"You won the child custody."
Okay, she didn't actually say that, but she might've well judging by how her face contorted into a mix of sadness and sourness when she watched Glacia broke contact with her to rush toward me and hug my legs.
Knowing that it was useless to try and shake her off, I briefly glanced at Glacia before asking, "can you repeat that again?"
"I said, I need you to watch over Glacia for me."
As soon as I heard that, my eyes shifted around to look for people. Upon realizing that no one was here, I heaved a sigh of relief.
"Let's discuss this in my room."
"No need," Syl cut me off, "I isolated this area. So unless a professor has business here, no one can find us."
I nodded. I didn't know when Syl had time to learn something like that, but I wasn't in any place to question her on it right now.
"So, why do I have to look after her?"
"My father sent people to watch me after the auction house incident for my safety. If she stays with me any longer, I fear that they will discover her to be a—"
"—Wyvern," I muttered, finishing her sentence.
Actually, she wasn't really a Wyvern, but Syl didn't know that. As such, I wasn't surprised when Syl nodded at my words.
"Yes, Wyvern. That's why I'm asking you to take care of her..."
But something was up.
"Why don't you ask Semier to do it? He doesn't seem like the kind to care what species Glacia is."
"About that...since Semier is still in hiding, I can't just go and lead my father's people right to him. Besides," she muttered in a barely audible voice, "a tavern isn't exactly an ideal place to raise a child in."
'But my place is?'
Something was very wrong with Syl's rationalizing process.
"But what's in it for me?"
Syl froze on the spot in surprise. Eventually, she recovered, and looked at me with a gaze that said, 'did I really just hear you say that?'
"What's in it for you? She's your daughter,' Syl raised her voice at me.
Startled by the sudden shift in her demeanor, I snapped back.
"She's n—" Although I thought of her as my daughter, somehow, I couldn't admit it. "—n-not!"
Syl looked at me straight in the eyes as if trying to gauge if what I was saying was the truth. As her eyes glowed pink for a bit, I could see a faint trace of a smile on her face. However, that smile quickly faded as she got on her knees.
"P-please," her voice cracked. "I-I can't trust anyone else with this. I only have you!"
I wanted to tell her to ask Arthur to do it, but I realized how stupid it was. Him being close to Glacia would just draw more attention to her. However, I wasn't exactly the most low-key person right now...
After several seconds of weighing the ups and downs, I eventually relented with a sigh.
"Fine, I'll do it."
Before Syl could express her gratitude, I continued, "but what if she harms me?"
Looking at Syl, who was tilting her head quizzically, I explained after much effort. "She's a Wyvern first and foremost. There's no telling when she'll snap and attack me."
Of course, I didn't know if this was true or not, but it was still part of my plans.
Thinking for a while, Syl nodded as if convinced. "Then, what do you propose?"
"That I have the right to kill her should she intentionally harm me physically."
Syl looked hurt at my words. However, she eventually accepted.
"Okay... but is there no chance that you'll change your mind?"
"I don't want to die, so no. Anyway, I'll get a Mana contr—"
"No need," she cut me off with a faint smile, "I trust you."
I... didn't know how to respond to that. The only thing I could do was to lightly nod and stared back into her icy blue eyes.
Eventually, I decided to break the silence by extending my hand out to her. "So, deal?"
Syl stared at my hand for a few seconds before grabbing it. "Deal..."
As I tried to pull my hand away, I noticed that Syl wasn't breaking the handshake. Instead, she grabbed my hand tightly as if unwilling to break contact with me.
"Uh hello? I can't take care of the Wyvern if you don't let me go, you know?"
As if my words had broken her out of a trance, Syl quickly let go of my hand and blushed. I could almost see steam rising out of her head. Then, without another word, she left.
I stared at her departing figure, then back at Glacia, who was still rubbing her face on my right leg. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to remove her unless she willingly let go, I entered my room with her still clinging onto me.
...
30 minutes had passed since then, and this brat was still clinging onto me! At first, I didn't really mind it, but it had become somewhat annoying.
"Glacia, let go," I said bluntly.
However, she merely lifted her head and faced me. Smiling mischievously, she returned to doing what she was doing.
'Why is she acting like Krista?'
I guessed that some mysteries were meant to remain unsolved.
Seeing that being blunt didn't work, I tried a softer approach.
"Hey, Glacia, would you mind letting go?"
However...
"No!"
...She replied instantly and defiantly.
It wasn't as if she was my daughter or anything, but I felt as if I was having a daughter who was in her rebellious phase. Left with no choice, I decided to consult the help of "the bird."
"Lyra!"
A gray bird descended from the ceiling after a bright burst of red light. Fortunately for me, I didn't actually need to consult her as Glacia immediately let go of me upon spotting Lyra and jumped up to the air to grab her.
W-what?!|
"BIRDY!" Glacia exclaimed as she rubbed Lyra on her cheek.
I stared at the scene, amused, ignoring the gaze full of pleads for help that Lyra was sending me.
"Lyra, keep her occupied and don't let her leave the room. I have some businesses to attend to."
No! don't leave me here al—|
"Bye!"
I slammed the door shut and heaved a sigh of relief. Taking care of a child was definitely not for me. As I was about to leave the dormitories, I suddenly noticed a letter in my mailbox. Taking it out an inspecting the contents, I muttered, "the fuck is this? A duel? Why would I accept that?"
Razing the letter to ashes with my Lightning, I decided to just go on with my day and forget about ever seeing it. However...
"Daddy...birdy gone."
Hearing the unmistakable voice of Glacia, I turned around, only to find her standing right in front of the door, eyes watery, looking as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment.
Since Syl's Skill had probably ended and there were people around here, I hurriedly rushed toward her to shut her up before she could draw any more attention to me.
"Quiet!" I said in a strong whispered as I placed a hand over her mouth.
However, all of that served to just make her about to cry even harder.
'Shit! I'll definitely get you back for this, Lyra!'
Not knowing what to do, I decided to follow my instinct and hugged her; patting her back soothingly.
"There there, don't cry..."
Surprisingly, it worked. After a few sniffs of her nose, her face soon turned into that dumb, childish expression again.
'I'm starting to regret ever accepting to look after this thing...'
Sighing, I started to slowly break away from her.
"Okay, now be good and stay in the room. I have to meet the—"
But I halted upon seeing her about to break into tears again.
'Shit... how did Syl even manage to stay sane? She was stuck with her for almost 4 months for fuck's sake!'
"O-okay, I guess you can come with me."
"Yay!"
And with that, Glacia had "convinced" me to take her with me. I lowered my left arm down to let her sit on it. Then, with a very long sigh, I made my way toward Adel's room.
'I'm sure that Glacia won't understand anything anyway, so maybe it's fine.'
I didn't know where that trust came from, but it was too late to doubt it now, as I soon arrived in front of Adel's room. I knocked on the door exactly 8 times. However, it still wasn't open.
"Kasumi, I'm not here to play games."
After a very audible grumble coming from the other side, the door finally creaked open, revealing Kasumi in her black clothes staring at us—particularly Glacia—with a frown.
"What's with that child?"
"None of your business."
Kasumi wanted to tell me off for being rude, but as if she had just remembered that I had more authority than her, she shrank back into the room and bowed.
'Well, that's an ego boost, but it's not enough.'
After all, she was ordered by Adel, not me, to respect me. I had a feeling that earning a lackey myself would be much more satisfying. Thinking that, I briefly glanced at Glacia on my arm, but I quickly shook my head. I wasn't that desperate to make a literal 3-year-old, or 4-month-old child my lackey. That would be just pathetic.
Anyway, Adel's room was unbelievable big, probably due to Space magic, so it took a while before I could see her sitting at a wooden round table, enjoying some tea like a typical aristocrat.
However, upon seeing that it was me, she put it down and sighed, "it's you. Now I wasted my time and effort taking out this tea set for nothing."
"Why would you even do that?"
"Keeping up my appearances. People can't see the princess sleeping on her bed all day now, can they?"
"You do that?"
Adel's face froze for a moment before she resumed. "Just an example. Don't think too hard about it."
'Heh, she definitely does that.'
But aggravating Adel right now wouldn't do me any good so I merely nodded and sat down across her on a wooden chair.
"So, I'm once again asking for your financial support."
Adel rolled her eyes and reached into her Space pouch to take out 5 shinning Platinum coins, which I received with glee.
"Is that all?" Adel asked.
"...?"
"You went all the way to my room just to ask for money? Don't you have anything to discuss? For example, that thing that's sitting on your arm," Adel finally addressed the elepha— I mean the Wyrm in the room.
Hearing Adel calling Glacia a "thing," I knew for a fact that she was aware that Glacia wasn't normal. However, it wasn't as if I could say that she was a Wyrm nonchalantly since I was sure that it would be quite a surprise, even for a regressor. As such, I shrugged my shoulders and dodged the question.
"Don't worry. She's harmless...maybe."
"Sure..."
Seeing that Adel was still eyeing Glacia cautiously, I placed Glacia down to the ground and nudged her toward Adel. "Say hi."
Glacia looked unsure. She looked back at me for reassurance, to which I nodded. Then, she faced Adel. However, her gaze soon moved from Adel's face to her... wings.
"Wahhh!" She exclaimed. "Mommy's wings...fluffy!"
Then, she jumped up and clung onto Adel's wing immediately. She was so fast that Adel didn't even have time to react.
Adel was, of course, less than amused with Glacia rubbing her face on her wings. She flailed her wings around wildly, trying to shake her off. Seeing that she couldn't do it no matter what, she hurried asked in slight panic, "how do I get it off?!"
Seeing the cold regressor getting flustered like that, I chuckled. "You can't. Believe me, I tried. You'll have to wait until she gets bored."
Sighing, Adel gave up on it rather quickly and spoke with a glare.
"Fine then, I'll remember this. Now, do you have anything else to discuss?"
Suppressing my laughter, I got serious again.
"Right. I want to ask if you can secure me a spot in the semi-finals of the Grand tournament. Either participant or spectator will do, but I prefer spectator."
"I have a feeling that you'll ask that," she sighed, "unfortunately, I can't. That brother of mine will jump at any chances to suppress my influence. Considering the significance of this tournament, if words that I gave you a valuable ticket ever come out, then my brother will most likely win the succession."
"Got it."
It was worth a try anyway.
Closing my eyes, I sighed. "Then I'll leave it all to y—"
"Actually," Adel cut me off, "you need to be present at the semi-finals, one way or another."
Hearing this, I could feel cold sweat profusely running down my back. "Y-you don't mean!"
"Regretfully, operation 'Amelia' failed."
"A-at least they've become close friends, r-right?"
"Barely acquaintances."
"Fuck..."
I couldn't believe that it failed. Operation 'Amelia,' like its name may suggest, involved Amelia the Saintess of Life. Its aim was to make Amelia fall for Arthur, or at least make them close enough that she wouldn't hesitate to revive him when he inevitably died in the Grand tournament.
I briefly considered using the lightbulb to save the hassle of executing this plan altogether, but I realized that she couldn't intervene in matters concerning high-ranking Void lords... like the one that would kill Arthur.
As such, it was vital that the operation succeed. However, it failed... in both of its goal. Then, there was only one option left.
'I can't believe I have to save his ass again... this is going to be very annoying.'
"Fine then, I can't let him die anyway. I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks," Adel nodded.
"Okay, that asides, what about A—"
"Wait," Adel suddenly cut me off. Then, she shouted for Kasumi, who appeared soon after from the shadows.
"Yes, your highness?"
"Check the room."
Kasumi bowed, then she disappeared into the darkness again.
Seeing Adel's serious expression, I stayed silent and observed the shadows. Finally, after several minutes of silence that was only occassionaly broke by Glacia's giggles, something happened.
From the shadows in the corner of the ceiling, two figures burst out. They wrestled on the ground with each other, eventually crashing into the wooden table, breaking it into pieces.
As the dust settled, I could see who they were. One was, of course, Kasumi. She wrestled with an older woman that had purple eyes like hers, fighting for the slightest of advantages.
As she finally painstakingly got on top of the woman, Kasumi shouted, "what do you think you're doing, mother?!"
The woman—presumably her mother—replied coldly, "I'm just following the Empress' orders."
Kasumi paused for a second before replying with equal coldness, "then don't blame me for what's going to happen next. I'm also following my master's orders."
Then, she swiftly took out her dagger and thrusted it down toward her mother's throat.