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What did you do that a child would convulse at the sight of your face!
If you can’t be nice to her, then you could’ve at least hidden from sight!
I hated all things in the world right now, but the very first thing I wanted to get rid of was definitely the man who was probably standing in the back over there.
After bothering me however you want and insisting on coming, you end up making this problem.
“….you’re all dead!”
Now that the cold, cold water was coming up to my chest, every single sound I made was now full of anger. Emperor or not, you’re done for.
If something went wrong with Haniel, then I swear I’ll start with you….
“If we die, we die together…”
“If you’re talking to me, I suggest you stop there.”
“…..”
“Since I will only forget what you said in the water.”
Fwoosh.
Along with the firm arm that snaked around my waist, somebody’s voice brushed right against the back of my ear. A low voice that I couldn’t forget even if I wanted to—its owner dragged my body towards him.
“Move. I can’t look properly like this.”
“Aah, Aaack!”
“Judging from your vocal cords, it seems I’ve done something unnecessary.”
I thought I was going to die.
The coldness of his voice that seemed like not even a blade could cut through was still there, but his tone felt a little different from there.
A relief of some kind, and if I wasn’t hearing things, maybe even a little bit of laughter.
But before I could distinguish those subtle hints, he had already turned my entire body around with his arm.
“Eugh.”
He staggered in the mud that had already reached up to his ankles. Even if he wanted to rip his arm away, the only thing he could hold onto was the few frozen water plants.
At the sound of my cold inhales and my cries of despair, Rashid’s voice approached my ear once again.
“You don’t have to cling on to me, so don’t struggle.”
“Heu-eugh.”
“At least cooperate with me to that extent. On top of that, doing this for a bird… a bird…”
The suppressed voice that seemed like it was pushing down something ended up becoming potent.
“If you want to find your daughter.”
“…..”
Fine.
By all means, I’ll take anything.
Even if I heard his words wrong, I was willing to endure it like this.
After all, if anything bad happened to Haniel, I would die.
Hence, from this cold-blooded man, I wanted to hear things the way I pleased.
“Heu… Heu-eugh… She… she sank here!”
“I know. I know.”
Unlike his menacing tone, the grip of the Emperor’s arm that encompassed my waist was firm. Even though it wasn’t like my feet couldn’t reach the bottom, he didn’t seem to intend to let me go.
I wildly searched through the dark water, yet I couldn’t feel the soft feathers anywhere.
“Heugh, heugh. My baby. My baby. Mommy was wrong.”
I felt more and more disoriented as the dark water kept splashing onto my chest.
“Mommy will do anything as long as you live. I’ll do anything. Heugh. If I can save you I will…”
“… What else are you going to do?”
“What else? Anything she asks me to do… My baaaaaaby!”
Suddenly, my heart stopped because of the dirt he held out.
I could recognize my baby no matter what her appearance was.
As soon as I saw Haniel, who was hardened like a rock in Rashid’s hand, I froze.
“MY BAAABY! Open your eyes. It’s mommy, mommy’s here!”
「… My. 」
“You… you spoke! You actually spoke! My baby, she’s alive! She’s alive!”
As if I could hear the weak voice, something in my heart panged, my tears following.
I wondered if I had ever experienced this kind of happiness before. Unable to overcome these emotions, I abruptly buried my head.
“My baby is alive! She said ‘mommy’! Heueugh!”
“…”
“What should I do? Ah, thank you!”
As the anxiety that had built up to the ends of the sky was released, I thanked all the deities that existed in the world.
Thank you so much, thank you.