Chapter 14
It was a golden candlestick with a beautiful graceful curve.
The candlestick, which was a beautiful decoration when attached to the wall, became a weapon in Kiern’s hand.
Kiern laughed heartily with a face like a candlestick killer.
It was very unsettling for Chesha, who knew that he laughed particularly well when he was angry.
Hilon calmly replied to Kiern, who was ready to hit him with a candlestick.
“I just had something to ask.”
“Aha, with all your clothes taken off?”
Frankly, it wasn’t.
Just partly, the top.
Of course, it wasn’t something he would do in front of someone else’s baby.
Hilon’s excuse made Kiern laugh as if he wasn’t the same.
As if there was no need to hear more, right before swinging the candlestick.
Kiern stopped his hand.
He saw the flower pattern engraved on Hilon’s chest.
“That pattern.”
The long eyes narrowed slightly.
“It’s the mark of the witch fairy.”
Hilon did not respond.
He just adjusted his clothes without saying a word.
The skin that was briefly exposed was once again hidden under the uniform.
But he can’t erase what he has already seen.
“The mark of the witch fairy on the body of a dignified Holy Knight.”
Kiern was genuinely dumbfounded.
“Why don’t you erase it? I thought the Holy Knights would remove the symbol of heresy, even by ripping off their flesh.”
Instead of reacting to the sarcastic remarks, Hilon calmly asked back.
“Do you know the witch fairy Richesia?”
“Doesn’t anyone know her?”
Kiern, who guessed the situation from a short dialogue, narrowed his eyebrows in disbelief.
“No way, just now…. Did you do something like that to ask my daughter about the witch fairy’s whereabouts?”
“That’s right.”
At the absurd answer, Kiern let out a laugh.
Losing the will to fight, he threw the candlestick at random.
Bang, the candlestick made a loud noise as it fell on the uncarpeted marble floor.
“My daughter has nothing to do with the witch fairy. Do not test my patience any longer, Sir.”
Hilon did not answer.
He just said something else.
“An escort knight will be assigned to each child participating in the prayer meeting. I was assigned as an escort knight to the Count of Basilian.”
“… Ha!”
“I will safely escort her to the Holy Empire.”
“It would be surveillance, not escort.”
“Think of what is convenient for you.”
Hilon moved slowly.
He stopped right in front of Kiern.
“You’d better be careful with your behavior, Count Basilian.”
“….”
“There are not a few people watching.”
Extremely contrasting eyes collide.
Invisible swords were pointed at each other.
The coolness of the sword seemed to be felt by Chesha as well.
However, neither Kiern nor Hilon crossed the line.
It was an intuition that each of them was not an opponent to treat hastily.
“I will see you again on the day we depart for the Holy Empire.”
Hilon left the audience room after saying that.
The hem of the blue cloak draped over one shoulder fluttered and the door closed.
Chesha turned her gaze to Kiern.
Kiern was expressionless.
She thought he would be smiling though.
The lips that were still closed firmly.
“Dad.”
Even when Chesha called, he stood still for a moment, then looked at her a beat later.
Chesha opened her arms to him on purpose.
Then, Kiern immediately came over and hugged Chesha.
Chesha refreshed his mind by telling another story.
“Habe you seen the Emperor?”
“Yup, I saw him. I was afraid Chesha would wait for me, so I came to see you hurriedly.”
It seemed that he called for something extremely important, but the audience ended in an instant.
He even emphasized that he must bring Chesha, and mentioned treason.
Come to think of it, it seems that he was called because of Hilon.‘Any emperor of the Great Empire of Palen would know that Hilon is the leader of the Heresy Inquisitor.’
If so, it was understandable that an Imperial order had been hastily given from Hilon to summon Count Basilian.
‘He must have been so shocked that he called the Count, thinking he would cause an accident.’
It would be difficult if the Heresy Inquisitor and also the Imperial Family of Palen were involved.
Chesha asked while lightly pulling the hem of Kiern’s clothes.
“Butz do I habe to see the Emperor too?”
Since Chesha was mentioned in the Imperial order, she wondered if she would also have an audience with him.
But Kiern just laughed.
“You don’t have to. Why is Chesha meeting the old pig?”
“…?”
“Chesha is pretty and should only look at something good.”
Does she think she just heard something crucial?
Something like calling the Sun Emperor of the Great Empire of Palen an old pig…?
Chesha’s head was filled with question marks.
However, Kiern just smiled as if he had never said anything like a pig.
“Shall we go see the Imperial Palace around with Dad?”
Chesha nodded her head coldly at the words that were spoken like flowing water.
Kiern smiled broadly at the small nod and kissed Chesha on the bridge of her nose.
“The Imperial Palace garden isn’t that bad. Worth a look.”
He said as he walked into the garden with Chesha in his arms.
“If there is something Chesha likes, I will make the same thing in the castle, so tell me.”
“Yes!”
As Kiern said, the Imperial garden was worth seeing.
She liked a single flower in the garden much more than the flashy and flashy interior decorations of the Imperial Palace.
Chesha sighed and took a deep breath.
The refreshing smell of grass filled the stomach.
As she has the blood of a mad fairy, she had outrageous powers, but in the end, Chesha was also a fairy.
She felt most comfortable when she was close to nature.
In particular, Chesha liked flowers the most among many plants.
‘There aren’t too many flowers in the Snake Castle.’
She thought it would be okay to ask him to plant flowers later.
Kiern strolled leisurely so Chesha could look around the garden.
He asked in passing, stopping under a large tree full of small pink flowers.
“What did you talk about with the knight?”
“He ask if I habe a puppy.”
“…Puppy?”
Kiern tilted his head to the side.
He seemed curious about what she was talking about, but he had no intention of going into detail about the conversation she had with Hilon.
He didn’t have the information he wanted anyway.
‘Because Kiern already knows that Hilon came for surveillance purposes.’
Chesha knows what makes Kiern anxious.
He needed a child who could attend the prayer meeting and win.
It was impossible for a normal child.
It’s because the child shouldn’t look like they were adopted for the prayer meeting.
Since they had to look like a real family, the child had to have a personality that could easily melt into the family of Count Basilian.
It was by no means an easy condition.
Because if he showed his energy properly, even a grown man would not be able to meet Kiern’s eyes.
So, Kiern wandered around in various orphanages.
Then he met Chesha.
It was the ‘child who doesn’t fear himself’ he wanted, she even resembles the dead countess.
There has never been a more perfect child for Kiern.
He will never want to miss it.
That’s why he is good to her.
‘Right now, he’s probably worried that I won’t attend the prayer meeting because of Hilon, or that the County will have a bad perception.’
Or maybe she was already attached to him.
She felt a little sorry to see the arrogant man nervous.
She thought she should reassure Kiern first.
Even if he pretended not to, Kiern was the owner of a very sensitive and unstable mind.
It wasn’t that she was worried about it.
Chesha comforted him so that she could feel at ease.
“Don’z worry.”
Kiern, lost in thought, looked at Chesha with a slight smile.
It was a habitual smile.
Chesha stretched out her hand and stroked his hair.
His black hair ran gently under her palm.
“Zzesha on Dad’z side.”
“….”
The smile disappeared from Kiern’s face.
He said nothing.
Swoosh.
The wind blew the leaves against each other, making the sound of waves.
Light pink petals scattered everywhere, filling the field of view.
Red eyes blankly stared at Chesha.
The face, which only had a mask-like smile, was completely destroyed.
He pursed his lips.
There was a long hesitation that he couldn’t bear to spit out.
However, as if pushed by force majeure, in the end he let out his voice.
“… Also for something like this.”
Kiern laughed.
Chesha made a face she had never seen before and whispered with a painful smile.
“For something like this, you don’t have to resemble….”