“Can’t I come? Because I worry about you, Dad.”
“Shh, shh! I know, it’s my fault! You snuck in, didn’t you? Don’t let them hear…”
Lian knew she must be furious, otherwise she would never say such things.
She quickly pulled Milin to the edge of the balcony, away from the other maids working in the bedchamber.
As soon as they stepped onto the balcony, Milin shook off her hand and walked to the railing, pouting with her cheeks puffed.
Lian felt restless. Though they hadn’t been separated long, he worried about his daughter every moment—he had been longing to reunite with her.
“I was wrong, my dearest, bravest little princess… Please, calm down, okay?”
But the current scene was a terrible atmosphere for a reunion.
Lian used every possible flattering adjective he could think of, finally coaxing her to turn around.
“Fine, fine! You’re always so disgustingly sappy!”
The girl, her face flushed, sat down on the lounge chair by the pool.
Seeing she was finally willing to talk, Lian, relieved, hurried to pull the balcony curtains partly closed to create a private space for them to talk.
From behind the curtain came the maids’ giggles… They had noticed him bringing this maid to the balcony behind the curtain.
To prevent them from eavesdropping, Lian slapped the curtain a few times to shoo them away.
“…I was really worried about you.”
Milin, on the lounge chair, buried her face in her knees and mumbled softly.
“Me too. I’ve been thinking about you… I planned to come find you as soon as I entered the city, but some things came up and delayed me…”
Lian scratched his cheek, then explained everything he had encountered since entering the city… Then he walked around the lounge chair, looking at Milin from left and right.
Although she hid her face to conceal her shyness, Milin was actually secretly watching Lian’s every move from behind her knees.
“W-What are you doing?”
Confused, Milin lifted her face and asked curiously.
“Hmm… No external injuries, good complexion, doesn’t seem like any internal injuries. That’s great.”
Only when Lian showed a relieved smile did Milin realize he had been checking her complexion.
“It’s still early… You probably came without breakfast, right? Are you hungry? Wait here, I’ll have the maids prepare something…”
Ah… This person’s way of expressing care was still as clumsy as before, but also as warm as ever.
Just looking at him, Milin felt the huge void in her heart caused by her father’s long absence gradually being filled.
So she got up from the lounge chair and reached out to Lian.
Feeling his hand suddenly grabbed, Lian turned around, about to go instruct the other maids to prepare food.
He saw his daughter lower her head, silent.
“W-What’s wrong?”
Lian thought she was still angry, so he started thinking about how to appease her… But in the next moment, the words he had organized in his mind were completely swept away.
“…I’m sorry.”
Milin threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.
“Why apologize?”
Lian was stunned for a second, then smiled gently and wrapped his arms around his daughter’s back.
“Because… that day I yelled at you and told you to shut up.”
“I don’t blame you. I know you must have been feeling terrible then.”
“And I was willful and didn’t answer the door… I just left a note and ran away from home.”
“You used to run away all the time, right? This time you remembered to leave a note. I think that’s a big improvement.”
“…Aren’t you angry?”
“I will never be angry at you. But when we get home, you need to apologize properly to your mother and your two teachers. Because you never answered the calls, they were very worried. And Iyue too… ever since she heard what happened to us, she rushed back from far away. Later, when she heard you were in the Sea of Trees, she volunteered to bring me along to find you.”
When he said this, Lian’s voice became a little stern. Milin in his arms trembled, then started sniffling.
“Waa… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
“I’m the one who should be sorry. I wish I could hold you and comfort you like this every time you cry; I wish I could witness in person… every moment of your growth.”
Until she stopped sobbing, Lian kept patting her back gently.
……
……
“So, that queen was afraid you’d get hurt catching the demon, so she locked you up? She didn’t do anything… weird to you, did she?”
“Regardless of her initial intent… of course, she probably means no harm now. See, I’m perfectly fine.”
“That prince never told me this. I was kept in the dark by him!”
After learning about the luxurious life Lian had been living these two days, Milin angrily tore off the “harmless” label she had previously stuck on the prince.
“So it was that Prince Consort who helped you get in.”
“Without his help, I probably couldn’t have sneaked in… Those guard knights could tell at a glance that I wasn’t from the palace, but I think he must have tipped them off, so they turned a blind eye and let us in. But then again, why would he do this…”
“…I think he wants to keep me away from my sister the queen. Did he promise to help rescue me from house arrest?”
“Exactly. He told me to find you and then take you to meet the knights guarding the garden corridor—he said those knights would arrange for me to leave.”
With Milin’s information, Lian quickly figured out the whole story.
“So, Sister Lian, will you leave with me? Even though you’re being well treated, the fact that the queen has so many knights guarding this palace shows she’s really confining you.”
“…And he also mentioned that the queen has some kind of curse… Being confined by someone like that in her palace doesn’t seem good at all, does it?”
Seeing Lian silent, Milin took his hand and gave it a pat.
“That Prince Consort told you about the curse too?”
“He did. I think it’s a bit strange, but when I think about it, it doesn’t seem impossible. Because think about it… she’s gone so far as to imprison a girl who just looks similar as an object of longing. It’s too much to just call it a task, right?”
“Similar appearance… So that’s how he put it.”
Lian murmured softly… Even though their relationship had eased compared to before the separation, the fact that his daughter hadn’t acknowledged his identity still made him feel a bit regretful.
“Hmm, what did you say?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking… if it really is a curse making her act this way, then maybe I should stay here.”
“You want to stay here?” Milin frowned. “Sister Lian, you’re not reluctant to leave the food and clothes here, are you?”
“No. If she’s afflicted by a curse, then I want to do my part to rescue her from it.”
“But what does the curse of the Elf Royal Family have to do with you, Sister Lian?”
Gazing at the distant World Tree, Senia’s face—sometimes calm, sometimes arrogant—slowly surfaced in Lian’s mind… At the same time, he remembered the father who, on the verge of death, used his last bit of strength to entrust his daughter to a young man of a different race he had never met.
“Please protect my daughter… protect Senia.”
What willpower allowed him to endure the pain of being devoured by magical beasts and stand with his sword?
And what wish made him, suffering countless fatal wounds, unwilling to take his last breath?
At this moment, looking at the red-haired girl before him, Lian felt he could understand a little more… the feelings of a father.
“It does have to do with me. I once promised a father that I would protect his daughter… I can’t break my word.”
why did the weekly release decrease?