know either……”
It was the truth.
Cheshire didn’t really know why she was crying.
After struggling to swallow her sobs, she barely managed to say what was needed.
“Is Daddy okay?”
“With what?”
“Me… being weird.”
After saying it, tears fell in streams again.
She had used the fairy’s power.
So blatantly that there was no way to deny it.
Cheshire had already been suspicious enough.
Even though she was pretending to be a baby, she couldn’t help but differ from a real baby her age.
Kierne must have harbored doubts because of that.
She well knew that he had been watching her closely.
‘This time, will I be cast out for real?’
Even after seeing him step up and protect her, that thought came first.
Because it was hard to believe that anyone would do something for her.
Rather, it felt far more natural for Kierne to denounce her as a fairy right here.
Because Cheshire wasn’t a real Basilian.
She had no right to receive unconditional affection like blood kin.
She kept shedding tears drop by drop as she looked up at Kierne.
Kierne was silent for a moment.
The brief instant he chose his words felt like a thousand years.
After a wait that was both a split second and an eternity, Kierne’s lips parted.
“…Daddy is fine with whatever Cheshire is.”
His thumb pressed firmly under her eye.
Soon, he wiped away the tears with force.
His bright red eyes flickered intensely.
He whispered again in an even lower voice.
“Because Cheshire will like Daddy the same way. No matter what I am.”
It was a brand seared with flames.
It was also a greedy bargain demanding the same infinite affection in return.
A painfully warm sensation swirled in her heart, which pounded as if it would burst.
But just before the indelible burn was stamped,
Hailon snatched Cheshire away with the Chains of Condemnation.
Kierne, suddenly empty-handed, looked at Hailon expressionlessly.
He cast a shadow toward Hailon and asked.
“Are you going to interrogate my child as a heretic?”
“No way.”
Hailon retorted shortly, then moved the chains to hold Cheshire in his arms as he replied.
“I already knew she was a fairy. I just didn’t expect her to manifest the power so quickly.”
“……”
“You said she was the daughter of the witch Lichesia.”
Kierne’s gaze sank.
He realized that what he had dismissed as nonsense was close to the truth.
Hailon told him coldly and decisively.
“Stop spouting crazy nonsense to the child and find a way to end the illusion.”
“You said it would end if we grant what the fairy wants. Killing the slave hunters didn’t faze it, so should we try killing a holy knight this time?”
Just as Hailon and Kierne glared at each other, about to start a second round,
Cheshire, who had almost stopped crying by now, mumbled.
“It’s still angry, that’s why……”
Cheshire sniffled as she gazed at the illusion.
If the fairy’s state had been normal,
this place would surely have been beautiful.
It would have been a fantastical space embracing an ideal peace incomparable to reality.
After all, the flowers bloomed by the fairy were more lovely than anything in the real world.
She naturally didn’t know how to calm a fairy going mad.
But Cheshire decided to try following her instincts.
“I’ll try it.”
She closed her eyes and slowly summoned her power.
She clasped her hands together, then opened her eyes with a sparkle and spread them out.
From her opened hands, countless butterflies of light scattered, and the flowers blooming throughout the illusion all turned into petals at once.
The petals fluttering from thousands of flowers began to cover the dark world.
And wherever the petals touched,
the black ground disappeared, and fresh grass began to sprout.
