Beastly savior 101

Chapter 101. The blonde, green-eyed child

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Ihedia's mind was still racing today, trying to figure out how to lead the conversation before she met Kayan.

During her confinement in the palace, she had practiced constantly forcing her forbidden thoughts to come out of her mouth.

She had learned a way to ease the pain that followed.

Attempting to confront the spell head-on would only multiply the pain, but speaking it out loud, distractedly, was tolerable.

Also, speaking in a way that implied what she wanted, rather than directly communicating it, through other stories related to it, didn't increase the pain.

It would take a great deal of training to perfect it, of course, but it was a long way from before, when her brain was in chains and she couldn't move at all.

It was also good to see that Kayan's impatient demeanor was much better than it was at first.

After all, it was only natural that his sharp mind would be dulled by the daily interaction.

Moreover, Ihedia's refusal to push him away seemed to have played a big role in his change of heart.

Most of all, he had changed.................

'I think he's become a little more forgiving of Adeline.’

Not long ago, Kayan allowed Ihedia to see Adeline on a regular basis.

It was an uncharacteristic decision, and one that made her uneasy inside, but she'd heard Garel say one day.

"The other day, His Majesty happened to see Adeline by chance, and I was surprised to see that she didn't cry when she saw him, but instead she wanted him to hold her.”

"Adeline... She really did that?"

"Yes. Fortunately, the emperor didn't seem too offended, though he didn't hold her."

Adeline was half spirit, so Ihedia wondered if she felt a familiar aura when she saw her father.

In any case, Kayan didn’t seem to dislike Adeline so much now, so she could breathe a little easier for a while.

Of course, there was still a lot of unfinished business.

With Kayan's permission to see Garel more often, Ihedia has been able to ask her for a favor.

"Tell Doa that I'd like him to secretly inquire about Elmir’s situation. I'm sure he'll be willing to listen if you tell him it's for the sake of the blonde, green-eyed child."

What Ihedia really wanted to know was news of Evan, but that was the best she could do outwardly.

It was the best she could say, and it had taken a lot of practice.

It would be against Kayan's wishes, but Doa would grant her request.

When he heard of the blonde, green-eyed child he would think of Adeline.

With Lena and Patrick's falling out, there may be infighting in Elmir by now.

It was long past the time she had promised to escape from Anut and cross over to Elmir.

"If things go wrong and I don't make it back in time," she said, "don't bother with me, just get Evan out of there and send him somewhere safe."

Having made such a promise to Madame Lloyd before leaving Elmir, it is unlikely that the Marquis and Marquise would have been willing to stand idly by when they learned of Evan's precarious situation.

She could only hope and pray that the Marquis would be able to save Evan's life during the chaos of the king and queen's power struggle.

Just then, Kayan entered Ihedia's quarters.

As soon as he stepped into the room, he laid his head on her shoulder and hugged her around the waist.

He was exhausted.

It must be exhausting to ascend to a throne he never coveted and take on all the heavy responsibilities.

Ihedia patted him gently on the back.

Kayan looked up and took her by the shoulders.

"I think I have to leave the palace for a while."

Kayan's voice was lower than usual.

The way Ihedia looked at him filled her with unease.

As Emperor, there was only one reason for him to leave the palace.

To capture the traitor himself.

Ihedia's heart beat louder and louder.

Something clicked in her mind.

Hashad had taken Adeline's blood before fleeing the palace.

Ihedia grabbed Kayan by the collar, pleading.

"Don't."

"Ihedia."

"You can't kill him."

"...."

"Please don't kill him."

For a moment, she was about to say why, but then a frenzied pain surged through her.

Kayan's eyes hardened at Ihedia's plea.

She broke into a cold sweat.

“I’m not asking for forgiveness…. Until the curse is lifted… You can torture him cruelly for the rest of your life, but just don’t kill him.”

Ihedia's rate of speech was noticeably slowing down.

Her composure was shaken, and the words were not coming out as well as she had practiced.

"I'm doing this for ............... Adeline."

To protect you and my child.

But the words failed to reach Kayan.

He stared at her and said nothing.

Ihedia did not notice that for the first time, his eyes held questions, not anger.

***

The moment it was clear that Hashad was hiding in southern Edenta, Kayan prepared to leave.

Hashad was beholden to a small group of factions that had been politically disadvantaged since Kayan's rise to power.

The people who had been hiding him up until now were from the less loyal immigrant communities.

They resented Kayan's curtailment of provincial authority upon his ascension to power.

For Kayan, it was an inevitable choice to reestablish imperial authority and bring order to the country.

Sooner or later, the immigrant tribes would use Hashad to wreak havoc again.

Now was the time to root them out.

Now, as the day dawned, Kayan would leave for Edenta as well.

As the new Emperor of Anut and a descendant of Hirpus, he had enormous support from his people, and it would be symbolic for him to personally slay the traitor.

Many were in favor of Kayan's expedition to cement the Black Wolf's honor and enhance the emperor's stature.

Now that Kayan had decided to leave, it was clear that the immigrants would be disorganized and Hashad would be decapitated in public.

Even though they had not yet captured Hashad, everyone was relieved as if a bad tooth had been removed.

Among them, only Kayan had not dug deep enough.

There was no way, publicly or privately, that Hashad could be spared.

Without his life, Ihedia's position would suffer.

For the sake of the daughter she cherished so dearly.

‘Why did she say that?’

He couldn't see how keeping Hashad alive could be for Adeline's sake.

He could torture him for the rest of his life, so long as the bastard lived.

It wasn’t like her when he remembered her expression.

"This time, you stay here."

Kayan said to Doa at his side.

"Me?"

"We need to keep one trustworthy person in the palace."

Doa realized immediately that he meant Ihedia's safety was in his hands.

There were still many who viewed her as an eyesore.

Kayan was worried that something might happen to her while he was gone.

"I see, but it would be a waste of time to go that far anyway."

With his way out now blocked, Hashad was like a candle in the wind.

Compared to their previous skirmishes, this expedition was more like a prisoner handover, and the odds were entirely in Kayan's favor.

If anything happened to Ihedia in the meantime, Kayan would lose his mind again.

So for once, Doa decided to focus on something more important than staying in the palace as ordered as the Emperor's loyal servant.

"I know you've allowed Ihedia and Adeline to see each other often, but it's because she looks exactly like Ihedia, right?"

Kayan averted his gaze as Doa blurted out the question that had been on his mind the entire time.

All he could hear was the sound of Kayan flipping through papers.

"Gee, if I'd known this was coming, I should've shown her to you sooner, but now that you've seen the child, you want to protect her instead of kill her, don't you?"

"...."

“No matter how hard I look, I can’t find any resemblance to her father.”

Doa mulled those words over in his mind, remembering what Garel had told him.

Blonde hair and green eyes.

Why would Ihedia leave such words?

It didn't make sense that she would use that description of Adeline.

He also wondered why it was for Adeline's sake to find out about Elmir’s situation.

Even though he had gotten the request and sent someone to Elmir, he still felt like he was in the middle of an unsolved mystery.

Doa paused for a moment and muttered softly.

"Do you think Adeline is the only child with blonde hair and green eyes?"

"What do you mean?"

"I just...... wondered if there was another child that was so pretty."

Doa smiled awkwardly and shrugged off the conversation.

He didn't want Kayan to know that he'd been asked by Ihedia to find out about Elmir in secret, or it might drive the two of them apart again, even though they'd been working hard to recover.

Doa decided to wait for a clearer report from the man he had sent to Elmir.

***

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