Chapter 8

Nice to Meet You! My New Family (1)

The sound of little feet stomping away gradually faded into the distance.

Leaning against the door, Hikaros let out a sigh.

“Honestly… that personality is exactly like that old man’s.”

A few years ago, when he had visited the Rithea family, he had caught a glimpse of a tiny baby sea otter from afar, no bigger than a chestnut.

“She’s grown quite a bit.”

Suddenly, the words the old sea otter had left him came to mind.

‘I’m simply not the one who can find your son.’

Could he possibly have been talking about that child…?

Hikaros furrowed his brows.

…Did I make a mistake by sending her away?

And now, in the present.

That audacious little baby sea otter had truly set off an enormous bomb on the very day of the succession ceremony.

The impact of that so-called bomb was nothing short of tremendous.

“This Head shall become betrothed to Grand Duke Hikaros’s son and appoint the Grand Duke as her guardian!”

The final syllables of her declaration had come out rather clumsily, much like a child giving a presentation at a school recital. However, the repercussions were on an entirely different level from anything a children’s recital could cause.

Naturally, the clan elders and retainers rose up in protest, while even the noble beastfolk who had come to witness the succession ceremony were thrown into an uproar.

A marriage between a human and a beastfolk wasn’t particularly unusual.

That is, unless the beastfolk in question belonged to the Rithea family, one of the Five Guardian Clans.

The Five Guardian Clans were exceptionally conservative, even among beastfolk families, and rarely permitted marriages with humans.

The reason was simple.

Beastfolk who carried the blood of the mythical Guardians considered themselves superior to humans, while humans tended to be wary of beastfolk who could transform into animals.

However, such marriages weren’t prohibited by law.

Hikaros’s adopted son, who was two years older than Sertisha, wasn’t so much older that their age difference posed a problem. If both children wished to do so, they could enter into a betrothal.

Since beastfolk law permitted it, the clan elders had no legal grounds to prevent Sertisha from becoming betrothed to a human.

As a result, the clan elders and collateral relatives who had hoped to seize control of the family by appointing themselves as Sertisha’s guardians were thrown into chaos. Even other clans secretly connected to them were caught up in the uproar.

Halis, the elderly sea turtle beastfolk who was the only senior member of the family to remain neutral, roared furiously at the beastfolk beneath the platform, who were losing their composure and making a scene.

“That’s enough, all of you! Who dares to challenge the Head of the clan?!”

Despite Halis’s fierce reprimand, which carried considerable weight even within the Rithea family, the commotion below the platform showed little sign of dying down.

Although things had calmed somewhat, the uproar continued.

“Elder! Regardless of whether this is the Head’s decision, this is unacceptable!”

“Exactly! This is a matter of utmost importance to the clan! It’s one thing to appoint a beastfolk from another family as her guardian, but a human?! Isn’t this an outright insult to the retainers and collateral branches of the Rithea family?!”

As two retainers with considerable influence within the Rithea family protested one after the other, Sertisha’s eldest maternal uncle, who had been standing among the collateral relatives, seized the opportunity and stepped forward.

“We simply cannot accept this.”

With his arms crossed and a cold sneer on his lips, he looked up at the platform.

“For someone carrying the blood of the mythical Guardians to designate a lowly human as her guardian… This is a disgrace that will stain the Rithea family for generations to come.”

Murmurs spread through the crowd once more.

“That’s right. It’s disgraceful.”

“Don’t we have the dignity of one of the Five Guardian Clans to uphold?”

“How are we supposed to hold our heads high in front of the other clans after this…?”

Seemingly encouraged by the crowd’s reaction, Sertisha’s eldest maternal uncle raised his voice even further.

“Head, do you truly understand the repercussions this decision will have on the entire clan?”

Sertisha cautiously looked up at her uncle.

His imposing physique, tightly pressed lips, and eyes hardened with anger seemed particularly unfamiliar to her.

As if things weren’t bad enough already, the memories of the abuse she had suffered at his hands in the future—the same future that haunted her dreams night after night—came vividly rushing back.

Sertisha curled up into an even smaller ball.

She barely managed to part her trembling lips and speak.

“T-this is… the Head’s… order!”

“This isn’t a personal marriage matter! This concerns the standing of the entire Rithea family!”

“Hic… B-but!”

“HEAD!”

Her eldest maternal uncle’s furious protests struck her ears with a harshness far too overwhelming for a child as young as her to bear.

Her once-confident shoulders had begun to shrink inward, and her steady pink eyes were now wavering like storm-tossed waves.

She was too overwhelmed to even notice Crendia, which was vibrating noisily against her chest.

She hadn’t been this afraid of him before.

But whenever she remembered the adult Sertisha in her visions, slowly dying at his hands, fear surged through her all over again.

Watching this unfold, Halis, the sea turtle beastfolk, decided that the burden was simply too much for such a young Head to bear.

Just as he was about to step forward—

Whoooosh—!!

CRASH—! RUMMMMMBLE!

A tremendous storm of mana suddenly swept violently through the temple.

“W-what is this power…?!”

“Guh… I can’t… breathe…!”

Some beastfolk collapsed flat onto the floor, while others instinctively dropped to their knees.

Dishes fell and shattered into pieces. Chairs and tables were hurled against the walls, breaking apart on impact.

Unlike the chaotic scene below the platform, the area above it remained perfectly calm, without even the slightest breeze.

Then came the sound of footsteps.

Click, click, click.

Sertisha tried to raise her bowed head, but the hem of a cloak draped over her head blocked her view.

At the same time, a large, warm hand wrapped around her shoulder. Her tiny body was gently drawn into a familiar yet unfamiliar embrace.

The same warm, solid embrace she had felt at a funeral one day.

Sertisha knew its owner better than anyone.

The person holding her looked down at the chaotic scene beneath the platform and spoke.

“What a bunch of insects.”

His tone was mercilessly scornful.

His amber eyes were cold and emotionless.

His enormous physique was enough to overwhelm even beastfolk of the predator variety.

A great archmage who had risen to the ranks of transcendental beings despite being human.

Grand Duke Hikaros Roden, the king who reigned over all magic on the continent and the ruler of the Western Continent, naturally positioned himself so that Sertisha was half-hidden behind him.

That single, seemingly insignificant movement caused the air beneath the platform to freeze once more.

Under the suffocating pressure of his mana, the beastfolk below the platform groaned in pain as they struggled to remain upright.

Some attempted to resist with their supernatural abilities, but to Hikaros, they were no different from insects wriggling helplessly.

Sertisha’s eldest maternal uncle, in particular, had turned deathly pale and was sweating profusely.

All traces of his earlier bravado had vanished.

With a languid expression, Hikaros looked down at the crowd and spoke.

“Surely I can’t let my future daughter-in-law witness the disgusting wriggling of hideous insects, can I? Creatures without even a speck of fluffy fur… How utterly revolting.”

Click—

Click—

Sunlight streamed in long rays along the temple’s colonnaded corridor.

Beyond the corridor stretched a beautiful view of pristine white sandy beaches and a blue sea shimmering with iridescent colors.

A cloak fluttered elegantly behind the towering figure walking through the corridor.

Beneath his broad shoulders and solid chest, a small, round, pale beige head peeked out.

The contrast was so extreme that it looked as though a gigantic predator were cradling a tiny chick in its arms.

Sertisha rolled her eyes around and merely moved her lips without making a sound.

Her mind had gone completely blank after what had happened on the platform, and she couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

The prolonged silence was beginning to feel awkward. For someone who had just turned an entire temple upside down, Grand Duke Hikaros seemed remarkably relaxed.

Sertisha briefly considered punishing the Grand Duke in the name of her authority as Head for daring to wreak havoc in the Rithea family’s temple.

However, faced with the warm embrace gently holding her, she eventually surrendered.

Is this what it would feel like to have a father?

It was warm and solid.

Sertisha looked up at the Grand Duke and cautiously opened her mouth.

“Uncle, why did you help me?”

Uncle, you rejected my proposal.

You’re a bad grown-up who took all my information and then abandoned me.

Her pink eyes, filled with distrust and suspicion, turned toward Hikaros.

“You said you wanted to become my daughter-in-law.”

Hikaros rested his hand on Sertisha’s head and absentmindedly gave it a gentle stroke.

Despite his soft touch, Sertisha didn’t lower her guard. Instead, she shouted indignantly.

“But you rejected me and practically threw me out in such a scary way!”

“When did I ever throw you out in a scary way?”

As if telling her not to distort the truth, Hikaros gently pinched the tip of her nose and gave it a little wiggle.

Sertisha vigorously smacked his hand away with her little hands, which resembled pen shells, before speaking again.

“A-anyway! Why… why did you take my side…?”

“Well… let’s just say I’m repaying a debt.”

“Huh? Repaying a debt…?”

Hikaros looked down at Sertisha, who tilted her head in confusion as though his answer had come out of nowhere.

“The debt I owed your grandfather. That’s what I’m repaying.”

“Th-then, will you really become my father-in-law?!”

The corners of her mouth shot skyward, and her pupils widened dramatically.

Hikaros chuckled at her reaction.

“But tell me something. I haven’t even found my biological son yet. Who exactly are you planning to become betrothed to?”

“Oh, come on! Do you think I don’t know about that?! You have an adopted son pretending to be your biological son, don’t you? I can just pair up with that big brother!”

That’s right. Hikaros had an adopted son whose true status was being concealed.

The fact that Grand Duke Hikaros’s biological son was missing had been kept an absolute secret, known only to Hikaros and a handful of his closest aides.

Hikaros was the man who reigned as the king of the West.

The Magic King, who stood above all other mages.

The fact that he had no biological child was a fatal weakness.

He would inevitably face pressure to enter an arranged marriage, along with countless problems concerning the succession.

That was why Hikaros had taken in an adopted son and presented him as his own biological child.

Even though the boy was adopted, he was a distant relative who had lost his parents, so they weren’t complete strangers.

Sertisha had already discovered the truth through the Ripples of Light.

“Tisha will find your son for you! So take me with you!!”