Chapter 118
“I love it, daughter.”
Her father hugged her tightly.
“You are beautiful, warm, cute, loving, breathing, curvy, smiling, and…”
Her father’s heartfelt appeal to her as he rambles on about how good she is.
Huh? But she’s heard this pattern before.
A buzzword.
“Huhh.”
“Why are you sighing, do you want me to say more?”
“No, it’s not that I don’t believe it.”
She’s believed that her father likes her since he came to visit her in the underworld of the Imperial Palace.
It would be impossible for him to come all the way there without liking her, it’s a strange place.
“Even if it were possible to travel to and from Halbern with the power of…
Later, he told her that he didn’t dare go into such places.
It’s the perfect place to scream yourself to death.
“It’s cute that my daughter is glaring at me…”
After roughly interrupting his ramblings, she roughly interrupted his ramblings, and then brought the conversation back on track.
“If you don’t hate Pession, why do you always look at him like that?”
Her father blinked, looking clueless.
“How do I look at him?”
“Like you’re uncomfortable? Like you’re embarrassed?”
“Oh.”
He nodded, as if realizing something.
“Is it because he reminds me of Ed?”
Ed? You mean the Emperor?
“Why is that?”
She shook her head, and father stroked her hair gently.
His deep violet eyes peeked out from beneath long lashes.
“It’s…”
“…?”
“Because guys who have everything at their fingertips are bad luck?”
She chuckled at the unexpected answer.
“Is that what your dad would say?”
“Because he has more things he doesn’t have.”
“You’re trying to be deceptive.”
“It’s true.”
Her father’s eyes narrowed in frustration. This guy can really put on a face.
“Halbern are symbionts of the Allermann, watchdogs of each other, so the Allermann clan’s powers don’t work on Halbern. Maybe that’s why.”
“What is the power of the Allermann clan?”
“<Being loved>.”
She and her father’s gazes fell on Pession, who was talking to Graham in the distance.
He looked like the center of the world, like he had all the light and blessings in the world to himself.
“It’s a powerful ability to inspire respect and love in all people, no matter what the kernel is.”
Is that possible?
It’s a power, so it’s possible.
Looking back, Pession always seemed puzzled that she pushed him away and hated him.
If she is the only one who doesn’t have the ability, it’s understandable…
“I envy you.”
He has such an easy life.
Isn’t that what everyone wants?
A life where he loved no matter what he did.
“That’s okay, as long as the limits are clear.”
“What limits?”
Her father toyed with her hair.
“The Allermann are short-lived, generation after generation. Unlike other clans, their powers are ‘always on,’ so they often get caught up in dirty affairs and die, and they’re distrustful of humans and mentally vulnerable because they think they’re only loved because of their powers. On the contrary, they often turn out to be assholes because they think, ‘No matter what I do, you’ll love me anyway, right?'”
The quality of heirs has always been a problem for the Allermann family, her father laughs.
“Because of their wide range of abilities, none of our Emperors, except the founding Emperor, have had good stats.”
“Heh.”
“And lastly, it doesn’t work well with half-breeds.”
Valar whispered, as if telling a secret, that the Albrecht Empire had become the “most prosperous empire of ‘humans'” in the world.
“You don’t hate the Pession, anyway, do you?”
“Does it matter?”
“I want you two to get along.”
“Hmm. I’ll try.”
He says he’ll try.
She glanced over, and Valar hand stroked her hair affectionately.
“Why do you look at me like that?”
“My daughter is a little weird.”
“Is that for you to say, because you’re even weirder.”
Valar chuckled. Then he ruffled her hair, causing her to open her eyes and glare.
He poked her in the cheek.
“Maybe I’ll do something weird.”
“No, I’m not saying it’s weird, I’m saying it’s weird.”
“Well, I have a question for you, too.”
This is weird.
Valar looked at her and nudged her.
“May I ask?”
“When did you ever get permission to ask me that?”
Valar’s eyes narrowed.
He’s making faces again.
It’s not working!
She did her best impression, and Valar burst out laughing. And then his eyes twinkled…
Mmm. She lost.
“So what do you want to know?”
A large hand gently stroked her hair.
“Doesn’t my daughter wonder about her mom?”
Careful, calm eyes scanned her.
“I’m sure she does, but she never asks.”
She didn’t know what to say.
Whether she had no memory of her past life or not, “mom” was an unknown and taboo subject for her.
A Pandora’s box not to be touched.
When she had no memories of her past life, she was already hated, but if she brought up her mom, she was afraid that she would be hated even more, so she turned away, and now that she remembers her past life…
Well, rather, he avoided her because he thought she might know something. She saw a figure in the portrait room that she assumed was her mom.
“I don’t want to know.”
“Why?”
But to tell him the truth…
“Because I’m scared.”
Her voice trails off.
She drop her eyes and cringe involuntarily.
“Of what.”
“…”
“Scared of what.”
The low, uneven voice sinks even lower, indicating Valar’s mood.
He leans down and locks eyes with her. His violet eyes seemed to glaze over.
“If mom…”
“…”
“What if she didn’t want me?”
Her voice trembled slightly. It scared me just to think about it.
There was one thing that always made her weak. Her mother.
“What if she didn’t want me and I was born, and that’s why she abandoned me…”
She couldn’t bring herself to be hurt.
Better not to know, at least if you don’t know, if you stay out of it, if you don’t pry, you’ll be fine.
In an instant, water pooled in her moistened eyes. Her father choked on her tears.
“I’m sorry.”
“What.”
He pulls her into his arms and hugs her tightly.
“For not explaining things properly, for misleading you.”
He wiped her tears away and stroked her hair and back, unable to help himself.
He doesn’t realize that his uncharacteristic gentleness makes her want to cry even more.
“Arel.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re… mother’s, she gave birth to you because she loved you.”
Valar opened his mouth carefully, his face dripping with anguish, as if he didn’t know what to say.
“She sent you to me because she loves you so much, because you’re so important to her, because she wants to protect you, because she wants you to be happy.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Can you swear to that?”
“Do you want me to write it in blood?”
“Dad, you’re being too extreme.”
At her little complaint, her father barely tugged at the corner of his mouth and gave a small laugh.
“Now you’re looking at me.”
Their foreheads touched. He stroked her cheek again and again. His uncharacteristically cautious gesture made her feel better about how much he cared for her.
“What was my mom like?”
“The most beautiful, brilliant person in the world.”
His gaze wandered far away, then returned to her.
“Someone so smart and strong and wise and amazing… that I always wanted to follow in her footsteps.”
There were times when Valar looked like a boy who hadn’t grown up.
Like now.
“I wanted to save her.”
“…”
“I didn’t.”
Valar laughed bitterly, his face filled with bitter regret and remorse.
“Someday, I’ll have to go back there and face that terrible regret.”
Not now, he whispered in a low voice.
“Someday, when you grow up, when the time comes to judge me…”
“…”
“Then I’ll stand there and take it sweetly.”
“…”
“Whatever it is.”
This time, she hugged him tightly around the neck, knowing he looked like he might break down at any moment.
“Until then, be safe.”
His arms were firm around her.
“I’d do anything for you.”
