Episode 135

Jenna, facing those chilling blood-red eyes, quickly softened her fierce attitude and spoke.

“The Holy Sword is a huge obstacle to our plan to open the gates of the Demon Realm.”

From the moment she ran away from the Selber family holding Herz’s hand in her childhood, Jenna had sworn to follow him.

Even if his goal was the destruction of the world.

From Jenna’s perspective, Herz was nothing short of a savior — the one who had changed the fate where she would have died before even reaching the age of ten.

Herz’s ambition had always been singular.

To return this land to the rule of monsters.

He wanted to tear down the barrier separating the Demon Realm and the human world, merging the two into one.

Just like it had been before Bergeus first descended upon this land.

Herz said it was simply putting everything back to its rightful place.

He would reign again as the king of monsters, and the monsters would once again hunt humans as they pleased.

It was a completely deranged idea, but under Herz’s brainwashing, Jenna believed it to be the natural order.

Jenna bit her lip hard.

For some reason, every time, it felt like Sierra was the one to ruin their carefully laid plans.

“Sierra, a direct descendant of Chetwind? It’s ridiculous.”

The scene where Kirios had chosen Sierra as its new master still refused to leave her mind.

The sacred power that had filled the entire banquet hall was bone-chilling.

The South had always been the fiercest battlefield of the monster wars.

The barrier separating the Demon Realm was weakest there, and historically, large-scale monster gates had always opened in the South.

That was exactly why the Chetwind family, a holy bloodline, was entrusted with guarding the Holy Sword Kirios.

Kirios, an ancient relic from times immemorial, had the power to mend the torn barriers between worlds.

It had been the protector of the South — using Kirios, the Chetwind family had ended countless monster wars.

Originally, according to plan, they were supposed to eliminate the Count and Countess of Chetwind and their sole heir, Baron Daniel, then install a fake Chetwind heiress to seize the sword.

All to ensure that when the barrier cracked, no one could repair it.

Jenna raked her hands through her hair, muttering over and over again, “What do we do, what do we do…”

“It’s fine. The Holy Sword can always be taken back. There’s no need to panic.”

Herz spoke in an unruffled voice to the flustered Jenna.

“When the time is right, I’ll personally eliminate Sierra and reclaim the sword. So…”

He flashed his blood-red eyes like living flame and said,

“For now, don’t worry about anything else. Focus only on shattering the cracked Demon Realm barrier.”

* * *

The Count and Countess of Chetwind decided not to return to the South immediately, opting to stay at the Drenihan estate for a couple of days.

Harry and my father, who overnight had become father-in-law and son-in-law, walked ahead with awkward steps, while I burst out laughing alongside Catherine as we watched them.

“Truly, fate must exist. To think a chance encounter in the South would lead to this,” Catherine said, still sounding like she couldn’t quite believe it.

“I feel the same. To think you’re my family, Catherine.”

I suddenly recalled our very first meeting.

In the city of Flora, Catherine had been wandering the streets searching for her missing daughter, getting into a scuffle with some thugs.

I happened to pass by and helped her out, and that’s how our bond had begun.

“…….”

Yes, Catherine had been suffering from delusions, wandering the streets in search of the daughter she had lost so long ago.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much she must have missed her, how long she must have waited.

While strolling through Drenihan’s gardens, I gently suggested to Catherine,
“Catherine, would you like to go meet her?”

“Meet who?”

Smiling brightly, I replied,
“My mother.”

A room at the end of the second-floor corridor, covered in white cloths.

I carefully opened the door.

It had been a very long time since I’d visited this place, not since my childhood.

I walked up to the large framed portrait in the corner and pulled off the white sheet.

There, an exquisitely beautiful woman was revealed.

She had long, soft pink hair and warm violet eyes.

She held a tiny infant—me—in her arms and smiled dazzlingly beside my father.

“Isabella….”

Catherine approached the portrait, her face overcome with emotion.

“She truly looks so happy, Isabella.”

Harry too stood before the portrait, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Finally, after all these years, they could face their daughter, even if only through a painting.

“Forgive us for taking so long to find you, our dear child.”

Soon, the Count and Countess were shedding tears, and my father and I quietly left the room to give them their moment.

A reunion delayed by time, but hopefully no longer a source of regret.

That evening, Drenihan hosted a grand banquet to welcome our distinguished guests.

Father shared stories of Mother—of Sionna Drenihan—with the Count and Countess, who yearned to hear about their daughter’s life.

It was the first time I’d ever heard my father speak so much about Mother, and I learned things I never knew.

After the joyful banquet ended, the night sky had already swallowed the land.

Even after dinner, I stayed chatting with Catherine for quite some time before finally returning to my room.

The moment the door closed and I was finally alone, a familiar voice rang out.

[Looks like that woman can hear me.]

Askan spoke, sounding suspicious.

“That woman? You mean Catherine?”

[Yes. Every time I tried talking to you, didn’t she look around like she was hearing strange sounds?]

“Now that you mention it….”

Askan was far more talkative than I had realized.

Since our contract, he would chatter at all hours over the smallest things.

Even earlier during the dinner, while I was busy cracking open lobster shells, Askan had been rambling on about how seafood is best tasted in the Deioka region.

At that moment, Catherine had glanced my way, asking if anyone else heard odd sounds.

At the time, I’d thought it was just a coincidence, but now that I thought about it, every time Askan opened his mouth, Catherine would flinch.

[It was so frustrating, not being able to talk freely with you.]

“Well, I personally enjoyed the rare peace and quiet.”

[As expected from a true descendant of the Diselr line… To think I’d meet another human besides you who can hear my voice.]

I burst into laughter and said,
“Anyway, didn’t you say you had something urgent to tell me? Something you couldn’t say earlier because Catherine was around?”

[Ah, yes, that.]

Askan seemed to remember suddenly and immediately materialized.

“……You’re a bit smaller than usual today.”

The Askan who appeared now looked like a boy about a head shorter than me.

His ocean-blue hair and luminous silver eyes remained the same, but—

[I expended a lot of energy recently. It’s hard to maintain my adult form right now.]

He grumbled as he plopped down onto the sofa.

“You expended energy? Doing what?”

[Finding a way for you to stay in the Empire without having to flee for life when Bergeus awakens.]

“……!”

I immediately leaned closer.

“So, you found one?”

[There’s no such thing as impossible in my dictionary. Of course I did.]

Askan looked awfully proud, so I grabbed him by the collar and said,

“And what is it?”

[Simple. Although… it may cost you your life.]

Simple… but deadly. What kind of contradictory nonsense was that?

I tilted my head in confusion, and Askan nonchalantly popped a cookie from the table into his mouth.

[You just have to clear up Bergeus’ misunderstanding. That’s all. It’s the process that’s a bit rough.]

“Bergeus’ misunderstanding?”

[The reason Bergeus hates humans so much — it’s because he believes they killed the one he loved more than his own life.]

“The one he loved more than life itself… you mean Laila?”

[Exactly.]

Laila — the human woman beloved by the Evil Dragon.
She was also the ancestor of Ludvig’s maternal bloodline, the Hilten clan.

[I always thought the same — that humans killed Laila. Even I believed that until recently.]

Askan narrowed his silver eyes, speaking in a low voice.

[I ventured back into the past to find out the real cause of the rift between humans and Bergeus.
And what I discovered… was something entirely new.]