Regis’ Point of View
“It seems that Lady Gabrielle has no intentions of returning.”
The guard, Gislain, returned to the inn and gave me a report with his battered body.
“Is that so…”
I knew it was coming. I was not surprised.
It just made me feel sad.
I was informed that a person who looked like my beloved daughter Elle was in Arburn, the official capital of the neighboring country, the Principality of Agreable, and I immediately ran out of the mansion.
As soon as I arrived in Arburn, I met up with the people who had been assigned to search for Elle.
“Where is Elle?”
“In a church in an alleyway.”
“Got it. You guys stay here.”
When I instructed Gislain and the other guards, they asked, “Why?”
“I want to talk to Elle one-on-one. Wait here.”
I couldn’t take anyone else with me if I was going to be reunited with my daughter.
I walked down the alleyway alone, and I found a church standing there quietly.
After my wife Rosalie died, Elle used to beg me to visit the church. When I asked her why she wanted to go to church if she wasn’t a devout believer, she replied, “Because I feel like I can see my Mother.”
It was the last place she had seen her mother at, so she thought sfhe felt closer to her there.
“Rosalie, I wonder if this would have never happened if you were still alive.”
If Rosalie was still alive…
It’s useless to think about it. I have to do what I can do now.
As I looked at the church, a woman came out from inside.
She had long black hair and looked just like the young Rosalie. I was stunned by the unbelievable sight.
Am I hallucinating? No, I’m not. That woman is not her.
Then who is it, I think, and remember why I’m here. Yes, it’s Elle.
She was the spitting image of Rosalie.
“Elle…?”
Is it really Elle?
When I called out to her while overflowing with various feelings, the woman shivered. She turned around fearfully and looked at my face, and showed a look of extreme surprise.
“Father…”
It was the voice of the girl I had wanted to see all this time.
“So it’s you after all, Elle…”
We finally meet again.
I felt like crying, glad that she was alive.
When Elle saw me, filled with relief and joy, her body trembled as if she was frightened.
“Elle, it’s been a while…”
I tried not to frighten her, and she replied, “Long time no see” with her voice trembling.
When I tried to approach her, she would take that many steps back. I know exactly why she did that.
But it really made me sad to be rejected by my own daughter.
“Elle, I…”
When I wanted to apologize to her and reached out to her, she shouted, “Please stop!”
The look in Elle’s eyes was one of fear and disgust.
The thought of what I had done to her ran through my mind. I blamed her for something she didn’t do, and I used a lot of verbal and physical abuse.
It would be unreasonable to ask her to pretend that it never happened now.
But I still wanted to talk to her.
I was hoping that if I told her what had happened to me, she might at least listen to me.
“Elle, please listen to…”
“I asked you to stop. I have nothing to talk to you about.”
Elle hugged herself and glared at me. I didn’t expect her to reject me so much.
“I, I just want you to retu…”
I want you to come back.
I couldn’t even say those words.
A sudden lightning that struck next right to me interrupted my words. It was magic, and it was caused by someone else.
It was not the magic of either me or Elle.
“Elle!”
I look around to see who did it, I heard a voice of a man I didn’t know.
A young man with black hair and jade eyes came running towards us in a hurry. Who is this man who called Elle’s name?
“Jed…”
Jed?
I didn’t know anyone with that name. But the moment Elle saw him, her expression relaxed, as if she was relieved.
“Elle, are you okay?”
“I…”
The man who was called Jed stood between me and Elle and glared at me menacingly.
The powerful expression on his face was something I had seen before. But I couldn’t remember who it belonged to.
As we faced each other, raindrops began to fall from the cloudy sky.
“Who are you?”
“It’s none of your business.”
The man coldly pushed me away.
I don’t know who he was, but he must have deceived my daughter. I have to pull him away quickly.
Behind him, Elle was hugging her shivering body tightly. I wonder if she was shivering from the cold.
“Elle, let’s get out of here.”
“Eh?”
The man turned around, pulled Elle’s arm and started running.
I hurriedly chased after them as they ran away, but I couldn’t catch up with them as fast as I had hoped.
The man picked up Elle in the middle of the run and started running. I tried to stop him with magic, but it would be a disaster if I hit Elle.
“Elle, wait! I beg you! Please wait!”
When I called out to her, Elle clung to the man as if she was frightened.
I felt sad that she had put her trust in a man I didn’t know rather than me, her father, and the weight of my sin pierced my heart.
My legs froze, and I couldn’t move to chase after them.
“Elle, I…”
I didn’t know what to do anymore.