I Didn't Even Want To Live, But God Forced Me To Reincarnate! Chapter 73: Believe

"You admitted it!! You admitted to murdering your own family!!" Miss Trouble said those words excitedly, like a child getting a candy from her mother.

"Cyan!! What are you saying?! Look at your surroundings, you're scaring Alt and Lyra!" Mom shouted, and at her words, Dad's snapped out of his cold self, and his gentle expression returned.

"Ca.s.sie… Altaire… Lyra… I…," Dad seemed to realize what he had just done and looked at us worryingly.

We were just standing there blankly and was surprised by his sudden movement that we took a step backward.

When we realized what we had just done, Dad's already looking at us dejectedly.

"Ha… hahahahahahahahahaha… AHAHAHAHA!! YOU FELL FOR IT!! YOU ADMITTED OPENLY!" The mad lady's body shook in excitement and laughter.

"Tch," Dad clicked his tongue.

"Altaire, Lyra… It's not… it's not what you think… I…," Dad's voice was shaking—his face showed his agony and resentment.

The mad lady's laughter still continued, and Mom quickly rushed off to our side, hugging the two of us.

"Altaire, Lyra… Please… don't fall for her words. I can a.s.sure you that your dad is not a mad murderer—he isn't thirsty for power that he'd commit a familicide… If he is, then I won't be with him, and you two wouldn't be here…," Mom pleaded to us.

I thought back of Dad's cold expression—and his usual gentle, loving self. The two sides of him seemed as if they were of different people altogether.

"I… I want to… believe in Dad… After all, when I went along with him to patrol the area… The people… the people are smiling…," Alt-nii's voice could be heard.

I thought back on the occasions where I played in the downtown, and to the people who smiled back at Dad. Surely, they were throwing out sincere smiles, not smiles because they were forced to do it.

If Dad really killed his family in cold blood and if he usurped the t.i.tle of Duke in such a way, I don't think they would be smiling at Dad. …no, Dad's friends with King t.i.tus. There's no way King t.i.tus would a.s.sign Dad as the next Duke of Hartmann if that was the case.

…has someone ever told me about Dad exposing his family's wrongdoings, and arrested them because of it?

Could it be that…

"Dad, you only helped the government in arresting them, right?" I asked after I came to my conclusion. Mom was surprised to hear my conclusion, but from her expression, somehow I can already guess the answer. Altaire's eyes widened in surprise as if he'd just remembered that fact.

"Yes… I handed the evidence needed to arrest them…"

I looked at Dad who answered my question weakly… Dad… is in such a pitiful state… He's looking down dejectedly, afraid to look at my face and Alt-nii's face… Did our reaction cause him to be like this?

Our reaction earlier made it seem as if we were afraid of him—as if we trusted that lady's misleading words and bait rather than Dad…

I'm… sorry… I didn't think it straight…

"Your actions where the reasons why they met their demise!!" Miss Trouble's still accusing Dad.

Ah, I get it… Dad didn't say anything because he thought his actions were the same as killing them, so…

That time when I thought Dad's words gave her the ide-it was not just my imagination. Miss Trouble failed to harm us, so she wanted to shred our trust and love to Dad instead...?

However, sorry, Miss Trouble.

I won't let everything go according to your plan.

"…if it's the authority's decision to execute them, then Dad's clear."

I stated this with a clear, determined voice.

Dad turned to look at me. I smiled at him.

The moment I saw his tense face breaking down to form a smile, looking at me with his teary eyes, I can't help myself and get teary-eyed, as well.

This might be weird coming from a four-year-old girl.

Even when one considers the historical fact that the human race has developed maturity earlier than the 'prototype' humans back then in order to survive from the war and slavery, this level of maturity for a child my age is way beyond normal.

Yes, as precocious as someone could be, my behavior right now wouldn't convince anyone that I was just a precocious four-year-old child.

However, I don't want to regret it by holding myself back right now.

I don't want to hurt a precious family member.

For the kind and loving Dad—I want to repay his love back.

"Lyra…," Dad scooped me up to his arms and kissed my cheek.

"Thank you," he whispered.

At that time, I know I made the right choice.

"Altaire… Lyra… I promise I will explain it all to you in time," Dad said gently.

"It's okay, Dad… I believe in you," I said calmly.

"I… I don't really get it, but I know that Dad's kind!!" Altaire also replied, as he came forward and hugged Dad.

Mom's expression turned soft and her eyes got wet as she observed the scene in front of her. She must have felt really worried about how it would all turn out.

After looking at the warm family moment, the mad lady dissed out.

Then, something unbelievable happened.

She'd continuously chanted electric spark to hit the vines binding her!! The friction soon turned into a fire that burnt the vines—but the fire also injured her body!

This lady is really insane!! It's confirmed right now—no, actually, it's confirmed when she electrocuted herself back then. How did I fail to predict her next movement?!

Dad and Mom were also taken aback by the mad lady's action and were about to confine her again when the lady quickly raised an electrical barrier and jumped to the far away side of the room. She then took out a magical scroll and tore it down.

Wait, could it be a teleportation scroll?!

That thing should be hard to obtain!!

And my prediction was right. The lady's body quickly disappeared from her original spot. In the end… we couldn't even get her ident.i.ty.

The officers came to our room right after the lady leader disappeared, and they greeted Dad politely as they recognized Dad who's not under any disguise—albeit they were very shocked. Dad explained the situation to the officers who quickly settled their business, while Mom healed Alt-nii and me.

When Meredea returned in panic, almost everything's been tidied up, so we only laughed upon seeing her messed up appearance and frantic movements.

Because of the unwanted circ.u.mstances, the rest of our holidays was canceled, and we returned to our house shortly afterward. As soon as we got home, Dad's back to his work—seems like he's busy managing the incidents in Chinosato, trying to catch the mastermind behind all this.

When Clavis, Niina, Chloe, and Vince heard about the crisis we've been through, they kept asking us if we were really alright, if we didn't suffer any trauma and the likes.

Of course, news has traveled to the royal family and that includes Luca. When I showed up at the Capicastle shortly afterward, Luca tried to send me home with a slight hint of worry. Seems like he wanted me to rest after all this ordeal, but hey, I wouldn't be here in the first place if I needed to rest!

Mom noticed my missing pendant and asked the details about it. Since I didn't know the full details of it, Alt-nii helped me to fill in the details. Mom's face turned from confusion to a surprise, then back to her thoughtful expression.

In the end, she gave me another necklace with different stone—saying that this one's got a stronger power.

In addition to that…

"Lyra, it seems that you unconsciously used a dark affinity magic back then—to exert a mental pressure that caused everyone else to halt their movements," Mom explained.

"E… eh?!"

"And it seems to be quite a powerful one—as it managed to shatter the magical necklace and to halt three people at your first try…"

"I, is that so?"

"Yes… and… that's why, what do you say about learning how to control that power? Controlling shadows and commanding people to stop, for example…"

Mom's face showed a hint of worry, as she was unsure if I'd like the idea of using Dark magic.

I tried to recall back my experience in Chinosato. About how they praised those with Dark magic. About how they could use it to play shadow tagging. About Rupert's strained smile when he explained to me that he was a dark magician and that he was of oni descent. And about the magical stone's shattering.

Clearly, there is a need for me to learn dark magic. If not, Mom wouldn't even try to ask me.

"…Alright."

With this, our troublesome holiday to Chinosato has ended. The intruders failed to harm any of us, and they also failed to ruin our family bond.

If anything, I have gained a lot of life lessons from this holiday vacation.

And about Dark magic... well... though my feelings are still complicated about it, wouldn't it be fun to play the shadow tagging game using shadow manipulation technique?