.｡.:✧ Chapter 67 ✧:.｡.

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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After securing a brief reprieve from Heini Rosales, I contemplated once more attempting to persuade those within the Portren mansion but ultimately turned back. The royal inspector was prepared for a bloody confrontation, indicating a firm stance from which she would not retreat. It became apparent quite quickly why that was the case.

“Cough! Cough!”

“Michelle? Are you okay? Should we go to the hospital?”

“Your face has gone too pale.”

“No, it’s okay. Going to the hospital won’t help; I just need the medicine we have at home.”

Upon returning to the hotel, I found Michelle persistently coughing and her complexion swiftly worsening, with Rin and Hayun attending to her. I remembered she had been coughing even while we were eating together, and despite it not being cold, she seemed to be shivering.

“Medicine that’s only at home?”

Without hesitation, I hoisted her onto my back and headed outside the hotel again.

“I’ve checked that the inspector’s people have left, so I’ll bring her back soon.”

“Should I come with you?”

Rin looked at Michelle with concern, likely because of her aspiration to be a doctor; she seemed unable to ignore such a patient. However, I shook my head, doubting Rin could keep up with my pace.

“Sen, come here for a moment.”

“Hmm?”

Surprised to be called, Sen pointed to herself for confirmation before approaching.

“Please find out which hotel Heaven Len is staying at and check the duration of his stay.”

“Is this a request?”

It was an unexpected question, but knowing she wouldn’t act solely out of kindness, I nodded slightly. After all, I was financially well-off thanks to the earnings from this hotel.

“Got it.”

Sen left with a somewhat satisfied expression, and I, carrying Michelle, headed back to the mansion.

‘I’m getting a real workout this morning.’

The distance meant I wanted to move quickly, but I had to moderate my pace in case Michelle felt cold. From behind, she asked me in a small voice.

“Mister, is my father a bad man?”

“……”

“The people from earlier, they’re knights, right? I heard knights are supposed to protect people. If knights came for my dad, does that make him a bad person?”

I was in a dilemma. Mikael Portren was clearly a villain.

However, directly telling Michelle was out of the question. Sensing the absence of a response, she buried her face into my back and sobbed.

“So, my father is a bad person after all.”

“Indeed?”

“Following my father around, I often saw strange people. Those hiding their faces or looking grotesque. Like villains.”

She likely suspected them to be involved with the Tudogs.

They seemed to be incorporating the power and flesh of demons from the forest into themselves.

“Is my father going to be arrested? Is that what’s happening?”

“……Yes.”

I didn’t want to give her false hope with an ambiguous answer.

Mikael Portren was essentially facing a sentence that could very well lead to the death penalty, given the crimes he had committed.

Sobbing, I slowed my pace for her. I remembered a similar situation in the demon forest that involved the two of us.

‘……’

A girl shedding tears.

A child who should be attending school or experiencing youthful love was instead burdened with too heavy a load and eventually broke down.

She never answered my inquiries, probably not wanting to burden me with her troubles.

‘I’m sorry for showing you such a pathetic side.’

Even as she apologized, the girl bravely stood up, trying to smile and suggesting we have breakfast together.

“What were you bearing at that time?”

My question, left unanswered, dissipated into the wind, losing its meaning.

As we approached the Portren mansion, the serving staff greeted us warmly, despite Michelle’s condition.

“I would like to see Mr. Mikael Portren.”

My sudden declaration caused some confusion, but Michelle’s intervention allowed me to enter without much trouble.

“Are you going to persuade my father?”

“If possible.”

With a complex expression, Michelle let go of my hand and dashed down the vast hallway, while I was led by a servant to Mikael Portren’s office.

“……So, you’ve brought our Michelle back? I appreciate it.”

Mikael’s expression was noticeably troubled.

He seemed to be on edge, as if the slightest provocation could set him off, but he was trying to keep his composure.

After the servant left, I spoke up.

“For Michelle’s sake, perhaps it’s time to surrender and be arrested.”

Mikael’s forehead vein bulged with frustration, but he took a deep breath, resting his hand on his desk, and asked.

“You know something, don’t you?”

“I’m staying at the old wooden hotel at the city crossroads. The grandmother there is very kind.”

Upon hearing this, Mikael clenched his fists, his eyes flashing with intensity. The emotions he had been suppressing overflowed, not in a torrential outburst, but with a depth that was calm yet profound.

“So, it wasn’t just to get close to us because of Hayun Len and Heaven Len?”

“Well, let’s call it a coincidence.”

“A coincidence… There really are such shitty coincidences.”

Clicking his tongue, Mikael now fully regarded me as an enemy.

“Did you bring the inspector too?”

“That was a coincidence as well.”

“So many coincidences.”

Mikael repetitively tapped the desk with his fingers, a sign of his irritation. Despite waiting calmly for him, a satisfactory response did not come.

“I refuse, I’ve already become inseparable from the Tudogs.”

“Think of Michelle.”

Mentioning his sore spot, Mikael slammed the desk with both hands, enraged.

“How dare you! Don’t you dare mention Michelle’s name in front of me! Before I tear your head off right now!”

“……”

“Do you think anyone cares for Michelle as much as I do? After losing her mother, I’m all she has left. If I disappear too, it’s truly over for her!”

“Michelle is stronger than you think.”

“What do you know about my daughter to spout such nonsense! Fine! Let’s assume, just for argument’s sake, you’re right. You said you brought her back to the mansion because her health was poor, right? Where do you think I got the medicine that even hospitals can’t provide?”

“……”

“The Tudogs! Damn brat! Only the herbs they bring from the Demon Forest can keep Michelle alive!”

Mikael caught his breath, clenching his fist.

Something seemed off about his hand, but I chose not to mention it.

“The reason I created a murder hotel and brought in madmen to provide either corpses or even live humans? It’s all to save my daughter!”

A father’s outcry.

Mikael Portren, a man who could do nothing but hold his dying wife’s hand, faced another great tragedy.

His daughter Michelle Portren, afflicted with the same disease as her mother.

Unable to bear losing his daughter as well, he entered into a contract with the Tudogs, creating a factory of sorts to supply them with people.

“What if I could get those herbs for you?”

I tried probing, but as expected, he scoffed.

“You think you’re something because you know about the Tudogs? The Demon Forest is home to monsters beyond your imagination.”

“……”

“Kid, the forest itself could be called a demon.”

“If I bring the herbs, will you surrender?”

My serious demeanor made Mikael pause, but he quickly shook his head.

“No, as I said, I’m too deeply involved with the Tudogs. If I’m taken to the royal prison, I don’t know what they’ll do to Michelle.”

“I see.”

I knew it but I had to ask.

Knowing too much about them because of Michelle’s medicine, if Mikael was arrested, it was likely that everyone in this mansion could disappear overnight.

“Kid, I see you’re concerned for Michelle. I’ll let it slide because of that. Leave Bethel and return to the academy today.”

“……”

“Don’t ask about the hotel’s old lady or anyone else. The Devil Spider’s ability she has is beyond human detection. If you say she escaped, the Tudogs won’t pursue her deeply.”

Taking a deep breath, Mikael rubbed his forehead.

“Empty the hotel and leave. It can also be evidence, so my men will come tonight to burn it down.”

“Heini Rosales is a persistent inspector. Especially since her life is on the line.”

“I’m aware of her. She’s under suspicion for killing the second son of the Leiros family during an interrogation. Don’t worry about that; it’s part of a deal with the Len family.”

Realizing his slip, Mikael glanced at me, startled.

“A deal?”

“……”

“Fine. Whatever the deal is, it seems there’s some connection between the families.”

“Damn, just go. Forget everything you’ve seen here and live as a normal student. This is sincere advice.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”

My firm response elicited another deep sigh from Mikael Portren.

“What do you think you can do as just a student?”

“Status isn’t important.”

“Huh, then let me change the question. Why? Why go to such lengths?”

“……”

Though momentarily at a loss for words, it wasn’t because I lacked an answer.

Blinking as my vision darkened for a moment, memories of a distant, now impossible future that was also part of my past flickered.

‘Are you growing pumpkins? I’d love to see them, mister!’

‘Wow, you’re really good at building things. You’d be a great dad.’

‘The demon forest sounds scary, but I feel okay because I’m with you, mister.’

‘Ah, mister…’

In a dark room, even a tiny candle flame cannot seem so bright.

The candlelight that illuminated all darkness swiftly became the room’s focal point.

The chatty young lady was the candlelight in my otherwise dark life.

“I’m expressing gratitude.”

For showing a bright, but distinct light to me, who had lived as a monster in the darkness for a long time, and awakening me, the chatty young lady.

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