"But I don't want that child to walk this path."
She didn't know before that the greater the happiness, the greater the fear lurking behind it.
In front of her brother, Medea blurted out the true feelings she had been holding back.
"She does not need a status that people look up to, nor power."
Medea wanted Bea to simply live a peaceful and ordinary life, even though she knew that it was utterly impossible in reality.
"I know that in that child's position, she cannot be foolish, weak, or naive."
Medea was someone who knew the consequences more acutely than anyone else.
However, on the other hand, an impulse to simply protect the child would sometimes well up inside her.
Because she doesn't want to lose her like Lian and Leah.
Because she so desperately wanted to watch that innocent face from her side until the child grew up and became a grown-up.
"Can you understand this contradiction of simply wishing for safety, even if it means becoming weak? Was this how Mom felt? This unrealistic desire to eliminate every danger existing for Bea as long as I am alive..."
Medea looked down at her hand. The white hand looked excessively helpless.
"Is it really right?"
"..."
"Brother, tell me. I don't know Mom very well."
Selene.
A priestess of the Shadeia tribe and the child of prophecy, but a woman who became the Queen of Valdina after being swept up in misfortune and driven out.
The only memory of her mother remaining to Medea is the faint apparition she encountered once while wandering the snowy mountains in search of Cesare.
After a moment of silence, Peleus answered.
"Your mother... always prayed for you. Every dawn, kneeling before the rising sun."
"O Goddess, protect your children; guide them with the foresight of your representative, embrace them with the light of Venus, and sweep away all the darkness that hangs before them.
“Huh, mother?”
"I'm sorry, I woke you up. Go back to sleep, honey."
The sight of his mother's back as he rubbed his sleepy eyes. Unfamiliar words ringing in his ears.
That must have been the first and last wish of the Sadeia priestess, abandoned by her tribe, to the goddess.
"...Your mother would have told you that you are doing well."
"Really?"
"Right, maybe she would say you are even more admirable than I am."
Peleus nodded firmly, gesturing to Bea, who was giggling in Cesare's arms across the garden.
The pure laughter of a child untouched by prophecy or fate proved Medea's efforts.
“Then... that’s a relief.”
Wiping away the moisture shimmering in her green eyes, Medea finally smiled brightly.
***
Eventually, a deep night descended upon the temple.
He will have to head back to Valdina tomorrow.
Peleus could not sleep and left the bedroom.
Was it because his sister's words lingered in his heart like an undigested thorn?
"Your Majesty"
"Just a moment. I'm going for a walk."
Peleus dismissed the guards.
The temple corridor took on an even colder atmosphere as the cold night air settled upon it.
"Peleus, come here."
Sometimes his mother would take him out to the fields when he was young. The lyrics of the song she used to sing softly were still vivid in his ears.
It was only after a long time had passed that Peleus realized that was the way to relieve his longing.
"It smells sweet."
"Yeah, this is a flower called Jiphy."
The faint scent of flowers that lingered at the tip of the nose was still vivid, but when the flower bud was placed in her hand, the woman's face turned pale.
Even so, he could not tell Medea. That he, too, does not remember much about his mother.
Was it because he hoped my sister, at least, wouldn't feel the same emptiness as he did?
He knows that he still treats that child like a seven-year-old, perhaps because he hoped his sister would not feel the same emptiness as he does.
"Step back. I just want to be alone for a while."
The Agemas pulled their bodies away.
Perhaps this inexplicable emptiness that visits from time to time is solitude.
He had never hesitated to do it, but lately, he would occasionally feel a sense of crisis that he must not be consumed by it. It was ridiculous.
'I've never seen anything like this, not even on the plains.'
Thoughts he had never had, even when his life was in danger in front of hundreds of thousands of enemies.
At a time like this, when he was completely immersed in peace, he kept raising his head as he gazed at the sacred fire in the distance.
The light that illuminates the night as brightly as Valdina's future must be eternal. It must never waver or go out.
He had never once forgotten that it was the duty of one who must illuminate the darkness and lead the light.
'Have we already come this far?'
Peleus snapped out of his thoughts and looked around.
He had come quite far from the bedroom.
Just as his shadow felt darker than the pitch-black night, the bushes in the garden next to the hallway swayed slightly.
Unless it was the Aura Knight's sense of direction, it was a momentary tremor, enough to mistake it for a breeze.
"..."
Peleus frowned.
It was a time when twilight had settled heavily. Moreover, since this was the interior of the central temple where the Saints and Emperors resided, those whose identities had not been verified were not allowed to enter.
Soon, the chill lifted from Peleus's face as he gazed at the grass.
"Bea. You shouldn't be outside at this hour."
"..."
Just as he thought, he heard the sound of someone inhaling from the water, but it soon fell silent.
"Oh, dear. If it's not Bea, I'll have to go ask the Saint."
At that, as if telling her not to, a chubby hand suddenly popped out from under the bush and waved its hand dismissively.
Peleus bent down and stopped chanting.
He found his niece curled up like a pocket worm in the small space she occupied.
"Uh, is that Mr. Ara?"
Bea looked up at him with round eyes.
'Your mom liked under the bushes, too.'
Swallowing his old words, Peleus took the child out from under the cloak. He removed the leaf from the child's forehead and asked.
"What were you doing here?"
"Uncle, shhh—"
The child put her mouth to her index finger, telling him to lower the volume. Then, proudly, she raised her other hand.
A leather pouch hanging on a chubby arm.
However, the things inside looked excessively luxurious.
'Surely not. It can't be a holy artifact.'
Why is an artifact that should be safely in the temple's treasury inside a five-year-old's pocket?
"Look. What is it...?"
Oh my god, it was a holy artifact.
"How did you get in? What if you got hurt, leaving even the maids behind?"
Peleus's voice was quite stern.
Entering the central temple's treasury was certainly not an easy task.
"Right. Bea is smart, so I know the way."
The child proudly held up the key.
"High Priest likes Bea. He also likes to drink."
"Are you saying you gave the high priest alcohol?"
Peleus recalled Bea, who had giggled while clinging to the high priest's beard at dinner.
Along with the High Priest’s smile, which had crumbled helplessly before the child.
That innocence was Bea's most fearsome weapon.
"Dad said that strong people create a chance for themselves. Bea is Dad's daughter. Bea is strong."
“What, a chance?”
Hey, you bastard, what are you teaching my innocent niece?
Peleus, with his eyes tightly closed, twitched his forehead.
Besides, the door doesn't open just because you have the key. Entry is not even permitted unless you are a Holy Power Priest.
'Does that mean Bea has already awakened?'
It was too early for a five-year-old.
'So it’s no wonder Medea is so worried.'
It was a time when various thoughts filled Peleus's head.
"Here, I'll give it to Uncle."
Bea busily stirred the leather pouch.
Soon, she took out a box and handed it to Peleus.
Unable to grasp a single corner with just one small hand, it was supported with two hands, taking on a respectful form resembling an offering.
"...Bea. No way."
Whether Peleus's face turned pale or not, Bea smiled sweetly. For some reason, the child's smile was full of confidence.
"Ssaint-Aguston, a solid one."
"Are you talking about Saint Augustine?"
Bea nodded triumphantly.
'If it is a relic of St. Augustine, is it that music box?'
Still, it was a relief. The items in the leather pouch were not top-tier sacred relics handled in top secret in the Holy Kingdom.
"Yeah. That's right, Ssaint-Aguston."
"Yes."
"True love. They say happiness is coming."
“A true love?”
"Uncle can find it too. Bea will help you."
What are they looking for, and what are they helping with?
Peleus hoped that it was not the theft of the sacred relic.
"Of course, if our Princess helps."
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