LFDD 12

Chapter : 12

“Would you like some cookies? I baked them.”

“Really?”

Seeing the child’s sparkling eyes, Yuri proudly straightened her shoulders.

“It’s a bit cold outside, so I’ll prepare warm tea to have inside.”

“Ah… then I’ll come in soon.”

Yuri glanced at the flowers Hiazelki had been quietly staring at.

“Yes, you should come in quickly.”

“Yes!”

Hiazelki waved back, and Yuri, deeply moved by how cute she looked, quickly shivered from the cold and hurried back into the castle.

Hiazelki crouched in front of the flowers and whispered softly.

“When are you coming back? Geel.”

She knew the flowers would never answer.

She quietly watched the petals swaying in the wind before standing up.

Thinking the flowers must be cold in this chilly wind, she turned away.

“Huh?”

As she was about to walk off, she noticed Kael and Albert just leaving the castle.

“Pa—”

She tried to call out to him, but her voice faded.

Kael’s expression didn’t look good, so she tilted her head.

“It’s been quiet for a while…”

“I’ll finish quickly and go see Hia.”

“Yes.”

As she quietly approached, she overheard their conversation.

‘Me? Huh?’

Watching them move away, she cautiously followed behind.

She saw them enter a small building next to the castle and stopped walking.

That building was where Kael went to do his “work.”

His work as the Judgment Dragon—punishing criminals.

She didn’t know exactly how he punished them, but every time he returned, Kael always looked gloomy.

Since staying at the castle, Hiazelki had never asked him about it.

She once remembered Lisa telling her that when Kael looked unhappy, instead of asking what was wrong, she should just hold his hand.

Lisa probably thought she was too young to understand, but Hiazelki still understood one thing—Kael didn’t like his work of punishing criminals.

Even without that, she didn’t want to pry into things he didn’t want to talk about.

That building, which Albert once said was not important and she didn’t need to care about, was where Kael and the butler had just entered.

The child tilted her head.

And then, without much hesitation, she followed them.

‘They said don’t worry about it… but they never said I can’t go in.’

She was also a little curious.

What kind of punishment made Kael look so sad every time?

She carefully approached and saw that the door was slightly open.

Pressing close to the gap, she peeked inside.

“What are the charges?”

It was Kael’s cold voice—one she had never heard before.

He had never sounded so cold to her.

Even when they first met, he had been distant, but not like this.

Hiazelki’s hand trembled as she reached for the door, but instead of opening it, she looked through the crack again.

“The number of deaths caused by this man is dozens, including women and children. He used his power to target the weak…”

Albert, speaking calmly, could not hide his twisted expression.

“He also mistreated his wife, treated her like a servant. He even killed his own child, and committed countless atrocities for power.”

“I—I am! Do you know who I am?!”

The man, bound and kneeling, shouted with a fierce expression.

Sweat ran down his face, and fear showed through his forced bravado.

“He is a man who committed extremely brutal crimes.”

“…Tiresome.”

Kael let out a short sigh after hearing Albert’s report.

“That wife and child were mine! What’s wrong with that?! That was an accident! The guards ruled it an accident, so why are you—!”

Watching through the gap, Hiazelki clenched her fists.

“Do you even know who I am?! I am a marquis of this kingdom—!”

The marquis could not finish his sentence.

Kael, no longer willing to listen, kicked him down.

“Ugh!”

The marquis fell to the ground, and Kael looked down at him with contempt before stepping on his mouth with his heel.

“Shut up.”

“Gghk…”

“Do you think I’ll hear the truth from that mouth of yours?”

Blood flowed as his lips tore, and the man’s face twisted in pain.

Only then did Kael feel a slight relief from the disgust.

In this moment, Kael felt a clear hatred toward criminals.

Toward humans—the beings God supposedly loved.

“Master, your shoes will get dirty.”

Albert’s voice was cold as well.

Now that Kael had stepped on him, the criminal’s face was filled with fear.

He looked like he would be swallowed by those terrifying red eyes at any moment.

“W-what do you want?! I’ll give you anything! Just spare me!”

Kael stepped back slightly at those words, and the marquis hurriedly continued speaking.

His voice was still disgusting to Kael.

“Silence. No matter how much wealth you have, it won’t follow you into death. Everything disappears once you die.”

“D-don’t kill me… I’ll give you anything…”

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you.”

“Th-then yes! Money—anything—!”

Hiazelki, watching from outside, frowned slightly. A strange feeling stirred in her chest.

Her hand tightened around the small pocket watch hanging from her neck—the one Geel had given her, engraved with a dragon.

“I do not have the authority to decide your life or death. You will simply pay for your sins.”

Kael extended his hand without hesitation, and Albert stepped back.

A red balance scale appeared in front of the fallen marquis.

‘Ah… that…’

She had seen it before, when the castle was once purified.

“Humans are to love one another, care for one another, help one another, and receive help from one another. To break God’s words is a great sin. Your punishment is—”

Kael paused for a breath, as if organizing his thoughts.

His glowing red eyes reflected everything.

The truth of everything.

Not only had this man harmed a woman, he had also killed a child in front of her.

Kael felt an unprecedented anger.

He wanted to throw this man into the flames of hell himself.

But that was not the duty of the Judgment Dragon.

Hell was for when the Observer Dragon judged a soul beyond purification.

“…You are hereby sentenced to exile on the Island of Sinners until your life ends. You will be buried in the desert, feeling helpless as you can do nothing. You will suffer unbearable pain from the poison of scorpions. Yet your life will not end. Your body, which has harmed so many, will break apart and cease to function. Even the wind will burn your eyes as if on fire. And that pain will never end.”

At Kael’s cold voice, it was not only Hiazelki who turned pale.

“For every wound you inflicted, you will also be wounded. The hatred of your victims will become blades that tear your heart apart, but even so, you will not die. You will endure all that pain and finally, when your life ends—”

Would there be peace then?

By then, would he truly have repented?

Hiazelki swallowed hard and waited for Kael’s next words.

This was a side of him she had never seen—the same Kael who was always so warm to her.

Of course, if Geel heard this, he would be horrified.

“…You will be judged once more. If those you harmed cannot forgive you, and the Observer Dragon decides your sins cannot be overlooked, you will suffer even greater punishment in hell, unable even to be erased from existence.”

The marquis trembled, unable to even speak.

Kael simply found it all tiresome.

Now he was the one inflicting suffering—but his back looked calm.

As if he himself were the one being judged.

Hiazelki’s heart pounded violently as she pressed herself closer to the door frame.

In her past lives, she had always been hated.

She had heard worse things than what Kael just said.

And every time, she wondered what she had done wrong.

‘Does he hate giving punishment?’

She had thought he said such things because he hated her. Or rather—because he hated the criminals.

But with Kael, it felt different.

Even while showing clear anger toward criminals, he seemed uncomfortable delivering punishment.

At least, that’s how it looked to her.

And that was likely why he always returned with a dark expression.

‘If he hates it that much, why does he do it?’

She tilted her head, then nodded to herself.

‘Well… if he could avoid it, he probably would.’

And as the Judgment Dragon, he likely had no choice but to judge.

But then…

She looked down at the pocket watch hanging around her neck.

The one Geel had given her.

‘Why is this… doing this?’

Even while holding it tightly, it felt like it was trembling.

“Execute the sentence.”

With Kael’s low voice, red light burst from the scale.

Hiazelki, lost in thought, reflexively shut her eyes and covered them.

“P-please… spare me!”

The scream cut off abruptly—as if the person had been erased in an instant.

“…Prepare a new pair of shoes, Master.”

“Do so. Now let’s ret—”

Kael’s voice also cut off mid-sentence.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

The light was gone.

She lowered her hand from her face.

“Ah.”

And the moment she did, she met Kael’s eyes.

“…Why are you here?”

His voice was low and stiff.

His blood-red eyes trembled.

She instinctively took a step forward to respond—but stopped when she saw Albert beside him.

Albert was completely pale.

Hiazelki understood immediately.

‘…I wasn’t supposed to see this.’

And fear slowly crept in.

‘What if I get hated for seeing something I shouldn’t?’

That was the first thought that came to her mind.

Instead of running to Kael, she glanced around nervously.

Then she made her decision.

‘Let’s run away first.’