Your Regrets Are Late

Luensir, who almost told a ‘secret,’ came out with an excuse that it was time for Charteron to come. He braced himself, thinking he might have to be a little more careful.

“…Cella?”

Somewhere, a butterfly appeared and circled around him.

“This place… how…”

“Lur!”

Luensir, who tried to reach out to the butterfly, turned back with a familiar voice.

“Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

“Your Royal Highness!”

He saw Charteron looking slightly wet, and Martin hurriedly following her, holding a towel.

“If you’re here, come in. What are you doing there?”

“Ah, yes… It’s nothing.”

“Why is there a butterfly?”

“You… Cella, do you see this butterfly?”

“You’re asking the obvious. It’s a light purple butterfly.”

Charteron wrinkled the bridge of her nose as if she had heard a strange word.

“Your Royal Highness! You’ll catch a cold.”

“Martin too. I’m fi—

!”

“See? You don’t have a fever, do you?”

Martin said angrily after Charteron sneezed.

“… Let’s go in, Charon. I’ll dry your hair.” Luensir pushed Charteron’s back inside.

It was a little later.

“Lur. What on earth is wrong with you?”

“…Huh?”

“Look at the mirror.”

Luensir realized that he was braiding Charteron’s hair carelessly.

“Ah… sorry. I’ll release it soon.”

“You’re strange today. Did something happen?”

“…”

“Should I ask Martin to get you some pudding?”

“No, I’m fine because I’ve already eaten.”

Charteron, who was quite shocked by Luensir’s refusal to eat pudding, couldn’t hear words that he had already eaten.

“Lur. This won’t do.”

“Huh…?”

“I’ll show you something fun, so follow me!”

“All of a sudden, why… Charon, wait!”

“Hurry!”

At the urging of Charteron, he was led helplessly to the place none other than the magic lab.

“Why… are we here?”

Luensir trembled weakly due to a feeling of uneasiness. Sure enough, Charteron proudly took out firecrackers.

“…Firecrackers?”

“Yes.”

“You, you… Where did you get such a dangerous thing? Give it to me!”

“No!”

Charteron, who pouted at Luensir’s words, ran away here and there. Because of her short legs, she was quickly caught on the back of her neck, but she growled with firecrackers in her mouth.

“Are you a dog or a human?”

“I’m a human.”

Luensir, who had for a moment questioned the identity of Charteron, pointed his head.

“I can’t die peacefully because of you, really.”

“T-this isn’t dangerous at all! They said it was for children.”

Luensir sighed briefly and motioned her to hand it over. “It’s not dangerous? You left it here because you knew it would be taken away if Martin caught you.”

“…

.”

Charteron, who understood his intention, grunted but calmly gave the firecracker.

“It’s definitely for children, so you just need to pull it out here.”

“Right?”

“Still, it can’t be done.”

“

…”

“Do you only have one? Anything else? Be honest.”

Luensir stared at Charteron with a suspicious look.

“I don’t have anymore. I didn’t have many silver coins left because I had to buy cotton candy and fruit skewers. Come to think of it, the grilled chicken was delicious back then too! I want to eat it again.”

“…Even if you hadn’t forgotten the brooch, you wouldn’t have been able to buy it.”

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

“But what is this smell? It looked really good, but could it be that they sold a defective product?”

When Charteron sniffs her nose and doubts. Firecrackers suddenly burst with gray smoke. Fortunately, Luensir noticed it in advance and threw it somewhere else.

“Charon! It’s dangerous!”

“L-Lur!”

In an instant, a fire spread in the magic lab.

* * *

Arensis, who was passing by just in time, heard a loud noise from the magic lab. As always, he drew a magic circle, wondering if Charteron had caused another accident.

The closer he got to the magic lab, the more acrid smell passed through his nose. He quickly opened the door and found the fire burning its surroundings. Overlapping with the past when his mother was burned at the stake, Arensis felt very dizzy.

The children who were lying in the middle of the fire as they tried to step back were caught in his sight. At that moment, his body reacted first. He was more concerned about saving the children than his trauma of fire. Arensis immediately approached them, took them in his arms, and ran to where Baron Alec was.

“Did you say there was a fire?”

“Right. H-how are the children?”

“They are fine.”

However, he was puzzled by Baron Alec’s statement that there was nothing wrong with them after inhaling the smoke.

“They both seem to have fallen asleep for a while.”

Arensis found gold powder on Charteron’s face and Luensir’s hair. Looking closely at the golden power, he came out and looked around. His light purple eyes glowed brightly when he confirmed that no one was there. He then entered the Garden of Light. At that time, his steps slowed down.

“I know… you’re here.”

“…”

With those words, the butterfly that appeared from among the bushes transformed into the shape of a person with light blue hair and light purple eyes.

“Her face is full of mischief… Your daughter looks a lot like Bell.”

“…”

“There was even a time when a human gave something to Bell, and that item exploded. Her hair was burnt, and I had to endure two hours of agony because of it.”

Arabella’s older sister and the one who ruled the Edelise clan on behalf of Arensis. Her name was Cella.

“You asked last time. Why was Bell kicked out of the clan? Unlike humans, Edelise is a clan with insensitive emotions, so some of them even abandoned their children.”

“…”

“That’s why my father didn’t say anything when Bell was kicked out. The chief didn’t do anything to stop her, so what could have been done?”

“Then… Do you know… the reason my mother… protected me?”

“That’s because your mother wasn’t a perfect Edelise. Half of her blood mixed with human blood. Other than that… Actually, I’m not sure.”

“…”

Arensis’ expression grew darker at Cella’s vague reply.

“Didn’t Bell die because of fire… and made you scared of fire? I didn’t expect you to come to save your children when you are almost freezing to death because you couldn’t even light the fireplace in the winter. This is really surprising. Well… it’s even more surprising that a child with light purple eyes was born from Bell, who had pink eyes.”

Despite Cella’s sarcasm, Arensis bowed politely. “Thank you for protecting the children.”

Seeing the golden powder, Arensis knew that Cella had protected the children. That’s why he hurriedly came to the Garden of Light, where he could feel Cella’s energy.

“It’s not because I’m worried about your children… I just wanted to protect Bell’s grandchildren, alleviate my guilt, and allow me to sleep comfortably, so there’s no need to be so grateful.”

“Still.”

Cella’s eyes wavered very slightly. “Protect… them. Don’t regret it when they die again like you did then.”

Cella, who answered half a beat slower, touched the dew on the petals. “More than that… I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me.”

“The next Khan and Riette have awakened.”

“If it’s Khan and… Riette…”

“It’s only born to Edelise, who will become the chief. You have it too, and I told you that much last time, so you know.”

Until their owner gave them names, Edelise called the cat ‘Khan’ and the eagle ‘Riette.’

“The next chief—”

Knowing that news wouldn’t be welcomed by Arensis, Cella unusually chose her words.

“I know. It’s Charon, the one you’re talking about, right?”

On the day he first encountered Charteron, Arensis had guessed at first glance by her hair color that resembled his. That his daughter may be destined to become the chief of Edelise.

“No.”

“What…”

But at Cella’s denial, Arensis tilted his head.

“It’s both. Khan is Lino… no, it has the same eyes like your son. It’s a mixture of blue and light purple. But Riette is a female, so your daughter is the owner of it.”

“Is that possible? Riette and Khan follow their owner’s gender?”

“As you said, there has never been a time when the two genders were different. Even if there are two owners. Maybe it’s because your children are twins… or because… the reason we haven’t found yet.”

Arensis, who was taken aback, lost his words and had a blank expression.

“Don’t worry. I don’t mean to take your children. Still, once they open their eyes, they can’t live separately. You know right, if they reject Khan and Riette, they will both end up dead?”

It wasn’t difficult to understand, as Arensis also had a time when his life was in danger because he didn’t accept Lili and Shishi.

“…I get it. I’ll pick them up myself.”

Perhaps because he had prepared his mind before, Cella was relieved that Arensis’s reaction was not as bad as she thought.

“I have a question. Can I ask you?”

“It looks like I can’t say no.”

“…I know that to become the clan chief, you have to have light purple eyes… Then, why were Khan and Riette born to my pink-eyed mother and my children?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to talk about it because it’s not a pleasant topic.”

“…”

“I can tell you one thing… It’s not necessarily the case that only Edelise with light purple eyes can become the clan chief.”

“But… in the book…”

“That’s because stupid people interpreted it however they wanted and spread false information about us.”

As Cella responded by clicking her tongue, Arensis remembered that she hated humans.

“…So that’s it.”

“Me too… I thought I’d be the chief. I thought it’d be me, not Bell.”

Cella sighed and smiled bitterly.

“…I’ll leave now. It’s not like I’m particularly happy to be here, and it’s not like I have the face to see your partner after what happened.”

Even though she seemed cold, Arensis noticed that Cella felt deeply sorry for Charelize.