"You've been running non-stop until the qualification exam, and you've even been caught up in a recent major incident..."
He was referring to what happened at the library.
Trailing off, Aen clenched his fist tightly.
Even now, thinking about that time made all the blood drain from his body.
Aen focused his strength on his eyes and legs, fighting off the renewed feeling of helplessness.
Losing someone precious right before his eyes, powerless, was enough for once.
He would never let anyone go again.
No one...
"I request that you allow her to go out and get some fresh air to relax."
Aen suppressed the simmering anger he felt whenever he saw the Duke and asked in a deliberately calm voice.
Of course.
'I know he won't accept it, though.'
Now Aen felt like he knew the man called Duke, Ego Rodbel, better than anyone.
He was a man whose insides were so twisted they were broken.
'My daughter?'
Aen's lips twisted as he recalled what he had said in the library.
The shadow of his eyelashes fell over his sunset-colored eyes.
His eyes, which were always brilliant like an inextinguishable flame, took on a gloomy light in front of the Duke.
'When it was inconvenient, you turned away, calling her filthy.'
Everyone respects Lucia now, but Aen vividly remembers how she was treated.
And whose tacit approval it happened under.
The sight of him claiming to be her father now was utterly disgusting.
'He must think of the young lady as an object.'
He carelessly cast her aside when he didn't need her, and now that others have their eyes on her, he claims ownership as if she's his.
'The young lady is not an object.'
Perhaps that selfishness of the Duke's will never change.
He may be pretending to acknowledge her as his daughter now, but his fickle heart may change again at any moment and try to exclude Lucia.
'I won't let that happen.'
He also tried to distance himself from Lucia, but that was because he didn't want her to sacrifice herself for him anymore.
However, Lucia insisted on opening the door he had tightly closed.
To Aen, Lucia was more than just a disciple.
He wanted Lucia to give and receive affection and share emotions, even now.
That was something Aen couldn't do.
A connection that only kids of the same age can have.
He wanted Cherish and Lucia to become that kind of presence for each other.
'If it's the two of them, they can be good friends to each other.'
A smile spread across Aen's face as he thought of his daughter.
That child and Lucia had a lot of strange similarities.
'Strangely enough.'
He didn't know why he felt that way.
Unlike Lucia, who had a shy face and only spoke kind words, that child had a cold impression and tended to speak bluntly.
Her eyes, tone, and expression were all different, but Aen still had a feeling that the two would get along well.
'If the two of them get closer...'
He had been planning to move to a place he had scouted in the outskirts if he could cure Cherish's illness.
'She can become independent when she has her coming-of-age ceremony.'
Aen was seriously considering whether he should take Lucia with him at that time.
Of course, it was just a distant story that hadn't been concretized yet, and most importantly, Lucia's opinion was the most important...
'That would be really nice.'
He wanted to get her out of Rodbel at all costs. That was the feeling Aen had right now.
'I hope this outing can be the first step.'
This time, he wouldn't be frustrated in vain like before.
Aen firmly resolved in his heart and looked at the Duke with a coldly hardened face.
The Duke also stared at Aen with a sharply hardened face.
Their gazes crossed without an inch of retreat.
Finally, the Duke slowly parted his lips.
But.
"I permit it."
"If you don't permit it... Excuse me?"
Aen, who was about to say what he had prepared, suddenly realized that the words he heard were different from what he had expected.
In front of Aen, who couldn't even hide his bewildered expression, the Duke picked up the pen he had put down.
Then, he began to work as if nothing had happened, looking calm.
Uh...
Aen couldn't say anything and just stared at him in this unexpected situation.
After a while, he carefully asked again.
"Did you say you would allow the young lady to go out?"
What's wrong with this guy?
"Didn't you ask?"
"That's true, but..."
Aen couldn't hide his bewildered expression at the easy permission, which made the preparations he had made useless.
In front of the bewildered Aen, the Duke continued to speak with a still indifferent expression.
"However, she must be accompanied by a knight of the family when she goes out. She must also return home before the set time and must not deviate from a certain range."
"...What do you mean by a certain range?"
"Within the capital."
"Yes."
That wouldn't be a problem.
However...
"...May I ask one more question?"
"What is it?"
"Why did you permit it?"
He knew it was better to leave well enough alone.
Now that he had gotten what he wanted, it would be better to retreat before any unnecessary words came out.
But he couldn't help but ask. Why did the man who had so heartlessly blocked Lucia's path so easily permit it this time?
At Aen's question, the Duke's pen stopped moving.
Soon after, he spoke.
"This recent library terror incident."
The Duke raised his head.
In the shadows, his purple eyes flickered coldly.
"It was the work of the Elders."
"...! Why would the Elders do that?"
Aen's eyes widened at the unexpected news.
The Duke coldly scoffed at his reaction.
It was normal for those who didn't know the power struggles deep within Rodbel to react like that.
"Perhaps the Elders have too long a history. Their ambition and greed have only grown, and they dare to bare their fangs without knowing what's superior."
"..."
Aen didn't know what to say.
From the beginning, he had never paid attention to such power struggles or intrigues.
That's why he declared complete neutrality and stood apart.
However.
"The Council of Elders will collapse soon."
At that moment, Aen sensed it.
What the Duke was saying, what he was asking of him.
"Since it's cutting away a thousand years of history, it's hard to expect a bloodless clash."
"...I don't want to be involved in politics."
"I don't want the Commander to play a political role. The Commander only needs to fulfill his role as the sword that protects Rodbel. What is Rodbel to the Commander?"
"..."
Aen found it difficult to answer that question.
Because his answer at this moment could determine the course of him and the Magic Knights.
The Duke didn't seem to expect an immediate answer and added casually.
"...You can think of this as a bribe for that time."
"...I'll ask just one more question."
"What is it?"
"The young lady."
The clouds that had been covering the sun moved away, and a warm light settled in Aen's sunset-colored eyes.
The Duke stared silently at that light.
He suddenly had that thought.
Does that child like those eyes?
"Does Lucia have a place in the future of Rodbel that the Lord is painting?"
"..."
"My answer will depend on that answer. I gratefully accept the bribe. Then, I'll be on my way."
After bowing his head, Aen left the office without hesitation.
The Duke stared at the tightly closed door, then lowered his gaze.
The contents of the document came into view.
The document contained detailed information about the corruption that the Council of Elders had been committing for a long time and the circumstances of the current Elder Council President's request to the guild to destroy the library.
The Duke put the paper in the drawer and muttered.
"The Rodbel I'm painting."
He didn't really know what kind of Rodbel he wanted either.
But at least the feelings of disgust and helplessness that he had felt for a long time, welling up from below his chest.
Those would disappear.
And in that place, that child would be.
"Won't be."
The use for that child was so clear.
There was no room for reconsideration.
But why, why does he feel so dirty?
"..."
The Duke closed his eyes for a moment, feeling an emotion whose origin he couldn't even know.
He broke each of the thoughts inside him, one by one.
The reason for granting Aen's request was not just to win him over.
He had thought of Lucia, who would be happy even for a very short time.
He had imagined what that child would be like in his future.
He broke them all, one by one.
He sealed them together in the drawer.
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