Chapter 139
Though Ares tried hard to persuade the woman, she showed no reaction. She simply continued treating his hand in silence.
Having expected his words to reach her, Ares struggled to hide his disappointment.
Finally, the woman left the room without a word. As soon as he heard the door close, Ares collapsed face-down onto the bed in frustration.
‘How embarrassing…’
He’d been certain Kirine would appear when he said “Darling, help me,” but there was no effect at all. It seemed there must be some kind of barrier or location-distorting magic in the area.
‘It’ll be difficult to escape on my own.’
He rubbed his eyes roughly and let out a deep sigh. He’d thought he might be able to escape if he could just persuade the woman properly, but Vincent’s unexpected appearance made it difficult to know how to proceed.
‘Come to think of it, what’s that bastard’s objective?’
The woman’s goal seemed to be keeping him to live with her. More precisely, she appeared to want to live alone with him in an isolated place, like the white mansion. As a replacement for her dead daughter.
But he couldn’t understand why Vincent was involved in this.
‘Not just involved—is he directing it?’
He recalled how the woman had remained silent like a nonentity during his conversation with Vincent. It seemed Vincent was indeed the mastermind.
‘So that bastard drew the woman into this?’
A bitter laugh escaped as soon as he had this thought. If that was the case, it meant this entire situation had been planned.
‘First I need to contact Kirine somehow.’
It was frustrating having no means of communication.
‘It seems trying to persuade the woman more might be the best option.’
He’d noticed her eyes wavering when he mentioned her dead daughter. Though she tried to pretend otherwise, she seemed to know that everything he’d said wasn’t wrong.
Yet he’d watched as she still tried to ignore and deny it, unable to accept her daughter’s death.
‘Next time I see her, I need to definitely change her mind…’
Just as he was making this resolution—
The closed door began to slide open quietly.
“…?”
Wondering who it was, Ares jumped up from the bed but froze in place.
The woman who had just left stood silently in the doorway, watching him. Like someone who had something to say but couldn’t figure out how to say it.
After waiting for her to speak first, Ares finally sighed and broke the silence.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
“…”
But no response came.
Having expected this, Ares stared at her quietly before leaning against the wall. Just as he was considering how to change her mind—
“I’m sorry.”
Words he could hardly believe came from the woman’s lips.
“I know, I know but…”
The woman roughly ran her fingers through her hair, seemingly frustrated even as she spoke. Her already disheveled hair became even more tousled from her touch.
“I know, but I can’t help how I feel.”
“…”
“If you would just… if you would just understand my feelings…”
For a moment, unable to comprehend what she meant, Ares frowned before letting out an irritated sigh. The conversation was going in circles again.
“You say you know everything. If you know, how can you expect me to become your daughter?”
The woman’s idea of “understanding” was essentially asking him to become a replacement to fill her void.
But he wasn’t her daughter. He had his own mother, though she had passed away, and he himself was a man, not a woman.
“Do you know how much pain you caused my mother?”
“…”
“As a mother yourself, you must know what you did.”
“That’s not…”
“I cannot fill your daughter’s place, Rosie.”
“…!”
It was the first time he’d spoken her name. The woman stared at Ares with a shocked expression, clearly not expecting him to use her name.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know your name?”
It wasn’t that he didn’t know. He’d just buried it because he hadn’t wanted to remember.
“You know that no one can fill your daughter’s void.”
He meant she should stop now. No matter how similar someone might be, they weren’t her daughter. Even if Ares himself was the person who most resembled that daughter.
“It’s time to become a mother your daughter wouldn’t be ashamed of.”
He desperately hoped his words would reach her this time.
***
“I’m not sure whether I should mention this or not…”
The guild master, who had been searching with Kirine for the woman’s possible hideout, carefully spoke up.
“There was someone lingering around the house where that woman lived. It might be coincidence, or it might not.”
He hadn’t mentioned it to Kirine because he wasn’t certain, but given the situation, it strangely bothered him.
“Who was it?”
When she gave him an urgent look as if telling him to speak quickly, the guild master relented.
“There was a man who kept walking around.”
“What did he look like?”
“He wore a hood, so I couldn’t see his features clearly.”
“Are you joking with me?”
As Kirine responded irritably, asking if he called that useful information, the guild master quickly waved his hands.
“No, wait, hear me out. I couldn’t see his face, but I got a good look at his build.”
“What was his build like?”
“He was tall. Though I couldn’t see his face well because of the hood, his skin was fair, and he had a slender jawline.”
“Is that all?”
At her look suggesting surely that couldn’t be everything, the guild master clutched his head and groaned before suddenly exclaiming as if remembering something.
“I remember!”
“What is it?”
“Golden hair!”
“Golden hair?”
“A bit of golden hair was sticking out from under the robe.”
“…”
With an ominous feeling, Kirine fell silent.
‘It couldn’t be…’
Someone flashed through her mind, but it seemed too impossible to believe.
