For You In The Cage - Chapter 57

“Is that possible?”

“Didn’t I tell you? It is said that that person is born with the power to change his or her destiny. I didn’t know at first either. Of course, I knew the legend that passed down, but… I never thought my daughter would be… Until Canaren rescues a boy from the lake.”

Yulif hardened his body. The boy that Canaren rescued from the lake.

It was him.

Anera was still looking at Canaren’s room, so she didn’t notice the subtle changes in Yulif.

“The child drank so much water that he was unconscious. But as Canaren rescued that child, her blood gushed from her wound… It seems that the child accidentally drank blood. Perhaps it was fate.”

Yulif remembered the little hand pulling him up in the damp, dark water. He remembered her golden hair and eyes the moment he opened his eyes.

Did she have any wounds on her young body? He didn’t know. Memories of that day were mixed and jumbled between reality and unreality.

But Canaren didn’t just get him out of the lake.

“How surprised I was to find two children in the lake… I didn’t believe Canaren saved that child. How could I have believed it? Canaren was only five years old. But there was never anyone around the lake. We didn’t go out of town very often, but the roads were so complicated that very few people made it to the lake.”

Anera’s expression became troubled as she recalled the events of that day. Yulif’s mind was more complicated and cluttered than that.

“Anyway, after that, I did random research on the legend of the ‘bird of death’. And I knew it. The power that Canaren has is that ability.”

“Exactly what is her ability?”

“Canaren’s blood heals any wound. When it’s the right amount. However, when a large amount of blood enters, changes occur in the body. Once the change has begun, the body cannot be reversed. Until that one becomes immortal.”

Healing any wounds and eventually turning them into an immortal body. It was a skill anyone would covet.

“And when the person becomes immortal, Canaren dies.”

Yulif’s head was dyed white. Canaren would die. The moment a sentence he couldn’t even imagine pierced his heart, his breath was suffocated. The image of Canaren, who swallowed her poison and vomited her blood, was an incurable wound engraved on his soul.

Yulif couldn’t hide his crumpled face. He couldn’t afford it.

“The person gets immortality in exchange for Canaren’s life?”

“Yes. As with many legends, great power comes with a price. The ‘bird that escapes death’ is a sacrifice for eternal life.”

Having said that, Anera shut her mouth. Losing her composure, her face clouded and frowned upon resembled that of Yulif.

Yulif thought that he would never understand her feelings for having to use the word ‘sacrificial’ for her only daughter.

Still, there was something in common between Anera and Yulif. She cared and loved Canaren very much. She was ready to do anything for Canaren.

Perhaps it was Anera who touched his memory. She must have wanted to prevent the spread of Canaren’s powers among humans.

Yulif did not resent Anera. She took it for granted too. Because she was there to protect Canaren.

And now, Yulif would do anything to protect Canaren.

He suddenly remembered a picture of Lucian he had seen in Robelheim. He was depicted protecting Canaren from fire-breathing dragons.

This life was the last chance given after many repeated failures.

‘I can’t fail anymore.’

“Then may I ask a question now?”

Yulif nodded his head slowly. Anera hesitated as if to choose the right words, and then she spoke with difficulty.

“What do you want to do with Canaren?”

“I want to get married.”

Anera blinked slowly. She lowered her head to look at her table, raised her eyes to look at the ceiling, and then looked back at Yulif with a look of embarrassment. Seeing her naturally aged face and expression that did not match her attitude, she seemed quite surprised.

“Did I hear it wrong?”

“You heard me right. Canaren will be my wife. I will let her enjoy all the benefits of being the Duchess of Rubius.”

“Did my daughter say she would too?”

“Not yet.”

Yulif answered honestly.

It was not a sudden, impulsive marriage decision. His marriage to Canaren was set from the moment he saw her in her banquet hall. But he just didn’t express it outside.

Deltinus was tenacious. He was not a person to give up just because he missed a prey once. Especially from the moment Canaren chose her Yulif, things related to her were no longer a matter of his taste or desire.

For Deltinus, Canaren was a loot. A beautiful object to celebrate and commemorate the victory in the war against Yulif.

After cleaning up the monsters that have been moved to the Imperial Palace, Deltinus would move again. Since he was rejected for the first time in his life when the position of ‘empress’ was rejected, the next move would be much more blatant and direct and he would do whatever it takes.

The title ‘Duchess of Rubius’ was an official fence to protect Canaren from him. Even Deltinus couldn’t carelessly touch the legal wife of his own brother, a duke who has a decent territory.

“This marriage proceeds independently of Canaren’s will.”

“Even the parties have no veto power, so it sounds like you don’t want to listen to anyone else.”

Yulif raised one corner of his mouth. There were clear emotions behind the painted smile.

After Anera sat down at her seat, she fiddled with the teacup she had never tilted. She seemed to be thinking of something.

“It’s not good to be treated like a Hwira among humans.”

Yulif had already noticed from her first words what Anera wanted to say to him. But he silently nodded his head.

“If you’re a duke, you would have been of the imperial bloodline, or at least you would have made a great contribution to the country.”

“It’s royalty.”

“I understand that this is a marriage for the Canaren. So what do you gain from this marriage?”

What would he gain?

The smile on Yulif’s lips deepened.

If he says he’s going to marry Canaren, people would look at him and say he’s crazy. Crazy in love, the duke fell in love with a woman, or he rushed to marry a woman from the Hwira tribe who didn’t even have a proper family. They had known him since the time when the emperor brought out a woman he liked.

Reputation among the aristocrats would be poor, and the nobles who were struggling to form a marriage relationship would be cut off.

Maybe it was the marriage in his name to make her safe, but it was good nonetheless. He was happy to be her husband, even if it was only a few months of marriage.

Canaren was his everything. Her love was more precious than his life. Then the time would come when he could introduce her as his own wife.

He could get nothing out of this marriage, but at the same time he would have everything. But that would only be for a moment. It’s not really about having. So, what would remain in his hands would be beautiful and fleeting happiness that would shine like gold dust beneath the rippling river.

In the end, it was a marriage that yielded nothing.

“Three months.”

Yulif’s voice, speaking calmly, sounded like Anera’s resolve.

“I will prepare a place where you can live safely. In three months, I will send Canaren there.”

“I didn’t want to ask about this.”

Anera sighed. She drank her cold tea at once and forced her mouth shut.

“How long will you live?”

Yulif was a little surprised this time. Anera smiled bitterly, as if she knew he would be.

“My guess was right. If I answered how I knew, would you answer honestly?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“I can see the future. It sounds grandiose, but it’s not the ability to change one’s destiny. At most, it’s just a brief glimpse of the other person’s ordinary daily life. There are restrictions that prevent us from seeing the future of blood and flesh, but there are no other restrictions.”

Anera said she was insignificant, but her ability to foretell her future was also a great ability.

The thought that Canaren wasn’t born with such an ability for nothing flashed through Yulif’s mind for a moment.

“But I can’t see your future.”

“Is that so.”

“I can’t see anything. Maybe the rest of your life…”

“It will be about three months.”

With an indifferent attitude that seemed to say what time it was now, Anera almost said, ‘That’s right.’ She gave Yulif a startled look.

“Is this the reason why you said you would return Canaren after three months? Canaren… Does she know?”

“She does not know. She will never know. Even after I die, she will not know.”