MYCDM 04

Chapter 04

Shia was startled by Elihu’s words. Asking if Oper was really her biological father.

“Excuse me? What are you talking about?”

“Children with exceptional Rings are always threatened with kidnapping. And I believe there could be someone bold enough to have kidnapped the Princess.”

What was this?

Words that sounded as if Oper, her father, had kidnapped her….

“Oh, no. My father looks exactly like me in hair and eye color.”

“Hmm, is that so? But people with similar hair and eye color can be found easily anywhere.”

Elihu’s words sent a chill down her spine.

Elihu gazed at Shia and explained slowly.

“It seems you don’t know, so let me tell you—the Rings of the direct imperial line can work miracles on ordinary Tashin citizens.”

“Miracles? I can’t do anything like that.”

“You already did. You sent your Ring all the way across the Arune Strait, beyond the boundary.”

“I’m telling you again, I didn’t feel anything like that at all.”

“…It seems Shia has never had any Ring training at all. So of course you wouldn’t feel it well.”

It was true. Everything she knew now was what she had heard from Elihu here.

Elihu let out a small sigh.

To avoid Elihu’s suspicions, Shia began to defend Oper.

“My father is a good person. Though we were poor, he was always kind to me and did his best for me.”

She had said that only to refute Elihu’s story that her father might be a kidnapper.

“Then why were you in danger of losing your life while under such a good father?”

At this question, Shia fell silent again.

“People are sometimes caught between painful things. Between a happy lie and a cruel truth.”

Shia looked at Elihu. Elihu was smiling.

“Does Shia prefer a happy lie? But from what I see, this current situation seems more like an unhappy lie.”

Her stepmother Dirai hated her. Oper, her father, couldn’t be like that.

‘My father is a kidnapper? He looks so much like me? That’s nonsense.’

Shia found it hard to doubt Oper.

“My father will come find me.”

Oper cherished Shia.

The fact that Dirai even tried to kill Shia out of jealousy was… because of Oper’s deep love for Shia.

“I’ve stationed people. So that if anyone is looking for Shia, they can come here.”

At those words, Shia lifted her head.

What if it was her stepmother Dirai looking for her?

No. Dirai wouldn’t look for Shia. It was Oper who cherished Shia, so Oper would come looking.

“Thank you.”

Suppressing her surging emotions, Shia bowed her head in gratitude.

“Don’t cry.”

Suddenly, tears were falling from Shia’s eyes.

“Thank you for saving me and taking care of me. May I ask for a little more of your help until my father comes to find me?”

“Of course. In return, I have one favor to ask.”

“What favor?”

“Meet Michael when he arrives.”

“Michael?”

“The husband of Princess Aksa.”

“Ah….”

The husband of ‘Princess Aksa,’ the very daughter His Majesty the Tashin Emperor supposedly lost.

“You will meet him, right?”

Shia answered in a small voice.

“Yes.”

For the few days she stayed at the inn, the only people Shia met were the doctor, the nurse, and Elihu.

Since she had just been threatened with death, Shia also didn’t want to meet anyone other than them.

Perhaps feeling sorry that Shia had nothing to do and was blankly staring out the window because she had so few people to meet, Elihu brought her a few books, saying they were interesting.

With an embarrassed face, Shia confessed that she couldn’t read.

“What? You can’t read? You said you lived in Arune for a long time? Why?”

“My health was poor, so there was no time to teach me to read.”

Elihu’s expression twisted.

“Could it be that they didn’t teach you because they were afraid you might gain knowledge?”

“Oh, no. I was really sick often.”

Shia quickly made excuses, but in truth, her grandmother had not liked Shia learning to read and write.

Oper also didn’t teach her, on the grounds that since she was sick, she shouldn’t overdo it.

But that was truly because he worried about her.

Shia erased that doubt with Oper’s love.

—

Every day, Shia asked Elihu if there was anyone looking for her.

Each time, the answer that came back from Elihu was always ‘no one.’

For about a day, Shia thought her father was probably looking for her here and there alone.

But when one day became two, and then three, a familiar melancholy began to creep into Shia’s heart.

‘Has my father abandoned me? Am I a child he doesn’t need to find?’

Her mind filled with such thoughts.

Tears flowed. The sorrow of a beloved family not coming to find her was stronger than anything else.

‘It hurts. Please find me, please.’

Then, as Shia wiped her tears with her sleeve, she felt something strange.

‘Huh?’

It might be a strange expression, but something of Shia’s was approaching.

This was something she had also felt from Oper.

In fact, having been with Oper for so long, Shia had come to realize something.

No matter how far Oper was, there was something that gave her the certainty that he was alive.

A feeling that couldn’t be put into words.

Perhaps that too was the special ability, the power of that thing called a Ring, that Elihu spoke of.

‘Could it be, has Father come to find me?’

Shia hurriedly pushed aside the curtain and looked out the window.

Because Elihu had appropriately sorted and sent back the countless people from before, there was no one clinging to the walls now.

Shia could see a few people guarding the inn’s entrance. And she saw Elihu, along with a group clad entirely in black.

The person standing at the front of them, speaking with Elihu, seemed to be tall and have a build similar to Oper’s.

That person looked up and gazed at Shia.

‘Huh?’

It wasn’t Oper.

But….

It was definitely a man she was seeing for the first time, yet that person was Shia’s.

She just knew it.

The man smiled toward Shia. And then he nodded in greeting.

Shia found herself nodding back in greeting.

Since the distance was far and she was blocked by the glass window, she didn’t know if that man properly saw her greeting.

Belatedly overwhelmed by embarrassment, she grabbed the edge of the curtain and stepped back.

The man followed Elihu into the inn.

Shia sat on the bed and waited.

She could feel that man approaching. Even though she couldn’t see him, she felt like she could clearly sense him.

Just like Oper.

A knock came at the door, and

“Yes.”

When Shia answered softly, Elihu’s voice was heard.

“I have someone I’d like to introduce. May I come in?”

“Yes, please come in.”

Shia answered, getting up from the bed in a hurry.

The door opened and Elihu appeared with a smiling face.

“Remember the promise, Shia? About meeting someone.”

“Yes.”

Shia spoke while looking at Elihu, but all her attention was on the man behind him.

“Now, let me introduce you. He is the sole consort of His Majesty the Tashin Emperor, Michael Eshkenazi.”

Michael bowed his head in greeting. It was a more elegant motion than anyone Shia had ever seen.

It was definitely someone she was seeing for the first time, yet she felt so at ease.

It was strange. As if she had been waiting for this man for a long time.

“Ah, hello?”

Her voice trembled as it came out.

“My name is Shia.”

Shia barely managed to introduce herself.

“Michael, don’t just stand there. Come closer.”

“Excuse me.”

Michael stepped past the door and stood closer to Shia.

‘!’

We are connected.

It was an utterly absurd thought, but as Michael drew nearer, Shia felt that certainty.

“May I hold your hand?”

Michael spoke, looking at Shia. Michael was quite tall, so Shia had to look up for a while.

Shia reflexively held out her uninjured hand. Michael smiled and took that hand.

The moment their hands touched at the fingertips, a strange feeling intensified. It felt as though something was flowing through Shia and Michael.

‘What is this?’

Michael also flinched. Shia could see Michael’s expression as he took a breath and slowly relaxed his body.

She realized something from the vividly felt sensation.

‘This person is a part of me.’

She hadn’t known until now. She had forgotten for a very long time. The very existence of something like this had been so distant.

From the very beginning, this man was part of her, and no matter how far apart they were, if they met again like this, it would be unmistakably confirmed—that kind of existence.

Even though it was their first meeting, she was certain.

Tears flowed from Shia’s eyes.

She had wanted to meet him so badly.

This ‘family.’