Chapter 12
The sharp question thrown without preamble made Roberik unable to respond immediately.
Sioren did not hide his anger and shouted.
“Have you swallowed all your shame with your meals? Why can’t you answer? How did you even come to know of Edith’s existence in the first place!”
Before retracing events, there was something that truly needed to be known.
How did Roberik learn of Edith’s existence?
When Mariette died and an envoy was dispatched from the Imperial Court, Sioren had hidden Edith, who was then a newborn baby, according to Mariette’s final will.
Because of that, Mariette’s death became known, but the existence of Edith—the reason behind her death—was not revealed.
And yet, seven years later, Roberik suddenly appeared, knowing of Edith’s existence.
“…You didn’t know?”
Roberik, who had looked momentarily flustered, hardened his expression and spoke coldly.
“He was the one who came and told me.”
Him?
At that moment, Sioren’s white eyebrows twisted.
“Mainhardt Ciel Astrafe. That man.”
Sioren’s golden eyes widened.
Roberik observed Sioren’s expression closely, then let out a mocking smile.
“Do you know how shocked I was? After disappearing following your exile from the Holy Capital, that man suddenly appeared and told me Mariette had given birth to my daughter—and even brought a paternity test confirming she is my biological child.”
This was… Sioren swallowed his confusion.
How could he ever forget the name of Mainhardt?
He was the only descendant left by his comrade-in-arms who had shared life and death with him, the boy Mariette had once brought to them when she found him after desperately searching for his whereabouts.
That boy, whom they had raised together with Roberik, had not betrayed Sioren and Mariette until the very end, and had stayed by their side.
“…So that child appeared after all this time and told you about Edith.”
After the fall of the family, he had disappeared without leaving even a single letter.
Sioren suppressed his trembling and asked.
Roberik shrugged his shoulders and replied.
“Well. What’s certain is that he had known about Edith from the very beginning. …And there was no reason for him to hide that from me.”
Roberik’s crimson eyes turned cold.
“Why did you hide her? If you had told me from the beginning, Edith wouldn’t have had to live in such a miserable environment, struggling so much. She would have lived as a Grand Duchess without envy. Because of your pointless stubbornness, that poor child ended up—”
“Shut your mouth, Roberik Arne Heilian.”
“!”
Sioren clenched his fists until they bled.
“Have you forgotten what you did to our family?”
Sioren’s voice that followed was calmer than before, but it carried an even deeper, thicker hatred.
“Do you think Edith, who watched her maternal family fall at the hands of her own father, could accept you? You are a sinner who cannot even raise your head in front of Edith. And yet you dare to claim to be her father now?”
Have you truly lost your mind?
“What you just did was nothing more than a lowly threat using me as a hostage. You cannot possibly be unaware of that!”
At the piercing remark, Roberik clenched his jaw so tightly that veins bulged, responding in defiance.
“That doesn’t matter. I love Edith more than anyone, and Edith is my daughter. Edith would also prefer to follow me rather than live with you. …I will make sure of it.”
Those words were decisive.
Sioren lost control of himself and rushed forward, grabbing Roberik by the collar.
“Do you think saying it makes it true?!”
Roberik’s pupils shook.
“How many times must I tell you to understand that Edith is not someone who belongs to a parent like you—”
“G-Grand Duke!”
At that moment, an unrelated voice interrupted.
Sioren and Roberik turned toward the doorway.
There stood a knight, his face pale as death, drenched in cold sweat.
“T-the… the detached building… something has happened.”
The detached building?
That was where Edith was staying!
“…What?!”
“Speak clearly! What happened!”
Sioren shouted like thunder, and Roberik also cried out in shock.
The knight trembled as he spoke.
“The, the detached building is on fire. It seems to have started inside, and the blaze is so severe that those who were inside…”
All color drained from Sioren’s face.
At that moment, the thoughts of both Roberik and Sioren aligned.
“Edith!!”
“Summon a water spirit mage immediately!”
Without hesitation, they burst out of the room.
“No—!!”
He had never run so desperately in decades.
Yet what awaited Sioren after his frantic sprint was the sight of a building engulfed in blinding flames.
“…Father. Though I am leaving like this…”
“EDITH!!!”
“Please protect my child no matter what. So she may grow into adulthood safely…”
“No! My child, Edith!!”
Sioren screamed and tried to rush into the flames.
“You cannot!”
A nearby knight grabbed him in panic.
Roberik was no better—completely out of his mind.
“Illypia, Illypia… please…”
He called desperately upon the name of Illypia, the spirit king of life who had once taken his blessing and departed, but no answer ever returned.
“No…”
He had regained the daughter he thought had been taken by the flames.
And yet why… why was this happening again?
“What are you doing?! I told you to bring the water spirit mage immediately!”
Roberik roared in madness.
The knights of the ducal house only bowed their heads in apology.
Ah, his vision was turning red. Everything was red.
It felt as though countless drops of blood were falling from the sky, soaking the world.
“G-Grand Duke!!”
He thought he had drawn his sword, but he could not tell for sure.
“Aaagh!!”
As Roberik raised his arm, screams filled with terror pierced his ears.
KUGUGUGU—
At that moment.
“…Water?”
An unfamiliar sensation rippled through Roberik’s mind.
A vast flow of water could be felt inside the burning mansion.
“…This is.”
A sensation from his childhood.
“Roberik, look. This is the spirit king who blessed me—Naiad.”
The spirit king of water, Naiad.
Kwaaaang—!
“Gyaaaah!!”
“Water! Water!!”
Roberik looked at the mansion with trembling eyes.
From within the flames, a torrent of blue water burst forth like a tidal surge.
“Get back!”
A knight pulled Sioren and Roberik away as they threw themselves aside.
Sshhhhh—
The sound of a massive wave rushing and receding echoed.
“…What is this…”
As he stared blankly into the air, a faint, delicate, pure voice reached his ears.
Roberik slowly lifted his head.
“…Edith?”
At the ruins where the fire had died down, where the mansion stood half-burned and exposed to its skeletal frame—
His daughter stood there, whole within the devastation.
What… is going on?
[You didn’t get too wet. That’s a relief.]
Naiad gently stroked my head as she spoke.
…Ah. I finally came to my senses and looked around.
The flames that had devoured the large detached building were gone, but the mansion had turned into a pitch-black ruin.
The corpses of maids and knights who had been caught in Ifrit’s flames could not even be found.
And the culprit behind all of this, Ifrit, had been struck by a massive water explosion from Naiad while fleeing in desperation, vanishing without a trace.
The dying scream Ifrit had let out still echoed in my ears.
…Alive.
I survived.
A breath I had been holding finally broke free.
My strength gave out and I swayed.
“…Edith?”
At that moment, a chillingly familiar voice murmured my name in a daze.
I turned my head. There were people I never expected to see.
Grandfather was kneeling on the ground, staring at me in a daze.
Beside him were Roberik and several knights, but they did not register in my eyes at all.
“Grandfather!”
I rushed toward him in panic.
The burnt ruins could not block my path.
“Edith…”
His white hair and eyebrows, turned pale with age, his deeply lined face.
Even after all those years, his golden eyes still shone as if refusing to lose their brilliance.
But now, as he looked at me, his gaze was more clouded than ever.
“Grandfather…?”
I gently placed a hand on his cheek and spoke softly.
“My goodness…”
At that moment, an incomprehensible murmur slipped from his trembling lips.
I followed his gaze and turned my head.
Naiad was there.
“Ugh…”
A choked sob escaped Grandfather.
“EDITH!”
His trembling hands pulled me tightly into his embrace.
Before I could even think—
“You’ve done well, truly well. You resemble Mariette… so you must have inherited the blessing of the water spirit king…!”
His voice was filled with sorrow, joy, and remorse I could not fully understand.
…Right. Naiad was the spirit king who had blessed Mariette.
So that’s why Grandfather is like this…
“Mariette must have protected you… yes, that must be it…”
I hugged him back tightly and buried my face in his shoulder.
At that moment, I felt another presence approaching me.
“You inherited my blood and were born with the talent of a spirit mage.”
And Roberik’s voice echoed above me.
I looked up.
Roberik stood there, looking down at me with a strange expression I could not read.
His gaze moved from me to Naiad, and then finally to Illypia.
“…Are you hurt, Edith?”
Without taking his eyes off Illypia, Roberik asked.
Now that I thought about it, Illypia had said he was the spirit who had blessed Roberik.
But why was Roberik… making that kind of expression?
A vague sense of unease rose within me, and I clung more tightly to Grandfather, answering reluctantly.
“The spirit kings helped me, so I’m fine.”
“…I see. I’m glad. Truly.”
Roberik smiled gently in response. I looked up at Illypia.
He wore the same calm, gentle smile as before.
“It’s been a long time, Illypia.”
Roberik spoke to Illypia.
…Long time?
[It has been a long time, Roberik.]
Illypia responded calmly.
“…So you are the one who blessed Edith?”
Roberik asked with a faint smile.
[Yes. I am Edith’s primary attribute spirit.]
At that answer, Roberik’s crimson eyes widened.
“…Ah, I see.”
After a slight nod, Roberik’s gaze wandered as though unsure what expression to wear.
Eventually, he looked down at me.
At the moment our crimson eyes—sharing the same light—met, Roberik whispered softly.
“Edith.”
As though unable to continue from overwhelming emotion, slowly.
Languidly.
“You are… my lost blessing.”
…Lost blessing?
What does that mean?
At that moment, an inexplicable unease rippled through my heart, but I was too overwhelmed by emotion while calming Grandfather to dwell on Roberik’s words or that strange whisper.
