Chapter 231
Maretimo Island, Trapani Prefecture.
Arden sliced a steak in a restaurant overlooking the emerald ocean.
“I’m sorry to call you at such a busy time. Still… I really want to have a meal with you today.”
Adela just looked at the orange sheet cake in silence, her eyes fixed on the table.
To Aden and Adela.
Today was an unforgettable day.
This day, which returns every year, is the day witch Louise froze Volterra.
Arden’s children and daughter-in-law.
Adela parents.
It was also the day I left powerlessly.
“…Adela.”
Aden placed the knife and fork and spoke to Adela in a serious voice.
“I’m sorry.”
Long silence with no answer.
Even though Arden put down the tableware he was holding, Adela ate a tiny bit of the sheet cake in front of her eyes with a teaspoon.
soft sheet.
A subtle orange scent.
The sweetness of white chocolate.
This was a taste that Velvet would surely like. After all these matches. If you finish everything in Italy, you must buy this cake and return it to Velvet.
Adela calmly spoke to Aden, leaving just that much impression in her heart.
“…no need to apologize.”
Blink-
“Don’t you resent me?”
Arden’s eyes were smiling, but his mouth wasn’t. For Adela before, it was obviously a difficult laugh. I couldn’t tell if it was a laugh of joy or a laugh of sadness.
But now Adela was different.
I could feel in my heart why Aden was smiling at me with that face.
“…What do you mean I resent you?”
Adela’s calm question.
However, Aden laughed awkwardly with a face that was difficult to answer. He was one of the strongest hunters as a colleague of Yu Yuan-Hak, but he still had a hard time with his granddaughter.
Is it because of that?
Arden first revealed his true feelings in front of Adela.
“Isn’t there a lot of reasons? For not informing you of the existence of the statue…”
“That’s…”
Adela, who had been listening to the story, interrupted Aden. Adela, who sliced the cake for no reason with a thin teaspoon, stared blankly at the plate.
“For me… I wonder if I will be sad. Isn’t that what you did?”
Aden’s face opened blankly. Aden seemed very surprised by Adela’s story. To think that her granddaughter, who could not even express her emotions, would understand her. However, Arden became even more bitter after that.
“Exactly… it’s because I feared something more than that.”
There was something more frightening than Adela’s sorrow to Aden. More than anything else, what scares Aden more than her precious granddaughter shedding tears is Adela not shedding tears when she sees her parents’ ice statue.
As usual.
Aden was even more afraid that Adela would insensitively pass by the ice statue with such a cold face.
“…Adela. the first time i saw you I had a hunch. That the terrible memory of Lewis’s winter… has broken your heart.”
Adelaide.
It was the first time I had such an honest conversation with Aden. Arden always smiled like that whenever he saw Adela. However, it was only now that he realized that that smile was to hide his sad feelings.
Suk-
Aden’s thick hand wrapped around Adela’s hand.
“…don’t forgive me, Adela. I am a coward.”
Seeing Aden smiling with a sad expression, Adela asked calmly.
“What… were you afraid?”
“Haha…. After a long struggle, even after defeating Louise’s winter…. The only thing left for me is you, Adela. So…”
Aden took a deep breath and forced a smile.
“I couldn’t bear to admit that I couldn’t even protect you.”
When Aden finished speaking, he let go of his hand. Aden waited a long time to hear what Adela would say. Adela looked at the cake quietly.
For Aden, 10 seconds is longer than eternity.
Adela gave the wrong name instead of answering.
“…Do you know Velvet?”
“I heard the report. That…”
“The first meeting was Al. All I did was hold the child.”
Recalling the moment Yooseong Shin came to see her, Adela slowly searched for her memory.
“Blowing in the cold. If you’re hugging a hot egg. It was very strange to move little by little.”
The expression of Adela, who spoke little by little, seemed happy.
“Because of that, the day Velvet was born after the egg was cracked, I felt a bit… even regretful.”
“Is it because you thought you had done your part?”
Adela nodded and smiled involuntarily.
“But… Velvet remembers my arms and received my mana… and told me to be a family member.”
Feeling precious towards someone.
feel attached Did you find a vacancy in your family? If Adela wasn’t in front of him, Aden wanted to shed tears right away.
“I see. Adela… You must have been very happy.”
Nod.
Adela, who nodded like a normal girl at Aden’s words, continued with a happy face.
“Velvet is a really smart kid. He’s kind, cute, pretty… and has really soft cheeks.”
Adela patted the air as if she missed Velvet’s cheeks. However, Adela’s mischievous behavior, which only her daughter knows, has just begun.
“My hair is shiny and shiny. When you stroke it like this… it smells very pleasant.”
Reminiscent of Velvet, Adela looked really happy. If Adela had a late brother, it must have been like this.
“…and looks young. i can tell What a warm heart that child has.”
Adela called the dragon, Velvet, her child. Velvet is the one who healed Adela’s mental illness that even Arden couldn’t.
“Ah, maybe…of course. Velvet is very similar to Yoosung Shin.”
A very familiar name.
As expected, choosing Shin Yoo-seong as Ruin’s partner was a godsend for Aden.
‘Yooseong-ah… I will never forget your help.’
Aden laughed genuinely, holding back tears of emotion.
“What’s so similar?”
“The day I went to Ruin Castle. He hugged me. It’s also Velvet’s habit to hug her often.”
If it was Kim Seok-han, he would have come to Shin Yoo-seong right away and made a fuss, but Aden was smiling happily.
“Are there any other similarities?”
“When I hugged Velvet and that person, my heart skipped a beat.”
Adela gets a heartbeat from Shin Yoo-seong. I felt a warm stability from Velvet. This proves that Adela can feel emotions even outside of battle.
“Maybe no, definitely more than a life-and-death battle…”
Adela’s answer, feeling confident, made Aden nod.
Now, the meaning of Shin Yuseong to Aden was not just a disciple of Yoo Won-hak or a promising hunter.
To Aden, the divine meteor is the only existence that can heal Adela. I wanted to keep it close to Adela somehow.
“Adela. Do you… want to be with Yooseong and Velvet?”
To Aden’s question, Adela nodded and answered immediately without even a moment’s thought.
“I will face him with all my strength and after this match is over… I intend to return to Gaon.”
Adela closed her eyes and recalled Shin Yuseong. The warm embrace that hugged her in Ruin Castle. And soft velvet cheeks and flowing hair.
“That is where I will be.”
Aden asked with a very serious face in response to Adela’s answer, which now seemed to have strong conviction.
“Are you saying you want to stay by my side?”
Instead of opening his mouth, he nodded.
Adela moving her head. Aden narrowed his forehead with an unusual expression that could only be seen in active duty.
‘…even for our Adela. Yoosung can never be taken away. There are no double mistakes for me.’
Even the determination to risk his life was felt in Aden, who was reassuring.
Now, Aden was planning to support Adela with all the means he could mobilize as a granddaughter’s grandfather, not as an 8th-level hunter.
* * *
The rooftop of a high-rise building covered only with darkness. Ryujin, holding the scabbard, opened her mouth while staring at the jet-black space.
“…if it’s not a poem, I’ll cut it.”
At Ryujin’s provocation, a fluorescent light emanated from the jet-black space and left a message.
[LOL]
Pod-
“As expected, I don’t want to talk to you. you’re not so funny It doesn’t even taste like teasing. You don’t have to be so serious, do you?”
It was a cheat that appeared behind Ryujin with a flashing Blink. By the standards of the hunters, their fighting power was close to zero, so Shin Yoo-seong was crushed by a single blow. Cheat was an unrivaled villain in information power through hacking, his specialty.
“I mean. I’m here to save you and your poor brother on behalf of the captain. I’m not the kind of person to be treated like this~”
Pat-
The cheat that appeared in front of Ryujin took off his trademark helmet and laughed, revealing shark-like teeth.
“…Listen carefully~”
Unlike before, when he spoke quickly in a bright and clear voice, Cheet took off his helmet and his voice became quite stretched.
“The swordsman, that greedy man. How many years… will I let you go? What that person is talking about… swordsmanship… do you know exactly what it is?”
Chet took off his helmet and yawned like a hippo, then smiled.
“If you become stronger… will that person be satisfied? Do you really want to give me an artifact to heal your cute little brother?”
Each of Chet’s words hit Ryujin right in the middle.
“You know what? The swordsman is holding your reins as your younger brother. Until he satisfies his own greed… and that he had no intention of letting go of the reins. huh?”
Fit- and Chet laughed helplessly.
Ryujin clicked his tongue, but he was thinking about it calmly as it involved his younger brother.
“I see you are still. I guess you knew a little bit. Doesn’t your head look like a flower garden like that?”
Cheet laughed and handed the bundle of documents to Ryujin, wondering if he liked it.
“think carefully. Even if it worked out well and fulfilled the swordsman’s greed… How old would your brother be at that time? huh?”
Ryujin couldn’t refute anything about Cheet’s story. Gathering momentum, Cheet spun around and muttered while banging her head behind Ryujin like a madman.
“What the hell~ How many years are you going to spend that important and precious time in the hospital room? I’m talking about sick people. Eh~? Dirty and despicable guys…”
Returning in front of Ryujin, Chit stuck out his tongue and pretended to slit his neck with his index finger.
“We don’t do that either. I’d rather kill them all at once. If you’re going to leave it like this, I’d rather kill you~”
Serung.
“…watch your mouth.”
Impatient Ryujin took out the sword from the scabbard. Cheat said it was a joke and raised both hands.
“The captain and you are both victims. Let’s not do this to each other in the same situation~”
And giggling, Chet disappears with Blink’s light.
‘…Ryuming.’
Ryujin, who received the paperwork, bit her teeth enough to make a cracking sound.
