Left alone, I climbed onto the bed and sat beside Delight. I gazed at him as he lay unconscious, his face resting sideways on the pillow.
His dry face and lips had turned a ghastly blue.
His body alternated between burning hot like fire and icy cold, but his shallow, rapid breathing was gradually finding calm.
Watching him, I felt both relieved and angry.
‘Such a damn disciple.’
I never wanted revenge.
I thought everything would end when I died.
I had already lived long enough, with no lingering attachment to life.
What did it matter if I died?
I had raised Delight to the point where he could live on his own, and I thought that would be the end of it.
I dismissed his promise to return as nothing more than a stubborn resolve of a child who hadn’t yet let go.
But to think that even after my death, he couldn’t escape it.
That his desire for revenge had persisted all this time.
He should have lived his own life.
I didn’t even raise him that diligently.
Looking back, all I did was pick up Delight, save his life, and give him a name.
The more I gazed at him, the more my feelings became complicated.
It was my mistake.
All this time, I had scolded him, calling him a useless and foolish disciple.
But in reality, I was the one who had been a terrible master.
To Delight, I was his only family, and I took that away from him in an instant.
I suddenly felt a surge of emotion, both tender and sorrowful.
Ugh, now I’m getting a runny nose.
Damn it, I might even start crying.
Really. I can’t help it.
And foolishly, I realized it too late.
From the moment I saved Delight, who seemed like he would die at any moment, and lived together with him, he had become like family to me too.
I just didn’t realize it while we were together.
There was only one thing this incompetent teacher could do for his disciple.
If this disciple of mine was about to ruin his life because of me, then I needed to take responsibility.
It was because I couldn’t sever my persistent grudge with Ilnord that things ended up this way.
I didn’t care what happened to my own grudge.
But if it became Delight’s problem, that was a different story.
Anyone who dared to mess with my disciple would have to pay the price.
***
Delight was having a long dream.
In the dream, he was an eight-year-old child, living with his teacher in the mountains.
At first, he didn’t realize it was a dream, but at some point, he became aware that he was dreaming.
It was the first time he had had a dream that wasn’t a nightmare since his teacher had passed away.
Once he realized this, he decided not to struggle to wake up, but to enjoy the dream calmly.
Moreover, the dream felt so vivid that it seemed like his teacher was truly alive.
Every day, his teacher would lie down in a sunny spot, as was her routine.
Meanwhile, Delight, who would wake up early, exercise, prepare breakfast, and study, would eventually grow annoyed and come to complain to his teacher.
“I’m not going to do it anymore! I’m just going to laze around!”
“Really? Then come lie down too.”
His master would nonchalantly pat the spot next to her.
“Besides, it’s going to rain tomorrow, so we won’t be able to stay out here anyway.”
“What? But I just washed the blankets today! Why didn’t you tell me earlier? They won’t dry by the end of the day—what am I going to do?”
Delight, who had been approaching his master, turned pale and hurriedly spun around. He had to figure out how to dry the blankets before the day ended.
“You watched me wash the blankets and still didn’t say anything!”
“Hmph. You talk as if you did it all by yourself. Did you forget that I was stepping on those blankets beside you, as you ordered? You ungrateful disciple!”
“Did you really plan on leaving it all to a child? That’s child abuse, teacher!”
“I would never do that!”
His teacher raised her voice in frustration.
“Hehe. Teacher, please dry the blankets for me.”
“The only person in this world who would dare to make me do such menial tasks is you. Be proud, my disciple.”
With a shameless smile, the teacher spoke to the disciple, who, although shaking her head in disbelief, got up from where she had been lying with a resolute determination.
“You better learn quickly, so you can do this yourself in the future.”
With an expression of reluctance, the teacher urged her disciple to grow.
“But that just means more work for me.”
Delight continued to grumble as he diligently followed behind his teacher, but despite his complaints, a smile was on his face. He rather enjoyed being teased by his master.
Soon after, Delight learned various spells from his teacher, such as drying the laundry with magic, fine-tuning fire magic, and even easily fixing a leaky roof.
Even though he knew exactly what his teacher intended, once he learned the skills, he eagerly tried to show off how well he could perform them.
Looking back now, he realized how naive he had been.
Perhaps this was when his taste for such things was wrongly cultivated. In the dream, Delight reflected on his past.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”
His teacher called out to Delight, who had stopped in his tracks, lost in thought.
Seeing his teacher again after so long brought a sense of joy, and… a feeling of longing.
No matter how much time passed, whether he returned as a 20-year-old, a 30-year-old, or even as an emperor, his teacher would always remain the same.
His teacher’s time flowed differently from his own, moving more slowly.
His teacher would still treat him like a child, unchanged as ever. It was obvious, even without seeing it.
Now, Delight had spent more time alone than he had with his teacher. If his teacher were to see him now, how would he react?
Would he still be the same?
Or would she be surprised by how much his disciple had grown?
Whichever it was… he wanted to see that reaction.
He envied his younger self, who thought this time would last forever and teased his teacher endlessly.
But now he realized.
This is a dream he would eventually have to wake from, a moment that could never return.
***
Zaire had created a cure using Undilarod and brought it back.
Finding the right ratio to increase its effectiveness might require some experimentation, but for now, the immediate challenge was simply making the cure in a way that was easy to swallow.
That part wasn’t difficult.
Zaire carefully poured the medicine into Delight’s mouth.
“Don’t worry, Princess. His Majesty will wake up soon.”
Zaire reassured me as I sat beside Delight.
How long had we waited?
“Uh?”
I could have sworn his eyelids just twitched.
I definitely saw his facial muscles move slightly!
I shook Delight’s shoulders vigorously.
“…Ugh. Why are you here?”
He turned his head and looked at me. He even seemed to recognize who I was, as he mumbled in a slightly confused voice!
He’s back, he’s awake!
He clearly opened his eyes… But wait, what’s happening?
Just as it seemed like he might close his eyes again, I instinctively stopped myself from speaking, my urgency freezing in place.
At that moment, I suddenly remembered something Luciel had said before leaving.
“Are you planning to reveal your true identity to Delight?”
“……”
“If he knew you had been reincarnated, wouldn’t he change his mind?”
It was a reasonable suggestion.
But my answer had already been decided. I gently shook my head.
“No. That’s why I can’t tell him.”
If I were to reveal myself, I could no longer be his daughter, and in this form, I couldn’t fully be Sherina either.
In this in-between state, revealing my true identity wouldn’t solve anything—it would only make the situation even more unpredictable.
“The Great Archmage Sherina is dead.”
And as for who I am now…
“I am Violyana, Delight’s daughter.”
This new life had become precious to me.
That’s why there was something I wanted to say when Delight opened his eyes.
But as Delight struggled to keep his eyes open, they began to close weakly again.
I could only hope he was just falling back asleep, but for some reason, I felt an unusual amount of anxiety.
It was an impulsive and unreasoned unease, something I hadn’t felt before.
So I just shouted out.
It was something I had been thinking about the entire time Delight had been unconscious.
As long as you wake up, there’s nothing I won’t do for you!
It was time to say it. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.
Even though a part of me wanted to resist and hold back, I forced myself to say it with all my strength.
“Dad!”
All those times I had hesitated and pretended not to notice over a simple title now felt so meaningless.
What really mattered was that Delight and I were family. That was all.
“Dad.”
The word that had refused to come out finally flowed easily.
Whether when you were my disciple, or now when I am your daughter, we are still family.
As long as it means we can continue to be family, I can call you Dad from now on, as much as you want.
