Chapter 91 - His Savior

Act 9. How to Grab Onto Luck

One day, an angel descended from the heavens to protect the people on earth, and the place where this happened became the Northern Empire. That was the founding myth of Rahel. I was never informed of Rahel’s origins. The winged tiger was a legendary creature that protected the country. 

“…So you’re telling me that the guardian came out of nowhere and left after saving us?” While my divine powers were completely drained, it was proof that I didn’t dream all this up. 

“Saintess, you should be resting,” Luciana stopped me from getting up. Usually, I would have listened to her, but not today. 

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep if I’m not with Daddy.” Perhaps because Luci knew how serious I was about Miltiades, she didn’t try to stop me. She helped me up, but without forgetting to nag a little, “You have to rest tomorrow, okay?” 

“Okay!” I would have to make up a new excuse tomorrow, but I could go see Miltiades today. I used my position as a saintess and princess to get rid of anyone in my way and took big strides to my dad’s side. Although I had purified him with my divine power, he wasn’t in a good condition. My heart fell when I realized I could have lost him in front of my eyes.

“He’s doing much better than expected since you were the one to heal him,” the palace physician said, reassuring me, but I was still upset.

“I don’t have any divine power to give him.”

“If you try to heal him, your life will be in danger,” Luciana grabbed my arm to stop me from giving him more. I glanced at Miltiades wistfully. He looked so peaceful with his eyes closed. 

I recalled the events that Achillios had told me about earlier. Last night, Helene came to see Miltiades. She asked to be alone with him, so they were the only two people in the room. And then the two of them disappeared. They later found Miltiades at Callian’s command and then me. And I saw everything that happened after that. Helene’s body was found near the palace. There were many suspicious aspects to the story, but nothing concrete to go on. 

Helene held the key to all the answers, but since she was dead, Miltiades was the only one who knew what had happened apart from me. This was no simple incident. I had thought it was just an assassination attempt, but the perpetrator seemed to be gunning for Miltiades. Someone was controlling him.

I thought back to the reddish-black energy. It wasn’t unfamiliar. Up until that point, I had thought that Miltiades was the final boss since he was the villain. But now I was starting to have second thoughts. What if he was being controlled? What if someone had been directing Militades’s body to act the way they wanted? 

Although I knew I was taking the perspective of my favorite character, I didn’t want to be too careful. If this was true… “I won’t forgive them,” I clenched my fists and vowed that I would never forgive whoever was messing with my dad. “So wake up, Daddy. I’ll scold them all for you, okay?” I touched his closed eyes and whined softly, hoping that he could hear my voice.

***

Miltiades was trapped in the darkness. His nightmares always started the same way: the night was pitch black, and only a crimson moon could be seen. He was sitting in a pool of blood, and his hands were also covered in blood. Two familiar figures lay lifeless on the floor: his mother and his younger sibling. Their eyes remained half-open, and his younger self was looking around, covered in blood. He knew that he had done all this.

“Monster!” Although the voice he heard was terrifying, he didn’t feel anything. It was true. Some people said these were seizures. The curse of the emperor, the curse of blood, Rahel’s lunatic—there were many names associated with his horrible deeds. Every few generations, a monster was born, just to get drunk off of blood. He didn’t want to be like this, but his hands were indeed drenched in blood. He was tired of fighting against his own guilt. 

“…Son.”

“I was born to be a monster.”

A dark energy rose up from the ground to choke him as he recalled someone’s voice. A black hand forced him to look straight ahead and prevented him from turning away. He had killed his father with his own hands, but he still had his memories. He tried to get away, but the shackles that held him tightly in place. When will he be able to escape? When he was dead? 

I doubted it. He could never escape this curse, not even in death. There was only one way Miltiades could overcome it. He clutched at the black smoke around his neck. It felt like his skin was being ripped off, but he didn’t stop. The pain was only illusory. The black energy latched onto him and tried to enter his body. 

The struggle continued, and a white light that he had never seen before appeared in the distance. He saw a small, round entity appear along with the light. It looked like a cotton ball. The thing saw him and ran over to devour the black smoke. 

That wasn’t all. Another light twinkled, and a huge number of cotton balls appeared. Then a sheep, a rabbit, and a tiger also appeared. 

“Daddy!” Finally, a small child the size of his fingernail ran towards him. ‘Amelia?’ As soon as the child appeared, the black smoke tried to chase her away. “Get lost! What do you think you are, clinging onto him? Aren’t you going to leave? Daddy is mine!” Then the big ball of cotton got rid of the black smoke. Miltiades was confused. What kind of dream was this? Was it a nightmare? 

When the black smoke had dissipated, mini Amelia ran into Miltiades’s arms joyfully, “You’re mine!” She was acting like her usual self, but there was a strange feeling. A peace he’d never felt since the start of his nightmares. Miltiades made a face, not knowing how to explain his emotions, and Amelia smiled at him, “It’s time to get up, Daddy.”