Chapter 250
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 250
For a moment, I wondered if I was dreaming.
Then, I screamed internally.
Tulia’s body had actually shrunk!
It was unbelievable.
‘Is this what he meant by showing me my past? Not just playing it back like a video, but making me experience it firsthand?’
Was all this really necessary?
But my questions didn't last long. A beat late, I realized that little Tulia’s cheeks were being squished like steamed buns.
“……”
Like a statue in some temple, Mother stood still, her cheek pressed against Tulia’s.
“Please, help me protect my daughter. Help me protect her, even if I have to stake my everything.”
It was a low murmur. On the surface, it sounded calm, but it was a prayer steeped in desperate longing.
“……”
Mother seemed to steel herself as she adjusted her hold on me. At the same time, my eyes went wide.
I was utterly flabbergasted.
‘What the? Did Mother have Tulia all on her own?’
It was true.
Tulia was the spitting image of her mother!
If it weren't for the eye color, you wouldn't even be able to tell there was any Frezier DNA in her!
‘To this extent?’
I could finally understand the rumors that used to circulate in high society.
For instance, those vicious rumors that Tulia wasn't the biological daughter of Marquis Aster—my father…
‘But her appearance… Is she running away?’
Mother wasn't dressed like a noblewoman.
She wore a dark robe, and her hair was tied back neatly.
“Lailan.”
At that moment, I thought I was hearing things. But then I turned my head and realized.
‘It’s Dad!’
Father was standing right across from Mother.
‘Wow. He really is handsome.’
Somehow, seeing Father in his youth—a man so breathtakingly handsome he made my head spin—I understood why Mother had traveled from a distant continent to marry him.
“……Aster.”
Mother and Father shared a brief conversation. As I listened quietly, I realized exactly what was happening.
‘It’s that time!’
Right before Mother took me to the Summer Continent to pass back the Guardian status—the one she had given up when she married Father!
The joy of realization was short-lived.
The memory of blood-soaked, ash-gray hair came to mind, and my mood instantly plummeted.
‘Why did Klaus want to show me this?’
I didn't know the reason.
But there had to be a very important reason why Klaus was risking his life to show me this past.
I had to make sure, no matter what, that I didn't miss a single thing.
I had to find out what that crazy Corico, the heretics, and the High Priests were up to.
So, I wouldn't even blink…!
‘Aaaagh!’
I almost screamed out loud.
It was because Mother and Father had just kissed right in front of me!
‘I really didn't need a front-row seat for this!’
I squeezed my eyes shut, screaming internally.
The strange thing was that even though I was startled, Mother and Father didn't seem to care at all.
They were simply lost in their own world…
After some time had passed, I came to a realization.
No matter how much I opened my eyes and flailed, the ‘baby’ Tulia held in Mother’s arms remained fast asleep!
‘It’s like sleep paralysis.’
My mind was awake, but I could only observe my surroundings. It was likely because of the special circumstances.
Thanks to that, while appearing to be asleep, I could vividly observe everything happening as Mother departed.
For example, the way Mother tenderly stroked the sleeping little Tulia’s head over and over.
The way Mother gave short, cold answers every time the man sharing the carriage tried to speak to her.
Or the way she would close and open her eyes, suppressing the urge to open the carriage window and look back…
‘But surely it’s not going to show me every single detail like this?’
That would take quite a long time.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the world in front of me suddenly blurred past as if someone had hit 4x speed.
Just as my vision began to spin—
Click.
The playback speed returned to normal at a certain point.
‘I guess it’s because it’s a Benefit.’
It seemed to skip the unimportant parts automatically.
In other words, it stopped on its own at the important parts.
Though that meant I was immediately faced with a situation that made me want to scream.
‘Crazy! Why are they here!’
I had definitely seen them!
Two small creatures squirming under the carriage seat!
‘Lisian! Leon Frezier, you brats!’
Why were those young twins on the carriage?!
“Brother. It’s too cramped in here.”
“Endure it. I think we’re about to cross the sea soon.”
“Yeah. But why is Mom only taking Tulia?”
“Because she’s the youngest.”
“Hmph.”
When Mother, who had stepped away for a moment to prepare some porridge for me, returned to the carriage, the twins quickly ducked back under the seat.
I was stunned.
‘They definitely said the twins weren't able to follow.’
Why was the reality different from their memories?
Furthermore, there was something else that struck me as odd.
‘Lisian isn't stuttering?’
Filled with questions, I tried to wave my hand. Of course, the little Tulia in Mother’s arms remained fast asleep, so no matter how much I struggled, it was useless.
“Lisian? Leon? Why are you two here?!”
It was a few days later, just before they were about to board a ship, that Mother finally discovered the twins.
I watched as Mother grew furious upon seeing how gaunt they had become in the meantime.
“Who told you to do this? I clearly told you to wait patiently at home! Lisian, you’re the older brother—instead of stopping him, you… honestly!”
“We’re sorry…”
“We’re sorry…”
Lisian and Leon were frozen. Leon is a bit flighty even now, but Lisian had always been a calm, serene young man, making this sight even more rare.
‘Ah. That’s…’
At that moment, I blinked as I saw a lightly shimmering jewel ornament around Lisian’s neck.
‘That’s the memento Mother supposedly left for Lisian.’
The one I had broken while trying to block a red targeting laser.
‘It’s nice to see it again like this…’
In any case, Mother intended to send the twins back immediately. However—
“It’s a relief I dealt with that fellow beforehand…”
I flinched at Mother’s very faint mutter.
‘Dealt with what?’
Now that I thought about it, the man who had brought Mother this far had been missing for a while.
Only then did I realize.
‘The man whose scalp Mother had personally torn in front of Father… I suspected it, but he really must have been a traitor.’
Otherwise, Mother wouldn't have ‘dealt’ with him.
Seeing this, I saw Mother in a new light.
‘I suppose one needs that kind of mettle to be a daughter-in-law of the Freziers!’
Holding me in her arms, Mother began to walk, leading the twins with her.
It was late at night, and there were unusually few people around.
“I’ll buy a carriage for you, so go straight back home. I’ll return with Tulia once I’ve finished everything.”
“Yes…”
“Yes…”
The twins answered, fidgeting with their fingers. Mother’s eyes welled with tears as she looked at them, but they vanished quickly. Instead, her blue eyes flashed with a lethal light.
Mother turned around.
“What is your business?”
At the same time, men emerged from the darkness. Every one of them wore a robe, looking incredibly suspicious.
“It seems you truly did dispose of him, Lady Lailan.”
“It appears that even if you gave up your status as a Guardian, your innate intuition hasn't gone anywhere.”
Mother immediately handed me over to Lisian, whispering in a small voice.
“Keep Tulia safe.”
The warm expression from moments ago was gone. The face Mother turned toward the men had become arrogant and cold.
“Do you dare to break the covenant of the Hania tribe and betray the Divine Tree?”
“It is not betrayal. We are merely intending to hand the Divine Tree over to its rightful new god.”
“Do not resent us too much.”
And then, the battle began.
Mother was strong enough to rival any knight, but in the end, she couldn't overcome their numbers.
Her pink hair became matted with red blood. Even then, Mother used her entire body to shield us, fearing that the twins and I would be hurt.
Leon’s voice, filled with anxiety, rang in my ears.
“Mom… Mom…?”
“……Don’t look!”
Lisian, covering Leon’s eyes, shouted with a trembling voice. However, Lisian’s own eyes were fixed on their blood-covered mother, unable to even blink.
Mother was covered with a robe and dragged away. As the men approached to knock the twins unconscious as well—
“Mom! Mom!”
Lisian lunged forward and bit one of their hands hard. But the Lisian before them was merely a small child.
“You little brat!”
Thud!
It happened in an instant. The twins were knocked down, unconscious. Even in the moment he lost consciousness, Lisian didn't let go of me until the very end…
“Tulia… Mom…”
They hurriedly gathered us up and boarded the ship.
One blink.
Two blinks.
Three blinks.
After several blinks, the background changed.
‘This is the Summer Continent. The sanctuary of the Hania tribe…’
It was a place where a tree so massive stood that even if you stacked every building in the Imperial Palace, you wouldn't reach its top.
And the twins and I were locked in a prison prepared before it. A short while later—
“Shall we prepare the ceremony? The Prince of Sorsen and the Crown Prince of Brillant have already arrived.”