The Baby Fairy Is A Villain [EN]: Chapter 3

The Holy Empire of Hilderard was a city-state under the protection of the Holy King, governed by holy priests and defended by holy knights.

It was also a nation granted extraterritorial rights, exempt from the laws of all other countries on the continent, because it was a country founded in the name of God.

The reason their ruler was called the Holy King, and not just King, was to signify his subservience to God.

Hilderard saw itself as responsible for maintaining order on the continent.

To punish heresy that deviated from God, they did not hesitate to use any means necessary.

In particular, the ‘Inquisitors,’ chosen from the most exceptional holy knights, were so fearsome that their name alone could silence crying children.

All the nobles of the continent, even members of the imperial families, were careful about their words and actions in front of the Inquisitors.

They didn’t want to provoke them.

However, Chesha was an enemy of the Inquisitors.

As the daughter of a mad fairy, she was born with inherently twisted powers.

She was, in a sense, a symbol of heresy.

Even if she lived quietly, it wouldn’t be enough to escape their notice, but she constantly caused incidents, making her a persistent thorn in the side of the Holy Empire.

Chesha recalled the man who had relentlessly pursued her.

A man who always stared directly at her, his bright blue eyes burning with intensity.

His icy, chilling voice still rang clearly in her mind.

“How far do you intend to ruin me, you witch?”

The sound of pure white chains clattering echoed in her ears like an auditory hallucination.

Chesha frowned and rubbed her ears with the palms of her hands.

‘It’s about time they came looking.’

She had been quiet for a month, holed up in the orphanage.

Normally, she would have caused at least a couple of incidents by now, so Richessia would be suspicious and come looking for her, wondering what she was up to.

‘But there’s no need to set up checkpoints like this.’

It seemed that Richessia had disappeared without a trace for a month, which was a significant reason for the increased security.

‘Just you wait, you punk.’

Once she dealt with the Basilian family, she was planning to cause a huge incident.

The thought of tormenting the holy knights and priests already made her happy.

It was when Chesha was smirking slyly that she overheard:

“The witch Richessia.”

Kieren murmured, lightly stroking his chin with his long fingers.

“Come to think of it, she’s been quiet lately.”

The back alleys were a neutral zone with extraterritorial rights, though in a different sense from the Holy Empire.

A place where those abandoned by the world gathered.

What happened in the chaotic back alleys often affected the outside world.

Therefore, the witch Richessia was a fairly well-known figure on the continent.

However, there was something meaningful in Count Basilian’s mutterings.

‘He’s talking like he knows her really well?’

While Chesha was pondering this strange thought, a holy knight politely requested:

“Excuse me, may I see your identification pass?”

Kieren smiled brightly and replied:

“I don’t want to.”

“…….”

Chesha, who had been fidgeting, and the holy knight who was conducting the inspection were momentarily speechless.

He slowly got out of the carriage.

Feeling an unusual aura, the holy knights placed their hands on the hilts of their swords.

Regardless, Kieren grabbed Chesha with both hands and lifted her high into the air.

“Isn’t she cute? She’s my daughter.”

Someone let out a nervous laugh at the absurd behavior.

Hearing that sound, Kieren smiled like a crescent moon.

“But I’d like the fact that I adopted a daughter to remain a secret for now.”

A strange light flickered in his red eyes.

He whispered in a subtle voice.

“I’d like everyone to forget about it.”

It was a ticklish yet deep whisper, as if a snake were crawling into their ears.

The eyes of the holy knights, who were about to draw their swords, clouded over at once.

Just like the headmaster and children they had seen at the orphanage earlier.

Chesha recalled where she had seen this scene in the past, from an old memory.

And she was immediately horrified.

‘Count Basilian is a black magician?!’

While she was stunned, Kieren snapped his fingers.

Black shadows soared in all directions from his feet.

Complete darkness surrounded Chesha.

When the shadows that covered her vision cleared, the surrounding scenery had completely changed.

Until just now, it was clearly just an ordinary road.

But now, a jet-black castle soared before Chesha’s eyes.

Flags fluttered throughout the castle, which had gray-white stone walls and a black roof.

It was a black flag with an ouroboros [a symbol of a snake eating its own tail, representing infinity and cyclicality] pattern: a silver snake wrapped around a sword, biting its own tail and tangled together.

The eerie castle felt solid, as if it would not allow the intrusion of outsiders or the escape of insiders.

Dozens of knights in jet-black uniforms were lined up in front of the massive castle gate.

They all knelt on one knee and paid their respects.

“Welcome back, Count.”

Kieren lightly swept back his disheveled hair and smiled brightly.

He said to Chesha with a radiant smile:

“Welcome to the Snake’s Castle, my daughter.”

***

“Hah, hah… !”

The man ran frantically.

Sharp branches and thorny bushes tore at his arms and legs, but he felt no pain.

It was because of the sound of chains that clung persistently to his ears.

The sound, which never faded no matter how far he ran, quickly gnawed at the man’s mind.

The man, who had been running like a madman, widened his eyes.

“Keuh-heuk!”

A pure white chain grabbed the man’s ankle.

The man, who had fallen onto rotten leaves and wet soil, desperately crawled on the ground.

But it was already too late.

The white chain bound the man and lifted him into the air.

The man struggled, tearing at the chain that wrapped around his body.

The man, drooling, made a shrill sound.

“Hic…”

A person wearing a bluish-white uniform approached with measured steps.

A blue cloak draped over one shoulder fluttered in the wind.

The man, staring at the approaching punisher with bloodshot eyes, hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Please, heuk, please, forgive me… !”

The desperate plea was cut short.

The man crumbled into fragments of pure white light.

The chain, having annihilated its target, returned to its owner with a clattering sound.

The chains that had filled the surroundings disappeared without a trace.

The Inquisitor, standing among the scattering fragments of light, glanced to the side.

“Sir Hylon!”

The holy knights, who had belatedly followed, looked at Hylon with eyes full of respect.

Hylon said coldly:

“Clean it up.”

“Yes!”

The holy knights began to purify the place where the man had died.

Holy light removed the corpse and blood.

Hylon, who had been watching their purification work for a while, slowly moved on.

He briefly questioned the adjutant who quietly followed him.

“The witch?”

“Not yet. Despite conducting inspections, there is no information coming in at all. I can’t find any trace…”

Hylon’s neat eyebrows furrowed.

He dismissed the adjutant, who was watching his mood, to join the holy knights and walked away alone.

Walking through the forest, shrouded in bleak darkness, he stroked the bracelet on his wrist.

The simple white bracelet was the Holy Empire of Hilderard’s relic, the ‘Chains of Atonement.’

The power of the chain, which only Hylon could wield, was simple: tracking, binding, and annihilation.

The Chains of Atonement had never missed a target since it came into Hylon’s hands, except for one time.

“…….”

Hylon bit his lip.

It was because a hot sensation flared near the back of his neck, a place hidden by the stiff uniform.

A red flower pattern was imprinted on his straight collarbone.

A pattern that felt too seductive and even lascivious, unsuitable for a chaste body.

It was a mark left by the witch Richessia.

The mark left as a sign that he was her prey occasionally flared up to make its presence known.

As an Inquisitor of the Holy Empire, she was an existence that must be eliminated.

But…….

“You’re my prey, Hylon.”

Red eyes that sparkled like luscious roses.

Richessia, who swept back her dazzling golden hair and smiled seductively, left a mark.

“So don’t die carelessly.”

So he couldn’t die.

Even in the moments when he should have died, he had ultimately survived.

Hylon twisted his lips and smiled.

He didn’t know what kind of mischief she was trying to commit, but he would find her somehow.

And this time, he would throw her into the underground prison…

So that she would only exist before his eyes.