What a freaking psycho.
Chesha glared at Itar, her eyes shooting daggers.
But Itar didn’t care.
Or rather, he didn’t *seem* to care at all.
‘Even after being locked in the Inquisitorial Chamber, he’s still acting like this.’ She thought, clearly, he hadn’t been properly brainwashed.
“Hahaha!”
Itar, who had been laughing heartily, grinned and asked, “But you’ve changed a lot, haven’t you?”
Chesha, dangling her feet in the air, met his gaze directly.
Itar narrowed his eyes, scanning Chesha from head to toe. “You’ve gone from a baby to a child. Your clothes are… unique, too. As expected of a fairy’s daughter…” He even gave her a gentle shake.
Chesha jiggled along with the rabbit doll.
“Brother!” Unable to bear it any longer, Aran jumped up from her seat.
She slammed the table with her small hand and glared fiercely at Itar. “Put Chesha down.”
“Oops.”
Itar grinned and set Chesha down on the floor.
Aran quickly grabbed Chesha’s hand and hid her behind her. “She’s my guest, so don’t treat her carelessly.”
Even with the glare from his younger sister, Itar was too busy laughing to notice.
Aran pulled Chesha away, saying, “I’ll go change her clothes first. We can talk later.”
Then, Itar leaned against the table and winked at Chesha. “You’re not running away through the back door this time, are you?”
Chesha, who had a history of ditching Itar, flinched inwardly.
But outwardly, she widened her eyes as if she didn’t know anything. “Back door?” she asked innocently, hugging the rabbit doll. Itar pressed his lips with the back of his hand for a moment.
He muttered in a voice that seemed to come from deep within his stomach, “Cute…”
While Itar was dazed, Chesha quickly escaped with Aran.
“Ugh, really.” Aran stomped her feet and took Chesha’s hand, heading to the dressing room. “You’re about the same size as me, so let’s put you in my clothes for now.”
Aran dismissed the maids and began to choose her favorite clothes herself.
Chesha’s current outfit was too conspicuous.
‘I’m the only one who looks like a fairy who popped out of some strange country,’ she thought.
It would be better to wear clothes from the Skaya Kingdom.
Aran took out several outfits, muttering to herself, “This would look good, and that would be great too…” It seemed like she could just give her anything, but she was becoming more and more serious.
She finally stopped picking out clothes after taking out about ten outfits.
Holding light and cool-looking pants and a skirt in her hands, she reminded Aran, who was seriously contemplating, of the interrupted conversation. “But why don’t you get along with His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“…Ah.”
Aran, who had been so absorbed in choosing clothes that she had forgotten the main point, turned to Chesha. “The fact that you’re the daughter of a witch… my brother found out.”
Itar, who had picked up information from somewhere, immediately tried to reach out to the impersonator Kieren had caught.
Of course, Kieren caught him right away and gave him a warning.
It would have been nice if it had ended there.
Later, when a request came to the kingdom to cooperate in searching for ‘Chesha Basilian’,
In front of the third son of the Basilian family who came in person, Itar made a stupid statement that he shouldn’t have made.
“Ah, of course, we should cooperate.”
“But if I find Chesha Basilian, can I adopt her? I’m going to marry a witch, you see.”
“It would be better for the child’s emotional well-being to have a complete family.”
Itar’s remarks were conveyed to Kieren by Ishuel.
Kieren wouldn’t have stood still after hearing such nonsense.
He began to pressure the Skaya Kingdom using all sorts of methods.
Then today, Samid brought some good news.
There was a possibility that he could get permission to attend the upcoming birthday banquet of the Palen Empire’s Emperor.
Of course, nothing was certain, and even if they went to the Empire, they could be kicked out at the border.
But the Skaya Kingdom had to cling to uncertain and faint possibilities.
“My brother still doesn’t seem to have given up on marrying a witch, though.”
Chesha, with Aran’s help, changed her clothes and pondered.
The situation was difficult in many ways.
First of all, her power had been greatly reduced, so she could only use tricks.
She couldn’t even dream of long-distance travel, so she was planning to return to the Basilian family with Aran’s help.
‘Since the relationship is completely broken, I can’t contact them in the name of the Skaya royal family.’
She couldn’t ask Hylone to contact them either.
He was a traitor to the Holy Empire.
If the Skaya royal family tried to contact Hylone, they would be branded as traitors as well.
She couldn’t ask Aran to do such a dangerous thing…….
‘In conclusion, there’s nothing I can do?’
Even if she tried to find other means of contact, most contacts wouldn’t even reach the Basilian barony.
Since Chesha had a large reward on her head, there would have been countless false reports and impersonations in the meantime.
Unless the sender was trustworthy, the contact would obviously be filtered out at the lower levels.
It would be best to go with the Skaya royal family when they attend the Palen Emperor’s birthday banquet.
But looking at what Itar is doing now, it was a problem because it didn’t seem like he would let her go.
Aran was also anxious because of that.
Chesha, who had been thinking hard, came to a conclusion.
‘I have no choice.’
Let’s do something a little bad.
It would be much better for Chesha to commit a benevolent act of wrongdoing now than for the Skaya Kingdom to be destroyed later because they were caught harboring Chesha.
Chesha, who had finished changing her clothes, smiled brightly at Aran.
“Your Highness Princess.”
She raised a finger to Aran, who was somehow shy, and suggested, “Shall I let His Highness the Crown Prince meet the witch?”
***
An unclear humming sound scattered through the night air.
The one who was singing a lullaby in a mess laughed as he heard the hallucination brushing past his ear.
“This is a lullaby.”
“I don’t know where I learned this song. I don’t remember the name or anything, but this song keeps lingering in my head……”
“I’m sure someone loved me and sang it to me.”
“So Kieren, I’m singing a lullaby to you too.”
“Because I love you.”
Long fingers caressed the silver pocket watch.
He traced the letters engraved on the inside of the watch cover with his fingertips.
The whispering voice became louder and clearer.
It was no longer a distant hallucination, but as clear as a voice speaking right next to him.
Knowing that it had reached a dangerous level, Kieren just stood still.
He wanted to listen a little more.
“I want to be with you all day long.”
“Me too, Rose.”
“But I can’t…. This is instead of me. You have to carry it with you every day?”
“Yeah. I have it with me every day.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh…….”
“But why am I still dead?”
“It hurts so much. It’s painful. I miss you. I want to be by your side.”
“Save me, Kieren!”
She screamed.
His head spun for a moment, but Kieren didn’t cover his ears.
He didn’t shake his head to shake off the hallucination either.
Knowing that Rose would never say such things, he just listened quietly and answered weakly.
“I’m sorry.”
Was it because the reaction was lukewarm?
The hallucination brought another voice this time.
“Daddy!”
Kieren smiled slowly.
And he swore with a smile.
He flashed his eyes, uttering vulgar profanity like a street thug.
“My daughter is not dead.”
A child who will be alive and well.
His blood ran cold at the sight of them trying to lure him out with hallucinations just like the dead.
It was when he was wielding the black magic sword and indiscriminately cutting down the monsters of the black forest.
A winged unicorn made of purple magic appeared in the sky.
The unicorn, illuminating the black forest, gently flapped its wings and approached Kieren.
Kieren sighed and reached out his hand.
“Stop it and come to the capital now, Kieren.”
Kieren indifferently wiped off the blood and listened to her message.
“Attend the birthday banquet.”