"Father! Stop!" A young girlish voice shrilled through the luxurious bedroom painted in pink and riddled with toys, followed by a burst of joyous laughter.

It was a small girl, with hair like crushed red roses framing her head, and black eyes as if shadows had been poured into them. She wore cute, luxurious noble clothes, white and sleeved, with red rose designs embroidered over her chest.

She was insufferably cute. The urge to pamper her would weigh heavily on anyone's chest.

She was smiling and yet crying at the same time, making her look like a small, broken little doll destined to torment the living. Her feet bounced against the red carpet as she reached out her hands, trying desperately to take back her toy from the man standing before her.

Or rather, from her father… Asael Shadeborn.

"Crying won't help you, my dear. You can take it, can you not?" Asael taunted, his voice teasingly warm. "It's within your reach, my daughter! You can do it! Jump higher! Jump!" he said, voice bright, tone drenched with so much enthusiasm that Valentine herself became more motivated and started jumping higher on her little feet, her face one of deep seriousness, but that only made her even cuter.

Asael was melting inside.

Valentine's fingers brushed against the wooden carving of a sword as she tried hard to snatch it back from her father's hand.

She grabbed at his clothes, trying to climb him, using him as a ladder, but Asael only smirked, letting her do it until she was just an inch away from taking it. Her face was already splitting into a victorious smile before a small ink of shadow splashed into the air beneath the toy and the wooden sword disappeared.

Silence.

The father and daughter duo stared at each other in that strange stillness. Then slowly, Valentine squinted her black eyes at Asael, eyes filled with both confusion and suspicion.

"Is it you, Father…?!" she muttered, doubting her own words at first.

"Me?" Asael exclaimed, pointing a finger at himself. "I wouldn't dare, my daughter," he said, feigning innocence, but Valentine might be a child, yet she was the child of two absurdly powerful superhumans… and the granddaughter of a woman better left unmentioned.

"You used your power!" she shrieked, then started clawing at his face like an angry cat whose master had touched the spot it had just cleaned. "You cheated!"

Asael burst into laughter that echoed sharply around the room, all while trying to block her weirdly pointed nails with mock seriousness.

At that moment, with his daughter on his lap squirming like a cute little worm… Asael's heart was at ease, his mind drifting peacefully along the sound of her wronged words, feeling the warmth of his daughter's body, her skin free from any wounds or blemishes.

He was happier, especially as he noticed how young, cute, and healthy she was, not only mentally, but also physically.

He smiled faintly, and in a burst of uncontrollable emotion, he grabbed Valentine tightly, making her stop her erratic movements, pressing her head against his chest while his chin rested atop her head.

Valentine immediately calmed down, feeling the warmth of her father wrap around her body in a way no clothes ever could.

It was a warmth she had been seeking for so long, one she had constantly asked her mother for.

A warmth only her father could give.

It was strange, because Asael's body was cold by nature — like unfathomable shadows, like one of the dead — and yet Valentine found in that coldness a warmth even the sunlight on her skin could never give.

She hugged him back, nestling her head deeper into his chest. She looked as though she wanted to become one with him, afraid he might leave again.

Her feeling didn't go unnoticed.

"I will make it up to you. I promise," Asael whispered to her, kissing the top of her head affectionately.

This was not the first time her father had said those words. And every time, Valentine repeated the words her mother always told her every night before sleep…the words she felt were not only meant for her.

"I love you no matter what," she repeated innocently.

Asael smiled, then, unable to hold it back, he shouted, "MY DAUGHTER IS THE CUTEST!!"

The booming sound of his voice echoed through the room and right inside her head, making Valentine quiver. She snarled, then clawed at his face once again.

"DON'T SHOUT, FATHER!"

Asael cackled, tears welling up at the corners of his eyes.

If the price he had to pay to have his daughter scratch his face and watch her grow up was his freedom…

He smiled inwardly.

'Then it's worth it. Let me be chained. Let me be used. But let me be a father.'

That was his bottom line.

And that…

"I am not a fool. I will not go beyond that line, Rose," Lydia said, watching the scene of Asael and Valentine from behind the window, beside Rose.

Their presences were thoroughly concealed, levitating easily in the air.

Above, the dim sun of the Empire of the Damned bathed the city like water on soil, painting the sky in an orange hue.

The air was hot and dusty, uncomfortable to anyone not used to living there.

"And I do not dare to believe your lies, Mother," Rose retorted sharply, a tinge of anger visible in her voice.

Lydia turned her head slowly and spared a glance for her daughter, her eyes mocking and cold at the same time. "You are angry at the wrong person, darling," she said. "You should be mad at your lover for keeping Valentine to himself."

Rose's face crunched into a ferocious growl. "Asael has done nothing wrong. It's your fault!" she spat, red eyes glowing like an enflamed rose as she pointed at the scene inside the room. "If it weren't you I would be there, laughing with them, not here watching them laugh!"

"Did I tell you to be here watching?" Lydia said, and then, with a chilled voice, "You chose this yourself. Now lower your voice while you speak to me before my patience runs out and I snap your neck."

Rose did not lower her voice.

"Then do it!" she snarled. "Do it, and for once you'd be doing me a favor, Mother. For once, you would liberate me from this wretched life you gave me and forced upon me!"

She stepped closer, her face just an inch away from her mother's, her red eyes locked directly onto Lydia's golden and crimson gaze.

"I dare you, mother, to kill me. I'd love to see who will fight your wars then." Her eyes were spitting venom. "Please, do it, mother. I can even kneel down, soothe your fucking ego, and beg you to release me."

Rose had enough. She had enough of seeing the man she loved and her daughter at the same time, and yet never being able to be with both of them together.

Asael never accepted to be in the same place as her. Sometimes only Valentine could make him stay, and she had used her daughter in the beginning, trying to bribe her into making her father stay when she was around.

But now, Asael knew enough to avoid all those possible scenarios altogether.

How painful it was, to finally be able to be with your family, and yet be denied it.

For what? Because her mother had ruined it, and because her lover didn't trust her, nor could he stand the sight of her anymore.

She wanted to explain, but if Asael wasn't with Valentine, he was in the training grounds. He never gave her any chance to explain herself.

No chance.

She was tired. She was exhausted.

She was alone.

Lydia watched her daughter calmly, understanding her emotions all too well.

And yet, she couldn't care less.

"You said it yourself, killing you would only cripple me. So I'd rather not," she said, and then, with a smirk, "but I don't think I need to do anything to you."

She pointed at the scene of Asael and Valentine together.

"The fact that you have no family despite having a family is punishment enough. Not only for acting like a whore and getting yourself pregnant outside, but also for your disobedience."

"But maybe," she snickered, "I should thank your whorish attitude, you got me a handsome shadow, after all."

She said that, then slowly turned her body and began to walk away, her feet gliding through the air as if she were stepping on solid ground.

Rose clenched her fists tightly, her knuckles turning bone-white. "I didn't act like a whore," she said to her mother's back. "I loved him. I love him. I will love him. And I don't regret giving him a child."

She bit her lip hard.

"I only regret making you the grandmother of his daughter," she spat, voice trembling with anger.

Lydia smiled, still walking away calmly. "Then I guess it's mutual."

She paused, then added…

"Stop being foolish and accept your fate. Asael hates you, and soon you'll see your daughter growing closer to him than to you. Don't you know? Daughters tend to favor their fathers over their mothers, after all."

"And think about my proposal, daughter," she smirked. "I need the support of the River Kingdom, and they just so happen to have a prince the same age as you. From what I've heard, he's quite the pretty boy."

"What a great coincidence, right?"

She said that before finally disappearing, leaving behind a seething Rose, tears dripping down, body shaking with controlled rage and sorrow, all while a small, invisible ink of shifting shadow clutched at the tip of her clothes.

…

"My lady, please, can you stay still?" Kaden said with a tired voice toward Aurora, who couldn't stop moving her body and head in an annoying attempt to stop him from doing his task.

Her nose was still dripping blood, and it had been hours since she had fallen to the ground.

Thinking it was his duty as a knight — and intending to keep his cover until he knew more about the situation — Kaden decided to help her clean her nose, using the gentlest tone he could muster.

He was refused.

Aurora had refused, saying she didn't want anyone's help with something she could do herself.

Which, if it had been true, wouldn't have bothered Kaden.

But the thing was, Aurora was unable to do anything by herself. It had been hours, and yet she still hadn't cleaned the blood, nor used a potion to close the wound.

Kaden didn't know why, but he was feeling very frustrated with this woman. He was a hair's breadth away from yanking her head back and doing it himself.

But he was a knight.

'I must remind myself of that. I am a knight. A knight… a bloody knight! I only obey orders!' he cursed inwardly, all while forcing his most gentle smile toward Aurora.

The woman winced at his expression. "Fraud Knight, don't think you can fool me with your smile," she sneered. "I can see the frustration oozing out of your body like water on a cupped hand."

"And yet, you can't see the blood dripping on your clothes. My bloody foot," Kaden retorted instinctively.

His eyes widened slightly. Aurora's eyes widened too, before she pointed at Kaden with a victorious smile.

"I knew it!" she said, shoving a tissue into her nose to stop the blood from flowing out. "You are a fraud!"

Then she sprang to her feet, circling Kaden like a wolf around a sheep, grinning. "Now how could my love make such a mistake sending you?!" she asked, before shaking her head sharply. "It doesn't matter," she decided, smiling even more brightly.

"You will obey me now, Fraud Knight, if you wish to keep your life," she threatened shamelessly.

Kaden stopped his eyes from rolling in exasperation. "I was going to obey you and protect you anyway."

'I need to pass my quest, after all,' he added inwardly.

Aurora nodded, finding it reasonable, but then frowned. "If you talk like this, Fraud Knight, people will find out you're actually a fraud. Then I'll lose my talking knight, and my love will send one of his boring, silent ones instead."

She shook her head sharply.

"That won't do," she said, hand caressing her chin. "For my enjoyment, I'll teach you how to be a proper knight!" she decided.

Her eyes brightened like a child's.

"I will do it!" she added, as if to convince herself.

Kaden looked at her wearily. "Yes, my lady," he said, prompting Aurora to shake her head.

"No! No! No!" she repeated. "It's I heard, I obey, my lady." she corrected, "and you must add a bow of respect."

Kaden did exactly as he was told. Pleased, Aurora waved him away dismissively.

"Now, Fraud Knight, go bring my chocolate bars of the day and my items. It's my painting time."

"Also, be kind and go nourish my beautiful dog. Do not forget to give the old lady a small kiss on her hands to show appreciation for her dedication in keeping this barren house clean. And make sure not to kill any of my cute beasts," she ordered Kaden.

Kaden was confused, but still asked, "Your nose, my lady?"

"I will do it myself."

"Forgive my offense, but I doubt you can do it by yourself."

"First, I do not forgive your offense. Second, bold of you to assume I cannot wipe my own blood off my face. Third, let me teach you one great virtue of a knight." She said, raising a slender beautiful finger.

Kaden arched an eyebrow.

"When orders are given, you obey without the need to understand why the orders were given," she said, deadly serious.

Kaden stared at her, deadpan, then said, "Well, I am a Fraud Knight." He shrugged and went out to do his task, as Aurora's exaggerated laughter echoed loudly behind him.

He sighed.

He was already tired.

—End of Chapter 304—

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