Chapter 34
Lilia arrived at the hospital room, pressing her lips together and blinking her large eyes.
“Hello, Father. Lilia is here. Today, I can finally heal you… I hope you wake up tomorrow to greet me.”
Clasid lay there, looking as he had the day before, as if asleep.
This was the moment she had been waiting for.
She had worked so hard to save her father.
She didn’t know if the Healing Key was the real answer, but this was all she could do now.
No preemptive disappointment, no expectation.
“I need to try the key quickly.”
Trying to calm her anxious heart, Lilia approached Clasid.
In the original story, Tiana had used a special method with the key.
“Tiana poured holy water onto the Blue Magic Key, then placed it in the patient’s hand and prayed earnestly to God. When the key glowed, the patient’s illness seemed to wash away. It was truly salvation.”
So Lilia prepared the holy water.
Before leaving the spring, she had asked Melissa to give her some.
When she said she wanted to wash her sick father’s face with it while tears fell like drops of chicken dung, Melissa hesitated but agreed, saying she would explain to the villagers.
She even promised to occasionally bring more holy water on her way to the duke’s castle.
“Such a kind saint… no, gardener,” Lilia whispered with a soft smile as she took out the bottle of shimmering holy water.
Splash!
Next, she took out the Healing Key and whispered,
“Just stay still for a moment.”
For some reason, the Healing Key, which had been restless until now, stayed in the air quietly, as if it understood her desperation.
“That’s better… good.”
She then dropped the key into the holy water.
She thought this would work better than pouring it over.
“It should be soaked enough now, right?”
Lilia took the key out and pressed it firmly into her father’s hand.
His hands were so large that even making him clench his fist with her strength was difficult.
Finally, she closed her eyes and prayed earnestly.
“Please completely heal my father’s illness.”
White, translucent light spread from Clasid’s fingertips across his body.
Whoosh!
But… as the light faded, counting from one to a hundred brought no change.
“…What’s wrong?”
Lilia muttered, tilting her head.
Then she filled the Healing Key with her own mana and tried again.
Once, twice, three times.
Even after several attempts, Clasid did not move an inch.
The number of attempts didn’t matter.
She could do it ten times, a hundred times if needed.
Time passed.
As repeated attempts brought no change, Lilia grew increasingly anxious.
“Father… no… it can’t be….”
Her trembling voice accompanied clenched fists as she looked at her unresponsive father.
Tears welled up uncontrollably.
“Father… please wake up. Don’t leave me alone. Don’t die…”
Was it truly impossible to heal her father with the Healing Key?
Still, something felt strange.
Even if it wasn’t a full cure, she had expected the key to at least bring him some consciousness.
Trying to hide her disappointment, Lilia felt completely drained.
She collapsed beside her father, overwhelmed by the fear and sorrow of possibly losing him forever.
“No… no… I want to see you, Father. Don’t die without me… don’t die…”
She finally broke down in tears.
Her heart ached as if it were shattering.
She even summoned the Key of Authority, holding both keys tightly.
These mystical tools were powerful, but perhaps not for her now.
She didn’t yet fully understand the keys, and she couldn’t use magic.
Maybe it’s because I’m not enough…
“Huuu…”
As tears fell from Lilia’s eyes onto the keys, a change occurred.
Clasid’s fingers twitched slightly.
Even in his distant consciousness, he could clearly hear his daughter’s voice.
“Father… don’t leave me… don’t die…”
His closed eyelids flickered.
Awakening from a long sleep, Clasid rolled his red eyes and slowly looked around.
The first thing he recognized was the small, trembling child curled up crying at the bedside.
His only daughter, Lilia.
It had been a full year.
Not through letters, messengers, or someone else’s words.
Seeing his daughter’s face directly after so long was overwhelming.
Hearing her beg him not to die brought countless emotions piercing through his heart.
Yet Clasid remained expressionless.
Showing emotions had always been difficult for him.
Was it from the childhood trauma of losing his mother?
Or when his wife Serna demanded a divorce?
From then, his emotions slowly faded, finally sealing completely after the last battle against the demon beasts.
What attacked him wasn’t just any beast.
It was the strongest life on earth.
The dragon’s claw pierced his heart, shattering everything.
He guessed whose command it had been.
It was an opponent he could never face.
For a wizard, mana hearts were everything, and now he was a half-life with a limited time.
And that time wouldn’t be long.
Three years? Or one year?
He didn’t know.
The girl in front of him was too young.
Too young to understand death.
The rest of his life must keep her at a distance, giving no affection.
That was the last way to shield her from pain as a father.
Clasid bit his lips and made a firm vow.
“She needs her mother. Just three more years… Lilia will be taken as a princess then. Until that time, protect her in the walls of Roberk.”
In half a year, his divorced wife Serna would come to take Lilia away.
He only had to endure until then.
With that thought, Clasid decided the separation alone, harshly pushing away his daughter in his heart.
He closed his eyes and touched his own chest.
Then he looked at Lilia with his cold, hardened face.
“…Don’t cry.”
“Huh? F… Father?!”
Startled, Lilia lifted her head, eyes wide, and threw herself into his arms.
“Boohoo! Father! Father! You… you really woke up, didn’t you?”
Her large, tear-filled eyes called to him repeatedly.
“Yes, at least your hearing is fine,” Clasid said quietly.
“Sniff… I thought I’d never… never see you again.”
“Now that you’re awake, stop crying.”
Lilia nodded repeatedly.
Clasid tried to ignore her tears but gently wiped them away with his finger.
Still in disbelief, Lilia said,
“Father, pinch me just once, here.”
She pointed to her soft, swollen cheek after stopping her tears.
Clasid just gazed at her plump cheek without pinching.
“Hmm? Not pinching?”
Feeling embarrassed for being too forward, Lilia realized she had gone overboard.
“…Yes. If it’s a dream, I don’t want to wake up.”
“Ah…”
Lilia agreed with him.
At that moment, Kiki climbed onto Clasid’s bed.
Showing his little rice-grain-like teeth, he lightly bit Clasid’s arm.
