Chapter – 41
✠
Fortunately, there was a cave nearby where they could escape the salt sandstorm.
It seemed likely that this muscular middle-aged man had dug it himself to survive.
I laid the old man down on a sleeping bag and took out a vitality recovery potion and a concentrated nutritional supplement from my satchel.
“Sir… please, try to come to your senses.”
“Ugh… ugh…”
He seemed unconscious, only letting out groans. I carefully poured the potion into his mouth and slipped in the round pills. I worried whether he could swallow them, but…
“Ugh…!”
Murmuring, smacking, gulping—he swallowed them all.
“…You’re eating really well.”
By the time all five potions and ten pills had disappeared into the old man’s stomach, his long eyelashes began to twitch.
“Ugh…”
“Are you coming to, sir?”
“You… are… Elthea?!”
As expected, the potion that my father and I had made worked perfectly.
The old man, who had been on the verge of death moments ago, suddenly sat up.
However…
“Elthea! So you’re still alive!”
“Uh… uh… excuse me?”
The old man burst into tears and hugged me. At this point, I was both flustered and extremely curious.
Who exactly was this Elthea?
✠
Aron Jake Hispenril trembled all over.
Two months had passed since he entered the dungeon searching for traces of his daughter who had run away 13 years ago.
After losing consciousness in the salt sandstorm, he opened his eyes to find a girl in front of him.
More precisely, she looked like his daughter in her childhood.
“Elthea! How much hardship have you endured that you’ve become so young again?”
“Uh… um, I’m not Elthea.”
King Hispenril looked closely at the girl. Seeing her awkward expression, he came to his senses.
The girl in front of him was about ten years old. She was not the daughter who had already been an adult when she ran away.
“My name is Ailette. I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else, sir.”
“….”
The king’s shoulders sagged like a deflated balloon.
Yes, it couldn’t be Elthea.
Trying to console himself, he suppressed the ache in his chest.
Even after realizing she wasn’t his daughter, King Hispenril couldn’t take his eyes off Ailette.
‘How could she look so much like Elthea?’
A faint suspicion even crossed his mind: Could this be a malicious mirage created by the demon desert? Some trick by demons to deceive him…!
“Sir, would you like a sandwich? I made it myself.”
“…!”
Ah, it reminded him of the little Elthea who once brought gingerbread cookies to his office.
“I… I really want to eat it.”
“Yes, here you go!”
“Hmm… so delicious… really delicious…”
“Really? Have more! Eat as much as you want!”
It really was delicious. It even reminded him of the potions made by the alchemist Rodel who had recently opened a new world for him.
He felt as if his muscles might betray him and awaken to culinary pleasure.
“You must have been very hungry, sir.”
“I’ve been fasting for ten days.”
No need to care about low-carb diets; he eagerly devoured the bread.
“Ten days? How did that happen?”
“I entered here about two months ago. The food I brought ran out long ago, so I survived by eating monsters. Luckily, the salt made the taste bearable.”
“Wow… your survival skills are incredible.”
“But the problem started once I entered the storm region. There were hardly any monsters to eat, and I even lost my sense of direction.”
“You’ve gone through a lot, sir. Now you can rest assured. I’ll safely guide you to the exit gate.”
The king chuckled briefly at the brave little child offering to escort him. The strongest man on the continent at the time, no less.
‘This one’s going to become something great someday.’
He smiled at the thought, then spoke seriously.
“Child, I appreciate your kindness, but I have no intention of leaving this dungeon.”
“Excuse me?”
“Once we get past this storm, we’ll reach the boss zone. Someone I’m looking for may be there.”
His peridot-green eyes blinked, reminding him painfully of Elthea.
‘Elthea… could she really be here? Or is this child somehow the embodiment of her soul trapped in this dungeon?’
Unaware she was being treated as a spirit, Ailette asked:
“What kind of person is that?”
“My daughter who disappeared 13 years ago.”
“Oh… your daughter…”
The mood suddenly grew solemn. Thinking she might have asked something inappropriate, Ailette prepared to apologize, but the king cleared his throat and added:
“She would be much older than you even if she were alive. She could easily have children your age by now.”
“I see.”
“Wait, no… thinking again, maybe not.”
“Eh?”
“I probably also had a son a couple of years older than you!”
“Oh, I see…”
King Hispenril’s imagination ran wild, picturing his lost daughter as a married woman with two children.
Ailette stepped in to stop his wandering thoughts.
“So you’re saying she’d be about my mother’s age.”
“Exactly.”
Curious, the king asked about the girl’s mother.
“How did a child like you end up in a dungeon? Your mother must be worried.”
“My mother….”
Ailette had successfully steered the conversation onto a natural topic.
“She wouldn’t be worried. She ran away six years ago and no one knows where she is.”
He flinched.
“R… ran away?”
“Yes.”
She had brought up an inconvenient topic.
The king fumbled to find words, but Ailette’s voice continued in a matter-of-fact tone:
“She left our family with a husband and two children. Our father had to raise us alone, going through all kinds of hardships.”
“….”
“According to my older brother, she supposedly went out with a hoe and spade to hunt livestock and disappeared… but in my view, she simply ran away.”
“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up unpleasant memories.”
Ailette smiled brightly.
“No, it’s fine. I was little and barely remember my mother. I’ve lived as if she never existed, so it’s okay. Hmm… since you listened to my story, you can tell me yours too, sir.”
“Me? Oh?”
“How did you end up losing your daughter?”
“….”
The king’s sturdy cheeks turned slightly red as he braved embarrassment and began his tale.
“My daughter… ran away too.”
“Ah.”
“Y-yes, but it’s all my fault! I was the cause of her running away!”
“How did that happen?”
He continued, weaving a narrative that rivaled any family-tragedy romance:
In his youth, the king had loved a commoner woman. Their families opposed the relationship, leaving them with only hurt and eventual separation.
Years later, he received news that she had died, learning that she had been carrying his child when they parted.
He searched orphanages across the continent and eventually found the little girl—Elthea.
Naturally, he wanted to care for her, to make up for her mother’s absence.
However, as a young king, he was stern, cold, and clumsy.
Having never really received parental love himself, he didn’t know how to show it to his daughter.
Moreover, her face reminded him painfully of the woman he had loved.
Thinking of her suffering alone, weak and giving birth, made him unable to look at the child properly.
He hoped that by giving her the love of both parents, he could ease some of his guilt.
Thus, young King Hispenril decided to give her the best he had—his noble family.
Ailette paused and asked:
“Wow! You were a noble? Baron? Viscount?”
“Hmm hmm.”
“Could it be… an earl? Wow!”
“It’s not important, so don’t worry about it.”
“Yes, sir, I mean, grandfather.”
“Earl, huh… fine. Just call me grandfather.”
“Yes, grandfather.”
He continued the story, hiding his true rank while keeping the tale flowing.
His intentions were good, but the method had issues.
His family’s education system was extremely strict. Eight years of living as a commoner left Elthea lacking in many ways.
Thus, her education as the heir became unprecedentedly strict.
Numerous tutors drilled the young girl in swordsmanship and academics from early morning to late night.
And as the family head, the king also…
- “You are now a princess of the Hispenril family. Conduct yourself as a princess should.”
This declaration explained everything—why he had scolded the little girl who once brought him gingerbread cookies.
Or rather, it could have ended there, but he went further.
- “The servants are watching. Refrain from calling me ‘father’ informally.”
Ailette muttered in disbelief:
“Goodness… you can’t even call your father ‘father’…”
The king felt a heavy blow to his heart but decided to carry on.
“One day…”
“Wait, it’s not over yet? I need to grab some lemon soda first.”
“Yes. Anyway… one day…”
A girl resembling his late lover appeared, claiming she was truly his daughter!
