IFLIDD 7

# Chapter 7

> *“To be safe, being by my side wouldn’t be wrong.”*

> *‘What do I need to be safe from?’*

There was no one left in this palace who would harm her. Yet, what did she need protection from? The child stroked her chin, deep in thought.

> *“But are you satisfied with only receiving protection?”*

> *“Pardon……?”*

Her gaze, which had been fixed on the air, turned toward Kael. It was a significant thing to say to a four-year-old.

Hiazelki wanted to hear more from Kael, but Yuri returned to the room with warm milk, so she couldn’t ask further. Instead of questioning Kael again, Hiazelki drank the milk Yuri handed her. The warm milk felt like it was warming her deep inside.

After taking away the cup, Yuri laid Hiazelki back in bed and spoke.

> *“Don’t worry, just sleep. I’ll stay by your side until morning.”*

Her mind at ease, the child looked at Kael as she was about to close her eyes. He gazed at Hiazelki briefly, then straightened up from leaning against the wall and said.

> *“You’re fine now, so go to sleep quickly.”*

> *“Yes.”*

Hiazelki answered softly and slowly closed her eyes. Since he said it was okay, it really felt like it would be okay. Kael was, after all, a dragon. It was a sense of security she had never felt, even after meeting four sets of new parents.

Before long, Hiazelki fell asleep, breathing evenly.

—

> *“Hiazelki room is too far.”*

That was something Kael suddenly said one day.

> *“Pardon?”*

> *“There are plenty of empty rooms.”*

At Kael’s mutter-like words as he looked out the window, Albert quickly racked his brain.

> *“W-Well, it was a temporarily arranged room, so I was planning to move it soon anyway. Where would be a good place to move it to?”*

> *“As it happens, the room next to mine is empty.”*

> *“Yes, I’ll move it there.”*

> *“Understood.”*

Even knowing that the butler was sweating as he left the room, Kael quietly looked out the window.

The other night, Hiazelki had woken up crying from a nightmare. Recently, it seemed such things were happening frequently.

> *‘And yet I purified the palace.’*

Feeling uncomfortable, Kael frowned and glared at the sky.

> *‘What exactly is your will?’*

He had done as commanded—to punish sinners. That wasn’t difficult. But dealing with a human child was hard.

Kael, who had been sitting by the window all morning, rose.

*Knock, knock.*

> *“Enter.”*

As soon as he gave permission, Albert stepped inside. The butler, who had been busy moving Hiazelki room, didn’t look good. Seeing this, Kael could easily guess the reason. He knew well when Albert made such a face.

> *“A messenger has arrived.”*

On the butler’s shoulder sat a bird with green and brown feathers. Upon spotting it, Kael’s red eyes sank deeply.

> *“Where is it?”*

> *“He has arrived at the palace with the sinner and been taken to the judgment room.”*

> *“Let’s go.”*

> *“Yes.”*

As he strode out of the room, he saw servants moving belongings into the room right next door. Kael cursed himself for having given the order that morning to move the child’s room next to his own. Frowning, he let out an irritated sigh and walked past them.

His steps toward facing a sinner were always heavy. Albert had been following behind Kael like that ever since he became butler. He recited the sinner’s crimes and observed as Kael passed judgment after a brief conversation. And after that judgment, Kael would always stay in his room for a while. Not that he left his room much to begin with.

To see the sinner who had arrived at the palace with the messenger bird, Kael entered a small building built separately beside the palace.

A room with no furniture, only a wall filled with windows.

As Kael entered and slowly reached out his hand, the bird that had been perched on Albert’s shoulder flew up and softly landed on his hand.

> [Time to work, Dragon of Judgment.]

It wasn’t a very pleasant voice, so Kael furrowed his brows. After meeting the messenger bird’s red eyes for a moment, he soon sent the bird flying away.

> *“The crime?”*

> *“It is reported that he polluted the land for his own gain and caused the deaths of many people.”*

An empty room. A building as shabby as it was incomparable to the neat palace. There weren’t any separate rooms; it was just an empty space. Inside, there were only windows filling one entire wall. Sunlight streamed through those windows. It was like a last mercy granted to the sinner.

In that desolate room, a man was kneeling, tightly bound by tree roots.

Kael’s expression as he looked at that sight was merely cold.

After scanning the man, Kael spoke to Albert.

> *“Begin.”*

As permission fell, Albert, holding the report, detailed the crimes the man had committed. Listening quietly made Kael feel like vomiting.

Since some point, Kael had stopped asking sinners why. ‘Why did you do it?’ That question was far too meaningless. While there were many who didn’t speak the truth, there were even more whose reasons were incomprehensible. Reasons that made no sense at all. So Kael no longer asked.

His red eyes held a glimmer of light. The Dragon of Judgment possessed the power of truth. Instead of listening to the sinner’s excuses, Kael saw the truth himself.

The man kneeling before him now valued only himself. Nothing else mattered besides himself. Like most sinners. That was why he could commit such acts for his own gain.

Kael could see the people who had died because of this man. Tired of seeing such horrific sights, Kael closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. Looking down at the man with a hardened expression, he spoke coldly.

> *“This man’s crime is not light.”*

> *“P-P-Please, please spare me……”*

The man trembled and prostrated himself.

> *“That is not for me to decide. But you will probably find yourself begging to be killed.”*

The moment he was brought before the Dragon of Judgment, the severity of the man’s crime was already evident.

Kael took a step closer to the man. Then a red balance scale appeared before the man’s eyes.

> *“‘Humans shall love one another, cherish one another, help one another, and live receiving help.’ By defying the god’s words, harming countless humans, and not repenting your sins, your crime is heavy. Therefore, the punishment I bestow upon you is……”*

Kael pronounced the judgment formally. As the brutal punishments poured from his mouth, the man’s face turned blue. Even seeing that, Kael showed only an expression of having carried out his duty. No sympathy, no anger toward the sinner.

> *“Execute the sentence.”*

With those words, light poured from the balance scale. The mass of light disappeared along with the man bound by tree roots.

Scanning the now-empty room once, Kael turned around with an uncomfortable expression. Albert also bowed his head with a grim expression. No matter how many times he saw it, it was a scene he never got used to.

> *“Let’s go back.”*

> *“Yes, Master.”*

Albert followed Kael, who took the first step. He wanted to hurry back to his room, sit by that familiar window, and look at the sky. But the closer he got to his room, the more he thought about Hiazelki in the room right next door, and he felt uncomfortable. Because even though she was also human, she was so different.

Perhaps it would be better to move Hiazelki room back to its original place.

As he was thinking that, before Kael could even say anything, he encountered her standing in front of his room.

> *“Ah, Master.”*

Seeing that she was standing before his door, it seemed she had been waiting for him. But upon spotting Hiazelki , Kael stopped in his tracks. He felt reluctant to go near her.

That man had received his due punishment, and Kael had done what he had to do. Yet, facing those spotless, clear eyes made him feel as if he were going against the god’s will. Because the god had loved humans.

> *“Hoo……”*

Letting out a long sigh, Kael soon stepped forward again. Lightly shaking his head to shake off his foolish thoughts.

> *“Where did you go?”*

> *“……Nothing you need to know.”*

At his slightly colder than usual answer, Hiazelki eyes widened. She was so accustomed to this kind of attitude that she could immediately tell. That Kael was in a bad mood.

> *“Master……?”*

At the child’s call, Kael slightly averted his gaze.

> *“More to the point, I never hired you, so stop using that title.”*

> *“……Then what should I call you?”*

> *“…….”*

Albert glanced at Kael, who couldn’t answer easily, and opened the door. But Kael didn’t immediately enter his room. Instead, he stroked his chin, pondering a title Hiazelki could use.

> *‘Calling me by name…… somehow feels strange. No human has ever dared call me by name before.’*

Hiazelki , looking up at Kael, also assumed the same pose and thought.

> *‘Everyone calls him Master, so I thought that would be fine.’*

Albert watched the two of them, neither entering despite the door being open, both lost in thought, with a slightly ridiculous expression. He had that expression because the situation was somehow both amusing and not something he felt like laughing at.

> *“Hmm…… Then, Teacher?”*

> *“Am I someone who teaches you?”*

> *“Hmm……”*

Hiazelki pursed her lips and thought. Family titles somehow felt awkward to even say out loud, so she couldn’t bring herself to ask. It felt like all the bad memories would come pouring out. Yet they kept circling in her mind.

> *“Dragon?”*

Kael still looked dissatisfied. But since nothing suitable came to mind either, he remained silent.

> *‘……Family……’*

Hiazelki deliberated for a long time over whether to say the word that kept lingering in her mind.

> *“……Papa?”*

She couldn’t bring herself to say the word ‘Father’. So, though she had never used it before, she tried a similar title.

> *“Why would I……”*

Kael started to refuse immediately but trailed off. He too had the word ‘daughter’ that Ciel had mentioned circling in his head.

> *‘That damned bastard.’*

This was all because Ciel had spoken nonsense, he grumbled inwardly.

> *“Do as you please.”*

> *“……Yes.”*