Translator: Nox

Ch#25

Astie thought she must look like a soaked cotton doll.

Her huddled body felt too heavy to move, and she had no idea how much time had passed.

Above her head, crimson twilight was already settling in.

‘Even if you meet your dad, that man won’t know who you are.’

At first, she hadn’t fully grasped what Blackie meant.

She’d dismissed it as mere carelessness.

But now she understood.

What those words truly implied.

Herself, desperately calling for Daddy.

Daddy, who had turned to look at Astie for just a moment upon hearing her voice.

And then, thinking back to Daddy indifferently turning away…

All strength drained from her body, and she buried her face between her knees.

Tears were plopping onto the ground.

“Astie!”

“Hey, kiddo-!!”

“Astie?”

Familiar voices rang out right in front of her.

Only then did Astie lift her head.

She saw three figures standing under the twilight.

Basto, pale-faced.

Veil, drenched in sweat from head to toe.

And Nordics, with an anxious expression.

The members of Agavert that Astie had created… her comrades.

Astie sniffled and took a deep breath.

Just seeing their disheveled states told her everything.

They’d all been searching for her until now.

She wanted to say she was sorry for worrying them, but

“……Hic, up.”

Against her will, the moment she opened her mouth, hiccups spilled out.

“Hic-up, sn… up.”

Grief welled up, bursting forth with all the emotions she’d held back.

“M-Mister… Big bro and gramps…”

“……”

“Astie’s daddy, daddy…”

‘Astie, you know Daddy loves you more than anything in the world, right?’

Daddy had always held Astie close and kissed her cheek.

‘My daughter is Daddy’s treasure. As long as I have you, Daddy can do anything… really, anything.’

On tough days, he’d silently pull Astie into a hug and bury his face in her tiny shoulder for a long time.

That same Daddy had seen Astie and just left.

As if she were a stranger.

Sad tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Astie wants Daddy… hic. Wants to see Daddy, waaah…”

She missed Daddy.

Not the Daddy who turned away even after seeing her, but the one who used to hold her tight like before.

“To the Capital City, waaah, I thought going to the Capital City would fix everything…”

Until now, Astie’s goal had been reaching the Capital City.

She’d thought going to Holy Knight Order headquarters would let her meet Daddy.

But after being ignored by Daddy just moments ago, forgotten pieces resurfaced.

After meeting Daddy, then what?

What was she supposed to do after that?

She’d just confirmed it.

To Daddy in this world right now, Astie was just a stranger.

The idea that it’d be okay if Daddy didn’t recognize her had been a huge mistake.

She realized it naturally.

‘That Daddy forgot about Astie.’

It meant he no longer loved her like he used to.

It meant he might find her annoying, or think she was unnecessary.

Strength slowly ebbed from her arms.

It had been the same back when she lived in the Republic of Korea.

Not every adult liked Astie.

Auntie 107 and Auntie 203 took good care of her, but one lady from another unit hated Astie.

On days when that lady had to watch her by chance, Astie endured grumbling all day long.

‘Jeez, really. If it weren’t for fixing the toilet, I’d have refused to watch the kid. Not even a relative, just some hassle with no connection…’

The curt rice bowl plunked on the table.

Cold stares that kept her at a distance.

To some adults, kids were nothing but trouble.

They required so much attention and care.

But if, in this world now, Astie had become that kind of existence to Daddy…

‘…Astie can’t do it. Can’t.’

She lacked the confidence to speak.

The confidence to say she was really Daddy’s daughter.

Sad tears plopped down her cheeks.

‘Even if I meet Daddy again, I can’t go back to how it was.’

Astie might have wanted to believe, deep down.

That once she just met Daddy, things could return to normal.

But it wasn’t that simple.

In the end, Blackie had been right about everything.

‘With the Daddy from Jongno-gu…’

It ended the moment Daddy returned in the relic box.

When she left Jongno-gu, Astie had abandoned everything from there.

Astie hated herself for realizing it all too late.

That’s why the tears kept coming.

Kept flowing, refusing to stop.

* * *

“This is driving me crazy, seriously.”

Veil clutched his forehead in front of the sleeping Astie.

“What are we gonna do? The kid’s not right in the head!”

“Lower your voice, Veil.”

At Basto’s words, Veil scowled.

But he obediently shut his mouth and followed Basto and Nordics out into the hallway.

The moment the door closed, Nordics spoke.

“Have you looked into the Luminen Family?”

Basto and Veil’s gazes darkened.

The family most suspected as Astie’s father’s whereabouts was Luminen.

They’d already investigated the Luminen members that morning, but…

“No real leads. None of the young masters fit as Astie’s dad.”

“What about the family head, Duke Luminen?”

“Honestly, that’s the most plausible one.”

Duke Luminen was more suited to the word grandfather than father.

But he wasn’t too old to have a child.

“A man like that would have had enough power to send Astie out of the family.”

“But there are issues with that theory.”

Basto interjected.

“Astie said it clearly. She lived alone with her dad until recently.”

Veil and Nordics fell silent.

They remembered too.

Astie had said as much.

“If that’s true, it means she lived alone with Duke Luminen the whole time, but he’s never been absent from official events, has he?”

Valentis Luminen still occasionally joined mana stone sieges.

He was constantly shuttling between battlefields, and long sieges often meant camping for months in front of the mana stone.

Yet such a man lived alone with Astie?

“Yeah, doesn’t add up.”

“Plus, the kid said her dad wouldn’t remember her. Hit with a forgetfulness spell or something.”

But who would dare tamper with Valentis Luminen’s memories?

The head of the Luminen Family and a great Holy Knight?

Either way, Duke Valentis seemed far from the ‘Daddy’ Astie described.

“If Astie’s dad isn’t with the Luminen family head, then…”

“But the only place with someone worthy of being called the strongest Holy Knight is Luminen.”

The three fell silent in frustration.

In the heavy quiet, Veil cracked the door open slightly.

Through the gap, he saw Astie, asleep from exhausted crying.

“Stupid little kid. Sovereign Commander, my ass.”

Veil’s face was etched with worry.

“All she does is whine about missing her dad…”

It was the first time they’d seen Astie cry so heartbreakingly, so Nordics and Basto were solemn, saying nothing.

“Tomorrow, I’ll check out <Jester>.”

Basto spoke up then.

“Veil, you watch Astie. Jester’s always packed with mercenaries, so there might be more info on the Holy Knight Order floating around.”

If they got lucky, they might even find another Holy Knight suspect for Astie’s dad.

As they thought that, the quiet Nordics murmured.

“Gentlemen. What do you think about just asking the child directly?”

Veil and Basto’s gazes turned to him.

“Exactly what her dad’s name is. What he looks like, where he lived, that sort of thing.”