Fixing Everything

Creed thought that it must have been the longest three days of his life.

At the same time, it was also the three days he had most eagerly awaited.

He firmly believed that taking just one more step from here would allow him to aspire to the realm he desired, and with anticipation swelling within him, he left his bedroom.

Originally, he usually woke up around the time breakfast started, but today, he woke up unusually early and decided to go for a walk.

“Sir Eleanor, did you sleep well last night?”

“Oh, Young Master Lyaird.”

Creed, who encountered Kyle while walking down the hallway, approached him with shining eyes and open arms.

To him, this man was nothing short of a lucky charm.

Even though it was quite early, he was already wandering around the castle.

He must be quite diligent.

Originally, once you start seeing someone in a good light, you tend to see them as endlessly good.

It seemed Creed was no different, as he looked at Kyle, who had merely woken up early, and spoke with unwavering conviction that his eyes had not deceived him.

“You look like you slept well yourself.”

“As it is the most important day for Sir Eleanor, I made sure to get plenty of rest.”

“Haha, you flatter me.”

Even though it was just a polite greeting, he was a man who knew how to say things that were pleasing to hear.

For Creed, who didn’t usually trust outsiders, it had been a while since he had met someone he liked this much, so he looked over Kyle with a very satisfied expression.

Perhaps deciding to join hands with the man before him was the most crucial choice of his life.

“I will have everything prepared as soon as lunch is over, so please come to my daughter’s room.”

“Hmm, I will.”

Creed had just received word from Hecate that she would be visiting around that time, so he nodded with satisfaction, thinking that the timing was perfect.

Sometimes, when gears mesh together suspiciously well, it’s worth being skeptical, but with the ugly desire called hope already clouding his vision, he couldn’t bring himself to think that far.

“Then.”

Kyle bowed politely and disappeared from view, his departing figure resembling an actor bowing to the audience after the end of a play.

Creed felt a strange sensation for a moment, but he shook his head, trying to shake off the sense of unease.

He glanced out the window and saw the sun just rising.

Who knows who that sun was rising to illuminate.

＊＊＊

As Kyle instructed, Creed waited in the study after lunch for Hecate to arrive with a sorcerer from the Dawn’s Eye.

How many minutes had passed?

Sreureuk.

“I’ve kept you waiting, Creed Eleanor.”

“Not at all. You’ve come at just the right time.”

Creed bowed and greeted Hecate, who appeared as if rising from the shadows.

Next to Hecate stood an unidentified figure wearing a robe.

Judging by the considerable height, it seemed to be a man.

“Nice to meet you. I am Creed Eleanor.”

“……”

“……?”

Originally, his position did not allow him to initiate greetings to someone, but Creed humbled himself and offered a greeting to the silent figure.

However, when there was no response, he glared at the figure with a displeased look.

Hecate, who had been watching the two, stepped in.

“Forget it. He doesn’t talk to others anyway. More importantly, where do we go?”

“Ah, I didn’t know… I’m sorry. This way.”

Guessing that there must be internal rules or some other reason within the Dawn’s Eye, Creed led the two to the room where Sylvia was.

He could say with certainty that this was the first time he had felt the distance between rooms was so far while walking through this large castle.

Kkieik.

As he opened the door and entered, the first thing he saw was his daughter sleeping soundly in bed.

And following that, he heard the voice of someone completely unexpected.

“You’ve come, darling.”

“Honey? How are you…”

For some reason, his wife, Marian, was standing next to the door, greeting him as if she had been waiting for him.

He hadn’t told his wife about this schedule in advance, so Creed couldn’t help but be quite taken aback.

Could Kyle have told her?

As doubts sprouted, Marian’s explanation followed, erasing them.

“Sylvia told me. That you were bringing a promising sorcerer from afar today to fix her Evil Eye.”

“…I see.”

Hearing those words, Creed felt a little relieved.

And on the other hand, he realized that Sylvia trusted him quite a bit, as Kyle had mentioned.

According to his testimony, Sylvia had been hesitant to even return to the castle because she didn’t trust him.

He didn’t know how Kyle had persuaded her, but just seeing that she had changed her attitude and was waiting so quietly at his words showed that the two had already established a considerable relationship of trust.

“I wondered what was so busy on our anniversary, so this is what it was. You should have given me a heads up.”

“You’re not in good health, and I knew you’d worry, so I was going to tell you after it was resolved.”

“Is that so.”

“…Yes.”

Creed subtly avoided his wife’s steadfast gaze and approached the bedside with Hecate and the sorcerer.

Sylvia seemed to be sleeping soundly, unaware of the three people nearby.

At this moment, Creed felt affection for his daughter for the first time.

He felt grateful for his daughter’s existence, which seemed to be there to fulfill his dirty ambitions, for the first time in his life.

‘Yes, your existence has served its purpose.’

He didn’t know when he would reap the seeds he had sown, but Creed offered a blessing, not a blessing, in his heart, telling her to enjoy a peaceful life at least until then.

Then, he turned his gaze to Hecate, who was sitting next to him, and gestured that it was okay to start now.

At that moment, just as the sorcerer’s hand, covered in a robe, was about to reach Sylvia’s right eye, Hecate’s lips opened.

“Creed Eleanor.”

“Yes.”

“Did that position look so sweet that you would forsake the wife you swore to love for life?”

“What on earth are you talking about…”

Creed’s eyes flashed at the question, which was so cold it felt murderous.

He cast his gaze to examine Hecate’s eyes, hidden by the robe, and exchanged glances with her for a long time.

And soon, feeling a chill as a drop of cold sweat ran down his back, he jumped up from his seat and started pointing his finger.

“You, you bastard! What the hell are you… Keheok!?”

But before he could finish his sentence, Creed froze like a statue as an unidentified pressure suddenly constricted him from all directions.

What’s going on?

Before he could even think that far, the door suddenly burst open and someone rushed in with a desperate expression.

“L-Lord! The military police have stormed in! They’re here to take you away immediately…!”

“What…! The military police! What are you talking about! Bring the supervisor here immediately…!”

“It’s this kind of talk.”

Kkwak.

Creed was bewildered by the sudden intrusion of the military police, wondering what was going on, and was about to demand an explanation when a familiar voice was heard along with a hand roughly grabbing the back of his neck.

It must have been Hecate who grabbed his head and lifted him up, but for some reason, a clear male voice was coming from within.

Creed’s eyes widened more and more at that moment.

“Did you have sweet dreams, Sir Eleanor?”

“You, you bastard…! Kyle Lyaird!”

Finally, when he took off the robe and revealed himself completely, Creed’s eyes were filled with shock at the familiar face that appeared from beyond.

It was none other than Kyle, whom he had believed without a doubt would be on the same boat as him.

Only then did Creed realize that Kyle had trapped him, and he gnashed his teeth and burst into anger.

“How dare you, a mere nobody, make a fool of me…!”

“Making a fool of you? You speak strangely. I wonder if you’ve even considered yourself, who joined hands with a group of traitors and made a fool of your wife and precious eldest daughter.”

Creed felt a pang of guilt at those words, but he still thought there was hope.

After all, the news that he was associated with the Dawn’s Eye was just the one-sided testimony of the man before him.

It was important to deny everything and stall for time here.

If he had to win over someone first to do that, it would naturally be decided.

“A group of traitors, nonsense! Honey, don’t believe this bastard’s words! Gather the private soldiers immediately and get rid of this…!”

“…It’s okay, dear.”

“O-Okay…? What do you mean?”

Creed poured out words to his wife, acting with an appealing voice and the appearance of an innocent husband, but he was momentarily stunned when a firm answer came back.

He couldn’t understand his wife’s words, which seemed to declare that everything was over.

Come to think of it, he had thought it was a little strange since earlier.

Why was his wife so calm, even in this urgent situation?

It was as if she had foreseen this entire situation from the beginning.

Seueuk.

When Marian took something out of a small paper bag hidden on one side, Creed’s pupils gradually widened as he checked it.

It was none other than the pile of documents related to the Dawn’s Eye that he had hidden in a vault that could only be opened with his magic.

And there was only one person besides Creed himself who could open it.

His wife, Marian Eleanor, who had accepted his magic into her body from the moment she gave birth to his child.

“You, could it be…”

“That’s right. I cooperated with Young Master Lyaird.”

“T-That’s ridiculous…!? To give your only husband to that pretty boy you just met. Why, now that you can move your body again, did you want to taste a young man?”

“You… How can you say such a thing.”

Marian covered her mouth and made a pitiful expression at his actions, which revealed his true colors as he spewed out obscene language without even repenting for his own mistakes.

Kyle wanted to tear off that mouth right away and make it unable to function, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so because there were many stories he had to hear after handing him over to the military police.

At that time.

Tzchak-!

“Are you even… Are you even the father of two daughters and the husband of one woman after doing that!”

“…Sylvia.”

Sylvia, who had originally planned to pretend to be asleep until the end of the situation, couldn’t bear her anger and slapped Creed across the cheek.

“Mother gave you a chance until the end! It was you who rejected it without knowing it!”

“Gave me a chance… Could it be?”

Creed was lost in thought for a moment at his daughter’s incomprehensible words, then his eyes flashed and he exclaimed.

Come to think of it, three nights ago, his wife had wanted to celebrate their wedding anniversary for some reason.

She always said that there was no need to celebrate anniversaries, and that just being together was enough, but that day, she seemed particularly regretful.

Perhaps that wasn’t regret, but sorrow.

If he had responded to his wife’s suggestion and held her hand at that time, at least Creed Eleanor himself might have had a chance to correct his mistakes.

But Marian must have guessed that the moment he missed it by his own will, he had crossed a river from which he could no longer return.

Realizing that fact belatedly, Creed turned his head and stared at Marian with a blank look.

“I really loved you, Creed.”

Marian, as if starting a fresh romance for the first time, spoke his full name for the first time in a long time and looked at him with a mixture of emotions.

“That’s why I wanted to believe. That you could still come back to our side.”

And then, she tried to convey her words calmly, but her lips couldn’t hide her emotions and trembled, revealing her sorrow.

“But after listening to the conversation I had with Young Master Lyaird and seeing your appearance three days ago, I realized. That you no longer have me, my daughters, or the family in your heart.”

“……”

“We didn’t abandon you, dear. You just abandoned us.”

Creed finally lowered his head at the cold dagger that came and pierced his chest.

It was a truth that could not be denied.

And truth was the most ruthless and unforgiving word in the world.

At least for a villain who had lived a life stained with mistakes and lies.