“Blanche. You, what are you saying−.”

Jade couldn’t believe what Blanche was saying out loud.

Moreover, calling him dad, the current situation felt unreal, like a dream.

“Dad. Why are you coming now? Shu Shu waited for so long, it was so scary……”

“……”

“Dad. Shu Shu hates it here so much. I want to go to mom.”

Blanche kept calling him dad and spoke informally.

It was the first time.

Even when she was comfortable with him, she had never acted so childishly before.

Usually, she was mature, acting like a child who grew up too fast. This was the kind of behavior she only showed to Larien…….

He didn’t know she would act like this towards him too.

‘Dad.’

Blanche didn’t like calling him dad.

He thought it was a natural result of not giving affection, and he didn’t particularly wish for it either.

But Jade realized at this moment.

The fact that he had been waiting to hear ‘dad’ from Blanche.

‘Now is not the time for this.’

After a brief moment of joy, he needed to check if Blanche was alright.

He had locked her in this dusty attic.

In the process, she might have gotten hurt somewhere.

“Blanche. Step away for a moment.”

However, Blanche clung to his legs and didn’t budge.

“Shu Shu. You’re trying to leave me. You’re going to abandon me again……!”

“I’ve never abandoned you.”

Jade quickly corrected Blanche’s misunderstanding.

‘What did they tell the child? Even though I came to get her, she thinks I’m abandoning her.’

And at the same time, he suppressed the desire to kill Sharlin Winst.

“……Really?”

“I’m worried if you’re hurt somewhere. Let me see just once.”

Blanche hesitated for a moment, then slowly stepped away.

Jade bent his knees to match her eye level and looked at her closely.

He checked for any scratches or bruises while dusting off the dirt on her dress and elsewhere.

“Dad. But…… Shu Shu has been having trouble breathing for a while.”

During this, Blanche breathed heavily.

“……Trouble breathing?”

Why is she like this?

Feeling strange, he touched her face.

It was hot. Not just her face, but her whole body was filled with heat.

He quickly realized it wasn’t just a simple cold symptom.

‘Her holy power is raging inside her body. It’s subtle now, but if left like this, it’ll be dangerous.’

He sensed it instinctively, having experienced the phenomenon of holy power raging when he was young.

‘If it’s progressing this quickly, it must be affected by vast holy power.’

It had been quiet for a while, so it was utterly perplexing.

If he didn’t absorb Blanche’s holy power, she would surely die.

But his father, who had taken his holy power when he was young, lost his eyesight in exchange for saving his son.

Perhaps he too might lose his eyesight in the same way.

‘Her body has gotten even hotter than before.’

Even at this moment, Blanche’s holy power continued to rage, eating away at herself.

‘It’s better than letting the child die.’

If it meant exchanging it for a life, it was better than having no option. There was no reason to hesitate anymore. He absorbed Blanche’s holy power, controlling the speed.

‘If I take it all at once, she won’t be able to adapt…..’

After taking all the remaining holy power, her fever subsided. Her breathing gradually returned to normal.

Jade endured the extreme headache forcefully. If he showed distress here, Blanche would worry.

‘Father didn’t lose his sight immediately either. It gradually became unseeing.’

Fortunately, his vision was only slightly blurry, not completely gone.

He tried to leave the attic before his condition worsened, picking up Blanche and opening the doorknob.

‘……This.’

While it opened easily when coming in from outside, it wouldn’t open from the inside.

‘They deliberately put this device on the door to prevent the child from leaving.’

As he discovered each of Sharlin’s actions towards Blanche, his anger accumulated. He wanted to twist Sharlin’s neck right away.

‘I’ll make you beg for death instead.’

Would it be better to send her to Retan Prison, where only criminals with bad records go?

But for now, he was busy suppressing Blanche’s raging holy power, so he put it on hold.

What couldn’t be returned immediately could be paid back double next time.

He wanted to break the door to get out, but hesitated in case it would startle Blanche.

She was already intimidated and scared, so she shouldn’t hear a loud noise.

“Blanche. Cover your ears and close your eyes.”

After confirming that Blanche obediently covered her ears and closed her eyes.

Jade kicked the door with his foot.

‘I tried to control it moderately.’

He meant to just unlock it, but it was more forceful than he thought, and the door fell off completely.

The servants bustled downstairs, and soon after, the Countess Winst came up.

“Marquis…… Rowe?”

Countess Winst glanced at Jade and Blanche with a very perplexed look.

“Um, that. Earl Boston, I mean.”

Then, as if she had sensed the situation, she looked at him cautiously.

“Where is Sharlin Winst?”

“……She’s in labor. The contractions just started……”

“That’s good. If she had the baby with her, she might have received special treatment in prison.”

Even if the heavily pregnant Sharlin went to prison, there was a possibility of receiving a reduced sentence or special treatment at trial because of the child.

Rather than that, it was better for him, who wanted revenge, for her to give birth quickly and become alone.

Countess Winst suddenly knelt down and pleaded.

“Marquis, Sharlin is my only child. It’s largely my fault for not raising her properly. I will apologize until Earl Boston’s heart is appeased. I will also compensate sufficiently. Please, just that……”

Unfortunately, his ears were itchy and he couldn’t hear well.

He was the one who wanted to kill Sharlin and compensate her.

Jade passed by Countess Winst.

“Earl Boston’s daughter was not hurt. We didn’t touch a hair on her head! We just confined her for a moment!”

Countess Winst stood up from the floor and followed him.

“Does the crime disappear if she wasn’t hurt or touched? You kidnapped a child?”

“Mar, Marquis.”

“If I hadn’t come to find her, what were you planning to do? Did you think I would come directly to take her back because you kidnapped the child?”

It was terrifying to imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t found Blanche.

She would have died in agony as her holy power raged.

‘Even just being separated for a moment made her think she was being abandoned….. If I hadn’t come to find her……’

Thinking she had been abandoned, alone in a dusty attic filled with dust.

“If you’re thinking of helping Sharlin Winst escape, I’ll use everything at my disposal to bring down both Winst and Hamel.”

Even the time spent confronting was precious, so Jade was about to turn away.

“Then please at least spare Sharlin’s child. What sin does the unborn child have?”

“……”

Countess Winst attempted to negotiate. She would hand over Sharlin, so please spare the child that was about to be born.

‘She’ll give up her daughter to protect something else.’

It didn’t matter. Sharlin’s child was of Grand Duke Usith’s bloodline.

Saving the child meant gaining a means to confront Grand Duke Usith.

“I’ll consider it.”

When she finds out she was abandoned by her own mother, Sharlin will lose even her last hope.

I had been waiting anxiously in the hall for hours.

My anxious feelings were clearly visible on my nails. My bitten nails were a mess, and blood had even started to appear.

That’s how unbearable it was.

I was nervous that Jade might not find the child.

“……Larien. Are you here?”

At that moment, the front door opened and Jade entered with the child.

I could finally release my clenched heart. Jade found the child. Thank goodness. I hope she’s not hurt anywhere.

The child in Jade’s arms was lowered to the floor.

Though she clearly wanted to come to me, the child hesitated.

I reached out my hand towards the child.

Soon after, the child slowly took steps and walked towards me.

Several scenes overlapped in that moment.

The day the child took her first steps.

“Mom……?”

The day she called me mom for the first time.

Yes, I was so happy then.

I vowed I would do anything for Blanche.

She was so beautiful, I was even afraid to touch her.

As if connected, memories from the day I fell down the stairs and before started coming back in order.

‘After having Blanche, I lost my memories and caused a lot of hurt.’

It wasn’t that I forgot everyone, but because Blanche happened to be in the memories I lost.

Blanche must have thought I only couldn’t remember her.

How did I protect her? With what heart did I raise her…….

‘Why did I forget Blanche?’

How could I have done that?

Feeling the first movements, her birth, grabbing my finger, responding to the name I gave her – it all feels like yesterday…..

My lovely daughter.

“Blanche.”

“……”

“Mom told you it’s dangerous to run on the stairs. Are you hurt anywhere?”

What should I say first? I guess I should start from the day I fell down the stairs.

There’s a big gap of time I couldn’t scold her, worry about her, or show her love.

“I’m sorry. I remember you now. For forgetting you until now.”

“Mom. You remember Shu Shu? Who Shu Shu is?”

Tears welled up in Blanche’s sea-colored eyes as her shoulders shook.

“Of course, my baby.”

As soon as she heard my answer, Blanche leapt into my arms.