“Ugh… you wicked witch Elliris, just give me a quick death…” Christina’s face was flushed red, her eyes spinning like pinwheels as she began to beg for mercy, because Elliris had continued her previous actions.
“Ehh~ I’m not a bad person~ What are you talking about~” Ever since returning from that trial, Elliris had gradually developed a darker, more mischievous side. She had probably caught it from Goddess Phebeilia.
‘Tch! That blonde cow is terrifyingly stacked… how are they so big? Damn it! I’m so jealous of people like that…’
“This is the first time I’ve been humiliated like this. I… will not yield! Kill me now!” Christina forced herself to stay strong and shouted at Elliris.
A crisp slap landed on the knight princess’s cheek. It wasn’t particularly painful—only a faint red mark remained, evidence that the force had been restrained.
After delivering that slap, Elliris spoke in a calm, indifferent tone. “You fool, wake up. Do you really want to die here?”
“Wasn’t it the Pope who stirred up the conflict between humans and the God Race? The God Race once had grace toward humans, yet in the end, they became the victims of your Witch Hunt.”
“But, my father…”
“Hmph~ Did you really see your father die by my hands with your own eyes? Wasn’t it the God Race who became the victims when large numbers of them were captured?”
“Elliris! Nothing you say will change my mind! I will not be fooled by a witch’s sweet talk!”
The two argued back and forth. The stubborn Christina still clung to her beliefs. She still trusted that His Holiness the Pope would never deceive her.
All one could say was that a chess piece didn’t leave the board so easily. Once a piece left the board, it either became abandoned or needed to become a player itself.
Christina’s shackles were ones she had placed upon herself.
“Ehh~ Fine. If you want to die, then drink this bowl of mushroom and shredded meat porridge I’ve laced with deadly poison~ Don’t worry, there will only be a moment of pain.”
Elliris thought that since this was the case, she might as well play along. In truth, there was no poison—only some sleeping medicine mixed in. She had also kindly used fire magic to reheat the cold porridge.
“Very well, wicked witch! I accept! Let this porridge be my last meal, so I can reunite with my father!”
The relentless knight princess kept shouting, to the point where Elliris’s ears were about to grow calluses.
“All right, all right, my knight. I’ll send you on your way. Rest in peace~”
After not eating or drinking for two days, Christina finally ate—and she was even personally fed spoonful by spoonful by Elliris. But the whole process was accompanied by the knight princess complaining, blaming herself, and repenting all at once.
After making a racket for an entire day, the knight princess finally fell into a peaceful sleep. This was for the best.
—
Christina felt as if she had slept for a very long time. When she woke up, she realized she hadn’t died; she had been toyed with by Elliris.
“Cursed witch Elliris, why didn’t you just end me?” She was alone in the prison cells, with no one to answer her. The empty underground space echoed only her own shouts.
As soon as she woke up, the knight princess, who had been left on read, started making a fuss again. But her ruckus was about to come to an end.
Soon, that man finally came.
Marcus walked in, composed and handsome, without a word. His steady, powerful steps landed on the stone floor, producing the crisp sound of a knight’s iron boots striking the ground.
He used a key to open Christina’s cell. After years apart, this long-awaited father-daughter reunion was finally beginning.
Elliris felt this was the most appropriate approach, so she informed Marcus of these matters. “Marcus, you should handle this yourself. Your family matters are not something I can meddle in. Once she wakes up, I’ll give you two some time alone.” However, Marcus didn’t consider himself a qualified father, but he had to brace himself and go ahead.
“Chris, in the end, have you become… a monster called revenge, devoured by the flames stirred up by others?” A resonant middle-aged male voice rang out before Christina. He walked slowly toward her, simply to prove that he was still alive.
Christina’s eyes shot wide open, then contracted sharply. She couldn’t believe she was actually seeing her father.
Had her ideology of loyalty to the sovereign been wrong? Had the Pope been lying to her all along?
“Is it… really you, Father?” The knight princess’s voice trembled, her eyes brimming with tears. “Father! Do you know how much I’ve missed you all these years…”
But Marcus maintained his usual knightly education attitude. In his eyes, he had always raised Chris as a boy, and even now, he hadn’t changed.
“Where has your knightly clarity gone? You don’t even know when the Pope placed a restriction on you. Have you forgotten everything I taught you when you were young?”
“But Father, I really have been holding to my principles…”
Before Christina could finish her sentence, Marcus’s reprimands came like rapid fire, hammering into the knight princess.
“You were like the only white swan in the clergy, surrounded by black crows. Without realizing it, you were assimilated. You failed to stay true to yourself. I’m not wrong, am I, Chris?”
Marcus placed a list of God Race casualties recently compiled by the anti-Pope resistance in front of the knight princess. Naturally, she was familiar with the names of the God Race members, since she had captured most of them.
Before this, she had been brainwashed by the Pope, and no one had told her the truth about her father’s survival. The entire capital was controlled by the Pope’s forces. Even among the Pope’s faction members who had recently made contact with the resistance, none knew that the resistance leader was Marcus. The knight princess had been completely shut out from information.
Her mind had been clouded by revenge. Just as her father had said, she had become a monster called revenge, used by the Pope. The Pope had repeatedly deceived her, claiming that the God Race women were only captured and not in danger of death.
Now, this report told the truth.
She was guilty—so guilty that she could not be forgiven. She had not become a blatant killing machine like Shawn, but she had become the most formidable fishing net.
“I see no hope of the knightly spirit in you. Today, I will confiscate your sword of justice. You’ve seen this report. Over the past few years, seven God Race women captured by your hands have died. Chris, you are not worthy to inherit the headship of the Paricio family.”
Marcus angrily tore off the family emblem from Christina’s chest and ripped off the traditional dark blue cloak of her lineage.
“To end your sins, or to continue proving your knightly spirit—I expect you to give me an answer tomorrow. Otherwise, I will execute you myself.”
“If the safety of this continent is threatened, I will not spare even my brothers, friends, or even my own child!”
Marcus had perhaps gone too far, but in his understanding, this was how he had always educated her.
He didn’t expect Chris to understand, because generations of Paricio ancestors had all been raised under such high-pressure education.
He had only recently received the report about the deaths and injuries of God Race women. The direct cause of that report was none other than the person he hadn’t seen in so long.
A momentary outburst of anger vented at the wrong time left the knight princess sobbing uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face.
“Fath—er…”
The iron door of the knight princess’s cell slammed shut heavily. Marcus, after saying those words that nearly suffocated Christina, walked away without looking back.