Previously
While Birdie attempts to teach Thiel how to visualize and control her power, he suddenly loses control of his own flames due to the family curse. Lodian tries to intervene but is injured, leaving Thiel to jump into the fire to save Birdie.
Cassius and Alfinos stopped talking and turned to look at Leah.
Leah bowed her head and said,
Cassius stood up and smoothed down his clothes.
Leah naturally stepped aside from the doorway to let him pass.
The training room was a place to practice swordsmanship, but above all, it was where they honed their abilities.
Birdie and Lodian had likely taken Thiel there simply because they wanted to show off their powers in front of her.
Still, he felt it was far too early for Thiel to be exposed to such things.
She was like a newborn who did not fully understand what her power was, let alone how to wield it.
Alfinos asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as if trying to recall.
Cassius nodded.
Cassius glanced out the north-facing window. A light flickered in the distance, right where Birdie and Lodian’s training room was situated.
Both Birdie and Lodian possessed formidable power.
Of course, they were still young and not nearly as powerful as Alfinos and Cassius, but their abilities were remarkably potent, fitting successors of House Astrian, whose power grew with every passing generation.
So, if the two of them wielded their power carelessly or lost control…
It would inevitably have an adverse effect on Thiel.
Cassius sighed and shook his head.
This was precisely why he had not wanted to let the twins be alone with her just yet.
Leah pointed toward the window Cassius had been watching just moments before.
Cassius and Alfinos looked out the window at the same time.
"……!"
In the northern wing of the Astrian estate where the training room stood, beams of light and pillars of fire erupted together.
The brilliant rays surged across the night sky, illuminating the darkness. Cassius’s eyes narrowed while Alfinos’s widened in shock.
Alfinos muttered under his breath.
Without another thought, both of them sprinted out of the office together.
Leah remained alone in the empty room, staring out the window, completely at a loss.
And now.
Ignoring the mortified Birdie and Lodian, Cassius focused entirely on inspecting Thiel’s condition.
The little girl blinked slowly before slumping into his arms.
At that exact moment, the light blanketing the Astrian estate faded away.
Birdie and Lodian shouted in unison. Cassius turned his head slightly and brought an index finger to his lips.
Alfinos, equally worried as he saw Thiel collapsed in Cassius’s arms, immediately ordered someone to fetch the doctor.
Everyone was visibly shaken and anxious, but Cassius remained astonishingly calm.
He checked his daughter’s pulse and pressed a hand against her chest to examine the flow of her power.
Fortunately, there did not seem to be any serious harm.
Cassius gathered Thiel closer against him. Her soft cheek pressed lightly into his chest.
Birdie and Lodian looked down at her with worried eyes.
Cassius gazed at his daughter, who had just unleashed an unthinkable amount of power, and then looked up at the open-air ceiling of the training room.
If there had been a roof, none of this would be an issue.
There was no way the Imperial Family, the Temple, and Nestian had missed the spectacle Thiel had just produced.
The light had shone so dazzlingly that it illuminated the entirety of the Astrian territory.
Every pair of eyes must have seen it.
Everyone would now know that a child wielding the power of light had appeared.
Cassius’s eyes narrowed as he weighed the ramifications.
If it became known that Thiel was the legendary ‘Child of Light,’ everyone would undoubtedly clamor to take her away.
Of course, he had no intention of ever letting them have her.
She was the daughter he had just found—the child he had believed dead alongside Lena.
The very thought of someone taking her from him was entirely out of the question.
Besides, this was House Astrian.
The Astrian name held the power to bring birds out of the sky.
No matter what anyone tried, no one could touch Thiel with impunity.
Still, Cassius desperately hoped this tiny child would suffer no more.
Being born with such unique power meant that even with the family’s protection, countless trials awaited her, and she would inevitably become a target.
Even with Astrian serving as an unshakeable shield, Thiel herself would still have to endure her share of hardships.
And that was precisely what Cassius loathed.
He would not have cared if Thiel had no power at all; he simply wanted his daughter to live a comfortable and happy life.
A ferocious glint flickered in Cassius’s eyes, like that of a beast.
His large hand rested protectively over Thiel’s small frame.
Since she was born with the power of light, trials were bound to come.
Even so, there were things the Astrian family could shoulder on her behalf.
Such as hunting down and rooting out the wolves that today’s incident would surely lure in.
For that was the duty and responsibility of family.
Cassius looked down at his sons while cradling Thiel in his arms.
Just then, Birdie staggered. Lodian barely caught him before he hit the ground.
Instead of Birdie, who could only stare blankly at the unconscious Thiel, Lodian spoke up.
Birdie picked up where Lodian trailed off.
His trembling gaze remained fixed on the limp girl. He desperately wanted to hold her.
Birdie could hardly bear to utter another word.
What had he been visualizing in his mind just moments ago?
What Birdie had envisioned was boundless power.
An immense strength unchained by curses or madness. A mighty flame.
If not for the curse, Birdie could have commanded such formidable power…
And this was the result.
Birdie had failed to overcome the curse, losing control entirely, and Thiel had collapsed while trying to bring him back to his senses.
He could not erase the memory of Thiel running toward him, throwing her arms around him without the slightest hesitation.
The warmth he had felt the moment she held him.
The gentle light that spread from her palm, coursing through his entire body.
He was overwhelmed with guilt for having doubted her and kept his guard up, even for a moment.
Even if she truly did not possess the power of light, he never should have treated her that way.
Thiel had opened her heart to him.
Despite the danger, she had thrown her tiny body into harm's way without a second thought.
Yet Birdie had been wary of such a sweet little child.
All because she might possess the power of light!
Anyone who did not know better might have said he feared losing his position as heir, but that was never the reason.
It was just… just…
Both House Astrian and House Nestian, Birdie included, had suffered from this curse and its encroaching madness for far too long.
They were willing to do anything if it meant breaking it.
Yet the thought of actually lifting it—with a child bearing the legendary power of light right before him…
It left him uneasy.
What if the legend was nothing more than nonsense?
What if this dreadful curse could not be broken even by the power of light?
He had been terrified that the legend would prove to be just an empty tale…
Noticing how badly shaken Birdie was, Lodian looked up at Cassius’s frosty expression and scrambled to make an excuse.
Birdie cut him off.
Still, Lodian stamped his foot and raised his voice.
Cassius let out a sharp sigh that instantly silenced Lodian.
Both boys nodded meekly at Cassius and Alfinos’s words.
Cassius carried Thiel through the center of the training room, with Alfinos walking beside him.
He gazed down at the little girl sleeping peacefully in his arms.
‘Astrian and Nestian shall reclaim their true might through the glorious light.’
The glorious light.
The Child of Light was now asleep in Cassius’s arms.
She had even quelled Birdie’s madness.
Perhaps, just as the prophecy foretold, Thiel truly held the key to breaking the curse binding Astrian and Nestian once and for all.
Yet he could not bring himself to celebrate.
Because boundless hardships lay ahead for Thiel.
And they all knew full well that some trials would be beyond even Cassius and Alfinos to solve for her.