I Picked Up My Father Who Left Home 106
Lia easily deciphered the code.
After all, the code was something her grandfather had created specifically for her. It was designed as a game, intended for someone like Lia, who loved solving puzzles and thinking critically.
When she unraveled the code, the diary, which had seemed to contain only mundane details, revealed new truths.
These truths were part of the reality Lia had been desperately searching for.
[Date: XXXX XX XX
It has been over ten years since the angelic, loveable child returned to my arms.
For some, this might seem like a long time, but to me, it has passed in the blink of an eye.
The child who used to cry as if the world was unfamiliar and frightening has grown, and now lovingly calls me ‘Grandpa’ with clear, confident speech, showering me with affection.
Time, which moved slowly after I lost my one and only precious daughter, suddenly seemed to fly after my granddaughter entered my life.
She kept me alive. After losing my beloved daughter, the sorrow that consumed me and pushed me toward death was countered by her presence.
She filled the void left by my dear daughter. She replaced the pain with boundless joy.
I can still vividly recall that day. The day I first met my granddaughter.
The moment I saw the child nestled in the arms of a familiar figure, I knew.
I knew she was my granddaughter. I knew she was the child of the daughter I loved so deeply.
Her father entrusted her to me. With hands so careful, as if she might break if held too tightly, he placed her in my arms.
And then he pleaded. He asked me to take care of her. To protect her.
With a face that seemed to carry only sorrow, her father made his request.
I could understand.
To him, she was his beloved wife. To me, she was my cherished daughter.
He could not bear the thought of losing his only child as well.
With eyes filled with guilt for not being able to protect his beloved wife, he spoke with a burning intensity.
He told me he would now search for the one who killed his wife. He vowed to exact revenge.
He said the path he was about to take was too dangerous for the child to accompany him, so he entrusted her to me.
Having already lost his wife, he believed that keeping his child by his side would only expose her to danger.
I willingly accepted his request.
I had wished for it too.
For the safety and happiness of my only granddaughter. And for revenge against the one who took my only daughter.
I understood the heavy burden placed on my daughter.
Thus, I tried to hide her from the world.
I thought that by doing so, I could protect her.
But in the end, I had to lose her. And the unfinished matters of my daughter… would inevitably be passed on to her child.
So… to ensure I wouldn’t lose this precious child as well, I had to find the one who took my daughter’s life and avenge her.
That was the only way to protect the one blessing my daughter left behind.
Until that day came, I had to protect this child.
Until the day this child grew up and was ready to face her own destiny.]
The diary revealed truths Lia had never known.
Why her father had left her, and why she had ended up in her grandfather’s care.
And… the truth about her mother’s death.
While she couldn’t discern all the details, the diary made one thing clear: her mother’s death was not due to natural causes but murder.
Someone had killed her mother.
Why they targeted her mother was still unclear.
There were hints, but they were too vague and general.
Yet, somehow, she felt it might be connected to her own abilities.
Her grandfather had said that the heavy burden placed on her mother had now been passed on to her.
Closing the diary she had read to the end, Lia muttered bitterly.
“…More than I thought…”
It’s heartbreaking.
Confirming her mother’s death.
Though she had already heard about it from her grandfather—that her mother had passed away after giving birth to her—it was painful.
At the time, she had assumed it was due to illness.
Her grandfather hadn’t shared the full story.
But realizing that it wasn’t illness, but murder, hit Lia harder.
It explained why she had grown up in her grandfather’s care.
It also explained why she had never seen her father’s face.
“But… in the end, I still don’t know who my father is.”
While the diary contained truths Lia hadn’t known, it didn’t hold all the answers.
It lacked detailed information about her mother, and, ultimately, it didn’t reveal the identity of her father.
“I thought I might find out something.”
Of course, that didn’t mean there were no clues.
Her grandfather had referred to the person as ‘the child’s father’ and described him as ‘someone familiar.’
This implied that he was someone her grandfather had known previously.
Given that, there was a strong possibility that her father could be Cassian.
When Lia first met Cassian, he spoke as if he knew her grandfather well.
Considering her grandfather’s position, it was highly likely that he had encountered Cassian, the grand duke, face-to-face.
However, this alone wasn’t enough to confirm that Cassian was her father. After all, there were probably many familiar faces to her grandfather besides Cassian.
‘In the end… there’s only one way.’
Even if her grandfather’s diary had revealed the identity of her father, Lia would still need to go through the process of confirmation.
“In order to do that… I’ll have to meet His Majesty the Emperor first.”
To confirm a blood relationship, they would need holy water imbued with a special power. And that holy water had been passed down exclusively to emperors for generations.
So, to use the holy water to confirm if Cassian was her father, she would have to obtain it from the emperor.
“Perfect timing.”
She already needed to meet the emperor to respond to a request he had made.
If she could obtain the holy water from the emperor, she could confirm the truth.
“What should I do afterward?”
If Cassian really turned out to be her father…
While chasing the truth seemed important to her, Lia wasn’t sure how to face him.
Should she tell him everything she had learned?
But if she did… Cassian might leave her.
For the same reason he had once entrusted her to her grandfather.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want her father to avenge her mother. Her mother’s death was also a painful truth for Lia.
But she was worried about Cassian.
She didn’t want him to leave her side, and she feared that the one who killed her mother might kill her father as well.
Lia recalled the first day she met Cassian.
The fact that Cassian was still alive was a miracle. It was sheer luck that she found him and saved his life—if she hadn’t, he might have died.
And the person who had left Cassian in such a state was likely the one who killed her mother.
This was someone who had already come close to killing Cassian once. There was no guarantee that it wouldn’t happen again.
Lia hesitated to reveal the truth.
“…No, let’s think this through slowly.”
After all, she wasn’t even certain if Cassian was truly her father.
Lia tried to console herself with this thought, setting her worries aside.
***
Inside a greenhouse strictly off-limits to others.
A man was gazing at something.
It was an object, shaped like a coffin, covered in plants growing inside the greenhouse.
The man’s expression, as he looked at the object, seemed both melancholic and eerie.
“Yes, I regret it deeply.”
With a soft and gentle touch, the man caressed the coffin-like object, murmuring in a chilling voice.
His tone was tender, even soothing, but it carried an unsettling quality that was hard to pinpoint.
“I never thought I’d lose it so tragically….”
When he first learned of its existence, he had thought that the gods had finally granted him a chance.
After wandering aimlessly for so long, he had found it.
Fragile, lonely, and all on its own.
The man did not miss his opportunity.
But just as he thought he had secured it, he lost it.
This led him to wander aimlessly again in search of it.
When he finally found it again… it was in a place far more significant than he had expected. Reclaiming it was no easy task.
Still, the man had no intention of giving up.
It was the only means to achieve the power and ambition he craved.
Letting it slip away would mean losing his chance to rise to greater heights.
So he moved with the utmost caution.
Ready to snatch it the moment any opening presented itself.
Finally, after all his waiting, he thought he had reclaimed it.
But what returned to his hands was not a living being—it was a lifeless corpse.
He despaired and felt hopeless.
Yet, unwilling to give up, he resolved to achieve his goals even by using the dead.
Then he found it.
Something identical to what he had sought for so long.
“This time, I won’t let it go.”
This time, he would ensure the success of his plans.
Even though it was in a place far more formidable than he had imagined, nothing could obstruct his path.
He had already taken it from someone once celebrated as great.
Even if it was just a corpse.
So there was nothing to fear.
Especially now, when there was no one left to stand in his way.
“In the meantime, I should prepare a new nest.”
It was precious, after all. It deserved to be handled with the utmost care.
The man smiled in satisfaction, envisioning the day it would finally be his.
