Chapter 3

“Ethea! What on earth have you done? Ethea! Ethea!”  

Javir’s voice rang out. 

When had he returned from his business trip? He sounded furious.  

Why? Come to think of it, had I fallen asleep?  

“Father…”  

“If you can speak, explain this!”  

Ethea opened her eyes to see Javir pointing at the center of the magic circle Lyle had drawn.  

There, in the middle, was the flask containing the mixture of her and Lyle’s blood along with various ingredients.  

But… the contents of the flask had changed. There was now something peculiar standing inside it.  

“Creating life through alchemy is punishable by death!”  

It was a living being. Though it was no bigger than a pinky finger, it was intricately detailed. It had the appearance of a perfect human—a tiny, delicate boy.  

The boy’s hair was black like Ethea’s, and his frightened golden eyes gleamed just like Lyle’s.  

The child looked distressed, trembling incessantly in the narrow flask and muttering something under his breath, as if crying out for food.  

Paralyzed with shock, Ethea’s legs gave out beneath her.  

“Ah… this can’t be.”  

Javir, his voice low and trembling with anger, questioned her harshly.  

“And golden eyes, no less. This is like something out of a founding myth, isn’t it?”  

His fury was tinged with fear.  

“Wait, golden eyes? Does that mean it’s a monster with exorcist powers? Ethea, what is this? Why did you do this? Why did you create this? Answer me! Answer me!”  

But Ethea couldn’t answer.  

‘I just happened to make a vow of friendship because my friend suggested it. And that friend… is the Empire’s thirteenth prince.’  

She was too terrified to say it out loud. Lyle had disappeared, and it seemed he had no intention of taking responsibility.  

Feeling overwhelmed, Ethea clutched her chest and looked at the living being inside the flask. Upon closer inspection, she noticed its tiny, adorable mouth forming human words.  

“Hungry. Thirsty. Hurts.”  

And then, it said something even more shocking.  

“Mom.”  

Mom?! The word was unmistakable, and Ethea’s heart sank.  

She was only 16 years old, and now there was something calling her “Mom.” A life created through alchemy, sharing both her and his blood.  

Reeling from shock after shock, Ethea rubbed her face with her hands as if trying to escape reality.  

Javir continued to press her.  

“Are you really not going to say anything?”  

“Stop yelling. First, I need to feed it something.”  

“Ha! Feed it? And then what?”  

Even as Javir ranted, Ethea gave the child some water and warm porridge. She wasn’t sure if human food was suitable for a being created through alchemy, but she had no other options.  

Later, she took the child out of the flask and moved him to a warm place.  

＊ ＊ ＊  

The first day, the second day, and the days that followed… time flowed on.  

Ethea tried to confront Lyle about everything that had happened. But he didn’t come, and he couldn’t come. According to rumors, the Crown Prince had accused Lyle of some crime, and as a result, Lyle was under confinement. The details were unclear, but that’s what the news reports said.  

Ethea couldn’t believe it. Not long ago, this friend who had spoken about happiness and made a vow of friendship with her was now imprisoned and unreachable.  

She was furious. She didn’t know the full story, but his lack of responsibility was infuriating.  

Meanwhile, Javir kept pressuring Ethea about the alchemical lifeform.  

“Get rid of it.”  

Ethea shook her head. If getting rid of it were an option, she would have done so already.  

“No.”  

But Javir wouldn’t listen to her.  

“Bury it or burn it. Do it as far away from here as possible.”  

“You’re telling me to kill it? Be reasonable.”  

“Ethea!”  

“This child was born through alchemy. If anyone understands better than anyone else that he’s different from ordinary children, it’s you, Father. What do you think will happen if we abandon him? No one can guarantee how he’ll grow, what powers he might have, or what kind of harm he could bring. That’s why it’s better if I take care of him.”  

“Take care of him? Are you saying you’ll raise him?”  

“Then should I kill him?”  

Javir couldn’t answer. Killing a creature born of alchemy and magic could potentially trigger a curse if luck wasn’t on their side.  

Ethea had no choice but to raise the child. Even if such risks didn’t exist, her personality wouldn’t allow her to abandon a living being. Javir continued to scold and blame her. Even during those dreadful times, there was no news of Lyle’s whereabouts in the gazette.  

Javir seemed to grow more resigned over time; he stopped venting his anger. For that, Ethea was grateful.  

One day, out of the blue, he even gave the child a name.  

“Gin.”  

“What?”  

“That will be the child’s name.”  

It was an unexpected gesture of kindness. Not that she minded.  

“It means ‘chain,’ or ‘bondage,’ in the language of alchemy. No matter what potential this child has, the name Gin will serve to restrain any possible rampages.”  

“I understand. Then I’ll call him that.”  

“Make sure to report it to the authorities properly. Whether he’s your son or my son, you need to register his birth to make things easier later. For the child’s sake.”  

“Thank you.”  

“Don’t thank me.”  

The way Javir looked at Ethea was filled with disgust, as if he were staring at an insect. Ethea avoided his gaze, but it still made her feel deeply uncomfortable and hurt.  

“I took you in because you were a diligent child, but now I deeply regret it. I should have sent you away when your mother left. I should have done that back then.”  

Ethea, who had just felt grateful to her father, now curled her lips into a bitter smile. A sadness she couldn’t put into words tore at her heart.  

“Ethea.”  

“Yes.”  

“Are you really not going to tell me why you made this, or with whom you made it? I’m still the one who raised you. You could at least be honest about that much.”  

“No. I can’t tell you, not even if I were to die. Please don’t ask me anymore. I’m sorry.”  

“You shameless, ungrateful girl.”  

Somehow, those words struck Ethea in the chest. She couldn’t help but wonder if he already knew the answer but was pretending not to, just to test her. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind.  

From then on, Ethea lived while raising Gin.  

Her experience was nothing like that of women who got married and had children in the usual way. Ethea had no husband, nor was she a prepared mother. The challenges were endless.  

Gin could speak human language from the moment he was born, though his voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz at first. However, it grew louder over time. Initially, he was as small as a pinky-finger-sized doll, but within a month, he grew to the size of a child’s forearm, and his voice became as loud as that of a normal child.  

Yet Gin knew nothing about the human world. His lower body was unstable, so he often fell and cried at the slightest provocation. He couldn’t distinguish between what he could and couldn’t eat, nor did he understand what objects were off-limits to touch.  

Gin required constant care. He needed to be fed, put to sleep, bathed—everything had to be done for him.  

Ethea felt overwhelmed. She was inexperienced in taking care of children, and there was no one to help her. Depending on her father was not only shameless but unthinkable. Javir hated anything that interfered with his experiments or wasn’t financially practical.  

To make matters worse, Gin wasn’t an ordinary child. Ethea didn’t want the outside world to catch wind of his peculiarities.  

To the world, Gin had to appear as nothing more than the human child of Ethea Parazia and some unknown boyfriend. He must never be known as a mysterious being born of alchemy or magic. Being seen as a reckless girl who had a child too young was far better than facing execution.  

In the end, Ethea dropped out of school. As if that weren’t enough, she was also forced to leave her home.  

“Gin’s crying is getting louder and louder. It’s going to get harder to live in this village. You should raise him somewhere farther away. That’s the only solution.”  

Ethea knew this as well.  

Gin was growing larger, and people were becoming increasingly curious about Ethea, who stayed cooped up in the house all day. If even she felt the pressure, Javir must have felt it even more. Despite being a special child, Gin didn’t display any abilities or traits that could aid Javir’s experiments. Ethea was grateful that she hadn’t been outright cursed at and told to leave.  

“I’ll go. I’ve already been thinking that it’s getting harder to stay in this house.”  

Afterward, Ethea moved far from the Imperial Palace to live alone with the child. They settled in a quiet place called “Oak Village,” which was close to a forest.  

Life was financially difficult. Although Javir had provided them with a small house, removing the burden of housing costs, they still struggled. Everything else had to be handled on their own.  

Relying on her father for living expenses? That was neither an option nor a possibility for Ethea. Javir was always obsessed with alchemy, spending all his earnings—aside from the bare minimum for living expenses—on his experiments. He frequently purchased small materials, but the most expensive material was palladium.  

Palladium wasn’t native to the Empire. It was a rare material found only in the mines of the neighboring Kingdom of Garental, and it was always in limited supply. Naturally, it was also expensive.  

Javir saved most of his earnings to buy shares in the palladium mines. As a result, he was always frugal and constantly preached the virtues of thriftiness. Helping Ethea was neither within his means nor his interest.  

For the first few months, Ethea and Gin lived like beggars.  

Their meals consisted of dry bread and fruits given by neighbors, and Gin’s clothes were made from the hem of Ethea’s dresses. She even borrowed the needle and thread from her neighbors. Buying candles was too expensive, so she often made and used dust stars. Being the daughter of an alchemist had its practical advantages.  

Perhaps her father was secretly worried about her. A few months later, he started sending letters along with money.  

[I’ll send this every month. It should be enough for you to study on your own and raise the child.]  

Though she didn’t want to admit it, Ethea was grateful to her father. At the same time, she resented Lyle even more.  

That selfish man. That irresponsible person.  

According to the gazette at the time, Lyle, who had been confined by his brother, the Crown Prince, was now making remarkable progress. He had allied himself with people from the Mage Tower to oppose the Crown Prince and was apparently aiming to become Emperor. The details were alarming, as was the momentum he had gained.  

Another fact was revealed during this time. Even before meeting Ethea, Lyle had already been engaged to the daughter of the Mage Tower Master. A powerful mage had been backing him all along.