“Thank you for saving my daughter. She would have died without you.”
His master was somewhat similar to Caedrel in a sense, with the main difference being that he had lost himself to the rage inside him. They had similar backgrounds somewhat, and they had both gone through atrocities.
The main difference between the two of them was the fact that one of them had managed to stay pure-minded, and the other had become evil. However, Caedrel ignored that ‘evil’ part of his master, and I wouldn’t tell him about it. Otherwise, he would just curse me, saying that I was wrong about him.
After all, that was the only logical reaction that he would have since his master was also his savior. The one who had saved him from that Super Soldier Training Camp…it would be very hard for Caedrel for him to believe that his master was a bad person. Still, as much as his master was a bad person, he had been very nice to Caedrel for some reason, almost treating him like a son, teaching him everything he knew without any hesitation.
‘It was probably because he could see himself in Caedrel. Oh well, this is not my problem, nor is it my duty to meddle in. One day, the young one will find out about his master’s true identity, and whether he will be broken or hang on will be for him to decide and face himself. Warning him now won’t do any good.’
With those thoughts, I closed my eyes once again as all kinds of futures flashed inside my mind, invading it and making me feel dizzy.
For many, such a power would be great. However, they weren’t the ones who needed to shoulder all those terrible images and futures. There was a reason I had told Caedrel to train when he had first arrived. If he had immediately gone after Zero, then he would have died.
There was not a single future where he would come out on top. There was not a single future where he came out alive in his fight against Zero. I hadn’t told him at the time since it could have a negative impact. However, what I knew for sure is that Caedrel didn’t truly know the extent of Zero’s powers. He was much more powerful than he had sensed back in the auction house, and it was a good thing that he had met me before going there. Otherwise, he and all of his students would have died, never to be found again.
As more thoughts flashed through my mind, a small sound of a curtain being opened entered my mind, completely numbing the rest of my thoughts as I opened my eyes wide, forgetting about everything else.
However, the smile on his face was replaced by a frown when I saw that only Caedrel was coming out of the room after hours. It didn’t give me hope at all. It made me despair instead.
I didn’t dare to ask Caedrel anything as I could see him walk in my direction with a straight face, not letting any kind of emotion show. Still, after a few moments of pure silence, I had no choice but to do so.
Caedrel wasn’t saying anything, which made me more and more nervous about this whole thing.
“H-How was it? Is she okay?” I asked, my voice fragile, almost cracking with every word I uttered.
Caedrel sat before me with a faint smile on my face, not yet answering.
“She’s fine. She won’t become a cripple anytime soon.”
As soon as he said those words, I released the biggest sigh of relief that I had ever released. My daughter was fine, she wouldn’t become a cripple, and she would be able to survive.
“However, she is still asleep, and she needs to rest for the time being. She should wake up maybe in one hour or two. It all depends on how quick she can recover from having her body on the verge of dying.”
That made a lot of sense, so I simply nodded, as there was no point in going to see her right now. I could only watch from far away as I could see her chest slowly moving up and down, showing that she truly was still alive. The purple veins on her body were also gone.
I didn’t say another word as I just stood up from my seat and walked over to Caedrel, hugging him.
“Thank you for saving my daughter. She would have died without you.”
I even let out a few tears as I hugged him. I could feel him slowly patting my back, clearly not used to receiving any kind of hugs.
“She was your daughter? Why did you never tell me?”
I could laugh as he asked a question in such an intimate moment. He truly did not have any tact, but that was also what made him so pure.
“She was. I never told you because I thought you would be a lot more nervous about her treatment if I told you.”
“You made the right decision without a doubt. I would have been stressed out of my mind…if you would have told me.”
***
A few more hours passed by as I simply waited in my living room, eying Phoebe’s room, not looking away even once.
Caedrel had left my house a few hours ago as he had a few fights from the tournament scheduled, and then, finally, I noticed one of her arms moving. The movement was extremely feeble, but I noticed it in an instant, prompting me to stand up without wasting another moment.
I walked as fast as I could to her bed as I could see her eyes slowly fluttering. I smiled tenderly as I watched such a thing happen. We were truly lucky that Caedrel had appeared otherwise she would have died without a doubt since none of us would have been able to get a sample of Zero’s blood.
As her eyes finally opened, the smile on my face never left it.
“D-Dad? Is that you?” She weakly muttered.
The end of this arc is approaching. Caedrel will soon be leaving to face Zero.
