I Don’t Need a Dad Like This! - Chapter 121

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 121】

The Imperial Palace had become a massive fortress.

All the servants who had been managing the interior of the castle were temporarily quarantined, and among the beautiful gardens and the Golden Vine Columns erected throughout, imperial knights stood with drawn swords, preparing for a state of war.

Among these, the place with the most troops deployed was the Tower of Time and the quarters of the servants who managed the tower.

Rie, who had entered the servant quarters with the adults, looked around.

‘The Maid Sisters aren’t here.’

That’s right.

The servants who originally lived here had been moved to other temporary quarters.

This was because the Emperor, concerned that the scale of the confrontation would grow, had moved the hostages to these quarters that were farthest from the main palace.

When they opened the door to the room, inside were two beds placed side by side and women with their eyes closed.

It was Emilia and Serena, both asleep.

Rie, who had been watching cautiously with round eyes, carefully opened her mouth toward Emilia.

“Mother…?”

“The souls haven’t switched back yet. Since it’s magic that continues as long as the soul of the dark mage who cast the dark magic doesn’t disappear, Mother’s soul is still in Serena’s body.”

“Then is this Mother?”

Rie ran pattering toward Serena’s bed and pointed at her with her small hand.

“…Yes.”

When Casselik answered briefly after a moment of silence, the child’s eyebrows drooped sadly.

Below her lips, which she pressed tight to keep from crying, a small dimple formed.

She had thought she would be fine just seeing that Emilia was safe with her own eyes.

But now that she thought about Emilia being trapped in Serena’s body, she wanted to rescue her mother quickly.

“…Mother. Are you very very scared inside someone else’s body? Rie is here. Now Rie will protect you.”

Seeing the child praying with her small hands, the Emperor and Casselik’s expressions became complicated.

Currently, dozens of broken clocks hung on the walls of this place.

They were the biological clocks of people who had been sacrificed by the dark mages.

The Emperor, realizing that the dark mages would cast dark magic with the blood of their victims, had filled this place where Serena was with their biological clocks.

Even if they tried to use dark magic to rescue Serena, time would not rewind or stop in this room alone.

The moment they used dark magic, the biological clocks of the sacrificed people would resonate in response to the blood and repel time.

“…Now that we’ve confirmed Emilia’s soul is safe, let’s send the children back.”

The Emperor glanced at Rie and Jair and muttered.

His tone suggested he had already been quite lenient.

Casselik, who hadn’t wanted the children involved in the war anyway, agreed with his words.

“Rie, now that you’ve seen Mother too, go back to the Tower of Time with the Crown Prince. The adults will handle the rest.”

Jair, who had been listening to that conversation, frowned.

“…With the Crown Prince? Are you talking about me?”

“Of course. The Crown Prince is seven years old.”

“Duke. I understand what you mean, but right now my abilities are probably stronger than Father’s.”

Rie, who had been listening quietly, also added her opinion.

“Rie is stronger than Father too. And beside Rie is a very very strong God!”

“Chronos is present wherever time reaches. So she is beside all of us.”

But Rie’s claim was blocked by the Emperor’s sudden display of faith.

-You understand well.

Then a not-unpleasant laugh echoed in Rie’s head.

It was Chronos, who had been watching from beside the child.

Unlike her who was enjoying herself, Rie became tearful. Because a huge shadow had suddenly fallen in front of the child.

“From this moment, you two will wait in the Tower of Time. This is an order as Emperor.”

“…Eeeeh…”

“You know what happens when you disobey my command, don’t you?”

“!”

At the Emperor’s question, Rie’s mouth clamped shut like a clam.

‘…If I don’t listen to His Majesty the Emperor’s command, I’ll be breaking the law… I’ll become a criminal like Aunt Serena.’

It was unfair, but there was nothing she could do.

In the end, Rie and Jair were confined to the Tower of Time under the devoted escort of knights.

“This doesn’t make sense. Rie has to protect Mother!”

But even though they were confined to the tower, the children’s spirits weren’t confined as well.

In Rie’s mind, the image of Emilia lying there was still vivid.

Jair felt just as uncomfortable.

“You were trapped in the Tower of Time until just before you regressed and barely escaped, but now we’re back to square one.”

Rie took out her clock from her pocket.

“Angel. Should Rie stop time so we can sneak out?”

“If that were possible, His Majesty and the Duke would have taken your clock away. But they didn’t, which means time abilities don’t work in the room where those two are, so don’t get caught doing something foolish.”

“Whoa… Rie almost did something foolish. Angel really is smart!”

“What good is being smart when Angel is trapped while the adults fight outside?”

The boy leaning against the sofa spoke sarcastically.

It was just as Duke Casselik had said.

He was clearly different from ordinary children due to being a Time Observer and enduring nearly ten years alone because of the Duke’s regressions, but at crucial moments he was still a seven-year-old under house arrest.

It felt like the helplessness he had felt when trapped in the stopped world was coming back to life.

‘There’s nothing we can do. We can only remember that past time wisely and stop the Duke if he tries to regress again.’

Every time, the Emperor would only say to cultivate patience.

It was truly strange.

Jair wielded powerful influence within the Empire as Crown Prince, but at the same time was always in an observer’s position.

When time stopped, he hoped time would flow again; when it regressed, he only wished to return to the present.

When facing people, he could hardly focus on conversations because of unnecessary futures.

Most of the boy’s life was in the hands of others, not himself.

It was then, while he was lost in lamentation.

“No. Angel is very very smart, so you’ll be able to find a way.”

A cheerful voice cut through his helpless thoughts in an instant.

When he came to his senses and turned his head, Rie’s eyebrows, which had looked gentle, were raised like mountains.

The child wore a determined expression as if she had never once doubted his abilities.

But Jair had given up.

He had seen and heard too much.

“…Duke Casselik has regressed many times, and even you regressed, but no progress is being made. Even the glimpse I saw of Duke Casselik’s future didn’t look very good…”

“Focus!”

Suddenly, soft palms grasped both his cheeks.

Startled, Jair froze like stone.

“The past is gone, and the future can be changed. So don’t look at anything and focus!”

With a serious warning, ocean-like eyes covered his vision.

The distracting thoughts that had been stirring in his head were swept away somewhere with the blue waves.

Only then did Jair feel it. This moment that was neither past nor present.

“Rie came back one year because of Father. Rie thinks of this as an opportunity. Kami gave Rie time abilities, and Mother didn’t give up on Rie either. Since Rie changed, things became very different from before. What about Angel?”

Thanks to the spirited question, Jair finally exhaled the breath he had unknowingly been holding.

“…Me?”

“Yes! Even though we haven’t defeated the dark mages yet. But Angel must have changed too. Um. Angel has already saved Rie many times, so you became a hero. Oh, and you grew very very tall too!”

A small hand pointed to the top of her own head.

Jair was indeed taller than average for his age.

Being seven years old, he was growing rapidly day by day.

‘…But what has fundamentally changed is.’

The boy’s golden eyes met the giant orbs looking up at him.

“You.”

“R-Rie?”

“Yes. Rie, I changed after meeting you. At first I thought it was because of your eyes, but….”

That wasn’t it.

In the days before Rie, there was no one to take interest in.

Everything was just mundane, and I felt no value worth focusing on.

But after meeting Rie, he had been counting the second hand of the clock that used to pass by boringly.

How many minutes had passed while being with this child?

How many more minutes could they stay together?

He had begun to grasp the flow of time that he used to watch without much thought.

Jair, who had been quietly looking at Rie, opened his mouth.

“Rie. Let’s escape outside.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t care about other matters, but the dark mages have sacrificed too many people. The ability created from the price of those lives might be greater than His Majesty the Emperor and Duke Casselik combined. Both of their abilities have almost completely transferred to us.”

Price of lives? Transfer?

‘Wh-what does that mean?’

Rie’s head spun from the suddenly appearing difficult words.

But there was one good sign.

Jair’s attitude had changed 180 degrees from before.

The boy had even gotten up from the sofa and was looking around everywhere.

He was searching for a way to escape.

‘The angel has come to his senses. Rie needs to help quickly too!’

It was the perfect opportunity to reveal the items she had kept carefully hidden just in case.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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