CHAPTER 74: CH:74 THE FATHER’S EMBRACE

Albedo watched her quietly now, his blue eyes softer than sunlight.

"You should change out of that nightgown first, my daughter," he said softly, almost teasing. "And eat. Please."

Dila blinked and looked down at herself. Realizing she was still in her long white sleeping dress, her cheeks burned red.

"I... I can’t believe I’m still shy... over my own character’s body..." she muttered to herself, embarrassed.

In her mind, Nari’s delicate voice answered with a gentle giggle.

☆ Yes, master. Just look at yourself. You’ll lose your image at this rate... ☆

Dila flinched harder, her face heating up even more.

Albedo watched her, and despite everything—despite the years of emptiness and regret—he smiled.

She still blushes, he thought.

"You’re as cute as ever," he whispered, his voice more like a father’s than a king’s.

Still sitting, he reached for a silver plate of cookies in the nearby table and held it up toward her.

"Have some."

At that exact moment, Dila’s stomach growled loudly. Her blush deepened.

Albedo chuckled softly, his heart aching behind the smile.

"You’re hungry... my baby girl."

"Stop calling me that weird name... it creeps me out..." Dila grumbled, flustered.

But Albedo only laughed gently, his voice cracking faintly.

"It’s because... you are my true baby girl."

Tears glimmered at the corners of his eyes.

"Fine... call me whatever you want," Dila sighed, defeated. "But the cookies... are mine."

She stepped forward hesitantly, standing closer to him now.

Albedo watched as she carefully took the plate of cookies from his hands, her small fingers brushing his for the briefest moment. She didn’t look him in the eyes. She focused on the cookies—quietly nibbling at them, holding the plate awkwardly in her arms.

Albedo didn’t say anything. He just smiled softly, watching her, as if memorizing this moment.

Inside his mind, words he didn’t dare speak echoed.

Yeah... Fran was right... she doesn’t act like a princess at all...

But...

She’s still... my daughter...

He watched her quietly, tears falling silently down his cheeks.

It feels like I’m losing her all over again.

As Dila has finally finished eating the cookies in the plate she put down the plate in the table while still looking at it but for some reason.

Dila froze.

Her whole body stiffened the moment Albedo’s hand softly took her wrist, pulling her toward him without a word.

Her blue eyes widened, the world slowing into a strange, heavy silence.

Then, without warning, she found herself sitting awkwardly on his lap—her body tense, confused, as the king of Eldor wrapped his arms around her.

"Tch—Let me go, you old hag!" Dila snapped, but her voice cracked. She tried to summon her magic... anything.

Nothing came.

Inside her mind, Nari’s voice spoke softly, but the weight in her tone was unmistakable.

☆ Warning... all magic power is currently blocked, master. You’re powerless right now... ☆

Dila’s throat tightened.

This is bad... this is really bad...

But Albedo wasn’t restraining her. He wasn’t holding her to imprison or harm her.

He just... hugged her.

His large hand patted her silver-white hair gently. His fingers trembled as he stroked her head, then down her back.

His voice never came. Only silent, shaking breaths.

Dila, confused, slowly stopped struggling.

She felt the wetness on her hair before she understood what it was.

Tears.

Albedo’s tears.

She shifted slightly, just enough to look at him. His blue eyes were closed. His entire face was calm... yet broken. His arms around her tightened, trembling as if this fragile moment would shatter if he let go.

And his tears fell, silently, endlessly.

She felt his heartbeat, heavy and unsteady.

As if holding her was the last thing keeping him alive.

Dila’s lips parted slightly. No words came.

She just watched, frozen in his embrace, as the king—the man she hated, the man she called a stranger—held her like a lost child finally returned.

And she didn’t know why...

But her chest suddenly hurt.

Albedo’s voice broke.

"I... I can’t lose my only daughter..."

The words were soft. Fragile. Like something cracked deep inside him that no power could heal. His arms tightened around Dila as if she might vanish the moment he let go.

"It’s too much to bear... I don’t know what to do... what’s left of me... if you’re gone."

His whole body trembled. He couldn’t stop it.

"My one... and only daughter..."

Dila sat frozen in his arms. Her body stiff, her mind blank.

"You’re asking the impossible..." he whispered, his voice shaking harder. "To duel you... to hurt you... when all I ever wanted... was to protect you..."

His hands shook as they clung to her, holding her close.

"Now that you’re here... my heart’s finally... settled... yet at the same time... it hurts."

His tears kept falling. He never opened his eyes. He just held her there in silence, sobbing quietly like a man who’d long since lost the strength to keep standing.

Fran stood nearby, covering her mouth with both hands. Her own tears brimmed at the edges of her eyes, dripping silently onto the polished marble floor.

Even the guards... the warriors of Eldor... looked away, sniffling, their armored shoulders trembling as they tried—and failed—to hide their emotions.

Dila could do nothing.

She just sat there, held in the arms of a king who wasn’t a king anymore.

Just a father begging the world not to take his daughter away again.

Albedo’s voice softened, trembling as he spoke. His hand gently stroking Dila’s silver-white hair again.

"You know... your mother... she loved you too. So much."

Dila’s body flinched faintly, but she said nothing.

"She never let you go. Not once. No matter what happened. You’d fall asleep in my arms, but every time... she’d take you back. Hold you tighter. Jealous even of me."

His lips quivered. He laughed softly, but there was no joy behind it. Just ache.

"She used to say... you belonged to her. That you were her treasure. I loved you both, more than anything in this world."

Then he stopped.

The silence was sharp. It pressed on Dila’s chest.

"But... your mother... isn’t in this world anymore."

Dila’s eyes widened faintly. Then... her shoulders sagged.

Her throat tightened.

Tears she didn’t understand slipped down her cheeks.

She saw flashes.

Memories.

A woman’s arms wrapping around her. Soft. Warm. A faint scent of lavender. The gentle hum of a lullaby not her own. A face blurred in her mind... but the feeling... the warmth of being loved...

Dila bit her lip.

Her hands trembled. Her chest hurt.

Inside, her thoughts were spiraling. I feel like I’m a parasite... like I’m just housing this body...

Her tears wouldn’t stop.

I feel like this is a crime... like I stole this life...

She shook her head slowly.

Nari’s voice echoed softly in her mind, fragile, almost pleading.

☆ You’re not housing Dila... because you are Dila itself, master... ☆

Dila’s eyes flickered. Her fists clenched on her lap, digging her nails into her own skin.

It’s not right... she thought.

It’s not right...

Her body trembled, caught between the pain of a past she didn’t remember and the warmth of a love she didn’t understand.

Dila’s mind spiraled into shadows. Keep in mind... she whispered inside herself, I’m not even supposed to be in this world.

Nari’s voice answered softly, trembling with a delicate, almost human ache.

☆ Would you rather go back...? To that past? To that place? Full of pain... abuse... and hatred...? Where your parents wished you’d never existed? Where they never let you live? Never let you hope? ☆

Dila’s face darkened.

Her breath hitched.

Are you... saying I should just accept this? This body... this life... like it’s mine?

Her throat burned. Her tears returned in full.

That’s a crime, Nari...

Her voice cracked inside her own mind as she whimpered aloud, wiping her eyes with both trembling hands, left and right, over and over. But it wouldn’t stop the tears.

Her small, broken sobs filled the air.

Albedo had been watching silently. Wordless. But as he saw Dila breaking down in front of him, something inside him shattered too.

He moved without thought.

The king—this man who ruled kingdoms—just pulled his daughter tighter into his arms.

His grip firm. Not restraining. But holding.

As if holding his world together.

His large hand gently caressed her head even more, stroking her silver hair like porcelain threads, even as she wept helplessly in his chest.

"I’m here..." he whispered brokenly, his voice shaking.

"I’m here, my little one..."

And for that moment, nothing else mattered.

Not the throne.

Not the kingdom.

Not the broken memories or stolen pasts.

Just a father... holding a daughter who thought she wasn’t his.

And refusing to let her fall.