I Tried To Be Her Loyal Sword

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29

‘Is this a failure?’

I helplessly lowered my head. There was no other path than the Duke’s Mansion of Crisis. Aria was destined to die.

It felt like being dragged into hell while still alive.

‘Sorry. I’m so sorry…’

I slowly brushed the blood-stained face of Aria. Her shallow breaths felt like daggers to my heart.

I pressed my lips against her forehead. It was all my fault that Aria couldn’t survive. Because I was incompetent. Because I was useless. So pathetic that I couldn’t even protect the one I loved.

‘In my world, I will carry all your sins and karma.’

When the God of Death weighs all the sins accrued during your life on his scales, may all the sins that fall to you come to me instead. You may take with you all the little happiness allowed in my insignificant life.

‘I will follow you soon. It won’t take long.’

I intended to follow Aria as she faded into the beyond.

In that moment of deciding to embrace death, a large, solid hand reached out in front of me.

I squinted at the outstretched hand, then looked up to see the owner of the hand. Caesar, who had extended his hand towards me, slowly began to speak.

“Get up.”

His voice was sweet, tickling my ears, layered with a hint of warmth above his normally gruff tone. I opened my eyes wide and stared at him.

Only then did I meet Caesar’s gaze properly.

“My daughter does not need to kneel to anyone. Not even to the Emperor of this Empire, he cannot make your knees bend again.”

His eyes, which had previously felt cold, now contained a sparkling warmth.

‘What does this mean?’

With his hand in front of me, I quickly began to piece together what was implied.

‘My, daughter?’

My heart sank. A strange feeling was trying to surface from deep within, and I desperately tried to suppress it while deciphering the meaning hidden in his words.

‘……I don’t understand.’

And then I gave up. No matter how I brainwashed myself into believing it couldn’t possibly mean what it literally said, no other meaning came to me.

‘If interpreted literally…’

Doesn’t it sound like he’s suggesting that he would take me as his daughter?

‘Don’t mistake this.’

I clenched my jaw at the strange tingling sensation in my heart.

This was none other than ‘that’ Caesar Crisis. The cold and brutal Duke Crisis, born for slaughter.

There was no way he would recognize someone like me as his daughter.

“Aren’t you going to take my hand?”

A large hand waved in front of me, pulling me from my torment. I snapped back to reality and instinctively reached out to grab his hand, but hesitated sharply.

‘……It’s too dirty.’

I recoiled from his hand, which was stained with Aria’s blood and dirt. While it was calloused from years of being a warrior, I couldn’t bring myself to touch Caesar’s long, clean hand with my filthy, rough one.

“I’m… my hands are too dirty right now…”

I could feel my cheeks heating up from embarrassment. Just as I was about to hide my hands behind me from Caesar’s piercing gaze, his large hand grasped mine first and pulled me up.

Holding Aria in one arm, he awkwardly stood me up. Still holding his hand, I staggered and wobbled as my legs trembled beneath me.

“Two.”

Caesar clicked his tongue at the sight of my shaking legs and lifted Aria high.

“Why… why…”

“Because she asked for help.”

Caesar replied nonchalantly to my flustered stammering. He gestured to Taylor, who stood to his right, and Taylor nodded respectfully.

“Master.”

“Take them to an empty room. Wake the physician and have him examine her.”

“Yes.”

Taylor picked up Aria. I stood there, dumbfounded, watching the entire process.

‘Why?’

I didn’t fully understand the sudden situation, but I urgently cried out.

“Aria is not an ordinary person! She is…”

“Half fairy, I presume.”

‘Huh?’

At Caesar’s nonchalant remark, my pupils dilated in confusion. I quickly turned to him as he spoke with a languid expression.

“The aura of fairies is inherently different from humans, so those with sensitive senses can easily distinguish between the two. Don’t you know that?”

Humans, who come from nature but harm it, and fairies, who live in harmony with nature, have a distinctly different aura, so his words were true.

“Then you must know that she can’t be treated with ordinary medicine.”

I anxiously looked at Aria, who was trembling in distress. What she needed was not a diagnosis, but the energy of the Fairy Forest.

“Though she is half fairy, she has never been to the Fairy Forest, and due to the lack of energy, her body has deteriorated. The only treatment is… the energy from the Fairy Forest.”

I heavily hung my head. No matter how gracious he had been to me, it was unlikely he would part with the energy of the Fairy Forest, which boasted a terrifying price per drop. I felt disgusted at myself for making such an unreasonable demand, but I had no other way.

“Duke, please… I will repay you for the rest of my life. If you could lend me just a drop, I will work for you my entire life…”

With my eyes tightly shut, I was about to kneel again when—

Whoosh.

Before my knees could touch the ground, my body was yanked upward by a pair of hands on my waist.

‘Huh?’

I struggled to comprehend the sudden twist. My feet were off the ground, and Caesar was lifting me as if I were a child…

‘This is insane.’

I was aghast as I grasped the situation.

Caesar, who had lifted me like a child wanting to kneel, looked at me with a dissatisfied expression. I squirmed, embarrassment washing over me as I flailed about.

“Put me down…”

“What did I just say?”

‘Just now…?’

“The energy of fairies… is inherently different from humans…”

“Not that.”

“……You told me to take your hand…”

“The one before that.”

As I dangled from Caesar, I desperately racked my brain, and my eyes widened as I slowly opened my lips.

“Even the Emperor… cannot make you kneel…”

“Exactly.”

At that, Caesar smiled satisfyingly. Seeing his bright smile right in front of me made me stiffen in place.

“My daughter does not need to kneel anywhere.”

Caesar gently set me down on the ground.

“So never kneel again, not in front of anyone. Your knees carry the weight of the name Crisis.”

He placed his hand on my head, which had gone rigid, and tousled my already messy hair.

Something peculiar kept squirming within my heart.

‘Why do I keep…

Feeling confused?

It felt strange. I resented Caesar, who acted like he was my father.

‘He can’t be serious.’

There’s no way.

I crushed the budding expectations trying to grow within me. No matter how he might use me as a tool, why would a duke with everything want someone like me as a daughter?

I calmed my roiling emotions.

“You mentioned your name was Kashmir?”

While my mind was in turmoil, Caesar spoke again. I quickly nodded in response.

“Yes, it’s Kashmir.”

“Right. Kashmir Crisis.”

Thump.

It felt like my heart had plummeted to the depths.

‘Why?’

I couldn’t understand. Why was he calling me “Kashmir Crisis”?

But I lacked the courage to ask.

‘What if there’s no reason at all?’

For some reason, I felt like I would despair.

“I will ensure your sister gets the energy from the Fairy Forest.”

At his indifferent declaration, my eyes went wide. It felt like my soul, which had been tumbling toward hell, had suddenly entered paradise.

‘Anything, anything must be done.’

I grabbed his sleeve desperately.

“Thank you! Please, just give me any order. I will do anything!”

Looking up at him with trembling eyes, still dazed by the enormity of what was happening, I felt incredibly, genuinely happy. If he commanded me, I felt I could do anything.

As Caesar looked down at me, he slowly opened his mouth.

“Who are you?”

“••••••What?”

“I asked who you are.”

His question was so simple it left me speechless.

“I… I am the mercenary Mir. A sword master who has wielded a sword my entire life.”

“Right. The Mir who spoke of the rights of the strong before me…”

His response reminded me of my first meeting with Caesar.

Now that I think about it, Caesar had shown a kindness I couldn’t understand even back then, even pulling out jewels so abruptly.

“And you. Who are you?”

He asked again. It seemed he wanted some specific answer from me, but I had no idea what he was looking for. After a moment of contemplation, I timidly answered with my fingers fidgeting.

“……Kashmir. The commoner living in the back alleys with a sister named Aria.”

“Not anymore.”

“What?”

“I just wanted to make it clear because you seem to reject that.”

Caesar slowly lifted my chin. Leaning in close, he whispered.

“You are now my daughter, Princess Kashmir Crisis.”