CH 34

An Astarian knight opened the carriage door and bowed his waist.

Perdi and Ludian, familiar with the routine, were the first to step down from the carriage.

Thiel also tried to get off the carriage following her two brothers. However…

“Oh, wait…!”

“You mustn’t fall, so hold on tight, Thiel.”

Cassius, holding Thiel again as she was about to descend from his lap, stepped down from the carriage while still holding her.

Perdi and Ludian, who were waiting to escort Thiel, had their expressions distorted.

“Do you plan on carrying her around like this all the way?”

Perdi asked, sounding exasperated.

While Thiel didn’t dislike being in Cassius’ embrace, she slightly agreed with Perdi’s words…

‘W-When are you planning to let me down?’

Thiel wondered. From her room in the Astarian mansion to the temple, she had been carried in someone’s arms the entire way.

From her room to the front gate, it was Perdi’s embrace, from the front gate to the carriage, and from the carriage to the temple, it was Cassius’ embrace.

The beautiful shoes that Lia had carefully entrusted to her were hardly significant at this point.

However, Cassius seemed to have no intention of letting Thiel down yet. He continued walking ahead, surpassing Ludian and Perdi, while holding the child in his arms.

And he casually said.

“yes, I plan on carrying you. Otherwise, I don’t know what those idiots at the temple might do.”

Cassius gently stroked Thiel’s cheek with his thick thumb.

Though it may be different in other situations, it was better for Thiel to be carried at the temple.

Due to the recent incident, the knowledge that there was someone in the Astarian family with the “Power of Light” had reached the temple.

So, the reason Thiel was specifically called today was most likely to confirm with a high probability whether Thiel really possessed the “Power of Light.”

‘Since the high priest can distinguish abilities.’

They probably wanted to see Thiel firsthand and confirm if the child truly possessed the Power of Light. It was an obvious scheme, as transparent as glass.

Perdi and Ludian nodded briefly in agreement with Cassius’ words. Thiel felt the same way.

‘…I don’t want to be separated.’

What if strangers pull me away during the separation?

And what if I get separated from the Astarian family? Thiel’s face turned pale at the thought of the worst-case scenario.

However, it was only temporary.

Thiel recalled what Perdi had taught her when she was with Ian.

‘Thiel, if someone tries to take you away, you have to say you don’t want to go.’

Thiel engraved Perdi’s teachings in her heart and nodded with determination.

If someone tries to take me away, I must, I must say I don’t want to go!

“It’s alright, Thiel. Daddy is here.”

Cassius, perhaps sensing Thiel’s worries, momentarily stopped and patted her back.

Nothing you’re worried about will happen.

At Cassius’ gentle voice, Thiel lifted her head that had been buried in anxiety.

“Yes.”

After giving Thiel a moment to catch her breath, Cassius proceeded confidently into the temple.

Countless temple officials showed respect to Cassius Celest Astarian, Perdi Astarian, and Ludian Astarian of Astarian.

Cassius lightly brushed off their greetings and nodded.

“What are the results of the kinship test?”

“You can come this way. The Head Administrator is waiting for you.”

Upon hearing the term “Head Administrator,” Cassius muttered, “I see.”

Perdi and Ludian had the same reaction. Meanwhile, Thiel, who didn’t understand a word, tilted his head in confusion.

The four of them followed the guidance of the temple officials to the location where the Head Administrator was waiting.

The place where the Head Administrator was waiting was a fountain located in the center of the temple, where the kinship tests were conducted. By throwing the parents’ and child’s hair into the fountain, the color of the water determined whether they had a kinship.

“Lord Cassius.”

At that moment, the Head Administrator discovered Cassius and approached with a friendly smile.

Cassius nodded with courtesy, and Perdi and Ludian did the same.

“It’s been a while, Andreas. I apologize for not being able to visit you due to busy matters.”

“I’m sorry for making you walk. However, His Holiness the Pope requested that you personally attend and verify the results of the Astarian family…”

The Head Administrator concluded his apology and then turned his gaze toward Thiel, who was held in Cassius’s arms.

His sharp gaze made Thiel shrink his body. The Head Administrator approached Thiel a step closer.

As his wrinkled face came closer, Thiel’s body tensed up with nervousness.

‘I’m scared…’

The Head Administrator scrutinized Thiel’s entire body. It felt more like inspecting a meticulously checked item than interacting with a child.

Eventually, Thiel tightly clung to Cassius’s neck and nodded his head.

“Ah, hello…”

At that moment, the Head Administrator’s face came even closer.

Thiel seriously pondered whether he should shout, “I don’t want to!” in this situation.

“The child is very wary of strangers. So, I would prefer to skip the cumbersome procedure and go straight to the results.”

Cassius spoke while covering Thiel, who was tense under his long cloak.

The Head Administrator’s eyebrows twitched for a moment, but he quickly erased any trace of it, laughing and nodding.

“Yes, then I will show you the results.”

“Will you be watching? Then I’ll take the child out. Ludian.”

Cassius handed Thiel, who was in his arms, to Ludian.

Ludian nodded and hugged Thiel, gently patting the back of her head so that the child could bury his face in his shoulder.

Just as Perdi and Ludian were about to step away from the fountain, the Head Administrator intervened.

“You don’t have to do that. You can all watch together.”

Perplexed, Perdi and Ludian looked at him. And then, at that moment.

He dropped both Thiel’s and Cassius’s hair into the fountain he held in his hand.

“…!!”

Cassius, Perdi, and Ludian’s expressions all turned angry at the Head Administrator’s inconsiderate action.

Of course, they were still convinced that Thiel was the daughter of Cassius and Lena, but this wasn’t right. This was not how it was supposed to be.

When verifying the results of the kinship test, the child was never supposed to see the results directly. Regardless of the outcome, it could be a significant emotional wound for the child.

So Cassius had planned to send Thiel away before checking the results.

But to do it like this…

“…”

Cassius wiped his face. Ludian instinctively covered Thiel’s eyes, and Perdi glared at the Head Administrator with a stiff expression.

The temple’s kinship testing method was simpler than expected. After the Pope or the Pope’s representative infused divine power into the fountain, they would drop the parents’ and child’s hair into the water.

If the color of the water changed, it meant they were kin, and if it remained the same…

“…”

The fountain remained still.

Cassius, Ludian, and Perdi understood exactly what it meant.

It meant that Thiel was not Cassius’s biological child.

The temple had prevented the child from seeing it, intending to show Thiel and Cassius the truth clearly.

Of course, Thiel was Cassius’s biological child. The secret room in the Asterian mansion had already proven that fact.

So this was… just a manipulation by the temple. They had orchestrated all of this to shock the child and forcibly separate them from their parents.

The realization scraped at Cassius’s insides. He couldn’t contain his anger.

Cassius stared at the fountain and the Head Administrator alternately with a cold expression. He briefly contemplated the price Astarian had to pay if he were to overturn the temple.

But the thought didn’t last long. The Head Administrator had intervened abruptly.

“I believe you already know the results without me telling you.”

“…”

Without uttering a word, Cassiusstood motionless, gazing fixedly at the Head Administrator. It was as if he was saying, “Let’s see how far you’ll go.” A sharp glint flashed in his golden eyes.

“…In the temple, we also take care of the children. If they are determined to be non-kin, the child who has nowhere else to go will be temporarily placed in the temple.”

“…Ah, I see.”

“Yes, as you know.”

Just as the Head Administrator finished speaking, another temple official approached Ludian and Thiel with a determined stride.

Ludian glared at the official and held Thiel even tighter in his arms.

“Can you back off?”

Cassius and Perdi sneered, satisfied that their expectations had been spot-on, and silently observed the temple’s wickedness.

The intention behind showing Thiel directly that they were not kin was too clear.

“They wanted to evoke guilt and take the child away to the temple.”

By manipulating the test results and taking the child away first, they could later refuse to return the child, claiming it was the will of the gods.

Even though the extent of their manipulation with the power of light surprised them, they had not anticipated it would go this far.

At that moment, Thiel, who had been quietly nestled in Ludian’s embrace, cautiously lifted his head.

“Uh, um.”

Cassius, Perdi, Ludian, and even the Head Administrator, all turned their attention to Thiel.

The child blinked his large eyes and hesitantly opened his mouth.

“I, I’m… not Mr. Cassius’s daughter?”

“…”

“That’s strange… It can’t be true.”

The child’s voice trembled slightly as she spoke.

A clear and distinct voice pierced through the silence.

The atmosphere grew still.