Chapter 147
Leopold trailed off, muttering something unintelligible.
Nina blinked.
It was hard to understand what he was trying to say, but she decided to go along with whatever he wanted. Holding hands wasn’t difficult, after all.
“All right.”
As she answered cheerfully and reached out her small hand, Leopold felt a sudden jolt in his chest.
Her tiny, leaf-like hand was flawless. Every delicate finger and nail was intact.
Yet, despite that, the lingering traces of a dream flashed involuntarily before his eyes.
‘-Dad.’
There, Nina had called him “Dad.”
It wasn’t the same desperate plea she had made when calling Lavian in that alley…
‘-Just give up on me. That’s easy, isn’t it?’
“Father…?”
The emperor returned to reality at her strange voice.
Fearing that Nina might pull her hand back, he instinctively seized her small hand.
A soft whimper escaped her lips.
“It hurts…”
“Oh, sorry.”
His heart raced anxiously as he hurriedly loosened his grip.
It had been a terrible dream.
He had thought it a horrible dream, yet now he wondered if letting events unfold like in that dream might have been better.
At least then, Nina would never have called Lavian “Dad.”
She would have had only one person to call Dad.
At least, that way, there would have been a chance…
‘What kind of insane thoughts am I having?’
Leopold scolded himself.
After all, it had been his decision to let Diana leak clues.
He hadn’t expected Lavian to accept Nina so willingly. Honestly, he thought Lavian would struggle for a while, as in that dream. He thought there would be wandering and pushing away.
‘I laughed at you there…’
He had mocked his younger brother, who pretended to care for Nina but truly had no idea what to do with his own child. And they all had paid the price. Every last one of them.
Had reality unfolded exactly like that dream, the outcome would have been catastrophic.
He had told Lavian in his letter that all the puzzle pieces were in place, but in truth, he didn’t have them all.
He still didn’t know who had killed Nina.
As they walked through the zoo, neither of them spoke for quite a while.
Leopold pondered how to start the conversation, while Nina considered the right moment to reveal the true purpose of this meeting.
By the time they passed the predators’ section and entered the aquarium, Leopold spoke first.
“So, Nina, you aren’t scared of tigers or lions?”
“Did it look that way?”
“Yes. If it were your younger sibling, they would have cried and screamed…”
He immediately regretted speaking. This wasn’t right. Why did the words keep coming out wrong?
But Nina didn’t seem to mind.
“They’re not even acting scary,” she said.
From Nina’s perspective, the caged predators weren’t frightening—they seemed pitiful.
The truly scary things were elsewhere. People like Melody’s parents or Den’s aunt. People like her own mother. Families like Hameln’s and Messi’s…
‘Should I count myself lucky this time?’
A bitter cynicism flashed in his blue eyes.
Leopold, staring silently at Nina, abruptly changed the subject.
“Does Lavian treat you well…?”
He wasn’t clear about his own intention in asking.
When Nina hesitated, he continued.
“You know, Nina… I don’t know how this sounds, but I still consider you my daughter.”
“…”
“I know I’ve been a terrible father until now. I know. I tried in my own way, but it seems effort alone isn’t enough.”
Nina stopped in front of the shark viewing area.
There was an experience zone to feed sharks, but the area crowded with tourists was the dolphin exhibit.
Seals clapping their flippers and dolphins performing tricks.
“I know,” she said.
“Huh…?”
Leopold’s face showed confusion.
Nina looked up at him and smiled softly.
“I know you tried in your own way.”
“…”
“So you don’t have to try anymore. You don’t have to struggle to make me love you.”
Whether out of lingering attachment, duty, or rivalry for a sibling, he had been trapped by the urge to prove himself. But now, he didn’t have to. He was free.
Nina said this.
In return…
“If you truly feel sorry for me—”
“No.”
“…Excuse me?”
“No!”
Leopold, who had been frozen, suddenly bent down and grabbed Nina’s shoulders.
Her blue eyes widened.
His ruby eyes blazed with an intensity she had never seen.
“I… never tried to love you.”
“…”
“Don’t you understand? All I ever tried was to hate you. To despise you. Do you know how much I struggled to believe you were the cause of my ruin?”
His voice was painful, as if boiling up from deep inside.
Confusion crossed Nina’s small face.
How was one supposed to respond to words like that?
“Then… why—”
“Why? Why am I like this? Because I failed! What else can I do when nothing works…!”
“….”
“Excuse me, are you all right? Is there a problem?”
A nearby staff member approached, suspicious of the sight of a grown man holding a child.
Leopold froze, and Nina calmly addressed the staff.
“It’s fine. Our uncle suddenly had a stomachache.”
“Oh… the restroom is over there.”
“….”
Leopold’s expression was hard to read, but he said nothing.
Soon, they left the aquarium and sat at a picnic table among the street vendors.
While Nina bought a hotdog, Leopold sat dazed.
His pigeon-blood-red eyes shimmered with painful self-reproach.
“Are you… okay?”
“…I’m fine. Sorry for shouting suddenly. Surprised?”
“A little.”
More than his shouting, it was his words that startled her.
Nina faced Leopold across the table.
Noticing him watching her hotdog, she realized he had been staring at it the whole time.
“Do you eat this often…?”
He asked, glaring as if the hotdog were a bomb.
“This…?”
“Junk food.”
She hesitated. What exactly did he consider “junk food”?
Leopold’s expression stiffened as Nina faltered.
“Seems like Lavian always feeds you nothing but this.”
“….”
A brief silence followed.
Realizing too late, Leopold coughed awkwardly, but Nina, staring at him silently, spoke.
“Did you want me to live just like in the palace?”
“I mean, even if not exactly like that… this place doesn’t seem like a good environment for a child like you.”
“You really know nothing, do you?”
Nina placed the hotdog down haphazardly and chuckled bitterly.
It was so unexpected that Leopold’s mind went completely blank.
“Do you really not know, or is pretending not to know just a habit?”
“What… what do you mean?”
“Never mind. I guess there’s no point telling you again.”
With that, Nina sharply stood up.
“Wait, Nina. Hold on. Why are you like this? Tell me what’s wrong.”
Leopold’s hand swiftly caught her.
Nina bit her lip and glared at him.
Her blue eyes sparkled with a painful light.
“I already told you.”
“Huh…?”
“I told you last time. You asked, and I spoke, yet you’ve continued pretending not to know.”
