Chapter 67
The right approach was to reject it realistically and coldly. Even if Luce got hurt—well, actually, he wasn’t the type to be hurt by words like that in the first place. Anyway.
As expected, Luce couldn’t answer immediately. His neatly furrowed brow crumpled.
“What would you gain?”
“Exactly! You’d get what you’ve wanted—a family—but I don’t particularly want you. Life’s about give and take, right? If there’s giving, there should be receiving too. So if I become your family, what do I get out of it?”
It was harsh, but true. Even if Luce demanded it like a spoiled child, if there was no benefit for me, why would I accept such an offer?
“What do you want?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll give you whatever you want. You said it had to be something precious, that I’d have to pour everything I had into it. I’ll do that for you. Just tell me. How to cherish it. I’m confident I can learn properly.”
“Ah, no…”
I admired his eagerness to learn. But why did it have to be me?
“You said you hoped that someday you’d have someone like that too.”
“I… I did say that.”
“Could that someone be me?”
“I-I…”
“…Or was it just empty words?”
Luce lowered his gaze, revealing his thick eyelashes, and his expression looked uncharacteristically fragile. The veil that had been over his head was gone, and he was drenched in the rain. That sight made him look even more desolate.
“No, it’s not that…”
What should I say to get out of this situation? I wracked my brain, raising my crisis-management skills to the max.
Luce’s past was pitiful in some ways, but one wrong word could get me trapped. I had to be careful. Very careful.
“If it’s money, I’ll give you as much as you want. It’ll take a bit of time, but if I raided the demon realm once, I could build you two or three castles.”
“C-Careful…”
“I’ll grant whatever you want. There’s nothing impossible with my magic. You probably already know that.”
“C-Careful…”
“If heretics are after you, that means they’ll go after your family too. I’ll protect you. You and your family. Personally.”
Isn’t that careful enough? I was negotiating over my mother’s safety, so there was no way to refuse.
The negotiator in front of me clearly understood the client’s needs.
“…Becoming family right away is impossible. I’m not thinking about marriage yet, and as I said, family isn’t something you become overnight. And marriage isn’t just about wanting to become family!”
“Then?”
“Marriage is something for people who love each other.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s… a thing. We don’t have that.”
“…I see.”
Luce looked noticeably disappointed. I felt my chest tighten for some reason and reached my hand toward him.
He stared blankly at my hand. I waved it, meaning “come on, grab it.”
“So… let’s start as friends.”
“…Friends?”
“Yeah. If we build trust over time, maybe after a long time, we could become like family.”
I hadn’t had such a relationship either. It was just a guess.
“So in the end, we’re not family. The future is uncertain too.”
“Mm, something like that?”
Luce slowly grasped my hand and said bluntly,
“For now, we should be satisfied with this.”
Uh. I suddenly felt like retracting the “friend” declaration.
I pulled my hand back and said firmly,
“Speaking of family, I might treat my mother and you differently. I mean, I have to. But that’s not discrimination—it’s just a difference! Got it? You can’t treat someone you’ve known as family for years the same as someone you just met!”
Luce nodded obediently at my boundary.
“You agree?”
“I’m not someone who can’t understand that much. Then, what about your family, and those guys?”
“Those guys?”
I turned my head in the direction Luce pointed. Shadows of massive figures flew in from behind the bright lights of the banquet hall.
The shadows charging fiercely transformed into human forms when about ten steps away. The first to reach me was Eve.
“Rinne!”
He grabbed my shoulders and turned me, inspecting me from head to toe.
Before I could regain my senses from Eve’s thorough examination, I was lifted into the air. Tearn spun me around.
“No visible injuries. That’s a relief, little Rinnegrim.”
“Yes… thank you for worrying.”
Next was Raykis. She held the unconscious Leti in her arms. Frustrated that she couldn’t help, she stomped her feet and asked,
“Rinnegrim, are you okay? You’re really okay, right?”
“I’m fine! Luckily, Luce arrived in time—”
“Waaaah! Rinneya!”
“Kinya…!”
I picked up Kinya, who had wrapped her legs around me. Her wet face pressed against my neck.
I tried to wipe her face with my clothes, but they were already soaked. Finding nothing else suitable, I took a handkerchief from Evnis’s chest and wiped Kinya’s tears and runny nose. Her swollen eyes were red.
“There, Kinya. Sniff.”
“Grr!”
“Good, Kinya. I’m glad you’re safe. You did as I said.”
“Mm…!”
“You were scared, weren’t you? Good job, Kinya. Thank you…”
“Mm…! I was scared… I was afraid I’d get hurt like Leti…”
Her tiny body trembled. I held wet Kinya and patted her back.
As her trembling subsided and I breathed a sigh of relief, Luce, who had been watching intently, spoke.
“I’d go first, though.”
“What did you say? I didn’t hear.”
I waited for his lips to move again, but a loud roar shook the lake.
“Hey! Seran Drekie!”
It was Eve, advancing toward Seran against the downpour.
“Won’t the rain stop? Our kids are getting soaked!”
“…I can’t control it.”
“Why not?”
“Perhaps… because I’m just too happy.”
Through the rain, Eve faintly heard the words and turned pale.
He laughed nervously, thinking he misheard, but froze when he saw Seran smiling widely.
“You… you feel emotions too?”
“I only just realized it. Thanks to Rinnegrim.”
Eve stuck his tongue out, pretending to vomit at the bizarre sight. Seran didn’t care at all.
“By the way, isn’t that a mermaid you’re holding? Did you bring a demon beast into the palace?”
“Just so you know, if you touch this child, be prepared to die.”
A ridiculous laugh escaped Tehinra.
“Hah. You’d turn all other clans against us? Just for a mermaid?”
“‘Just’?!”
Seran adjusted the Sordim in his arms delicately, like handling a fragile glass ornament.
“This child is my world.”
“…I knew you were crazy, but this is on another level. Was the reason you wanted Rinne also because of this mermaid?”
“Exactly.”
“Exactly?”
Ignoring Eve’s question about the past tense, Seran walked toward me.
“…The words are too vast to express my gratitude, Rinnegrim.”
“I didn’t do it expecting a reward.”
Tearn and Tehinra, who had been leaning skeptically, bristled at my words.
“What nonsense, you innocent thing. Tell him what you want!”
“Yeah, that guy drools over money. Didn’t he use the orb I gave him to save the mermaid? Demand a reward that matches that.”
If I refused, the two enraged divine beasts might charge at me. I dodged their sharp claws and scratched my cheek, speaking to Seran.
“Then… I’d like a small token of thanks. Anything you want to give me, Seran…”
“There’s an island called Irete in the eastern sea. In front of it is a beautiful coral reef.”
“Wow, you’re showing me around?”
Seran smiled. I couldn’t help but smile too. A trip to the sea for leisure sounded perfect.
“Thank you—”
“I’ll give it to you.”
“Really…?”
Huh. Did I just hear something unbelievable?
“The coral from Irete Island is sold at a high price. I’ll transfer ownership of the reef to you too. It doesn’t cover the cost of Sordim’s life, but please accept it.”
Do all divine beasts give such enormous gifts?
I was at a loss for words at the scale of the gift.
“Th-thank you…”
Just managing to say thanks, Seran added,
“Just one small favor, though.”
“Let’s hear it first…?”
Expecting a condition like living on Irete Island forever, I was tense—but he said something unexpected:
“Would you occasionally check on Sordim, who will be entering the academy? He has no ties in the capital, and I worry.”
“The academy?”
“Yes. I’ll give him everything a human can enjoy. Even if it means leaving me, I can accept it now.”
Mm…
Sordim wriggled deeper into Seran’s arms. A smile spread across Seran’s face.
“I don’t want to possess this child. I just want to love him.”
Seran looked at me and said,
“Rinnegrim, you’d understand, right? The wish for a beloved child to always be happy.”
“The wish for a beloved child to always be safe.”
I hugged Kinya tightly and smiled brightly.
“Of course!”
Kela bit her nails nervously, the tips red.
Ethan Kroit, commander of the Holy Knights, had captured the intruder in the palace.
“…What if they talk?”
They’d surely interrogate how the magical circles were drawn or how the magic tools were brought in.
If a magician broke under torture and revealed the accomplice, Kela wouldn’t be safe. Not just Kela; her god wouldn’t be free from suspicion either.
“I have to stop that from happening…”
“How can you?”
A low voice reached her. Kela couldn’t move a finger. Though unfamiliar, she recognized the eyes—the same ones from the greenhouse. A man with the eyes of a monster.
Her dry throat made swallowing painfully difficult. Kela slowly turned around. At that moment, an intangible shock struck her body.
