How to Be a Dark Hero’s Daughter

There was an empty warehouse on the wharf.

Under that warehouse was an underground shelter, it was unclear who built it. Cedric made that place his hideout.

Cedric slowly raised his hand.

Illuminating a light in the darkness and levitating objects. That was the only amusement Cedric could indulge in.

Occasionally, as Cedric dozed off, he dreamt of his mother. It was a phrase she had repeated several times before he ran away from home.

‘What’s inside this?’

Cedric would often touch his chest.

But apart from his heart beating, there was nothing else.

Sometimes he felt nauseous, a sensation as if something was about to be pulled out from near his heart.

‘What could really be inside?’

And so, Cedric hid underground, much like a rat.

Because of Cedric’s deformed arm, a new urban legend spread throughout the city.

A legend about a werewolf that roamed the dark warehouses by the underground waterways and riverside docks at night.

And then, one day, the girl who lived under that bridge disappeared. Not just her, but all the residents.

It was only later that Cedric learned that the slum dwellers had been evicted, but back then, he was too young to realize.

Discovering that girl again was truly coincidental.

“…The Count ordered us to dispose of her.”

“Isn’t she already dead?”

“Let’s see. She’s still breathing, huh? Tsk, tsk, she’s pretty resilient. If she survives this, sell her off.”

“Her ribs are broken, she’ll die soon. There’s no doctor in such back alleys.”

“Let’s end this quickly and lessen our guilt. The girl saw our faces.”

Whispers were exchanged right in front of Cedric’s hideout.

Curious, Cedric peeked out. Several men were dumping a girl onto a trash heap in the alley.

“Stab her quickly. We’re in trouble if she screams.”

One of the men drew his knife. At that moment, Cedric’s eyes caught sight of long strawberry blonde hair.

‘That girl is…’

The collapsed silhouette was familiar.

It was definitely her. The one who lived under the bridge. He remembered her smiling face.

‘I’m so lonely.’

That’s what Cedric thought at that moment. Perhaps if I save her…

‘She’s injured, would she smile at me like that too?’

That was the first desire Cedric ever felt. Before he realized, he had stepped forward.

Standing tall.

Breaking those men’s necks was too easy for him. Cedric’s strength wasn’t like an average person’s. It was his first time killing someone.

‘It’s really her.’

Cedric slowly looked at her face. She was the one who had given him bread.

“Cough, cough!”

The girl coughed with difficulty.

On closer look, her limbs were broken. She took a painful breath and coughed up blood.

He tried to remember her name.

When calling someone, you call them by their name. That was one of the few normal teachings his mother had given him.

‘What was her name?’

He definitely heard it under that bridge, called out by the girl’s mother.

Ah, he remembered.

“Lee.”

Cedric whispered.

Another wave of nausea hit him. Cedric trembled as he held the girl’s shoulder.

“Cough, urgh!”

What should he do?

There was a thud from the girl’s shoulder.

It’s broken.

Cedric looked desperate.

‘Don’t die.’

The next moment, Cedric coughed heavily. Something flew out from his throat. It was a small stone that shined like a gem.

He tried to grab it, but strangely couldn’t feel it.

It was what his mother had spoken of.

Without thinking, Cedric fed the shining stone to the girl. A white light appeared around her heart and spread to her chest.

“Huff, huff…”

Her broken ribs mended, and her wounds started to heal.

‘Her heart is beating.’

Cedric rested his cheek on the girl’s chest. She was alive.

* * *

Why did my mother tell me that?

Thinking about it now, she said it for herself. Cedric’s small world consisted only of him and his mother.

If something dangerous happened, it meant to save her.

But he never thought it would be possible.

Cedric sighed.

The next moment, he felt a burning pain throughout his body. Cedric writhed on the ground in agony.

He managed to crawl to the underground.

When he opened his eyes again, he was heading to the only place where light entered the underground, the place connected to the river.

‘Huh?’

His body had shrunk. Cedric realized he was only about ten years old.

The grotesque, hairy arm of a foul beast and the physique that looked nearly nineteen were now gone.

Shiny blonde hair and purple eyes. There was the normal young boy, Cedric.

When Cedric returned to the girl, she was gone. He never saw her again.

* * *

Wolf’s imprint.

That’s what Cedric called it.

At first, he didn’t understand what he had done. He simply used the magic as his mother had instructed and saved the girl.

‘I didn’t realize the price was so steep.’

The engraving is literally an engraving.

Cedric’s body and mind recognized her as his mate. Yet, it didn’t seem like he loved her.

“A herbivore deprived of its grass, a fish without water, a bird living without the sky.”

That’s how Cedric’s state could be described. He just felt empty and depressed.

Cedric wore old clothes he found in the storeroom and went outside.

Now, having a normal human body, Cedric was a very pretty child. As he walked among people, no one was surprised to see him.

Instead, people pitied the dirty-looking Cedric.

“Do you want some bread, kid?”

“Do you live in the orphanage?”

“Should I tell the guards to find your parents for you?”

He wasn’t used to people talking to him. He was scared. Cedric ran away.

But where is she? He gave her his precious thing. Where is she?

Lost in thought, Cedric decided to return home.

Now, Cedric was no longer a monster. His mother might be less mad. He just wanted to peek in.

However, the mansion Cedric used to live in was already empty.

Cedric wandered around the house. Soon after, strangers invaded the house.

“We found him!”

“Just as the letter from Lady Leira said! He’s here.”

“Leira? Oh, my mother’s name.”

“Violet eyes with blonde hair. It’s definitely him!”

The unfamiliar knights kneeled before Cedric.

“We have come to serve you, Your Highness.”

Cedric looked at them in surprise.