The spacious boulevards were abuzz with activity as people from all walks of life, from the plainly dressed commoners to the opulently adorned nobility, found their gazes invariably drawn to a man and woman at the heart of the thoroughfare. Each passerby, despite the briefest of encounters, couldn't resist a second glance at the pair.
Strolling through the capital's streets with his daughter's hand in his, Ansel's spirits were buoyant.
"My dear Helen," the young Hydral said with a smile, "do you have any further thoughts on Madam Ronger's remarks?"
"...None," Ravenna responded softly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Even without Ans... even without father, I had already found my answer."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't believe that only... father could be the one to accompany on this journey."
Her gaze dropped slightly beneath the veil of misty black lace. "Such insight and vision are not possessed by everyone. I've never held... any great expectations for the Rongers."
Despite her words of denial, it was clear from her uncontrollable emotional tone and subtle body language that Ravenna was revealing her true feelings without saying a word.
"Your deanor back then hardly seed as nonchalant as you claim now."
Ansel remarked, gently squeezing Ravenna's hand and brushing his fingertips against her palm, mimicking the desperate grip of miss puppet from earlier.
Ravenna fell silent, perhaps unable to articulate a response that could continue to persuade herself.
It was a truth that required no elaborate unveiling, one that Ravenna had been prepared for, yet had never actively sought to reveal
— Even the students who had steadfastly followed Eileen through the most challenging tis had never believed in the possibility of that future.
In this vast and enigmatic world of the extraordinary, Ravenna Ziegler found herself alone after her grandfather's death.
It was an absurd reality where the few who were close to her could not stand by her side, and the devil who toyed with her, calling her "daughter," was the only one who matched her stature.
Even more absurd was the fact that before becoming a devil, he had been her best friend, and she had once had the chance to escape the suffocating loneliness.
Had their alliance not fractured, had they still been working together, even just for three years… the entire empire could have been transford. The future deed impossible by Ronger would no longer be a fleeting illusion but a tangible reality within reach.
But that future was indeed impossible now. What remained was a pitiful puppet, bound and calling the devil "father."
In that mont, when Ansel rcilessly exposed the Rongers' negative attitude towards Eileen's ideals, a flash of anger had ignited in Ravenna's heart, yet that fla could not be sustained.
Instead, she sincerely uttered… those words.
"After calling out 'father,' did you feel a rebellious thrill, as if venting your resentnt?"
Ansel asked with a narrowed smile, caressing Ravenna's delicate hand wrapped in black lace gloves.
At the mont she said Ansel is the one believing in that future, Ravenna, who had seed sowhat out of control, had for the first ti spoken the word "father" without any thought of resistance.
The young Hydral could feel the slight tremble of the petite scholar's body as she embraced him, which brought him great pleasure.
"... Perhaps," Ravenna whispered in response.
"I seek a definitive answer, my dear Helen."
The obedient miss puppet paused for a mont before replying, "There was... a mont. Indeed, that answer gave a fleeting sense of pleasure, a forbidden, rebellious pleasure."
—Even without it, I have better. This thought, more or less present in everyone's heart, is the source of the pleasure Ravenna described.
But of course, it was only a mont, because...
"Because, Ans... father, you would not walk that path either."
Those who were close to her could not see, nor had the ability to step onto that path.
Those who had broken ties with her, despite being far ahead on that path, sought to actively destroy it.
What a... ludicrous world.
Is this what Ansel wanted to see? To see how isolated I am, to see that if I hadn't parted ways with him, perhaps everything could have been different?
Compared to Seraphina, Ravenna could always see Ansel's intentions at first glance—at least the most superficial ones.
But most of the ti, it didn't bring any help. At the beginning, she could at least use this to resist Ansel, but now... it only made Ravenna feel the harshness of reality even more, serving no other purpose.
After all, she had gone from "never being enslaved by Ansel" to now "maintaining a balance in the relationship with Ansel as much as possible."
Miss puppet couldn't resist the temptation—if she could help Ansel solve his problems, then everything would co to the most beautiful conclusion.
So... let it continue, whether as father and daughter, master and servant, or even as pets.
It's just dignity, completely sacrificial.
In her heart, that desire, that hope, never dimd or flickered out, no matter how negative reality was.
Ansel, who was always attentive to everything about Ravenna, noticed her barely perceptible emotional fluctuations, just as Ravenna understood him, he too understood her all too well.
To the point of so disappointnt.
Disappointed that Ravenna hadn't changed, and disappointed at the predetermined end of this taming.
Honestly, although Ansel disliked anything that deviated from the track, especially a dramatic change at the end that was completely out of his control, if it was a change like Seraphina's, he didn't really mind.
But Ravenna... born for that ideal, living for that ideal, the path paved by her character and thinking, Ansel could see its end at a glance.
So... it's on to the next stage then.
I wish you could surprise , but that's clearly impossible, Ravenna.
"Are you familiar with this place, Helen?" Ansel, seemingly andering through the streets without purpose, led Ravenna to the front of a shop.
Ravenna silently surveyed her surroundings. She had never been here before, but this area... was within the control of the Etheric Academy.
Centered around the sorcerer's tower, Yuktreshil, this upscale area was ho to a multitude of sorcerers, nobles, and rchants from across the nation, selling various materials or precious items.
This shop, located sowhat far from Yuktreshil, was in the outermost area, where the rchants were lesser-known individuals, unlikely to offer anything of significant value. Ravenna wondered why Ansel had brought her here.
"I... have never been here, father," Ravenna softly replied.
"Not familiar? No matter, there's soone you know in that shop."
Leaning on his scepter, Ansel led Ravenna into the shop. As soon as the door opened, a warm and eager voice imdiately greeted them, causing Ravenna to freeze on the spot.
-->
Reviews
All reviews (0)