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Chapter 22
[Abelus was easily considered the strongest among all the past commanders of the family… The citizens of Eterna believed he was blessed by the goddess Vesta.]
[“Now that the General of Azure Flame is here, we can’t even call what we’re about to do a battle. It’s just a massacre.”
…His mere appearance crushed enemy morale.]
The encounter with the hero who arrived bearing the blue flames of ecstasy.
But when I finally crossed time and arrived at the place where that meeting was to happen—what I found was a young and pitiful version of him.
Feeling conflicted, I began tidying up the edge of the parchment that had slipped from the bed.
‘Ancestor, please rest now. I’ll be going…’
Just as I stood up to leave—
Smack!
“Eek!”
A scroll, thrown by Lord Abelus, flew right into my face.
‘Well… I guess if you’re that frustrated, this is understandable…! Let me cover you back up.’
Rubbing my stinging nose, I picked the scroll up from the floor.
I tried placing it back on top of Lord Abelus to cover him again, and turned to leave—
Smack.
Once again, the scroll flew straight at me.
“Ugh…”
Getting hit in the same spot twice made my nose tingle and brought tears to my eyes.
Sniffling, I picked up the scroll and tried covering Lord Abelus again.
‘Please stop this, ancestor. This isn’t right.’
Before I could even take my hands off the scroll, Lord Abelus gripped it tightly, as if he were ready to throw it again.
‘How is this even possible…? Could he actually be conscious?’
“It’s me, Lord Dyo…!”
After a prolonged standoff, the strength in my hands gave out. Then, Lord Abelus threw the scroll once more.
Luckily, it flew in a different direction this time and didn’t hit my nose again.
“Please, Lord Dyo!”
Frustrated, I tried wrapping him entirely with the now-tattered parchment.
Even that failed halfway through as my energy gave out, and I decided to just leave.
“I give up. I’ve done my part, so do whatever you want!”
Turning around to leave the room—
Wheeze… Wheeze…
Lord Abelus’s rough breathing made me stop in my tracks.
“……Sigh.”
Letting out a deep breath, I picked up the scroll that had fallen near his bed again.
“There’s no other way.”
I spread the parchment wide and wrapped it around my short waist. Thanks to my small build, it almost looked like I was just wearing a skirt.
Forgive my rudeness, ancestor.
“Here I gooo!”
With a shout, I leapt onto Lord Abelus’s bed.
“Ugh…”
He scrunched up his face and tried to push me away, but the more he resisted, the tighter I held onto him.
As his body temperature dropped rapidly, his mana began to stabilize.
The scorching air around us also calmed.
‘What kind of hardship is this even…?’
My eyes widened as I happened to glance at Lord Abelus’s face.
Tear marks stained the corners of his eyes. The air had been so hot that the tears couldn’t even fall—they had simply dried there.
“A-Abeluth!”
Startled, I held him tightly.
‘It’s okay. Everything will be okay…’
I tried to convince myself of that—only to stop mid-thought.
Things wouldn’t be okay.
At least, not in the future I knew.
[With the restoration of the monarchy, Servius Tinitrius rose to the throne. He made his ambition for Ignitus blatantly clear. Since the king set the tone, his supporters followed suit.]
[Betrayals, large and small, were constant… When Abelus learned of his friend’s betrayal, he rushed over that night and slaughtered him and the remnants.]
It would be a time of hardship, akin to a long penance.
Yet he remained strong.
Lord Abelus overcame all of it and rose as the ruler of flame.
I admired how brilliant and strong he was—unlike me.
[“Erase ‘compassion’ from the family’s ideals of light and mercy. I cannot find the latter where the former resides. I am not worthy.”
He commanded so, full of shame.
“Forgive me, goddess.”]
“I’m sorry, goddess. I’m so sorry…”
The final line that rose in my mind overlapped with my own last prayer.
Now I was beginning to understand why the goddess had sent me here.
Gently pulling Lord Abelus into an embrace, I finally voiced what I had been holding in my heart.
I came to protect you.
My body and soul may not be as strong as yours, but I’ve brought with me memories spanning half a millennium to protect you. So…
I placed my cold palm, affected by divine power, on his burning cheek.
Don’t cry because you’re lonely.
Please, don’t.
Abelus spent the night tormented by a horrific nightmare.
In the dream, a child was flung away before his eyes, crashing to the ground before he could even reach out.
Black hands burst from the earth and devoured the shattered remains of the child, like they were a broken doll. Then, as Abelus knelt, dumbfounded, clawing at the ground, a whisper came with a sneer:
“We’ll be taking this child too.”
That was the end of the dream.
“Hah!”
Abelus bolted upright, instinctively trying to rise. He had to confirm with his own eyes that she was alive.
But he couldn’t get up. Both arms were pinned.
His right was bound with a splint due to a fracture. And his left—
“Lord Dyo’ll protect you… for real…”
Was pinned down by a red-haired little girl clinging to his arm, sleeping peacefully.
“…Ha.”
A laugh escaped through his teeth.
He gave up trying to get up and simply lay back down, observing the face of the sleeping child.
Daughter of a traitor. A foreign-blooded child. And yet, the second heir of this household.
In Ignitus, the second heir was more than just a title—it meant acting in place of the first heir.
Which meant that, in time, this powerless girl would directly assist Abelus.
The mere fact that his uncle had decided such an important position on his own, without so much as a word of consultation, was already annoying. But when he found out the girl in question was the child of someone he utterly despised—
Abelus had been too busy trying to figure out his uncle’s true motives to even be properly angry.
And when it was revealed that the girl had almost no mana—a rare and strange constitution—he didn’t just feel annoyed. He felt like someone had handed him a ticking time bomb.
His life had been more peaceful before she showed up. And only when she disappeared would it return to that peace.
So then why?
Why did knowing that annoying little brat was safe give him a sense of relief unlike anything he’d ever felt before?
“Give me the leftover snacks… nom nom… so tasty…”
Her sleep talk had changed subjects again.
‘What kind of dream is she having?’
He was curious—but decided not to wake her.
Everyone has the right to undisturbed sleep. Especially children.
“Yaaawn… slept well…”
I stirred and stretched my body like a sleepy kitten.
It felt like I’d slept well, but my body felt oddly stiff.
‘Weird. Why does the bed feel so hard today?’
Rubbing my still-sleepy eyes, I tugged on the pillow to switch it out.
“This pillow is too hard…”
No matter how hard I pulled, the pillow wouldn’t budge. Finally, I turned my head to look at the bed—
“Waaah!”
A pair of eerie, glowing purple eyes was staring at me in the dark.
Screaming, I scrambled backward. The owner of the eyes scowled in disbelief and looked between me and his sleeve—still gripped tightly in my hand.
That was when all my memories came flooding back.
“L-Lord Dyo…!”
“You.”
Tears welled in my eyes at the sight of Lord Abelus, who had clearly regained his strength.
“Abeluth!”
I completely forgot how not-close we were and threw myself into his arms.
