In the large room filled with a strange aroma, Roland rubbed his forehead in confusion, opened his eyes, and looked at Irisviel beside him.
Even in her sleep, her noble and stunning appearance was not affected in the slightest. Instead, she looked even more charming because of the blush on her face. Her long, frosty white hair, as white as the moonlight, gently draped over Roland's body, giving him an itchy, subtle touch.
Roland quickly left the bed to prevent Irisviel from clinging to him, otherwise he would have to spend another day on this big bed.
As a result, as soon as he got out of bed, he stepped on the garters thrown carelessly on the floor, as well as the clothes scattered everywhere. However, this time, before he could summon the Shadowkhan, the highly cultured homunculi maid had already come over obediently, began to consciously clean up everything around, and dressed Roland.
This was the first time that Roland enjoyed such a corrupt life. Although the Einzbern Homunculi were not good at fighting, they were very good at this aspect.
"Where's Old Man Acht?"
Roland asked casually to the homuculus maid named Sera beside him, as if the great patriarch who ruled the Einzbern was just an insignificant character in his eyes.
"I'm already waiting to report to you, Lord Roland."
After the Holy Grail War, in order to avoid any unexpected events, Roland immediately brought Irisviel and Illya to the Einzbern home shrouded in an ice and snow barrier, and announced a fact to the stunned Old Man Acht.
"From now on, Einzbern belongs to me."
Faced with this request, Old Man Acht acted decisively and immediately handed over the highest authority to Roland. He immediately stopped the experiments and abandonment of the androids, and directly confirmed the mission of Einzbern as serving Roland.
It was completely different from the insanity Roland had in mind. It was not until he discovered that this guy's mind had been completely rewritten by the idea of serving the Fire Demon that he understood the reason for the incident.
Walking in the spacious chapel, this respectable-looking old man was following Roland respectfully.
"Some of the core Homunculus have already rushed to Fuyuki, and the construction of the relevant barriers and workshops is also being prepared. Soon, it will become the second palace where Einzbern will serve you."
"Um..."
Roland responded without comment, and looked at the statues in the chapel. After passing the Shendu who was difficult to evaluate and the three talismans, he looked at the newly hung paintings with strange eyes.
It was a giant oil painting that was magnificent, sacred, and full of religious feeling. It was better than any previous painting that recorded the history of Einzbern. However, compared with other works, this painting did not have many images, only the image of a young man holding up a golden cup.
Even people with little artistic attainments can see the artist's strong desire to glorify the greatness of the young man in the painting as much as possible.
Roland stared at the work, narrowed his eyes, and said calmly: "Now when I see this kind of thing, even the feeling of shame disappears. It seems that I have grown a lot."
"It is simply because this mortal work cannot even touch a shred of your brilliance."
The silver-haired old man said nonchalantly: "It is natural to record the results of the Holy Grail War in oil paintings, not to mention you who have fulfilled the Einzbern's long-cherished wish. If Lord Roland wants, I even plan to hang your statues everywhere in Einzbern..."
"This is still free."
Roland quickly rejected the fanatic's plan. Suddenly, his eyes moved and he looked behind him. Illya, who was wearing a white dress, jumped into his arms like a nimble little deer.
"Father, it's so boring here... When are we going back to Fuyuki..."
Illya rubbed against Roland skillfully and immediately started to act coquettishly. For Illya, who grew up locked up in a castle, everything outside seemed so interesting compared to the Einzbern who was buried in ice and snow all day long.
"I'm going back today. Where's your mother?"
"It seems like she's still getting dressed..."
Illya blinked her eyes. "Every time my mother doesn't let me sleep with her, I always wake up late the next day. Why is that?"
Roland laughed dumbly and did not explain: "You can find out the reason for this kind of thing when you grow up. Now, go and ask Irisviel to prepare quickly. We have to go back to Fuyuki this afternoon and we have things to do tomorrow."
At Fuyuki Airport in the morning, after getting off the special charter plane, Roland took Illya for a stroll. Although the movement would be faster using the Shadowkhan, due to Illya's pleading, they still used the plane as the means of transportation for this trip.
Just as Irisviel, who obviously had little experience, was enthusiastically introducing the surrounding stores to Illya as if she were very familiar with them, Roland's attention was attracted by a somewhat unexpected figure.
Her slightly curly silver hair fell naturally, and her pupils, which were between amber and gold, did not show any superfluous emotion. Her regular facial features held a pitiful look, and her nun-like attire gave her an illusory beauty.
Although she hasn't grown up yet, everyone can tell that she is a beauty.
At this moment, the girl stood there, staring at Roland with eyes that seemed to be able to speak.
Roland could confirm that he did not know this child, but the child's gaze was too sharp, as if he recognized him.
Out of curiosity, he took the initiative to walk towards the girl. Seeing his actions, the silver-haired girl's expression remained calm, but her little hands unconsciously grasped the hem of her nun's uniform.
"Ugh—!"
As Roland approached, the girl unconsciously made a short sound, her face became paler, and a few drops of sweat appeared on her forehead.
I am afraid.
The girl knew this very well. Since she was a child, she had been very vulnerable to injury and often had scars on her body for no reason.
And after that man appeared, every inch of her skin felt a dull pain, as if it was about to roll over and drench everything with blood and pain.
The reason why such a scene had not occurred was because the man was looking at her, as if she could not be disrespectful in front of a superior, and she did not have any wounds on her body.
Reason was telling her to step back quickly, but she was so frightened that her whole body became stiff, like a lamb under the butcher's knife, waiting quietly to be devoured.
I couldn't even think of running away, and the courage I used to have to easily spit out sarcasm at adults disappeared without a trace.
The silver-haired girl knew her own nature clearly. She didn't know whether it was inherited from her father or mother, or if it was innate to her, but ever since she was a child, she had felt a sense of destructive emptiness lingering around her.
Compared to normal people, she is twisted. She cannot feel not only happiness, but even negative emotions such as sadness.
No matter what kind of hardship befell her, she could not understand it, whether it was sadness, hatred, anger or even pain, so she always faced everything with an indifferent attitude, pretending to be a well-behaved puppet to conceal her true nature.
Even though she was taken away by her father whom she had never met since she was born, she could not understand what the warmth of family love was all about.
From childhood to adulthood, she lived as the daughter of a sinner because her mother committed suicide and betrayed the love of God. Therefore, although the priest who raised her received generous living expenses, he refused to let her be baptized or go to school to learn knowledge. He just kept praying and working for the young girl.
Then, she was taken away by her father, who also possessed the essence of nothingness but could not feel emptiness.
However, just now, this sense of nothingness was completely broken.
Obviously, she could hardly see with her right eye and her sense of taste was very weak. Compared with ordinary people, her perception of the world was always a little duller, but as the man approached, everything around her became turbulent.
All kinds of extreme emotions continuously impacted the silver-haired girl's brain. The clear world was engraved on her body with extreme pain. If she were an ordinary person, she would be destroyed the moment she realized the true nature of this man. But at this moment, the girl only felt an extreme pleasure. Her petite body kept shaking, and she looked at Roland who was approaching step by step, at a loss.
How could there be such a strong malice? So cruel, yet with a kind of kindness, so chaotic, yet with a sense of holiness.
Although she had been asked countless times to follow the priest and pray to the gods in the church, it was the first time that the girl felt proof of the real existence of gods.
If there really is a God in the world, it can only be this man in front of him who is so evil that he makes people feel a kind of pure love.
With every step Roland took closer, she felt as if something was wailing inside her body, and with every step forward, she felt the suffocation getting worse.
Finally, with some soul-stirring sound, the layer of glass separating her from the world was completely shattered.
In this black and white world, only the man in front of him exudes color.
She only felt as if her soul had fallen into the abyss. Before the endless coldness and darkness came, she stared with greedy eyes at the only color in the world that she could feel. She smiled happily in extreme joy, and then fainted completely.
"What's going on?"
Roland looked at the girl who suddenly fell down with some surprise. He was preparing a suitable opening remark because of her constantly changing expression, and wanted to talk about her strange physique, but she fainted.
Roland subconsciously embraced the girl's soft and light body, and only then did he realize that although she looked very slender, she was surprisingly voluptuous.
"What should I do next..."
Holding the fainted silver-haired girl in his arms, Roland, who was in distress, was just about to avoid the suspicious looks from the people around him when a steady voice called him.
"Lord Roland... why are you here? My daughter is..."
Kotomine Kirei looked at Caren being held by Roland with a confused look on his face.
"Kirei, is this your daughter?"
Roland blinked before he matched this girl with the sharp-tongued school doctor in his impression.
"Yes, because her mother committed suicide and I was still looking for answers at the time, so I gave her to a priest I knew well to raise, and I just took her back today."
Kotomine Kirei nonchalantly recounted his past, and halfway through, he seemed to remember something.
"Speaking of which, this child's physique is a bit special. Although he hasn't developed any stigmata yet, I think he has been tortured by a spirit medium. He is very likely to attract demons and be hurt by them. Under certain circumstances, he can also expel demons. As a demon detector, it is extremely useful."
So that's how it is. Roland nodded in understanding.
After all, according to her original destiny, Caren would become a tool of the Holy Church after her physique was fully awakened, and would not come to Fuyuki to take over her father's position until Kotomine Kirei died.
People with this physique also possess a talent equivalent to chronic demon possession, so they can accurately detect the demons around them. However, for Roland, who inherited the evil identity of mankind, this innate detection is a dead end.
However, it seemed that because he had held back, judging from Caren's previous performance, it seemed that a negative plus a negative had a positive effect. After all, this girl's character inherited the emptiness of Kotomine Kirei. It was not clear whether the direction of this correction had shifted.
"My daughter probably fainted because of her physical condition. There's nothing we can do about it."
Seeing Roland's expression, Kotomine Kirei also understood the whole picture and shook his head casually, as if he didn't care about his daughter's safety at all.
"Well, it's not entirely a bad thing. This physique seems to have been distorted by me. Although it is a bit inappropriate, I remember the mark of the beast. I'm afraid no blind demon will dare to possess her."
"If that's the case, it couldn't be better."
Kotomine Kirei nodded slightly, and just as he was about to say something else, he stopped.
Roland also lowered his head and looked at Caren who was in his arms. Her eyes were already hazily open, and her diffused golden pupils were staring at him closely, filled with an intoxicated emotion as if she wanted to swallow him up. The girl's demonic charm seemed to have blossomed after what had just happened.
"Hello, my name is Roland, and I'm your father's best friend. What's your name, kid?"
Holding Caren's petite body in his arms, Roland greeted her casually, not really expecting a response. After all, aside from her empty nature and weak body, Caren was not an easy person to get along with.
But to his surprise, although the blush on her pretty face had not yet faded, the girl's cold eyes were filled with rich emotions. She looked at Roland and repeated her name seriously.
"Caren, my name is...Caren Hortensia."