“Are you conscious now?”
“Was it you who knocked on the door before?”
“Yes.”
“And now, you’ve come to save me?”
“Yes.”
“…Why?”
Could it be that family I thought was lost forever still remains? Does this child still consider me her grandfather?
Yet he couldn’t bring himself to say thank you. Rather, as his consciousness returned, so did the feelings he harbored toward Calliphe.
Resentment.
‘If Calliphe hadn’t taken all of Porsche’s magic power, Porsche would still be alive.’
Since magic power is also life force, some mages unconsciously absorb another’s magic in moments of crisis. It was an extremely rare occurrence.
The accident scene.
There they found Porsche, cold and lifeless, with young Calliphe cradled in her arms.
At first, he feared losing them both.
However, detailed investigation revealed that almost no magic power remained in Porsche’s body. Conversely, Calliphe had an enormous amount of magic power.
To be precise, there were ‘traces’ of immense magic power that had lingered and then disappeared.
Such traces typically remain after using extremely powerful magic.
But no matter how thoroughly they investigated the surroundings, nothing resembling the result of magic could be found, so the investigators concluded that Calliphe had absorbed Porsche’s magic power.
She absorbed it, but Calliphe’s vessel couldn’t contain it all, so it was wasted. That’s why only traces remained.
From that moment, Graham turned his back on Calliphe.
Even when young Calliphe, who had awakened days after the accident, came to him crying.
“Grand… Grandfather.”
“How dare you enter here!”
“…!”
“Get out! I can’t stand the sight of any of you! Get lost! Now!!”
He drove her away with rage. It’s because of you, he thought. I can never accept you.
Even for Porsche’s sake, I cannot accept you.
“I know why you’ve come all this way. But let me make one thing clear—”
“I’m glad you understand.”
But something was strange about Calliphe’s attitude.
She wasn’t like before, stubborn yet watching his reactions carefully, hoping to earn his goodwill.
This was more like…
‘An attitude toward a cold, troublesome old man?’
Calliphe shook off the Marquis’s grip on her collar and stepped back. She elegantly dusted off her crumpled collar.
“I’m suffering because of your collapse, Marquis.”
“What…?”
“It’s unacceptable for the person responsible for both the Magic Tower and House Offensa to remain so helpless. I’d appreciate it if you’d get up and fulfill your duties.”
Calliphe spoke with finality. That was all there was to it, nothing more, nothing less.
“Marquis Offensa.”
“…!”
For the first time, the Marquis’s heart sank at Calliphe’s manner of addressing him.
He could only stare blankly as Calliphe walked away.
How much time had passed?
The Marquis was caressing Porsche’s portrait, now broken in two. His sense of time had dulled; he didn’t know how long he’d been like this.
That’s when it happened.
“Is this Calliphe’s grandfather?”
Children’s voices began to filter through from beyond his mental world.
※※※
“Yes. This is Marquis Offensa.”
Noah, who answered Mihail, placed the flowers he’d brought on the Marquis’s chest.
The other children also placed their gifts of candy and chocolate around the flowers. Hospital visit presents.
It was yesterday that Calliphe had calmed the Marquis Offensa’s seizure. The bored little ones had received her permission to make a hospital visit.
They also harbored ulterior motives to scout the hospital room as a potential new hideout.
“He looks scary.”
“Mhmm.”
“He seems much thinner than when I saw him before.”
Mihail, Imelen, and Lucilia spoke in turn.
‘What is this… where did these children come from?’
Marquis Offensa’s brow twitched uncomfortably. Noticing this, Imelen brought her damp nose closer.
Sniff sniff?
‘What, what is this unpleasant dampness?’
“…Achoo!”
Splat. The Marquis’s face became sticky and wet.
‘Y-you brat!’
Though inwardly furious, the Marquis maintained an extremely peaceful expression.
Lucilia and Noah were startled.
“Spirit, are you catching a cold?”
“Need to wipe it… Mihail, do you have a handkerchief?”
“No. Just use the blanket.”
Mihail pulled up the Marquis’s blanket and handed it to Noah. Noah wiped the Marquis’s wet face with the luxurious blanket.
‘No! These kids!’
After wiping the saliva from his face, they pretended nothing happened, smoothed the blanket, and covered him again.
‘There’s a faint smell now…’
The Marquis wanted to cry.
“I’m hungry.”
“Want some of this?”
The children started opening and eating the snacks they had brought as hospital gifts.
Since they were sitting around the Marquis, using him as a table, crumbs fell onto him.
While the Marquis was internally trembling with rage.
Mihail, chatting away, casually mentioned:
“Come to think of it, I heard Calliphe and Marquis Offensa don’t get along at all.”
“Really?”
Noah remained calm, but the other children were surprised. Mihail, now the center of attention, straightened up slightly and answered smoothly.
“Of course. My grandfather told me. You all know that Calliphe’s mother passed away, right?”
“Mmhmm…”
“I didn’t know.”
So Calliphe had a mother too! Well, of course she did.
“She died in an accident when Calliphe was very young. But the Marquis apparently blames Calliphe. He’s been cold to her ever since the accident.”
“What?”
“But she was just a baby then!”
Lucilia and Imelen were indignant. Imelen even slapped the Marquis’s face with her front paw.
But the Marquis couldn’t even scold them internally. It was because of Imelen’s piercing remark that followed.
“What child would want to be separated from their mother on purpose?”
‘…’
While the Marquis was speechless.
The little ones chattered away, saying it was really too much.
“Everyone, that’s enough. We came to visit the Marquis in the hospital.”
Lucilia maturely crossed her arms and settled the dispute.
“No matter how bad their relationship is, blood is thicker than water. Sometimes I get angry at my family too, but I’ve never truly disliked them. The Marquis must feel the same.”
Is that so? The children each thought of their own families and partially agreed with Lucilia’s opinion.
But one of them.
Noah firmly shook his head.
“That’s not true for everyone.”
It had been that way since the orphanage. While other children wondered who their birth parents were, Noah wasn’t particularly curious.
Even when reading fairy tales, he always dreamed of a new family.
“I’m not related by blood to Calliphe, but I still like her better. That’s why I came to visit the Marquis. Because the Marquis is Calliphe’s family.”
Noah stood up.
His gaze toward Marquis Offensa was now indifferent, unlike before.
“But if the Marquis dislikes Calliphe, then I dislike the Marquis too.”
Swish. He took back the flowers he had brought as a get-well gift.
Mihail and Imelen also retrieved their remaining gifts. Lucilia, wondering if this was appropriate, decided to leave her gift behind.
When the children left, the hospital room fell silent.
Left alone, Marquis Offensa sank into deep thought. But just as something akin to regret was about to sprout, he stubbornly shouted internally:
‘What did I do wrong? The fact that Calliphe killed her own mother doesn’t change!’
He would not forgive Calliphe.
Unless she atoned with her own death!
But the Marquis didn’t know.
In the near future, he would bitterly regret this thoughtless wish.
※※※
Deep in the night.
Marcel returned to his room after completing the final safety check for the closing ceremony.
Finally, tomorrow the Harvest Festival would be completely over.
“At last I can get some rest.”
Marcel patted his shoulders. Just then, a mage from the Magic Tower quietly knocked on his door.
“Vice Archmage. A cleric from the Grand Temple has come to visit.”
“Oh, please come in!”
He had harvested seeds from the Fairy Mint that Calliphe had given him, and he needed sacred power to make them bloom abundantly.
“Welcome. I’m truly sorry for having you visit at such an hour.”
“It’s no trouble.”
The cleric removed his deeply pulled hood.
Ash-gray hair, tanned skin, and black tattoos were revealed.
He was like a wild jackal, unsuited to being a cleric. His golden eyes glinted like a predator before a hunt.
“I prefer this time of day anyway.”
Translator
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midori
thanks! mans crazy, lashing out at everyone huh. he didn’t even think that porsche would have done it wholeheartedly to save her child. she was willing to carry her for nine months, to go through life and death to give birth…what is sacrificing her magic power to save calliphe?