Chapter 90 - I’ll Protect You

I thought it was going to attack, but it only ate the energy around Miltiades and yelled, “How dare you enter my territory!” I looked towards the area where the tiger was and was shocked. A dark shadow looked at me briefly before disappearing. 

“What in the…?” I didn’t have time to think. The giant tiger was shrinking rapidly, “Save him. It’s in your hands now.” 

Just like it said, the energy was gone, but it hadn’t totally disappeared. I quickly recited a purification spell. Miltiades’s whole body started boiling. The palace physicians had said that he was suffering from poison, and they seemed to be right. I got rid of the Magi surrounding his body and Miltiades regained consciousness. He looked at me with a muddled gaze and grabbed his sword. He didn’t seem to know if he was still dreaming.

“It’s okay, Daddy,” I said to him, remembering Luciana’s advice on how to get rid of an extremely strong opponent. This place was Miltiades’s weakness. It was filled with his sins and the blood of the people that had died by his sword. 

Everything that tormented him was here. He was weighed down by a bloodthirsty madness, which drove him to murder his mother and sibling. From then on, he hated kids because they reminded him of the sibling that he had killed. 

“It’s okay, nothing happened,” I comforted him. I could see the pain in his eyes as he struggled against his nightmare.

“No one died,” I continued. His eyes flashed as if to tell me that I was wrong, but they quickly went out of focus. “Nothing will ever happen.” Finally, his unfocused eyes filled with tears. I clenched my teeth as I saw tears roll down his cheeks. 

“I’ll never let it happen,” I grabbed the hand that was gripping his sword. The moment we touched, I felt something enter my body through his hand. I saw something dark and foreboding hiding behind Miltiades’s eyes. 

Thud! Enoch caught me as my body went limp. For the first time, I looked up into his purple eyes. As I felt my consciousness slip away, I opened my mouth, “…Send for Achillios.”

***

By the time I woke up, the sun was in the middle of the sky. I heard that Enoch had fainted after bringing Miltiades and me back.

I also heard some incredulous news. “Helene died?”

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes, I saw it with my own two eyes,” Achillios replied with a shrug. While I was asleep, he came back to the palace and cleaned up the scene of the incident. “I had been watching Count Jebastian’s daughter because she was suspicious, and I heard that she died too.”

“A sudden death?”

“Yes.” 

I grew serious after hearing what Achillios said. ‘This is definitely the work of a black magician.’ The reddish-black energy could only come from a black magician. Every magician had their own sect and pedigree, but black magicians didn’t. How could I find clues? 

While I was deep in thought, Achillios took out the papers of ownership for Hescalts Tower, “Ah, here you go.”

“Ah.” 

“Can I be your subordinate now?” Under his intense gaze, beads of sweat broke out on my forehead. I had been so busy that I forgot, but he actually bought the tower. I thought it would have taken him a month at the very least.

“…Good job,” I complimented him. Achillios’ eyes brightened in happiness. It looked as if he grew a pair of fluffy ears and a tail that he was wagging. 

“I bought the rights for ownership and operation, but I left the people in charge alone. I used a proxy so no one knows that I bought it. And of course, no one knows that you’re the one who ordered me to do this.”

“Does Daddy know?”

“…I don’t think so,” Achillios hesitated before replying. I looked at him suspiciously and he smiled, “We’ve temporarily kept the owner in charge, but we’ll need someone to run the tower. Should I find someone?”

“No, I have someone qualified in mind.” I had thought of simply taking care of the tower myself, but I changed my mind. It was best to use everything to my advantage. Plus, I had found a talented individual who was ready to work for me.

“Someone qualified?”

“Yep.”

“Who is it?”

“That’s a secret,” I said. Achillios’ expression slightly changed. 

“I want you to do something for me.”

“Tell me, Master.”

“Don’t call me ‘Master.’”

“Please bind me, Master.”

It was probably best not to go against him. I turned away from Achillios, whose eyes were ablaze at the thought of being tied down. “Do you know anything about a winged tiger?” I asked him.

“A winged tiger?”

“Yeah.” I didn’t think he’d know anything, but he surprised me.

“I thought everyone knew.”

“Everyone knows about it?” 

Was it that famous? Really? My eyes widened as Achillios nodded while laughing, “The guardian of Rahel is a winged tiger…” I looked at him in shock. It was the first time I heard about this.