chapter 21
“Your mother’s family situation is… complicated.”
“Huh…?”
“…Anyway, it’s nothing you need to concern yourself with.”
My father spoke firmly.
Of course, he stopped there. I pouted, frustrated.
Could it be… that Mom really had passed away?
‘…Ah, right. She died. At the hands of those who had been tracking her.’
Huh?
Another strange memory surfaced.
‘What could it be?’
I scratched my cheek and slowly nodded. My father must have a reason for not telling me.
“But… your mother… didn’t get along with her family. That’s all there is to it.”
Something flickered in my mind at his words.
‘Right… that’s how it was.’
So Mom and Dad had run away. Dad entered the Tigreto estate after losing Mom.
The Tigreto estate was a place that the ‘group’ couldn’t touch recklessly.
That was why Dad, even under scrutiny, stayed in the estate’s shadow.
‘Also for research…’
Because his life might have been in danger.
‘I was too reckless wanting to leave…!’
…But how do I even know all this?
Honestly, this might just be my imagination.
Feeling my father’s gaze, I cautiously spoke.
“Dad… can I ask you about a strange dream I sometimes have?”
“A strange dream?”
I had no choice but to frame it as a dream when asking him.
How Mom had died.
It was vivid in my mind, as if I had witnessed it firsthand.
My father looked at me, puzzled, then slowly nodded.
“What kind of dream?”
“It’s… a woman with pure white hair, rushing into a house—or maybe a tent—in the desert, telling us to run away.”
I had seen Dad and Mom taking care of little me, fleeing into the forest.
When I said that much, Dad’s eyes widened. Seeing his trembling gaze, I hesitated, then asked softly:
“Was that… Mom?”
“…….”
Dad took a deep, slow breath.
“…….”
He said nothing, only gently stroked my head.
But I understood.
“It’s a bad dream.”
His shaking pupils spoke the truth.
‘…Oh my god… this is real?’
How could I remember things I hadn’t seen?
“Don’t have such bad dreams… and don’t remember them.”
“…Yes, Dad.”
In reality, after a long time of running, Mom ultimately decided to send Dad away first.
Their plan relied on a single word: me.
That day, Dad and Mom had a huge fight for the first time, but Dad…
‘Couldn’t give up on me…’
Having heard Mom ask him to take care of me…
In the end, he left Mom behind and turned away.
‘Was Mom physically stronger?’
Of course, Dad was the scholarly type, not very strong.
‘That’s why he kept making medicines for me.’
He couldn’t abandon me.
So Dad repeatedly, over and over… ■■…
‘…Huh?’
He did what?
Ouch!
Suddenly, my head hurt. The world spun.
My eyelids grew heavy, and I bit my lower lip.
“Dad… I’m sleepy…”
“Ah. Sleep then. I’ve held on to you too long.”
“No, sorry…”
Thunk.
My eyelids closed, my head drooped.
That was my last memory.
Klein Tigreto quietly gazed at the sleeping child.
His pink eyes sank heavily.
“…I didn’t think she’d have memories from infancy.”
He stroked her head.
Running his hand along her cheek and placing it over her heart, he felt its steady, strong beat.
“…I never know what to do.”
Progress on the treatment was nonexistent.
Not only that, he had recently discovered that the child even had healing abilities.
Moreover, he had gone as far as visiting a gambling hall himself to secure a house for them to live in.
And when he won, the house resembled her mother perfectly.
‘Two hundred thirty million…?’
Even for him, that was astronomical.
Enough to build a mansion and still have money left over.
The problem was that even a flashy mansion couldn’t match the history of a noble family.
The Tigreto family had endured for generations and had many trustworthy allies.
Their security system was solid, and the weight of their name carried danger.
Just as commoners wouldn’t dare confront royalty in the streets, the name alone commanded respect.
That’s why he stayed here.
‘But did that… make things hard for this child?’
He had been shocked by the child’s confession today.
“Dad has to live with Grandfather and other family members he dislikes… because of me…”
“Dad’s always doing research, and finding a house with space for all his equipment is hard… Dad spends a lot on research… so he must have thought we were poor…”
He had no idea she was thinking this.
Feeling guilty for being so careless, he realized:
‘…This child wouldn’t want to grow up under neglectful parents.’
He relinquished all direct authority in his family.
He had given up everything the day he met the one he loved.
He abandoned his entire detested family.
‘I thought I’d never return…’
Yet, he had come back for his own regrets. He couldn’t find a safe way to protect the child.
Hiding in the most secluded wing of the mansion?
All his choice.
‘Now… can I reclaim my authority?’
‘If I reveal my abilities…’
Klein Tigreto frowned at the thought.
It was absurd.
He slowly rubbed his face. His father had recently asked him to come back to the main estate.
Of course, he had refused immediately.
‘…Even if I don’t return to the main mansion, at least…’
The child shouldn’t be neglected like this.
‘…I need results.’
He needed accomplishments that couldn’t be dismissed.
Scholarship and research meant nothing in the Tigreto family.
‘…Maybe monster hunting would be easier.’
He had heard that the southern empire was being plagued by monsters, even spreading disease in some areas.
If he could handle that, perhaps things would improve.
Exhaling, he thought:
‘Building a home… is too risky right now.’
Their pursuit wouldn’t end.
As long as Klein Tigreto lived, and his daughter—bearing the bloodline of someone they wished hidden—breathed, the threat remained.
Because Klein had discovered the secret they most wanted to conceal.
“Klein. Take care of Leddy. You’re the only one I can trust with this.”
“And promise me… never use your abilities for my sake.”
Her origin was the dark village of Tenev.
A place said to house a legendary evil organization, whose existence was almost mythical.
It was rumored that the deity they worshipped was a demon god.
Some of the world’s largest assassination and intelligence guilds were said to originate from there.
Tenev was a place steeped in horrifying rumors.
He had only heard of it and never believed it truly existed.
“…Leddy, I will protect you no matter what.”
Until he met her.
She shattered taboos upon meeting him.
Hearing that, he abandoned all the authority he was born with and chose to flee.
Up to this point, it sounded like a sweet love story.
But…
