Chapter 57

Emotions cloud judgment.

Lost in the thought that he might be my biological father, I stood there in a daze, holding the letter my mother had given me.

'If it weren't for Damian, I would have been distracted the whole time.'

There was no immediate way to confirm whether this man was my father.

'So, I need to focus on what I can do right now.'

"It hurts so much, Priestess."

I sniffled and shook my blood-soaked arm as if urging her.

Thanks to Ivana and Asel's first aid, the bleeding had stopped, but the wound remained.

It would likely leave a scar, but with the divine power of a priestess, this should be nothing.

'The priestess, who conveys the will of the gods, wouldn't just pass by an injured child.'

Oblie looked up and met my gaze.

The deep green eyes of the girl met mine.

After a moment, her tightly pursed lips formed a gentle curve.

"Of course. Please wait a moment."

Oblie hid the blood-stained handkerchief in her robe and approached me.

"I should have tended to the injured first... I apologize."

Oblie grabbed my already bruised wrist.

The pain from her grip, which was unusually strong for a child, was bearable.

Oblie's small hand paused just above the wound.

'What is divine power like?'

I waited with excitement for the most sacred power in the empire.

But suddenly, Oblie withdrew her hand and reached into her robe, pulling out something.

A small bottle containing an opaque liquid was shaking.

"It's holy water."

Oblie, perhaps sensing my confusion, smiled and added an explanation.

"As you know, we are people called by the gods. We cannot casually show divine power unless it's necessary, so please understand."

It was an exasperating answer.

While freely using divine power for other nobles, she says it's not allowed now?

'How does that make sense?'

While I frowned, Oblie opened the bottle containing the holy water with a calm face.

Just as the holy water was about to pour over my wound—

Thud!

At that moment, Damian roughly knocked the bottle out of her hand.

Clang!

The bottle shattered with a sharp sound.

"Damian?"

I looked at Damian with a shocked expression.

With a colder face than usual, Damian asked Oblie.

"Priestess, is what's in there really holy water?"

The boy's glare was fierce.

* * *

'What is this?'

Oblie, trembling with anger, tried to compose herself.

"Brother, to throw away the precious gift given by the gods is inappropriate. This is a problem."

She quickly changed her expression and spoke in a soothing tone.

"It's not holy water."

However, Damian's attitude was firm.

"What are you talking about...?"

Oblie let out a hollow laugh, as if finding it absurd.

'...Wait.'

Then, she looked at Damian with a face of realization.

His blue eyes seemed somehow familiar.

'Where have I seen this before?'

It didn't take long to recall.

'The test subject who used Melta's drug.'

He had disappeared a while ago, and I had naturally forgotten about him.

'Is this child Clider's son?'

Ha. Oblie barely managed to suppress a hollow laugh.

Even though I was the closest, I didn't recognize him.

Oblie's gaze on Damian deepened.

'The fact that he recognized this isn't holy water... all of it...'

Even when he was much younger and on the brink of life and death due to the drug, he remembered this.

'But there's no evidence.'

On the surface, she was a priestess, and Damian was just a child who had just found his place.

Oblie smiled softly again.

"I think there's a misunderstanding. If this isn't holy water, what is it?"

"You smell rotten."

Oblie's brow twitched at Damian's sharp words.

"Wait a moment."

Grace, who had been silent, interjected at Damian's blunt words.

"Isn't that too harsh to say to the priestess?"

"I'm just stating the facts."

"You...!"

Grace, feeling indignant, stood up. The atmosphere became tense.

"Damian, Grace."

At that moment, Ellie called out to both of them in a low voice.

"Calm down. Both of you seem too agitated."

"Ellie, I..."

Damian looked at Ellie with a wronged expression.

He knew there was a strange odor, but he thought it was the man's body odor.

But it wasn't. It was definitely coming from this woman.

Damian recognized this smell. It was etched into every cell, impossible to forget.

He only wanted to prevent Ellie from suffering the same pain.

Many words swirled in his mouth, but Damian tightly shut it.

However, he couldn't hold back his sorrow. His eyes twisted with grief.

Ellie also knew. Damian doesn't say bad things about others without reason.

There must be a reason for this child to openly show such hostility.

But Oblie is a priestess.

'And the temple is on the emperor's side.'

This could easily become a reason for the two pillars of the empire to turn against Damian.

'But...'

Ellie's gaze fell on the bottle Damian had knocked away.

An opaque, white liquid was scattered on the floor.

'If this isn't holy water, what is it?'

Why did the priestess try to pour this on her wound?

Why would this angelic girl...

"Um..."

At that moment, a trembling voice broke the frozen atmosphere.

It was the man who had caused Ellie's arm to be in this state.

"I, I know all the blame is on me. B, but I could feel it instinctively."

The man, trembling, looked at Ellie.

"Definitely, she is my daughter. The daughter I've been searching for a long time...!"

He shouted in a desperate voice.

Tears of sorrow welled up in his eyes.

"This is... "

"What should we do?"

Jerrit and Asel muttered, looking perplexed.

"U, ugh!"

With no one able to say anything, the man began to sob on the floor.

"Just asserting it like that won't make it true."

At that moment, May coldly cut off the man's words.

"Do you have any proof that Ellie is your daughter? Where did you last see your wife? Do you remember her name?"

May's questions made the man stammer.

"I, I don't have any proof. The last place I saw her is... I can't remember exactly because I was living a nomadic life."

"At least you should remember your wife's name, right?"

"......I don't."

"You don't?"

The man's answer made even Jerrit frown.

"M, my wife used many names. She never told me her real name. She said the name she liked was her real name and refused to tell me."

The man sniffled, even as he spoke.

Asel muttered, "That's unbelievable," but Ellie found his words somewhat plausible.

'Mom said she didn't tell many people her real name.'

The names of vagrants who wandered through back alleys often changed.

Moreover, her mother was a famous thief. She might not have revealed her real name.

"Maybe it's because I'm not trustworthy. That's why she left me... all because of that..."

"Ultimately, you have no proof at all."

The man sobbed again, and May stood up, as if she had heard enough.

"Let's go, Ellie. There's nothing more to hear. First, we need to treat your wound."

"Sister."

Just as May was about to take Ellie away, Oblie called out to her in a clear voice.

"Please don't be so cold. We can verify it together, can't we?"

"......What do you mean?"

Oblie placed her hand on her chest.

It was a sacred gesture, as if conveying the words of the gods.

"Parent and child are a bond made by the gods. As a representative of the gods, I cannot ignore this."

Bowing her head slightly, Oblie met Ellie's eyes.

"Therefore, I will verify whether the blood between the two of you is connected."