Dalia recalled the words written in her diary. After contemplating for a moment, she opened her mouth.
“……This ‘power’ that I have, did you give me that too?”
Dalia’s inherent power to purify the corrupted soul of the transcendent.
However Lewayne shook his head slowly.
“No, Miss Dalia. I don’t have the power to do that. For me, bringing you into this world was my limit.”“Then……?”
“Do you know the first legend of this Empire? The dragon gave power to the Imperial family and the four Ducal families. That is the birth of the ‘transcendent’.”
Dalia nodded.
“The ‘dragon’ is an imaginary animal that appears in many ancient myths. They sometimes refer to strange beings that cannot be understood by the common sense of this world.”
Dalia tilted her head, unable to understand Lewayne’s words.
“Perhaps the legendary ‘dragon’ was also from the same world as you. When that power enters a body with a different wavelength, it gets shocked and goes wild. So, maybe it calms down when it comes into contact with you, who has the same wavelength. It’s just a hypothesis.”
It was too much of a leap to be a hypothesis.It was hard to believe, but Dalia still found some comfort from the fact that her strength was not given by others.
Then came a little anger.
“……So, it is because of Duke Blueport that Sir Cedric has repeatedly died dozens and hundreds of times and has eventually been fixed to that future.”
Dalia glared at Lewayne with reproach. This time, he also averted his gaze, uncharacteristically as if he was really stabbed.
“……But he has changed too. Thanks to you. Originally, he wasn’t obsessed with anything, nor did he reject death as intensely as anyone else.”
“…….”
“So, once his heart was exhausted, he did not avoid death even in situations where he could have avoided it.”
Dalia bit her lips.
It was sad to think of him who would have accepted the inevitable death without refusing.
Lewayne looked up again.
“A lot has changed because of you. Thank you.”
“…….”
“This is the last regression for me too. Because I had used all my mana to summon you.”
Lewayne looked at her with affectionate eyes. And said.
“I want to end my last round with you, whom I gave birth to from my heart.”
“…….”
‘B, born from the heart?’
For some reason, that comment bothered her very much, but Dalia let it go. More important issues still remained.
“Even for Duke, you don’t know what will happen to Sir Cedric in the future?”
“Yes. I don’t know why his future was fixed on death either.”
Dalia’s eyes darkened.
“Then can it be said that my brother and Mr. Meldon went off the route because of my appearance?”
“Yes. As far as I’m concerned, Aceras is the only one who hasn’t deviated from the route yet. If his manner of conduct is broken, His Highness’s fate will also change.”
“…….”
“For that, I will find a way to solve it in my own way.” (*t/n: not sure about this part.)
Although it sounds absurd, she decided to believe it.
There has never been a better explanation for all the events that have happened.
For some reason, she felt like the things that had been on her mind had been resolved.
The future of this world can be changed by her existence.
Because Dalia Pesteros is the one who was summoned to this world to change their fate.
‘It’s very……grand.’
She covered her face with her hands and was lost in thought for a moment.
At first, she thought about her own existence, but later it led to Lewayne, who brought Dalia into this world through countless regression.
A miserable person trapped in fate.
After a while, Dalia spoke.
“……Duke, do you really, really think nothing of Adrisha even when you look at her now?”
“There are regrets. But anything beyond that has been long forgotten.”
“…….”
Dalia was saddened.
Because of Lewayne, who only had a purpose and lost his emotions, and because of Adrisha, who would never have found happiness throughout her life throughout the endless regressions.
There was a long silence.
They needed time to think about each other. Once that time was up, Lewayne checked his pocket watch and said.
“…… A lot of time has already passed. You should get going now.”
It was strange for him to say such a thing, who has lived a terribly long time.
However the sun was already setting. It was time for Dalia to return to her mansion as well.
Lewayne stood up from his seat and said, getting ready to see her off.
“If there is anything else you would like to ask, please come. I will prepare a lot of things you like next time.”
Dalia stared at Lewayne for a moment as she stood up. And bowed her head.
“Thank you.”
Lewayne showed a hint of bewilderment even though he was expressionless. Truly, she felt it several times today, but he is someone who is easy to read.
“What……do you mean?”
“You brought me here, even though it wasn’t meant for me…….But I was also happy and able to meet a lot of good people here. I just want to say thank you.”
Lewayne was silent. When she saw his blue eyes twinkling brightly, he seemed moved.
“I’m glad you said so.”
“…….”
“In fact, I also want to say something to Miss Dalia. I’ve been looking for the opportunity since we first met, but I have not been able to say it yet.”
For some reason, it seems like he is about to say something embarrassing.
Dalia cleared her voice and prepared herself mentally.
Lewayne began to talk.
“I have lost a lot of my emotions because I’ve been living for too many years. Now that I have forgotten even the love I had for my former lover, the only remaining emotion left is my attachment to you, whom I have devoted all my years to summon.”
He put his hand on Dalia’s shoulder. He looked down at Dalia with dark eyes and spoke very seriously.
“You are the daughter I gave birth to in my heart. If you don’t mind, please call me father.”
“……No!”
Lewayne went sullen again in an instant.
* * *
Lewayne begged Dalia to call him father until the end. Eventually, Dalia surrendered in the end.
She closed her eyes tightly and shouted.
“D, Dad!”
“…….”
Lewayne’s expression at the time……. He looked as if he was about to shed tears any minute, like a father sending his daughter away at a wedding. She doesn’t want to think about it any more.
‘Why are there no normal people around me?’
Lewayne, who came out to see her off to the front door of the mansion, said earnestly.
“I have a favor to ask Miss Dalia.”
Lewayne, who had been asking her to call him father until a while ago, suddenly became serious.
“Aceras too, is a pitiful soul trapped in a repeating fate because of me. If possible, I would like to ask you to save him.”
It was a quiet, calm voice.
Dalia was momentarily at a loss for words to reply. Obviously, in the Aceras route, Lewayne died at his hand.
Lewayne shook his head as if he had read Dalia’s question.
“Yes, he killed me. However, there is no meaning to emotion in a life that lasts forever. Now I just want everything to end in the right direction.”
“…… I don’t understand.”
“I don’t want you to understand.”
He said he didn’t want to, but Dalia tried to understand him.
After much thought, she understood his mind a little.
It was because she remembered that he had never looked for or looked at Adrisha at the ball. Even though Adrisha was the driving force that led him to regress in the first place.
Is he tired enough to forget those feelings? There must have been so many years in between that she couldn’t even imagine.
All that remains is the will to put everything back in place. A desire to forgive even the person who killed him and return his soul to the way it was before it got tangled.
It was a great and noble heart that Dalia could not have imagined.
However, even after understanding him, she shook her head.
“……I can’t grant you the request to help Aceras.”
“…….”
“Rather, Duke Blueport should help us to stop him.”
As expected, she can’t forgive him.
That was Dalia’s conclusion.
She might have been able to forgive him if it wasn’t for the Duke Blueport’s matter. She wouldn’t know if he had done just one thing. (*t/n: I’m not sure about this part)
But too much time has passed since then and Aceras has committed too many sins.
As soon as he heard Dalia’s words, Lewayne’s eyes began to turn red again. He rubbed his fist at the corners of his eyes to hide his crying, but it backfired and turned even redder.
“……I understand. You, who have only been called into this world, have no obligations whatsoever.”
What’s the point of crying while doing that?
Dalia said in bewilderment.
“Wh, why do you cry so often?”
“I’m sorry. I’ve been living for so long that I can’t control my emotions well…….”
Dalia had never soothed a crying man. Lewayne kept wiping the corner of his eyes, but she felt like he would continue to cry at this rate.
She was at a loss and finally said.
“I’ll, I’ll think about it!”
“……All right.”
Only then did Lewayne stop crying with red eyes. She felt cheated somehow.
Dalia glared at him.
‘I can’t believe he’s using tears as a weapon.…..It’s cowardly.’
However, as she glared at him, for some reason the bandage on his head kept bothering her. A man wearing a bandage and crying, doesn’t it stimulate sympathy too much.
In addition, the bandage was already dangling as if he had forgotten how to take first aid while regressing. Come to think of it, that was also what Cedric did too.
‘…….Really, Sir Cedric…….’
It’s not that she doesn’t understand Cedric’s position, but…….
Dalia felt guilty for some reason even though she didn’t do it herself.
“Duke, please come here.”
Eventually, at the front door of the mansion, she couldn’t resist and took him back to the drawing room.
And dissuaded him from saying anything and had the butler of the Blueport mansion bring first aid.
Then Dalia folded her arms confidently.
“Do the bandage again in front of me.”
“……If you’re going to do that, I’d like Miss Dalia to do it again.”
“What? If I did, it would be twice as bad as it is now. I don’t know how to do it.”
“Butler, teach her.”
“…….”
Translator Note: HAHAHA!! Lewayne = big shameless crybaby teddy bear
