Chapter 7
“Hmph!”
Snorting, Lor lifted her chin as if daring the priest to say something, glaring straight at him.
“Ah, ah!”
The priest, caught off guard, stammered and could not find words.
There was something.
The priest’s behavior clearly revealed guilt, and the aides exchanged knowing glances.
“Young lady, you’re very clever! Then we’ll check as well. Priest, please hand over the box the ring was in.”
A woman with neatly braided red hair stepped forward from among them, holding out her palm expectantly.
The priest’s face turned pale.
“Absurd! You’re doubting me, a priest, just because of a child’s words? This is a relic certified by the temple!”
“How about we call it verification, not doubt?”
Before the priest could say more, she swiftly snatched the box from his hand.
The priest tried to run with it, but the aide’s hand was quicker—too late.
The red-haired aide examined the box closely, turning it this way and that. Then—
“It’s true! The box really opens from another side!”
Just as Lor had said.
That meant the priest had deliberately opened the case the wrong way.
Alcade gave a calm order.
“Kneel.”
The moment the command fell, aides grabbed the priest’s shoulders and shoved him down to the floor.
Pinned down before he could resist, the priest desperately called out:
“Your Grace, Your Grace, the truth is—!”
The red-haired aide smiled slyly and, from who knows where, produced a dagger, pressing it to the priest’s throat.
“Priest, you’d better only speak when told to.”
Alcade accepted the box from the aides and opened it from the other side.
Inside, another ring gleamed brightly.
“Hah, so there really was a genuine relic.”
“Of course. Who would dare not bring it when His Grace, the Grand Duke, commands it?”
“Giselle!”
“Looks like he was planning to keep the real relic hidden until he couldn’t fool anyone anymore. Priest or conman, which is it?”
“Giselle, enough!”
Startled by her mocking tone, Hagens quickly cut her off.
“Yeah, yeah. Hagens, you’re too uptight.”
Giselle muttered, bored, though her dagger remained pressed firmly against the priest’s throat.
While the aides quarreled, Alcade carefully took out the ring—the genuine relic—and examined it.
[Lor, well done! That ring is the real relic!]
The fluttering book brushed Lor’s cheek gently. The ticklish touch made her want to laugh, but she held it in.
‘The magic book said it only shows itself to me!’
Before they came here, the book had explained that it was visible only to Lor, and no one else.
When Lor had admired it, calling it a fairy from a story, the book flapped its pages and replied:
[That’s right, Lor! So please keep my existence a secret from everyone else, okay?]
Of course she could. Fairies in fairy tales would fly away forever if someone discovered them.
She didn’t want the precious, clever, beautiful book—the one that told her how to save her mother—to disappear.
‘Mm! Promise!’
So she had to pretend she couldn’t see it. Smiling alone would look weird too!
Lor pressed her lips together and pointed with her chubby finger at the ring in Alcade’s hand.
“That looks real!”
“Yes. Indeed. This must be the ‘true’ relic.”
Alcade nodded to her, then turned his gaze back to the priest.
“H-hiieek!”
Ever since Alcade had opened the box and taken out the real relic, the priest had been too terrified to speak, gasping for breath as if strangled.
That reaction meant only one thing—
“It wasn’t a mistake.”
Alcade’s eyes bore into him, his gaze cold, his voice lower and weightier.
This made it clear: the priest had deliberately done this.
At whose order, he wondered?
But for now, Alcade had something else more important to confirm.
He slipped the ring onto his own finger, then removed it, handing it to Lor.
He wanted to see what would happen when the relic was worn properly and its holy power worked as it should.
“Now it’s your turn to wear it.”
“Yes!”
Without hesitation or fear, Lor took the ring from him and slipped it onto her index finger.
At that instant, a refreshing energy wrapped around her, like the cool wind that once embraced her on a hot summer day.
“Wooooow!”
The pleasant sensation made her gasp in awe.
The book fluttered its pages.
[Lor, that feeling is holy power! Let’s prepare for the future, shall we?]
‘Huh…?’
Before she could look closely, faint glowing particles seeped out from between the pages and flowed into the ring.
They began quietly, secretly absorbing the relic’s holy power.
Lor, fascinated, watched the sparkling flow.
Meanwhile, the others, who had been watching anxiously ever since the child put on the ring, finally breathed in relief.
Nothing strange had happened. The ring’s jewel still shone with the same clear light.
That meant—
“I—I am Daddy’s real daughter!”
Lor beamed brightly.
‘I used the words I learned earlier!’
Her chest tingled with pride. Hugging herself with her short, plump arms, she let out a peal of laughter.
She felt so happy, like she might float into the sky.
Almost as if—she had sprouted wings!
Because now—
‘Lor has a Daddy too!’
The most wonderful Daddy in the world! And now Daddy would heal Mommy. Then Mommy would get healthy again!
[Brave child, Lor!]
The book opened to a blank page and words appeared.
Lor peeked at the writing.
‘Brave… child!’
Hearing that made her heart float even higher.
She was about to wiggle into a little bottom dance when—
‘Oh no!’
Her eyes suddenly met Alcade’s.
‘Freeze!’
She almost got caught dancing in front of him.
She wasn’t close enough yet to do something so embarrassing in front of Daddy….
So, frozen in place, Lor sneaked a look at Alcade, who had been strangely silent.
And then her eyes went wide.
‘Daddy… looks sad?’
His face was expressionless, as before.
But somehow, Lor thought his eyes looked sorrowful.
Like a prince in a fairy tale who had lost his princess.
Was it because he was so handsome?
Meeting his gaze, Lor stretched out her hand to him, determined to finally succeed this time in saying, Hug me!
“Ah….”
But instead of taking her hand, Alcade turned sharply toward the priest.
The priest, watching the child’s paternity proven before his eyes, shook with fear. His scheme to deceive the Grand Duke had been exposed.
“H-hiiieek! F-forgive me! I’ve committed a grave sin. Spare my life, please!”
“We’ll interrogate later. There are more pressing matters. Lock him away somewhere suitable.”
At that, Giselle grinned widely, as if waiting for those words, and grabbed the back of the priest’s neck.
“I was wrong! Your Grace, please, have mercy!”
“Mmm~ Priest, you shouldn’t expect that~.”
Humming, Giselle dragged him off.
The atmosphere in the room shifted completely.
The heir of Alcade Atteleon had appeared.
Among the noble bloodline of the Atteleon imperial family, Alcade was already special—
Because he could wield sacred abilities.
And now, what of a child with his blood?
The aides were bewildered by this unprecedented situation.
“Hehe.”
Once again, it was Lor’s laughter that broke the heavy silence.
