One Step Forward to the Flower Path - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The Duke of Vicente was the only bloodline related to the royal family. There was no other.  That’s why he was so important.

It is the only family that has awakened the special power that is only passed down to the members of the imperial family.

That meant that Dante, the current head of Vicente, also had that power.

A very strong power that an ordinary man cannot bear unless they can control it.

“······Your Grace.”

At Sullivan’s strangled voice.  Dante breathed out loud and closed his eyes.  The pressure that was leaked had calmed down.

“Sit down.”

Dante pointed across from the sofa.  Sullivan sat, rubbing her trembling arms.

‘I forgot for a moment since I was enamored with Ivanna, but the Duke of Vicente is not an ordinary man.  He is such a scary man that even the Emperor feels inferior to him.’

“Ivanna said that monsters covered the world.”

“What?  Why did she say that when there has never been a stampede of monsters since she was born?”

Louise had never spoken about an ability like future foresight.  If she had seen the future, she would never have let our daughter become like this.  Even though she can destroy every country that has coveted her power with her own hands.

“Similar things happened before Ivanna was born.”

Fifteen years ago, monsters who had been silent for a long time suddenly swarmed.  Numerous peoples in the continent were slaughtered, and all nations joined hands in the fight against them.

Sullivan, who was 20 at the time, also remembered.

“Surely, the world back then coincided very much with the words of the Princess, but it was 15 years ago.”

“Maybe the ones who pulled out Ivanna’s energy told her. It’s all because of that incident that they abused the child.”

Despite the cooperation of dozens of countries and huge empires, the number of endless beasts did not decrease.  At the moment when people were about to give up everything in endless despair, the guardian of the Great Spirit appeared.

Louise Hugor killed all the swarming monsters with her mighty power.  It was natural that the greedy eyes of humans turned to that miracle.

‘Foolish and greedy men, the guardians of the Great Spirit are our saviors, not our sacrifice.’

Dante twisted his lips.

Woodduk!

The armrest of the sofa made of solid wood was broken.  With an expressionless face, Dante dropped the shattered fragments to the floor.

“But what the young Lady said was strange.”

“What exactly did she say?”

“It was too strange for her to say that her world was dark, gray, and burning, and that the monsters covered the world.  It is odd to consider it as just words of a child.”

Ivanna often looked strange, but it was convincing when she thought of the terrible things she had gone through.  But this wasn’t it.  It wasn’t like a child talking about stuff.  And besides, it was a tone that seemed to have seen it firsthand, not something someone told her about.

‘It was definitely strange.’

“There are too few Guardians of the Great Spirits in history.  Louise alone was the first guardian in 200 years.”

“You mean to say, she might have an unknown ability?”

“We can’t rule out the possibility.  All the Great Spirits that Guardians summon are different.”

“What?  Is that so?”

‘I had no idea.  So you’re saying there’s not only one Great Spirit?’

“According to Louise, yes.  In fact, the Holy Spirit she summoned knows the former Guardians, but this is the first time it has been summoned by one.”

There really is nothing known about the Holy Spirit and its Guardians.  If so, the future prediction wasn’t an absurd idea.

“If the princess really has the power of foresight.  This should never be known.”

“You and I are the only ones who know right now.  Ivanna, has to learn to keep this a secret.”

“I don’t know much about foresight, so I’ll be careful and report everything I can.”

“How is she doing these days?”

“It’s going very smoothly.  The siblings’ help is great.  Now she learned how to run around like a child.”

“Yes, a kid has to run around to grow up well.”

Dante smiled softly.  Every time he came to the mansion, he remembered the appearance of Valerie, Luan and Louise running around.

Thanks to you, the twins became very healthy.  It was time for the two to pass on the love to their younger sister.

“Of course, your hard work and support is the greatest.  Never forget that.”

Dante opened his eyes wide.  Sullivan laughed at it.  It was scary when he was mad and the pressure around him was suffocating, but now it wasn’t like that all.  He was just like the meow that Ivanna had.

Oh, I see.  Louise made all meows modeled after Dante.  It was so cute and so sad.

“Your efforts have opened the young lady’s heart to a great extent.  If you hadn’t approached her, she would still be trapped in the same place.”

Dante was scared.  Maybe his existence was harmful to the child, or maybe she hated such a father who didn’t even know she existed.  Thinking about that, he couldn’t sleep, so he has been up all night for days.  But his efforts have opened up the child’s heart the most.

“You are a very good father.”

Sullivan’s affirmation shut Dante’s mouth because he didn’t know what to say.  His heart ran violently.

✧────── ೋღღೋ ──────✧

Upon the news that Sullivan’s counselling was over, the twins threw everything they’re doing away and ran directly to Ivanna’s room.

They ran straight ahead, and made all kinds of maneuvers with fast speed.  But as soon as they arrived in front of her door, they stopped immediately.  They wanted to jump in right away because of the excitement, but held themselves back and knocked on the door while trembling unnaturally.  They acted very different from their usual behavior.

“Little sister, it’s Sister.”

“Little sister, it’s Brother.”

When they opened the door, they saw Ivanna standing with a ball and panting.

“You were playing with the ball?”

Valerie and Luan could imagine the scene looking at the ball that was squeezed in her arms.  They were very happy that their little sister seemed to like their gifts, the meow and the ball.

“It’s fun to play with, right?”

“Isn’t it the best to play?”

Ivanna nodded.  The twins laughed cheerfully.

“Let’s play together.  It’s fun to play with a lot of people.”

Ivanna did not refuse and soon put the ball on the floor.

‘It was fun when I ran with Eve, so it would be more fun if the three played.’

Expectations were met twice as much.  That day, Ivanna realized for the first time that her heart could come out of her mouth by running around.  The twins ran around, laughed and shouted well.  Ivanna, who was afraid of loud noises, was swept away by the twins and screamed together with them.

“Get it fast! It’s rolling!”

“No, the ball keeps running alone!”

“If it runs away by itself, it should be punished!”

The twins and Ivanna ran around the spacious room like squirrels.

‘The soft carpet covered my bare feet, so no matter how much I ran, my feet didn’t hurt.  Even if I stepped on the ball and fell, it held me softly.  My heart pounded quickly.  Like it really would pop out of my mouth.’

“I’m hungry after running around.”

The three children, who had been running around for a long time, were exhausted and splattered on the floor.  Sweat trickled down on their bodies like rain.

“I want to wash up. I’m sweating so much.”

Luan flapped his tight-fitting shirt.  The window was tightly closed, so it was even stuffier.  Valerie looked at Ivanna, who was lying on the floor and didn’t let go of the ball.

The same was true of her younger sister, who was soaked in sweat.  A good idea came to her just in time.

“Why don’t we wash together? Let’s play in the water this time!”
(TN: Yes, Valerie you’re a smart girl!)

At her words, Ivanna opened her mouth, and Luan frowned.

“Wash with you?”

“Then you don’t have to.  I’m the only one who’ll play with my little sister.”

Luan shut his mouth.  He was deeply concerned about whether he should wash up with the girls, or blow up the chance to play in the water with his younger sister.

Valerie ignored Luan and reached out to Ivanna.

“Let’s play in the water together.”

“Play in the water?”

“Yes.  We put a lot of water in a large bathtub and play there.  You can also play ball there.”

“Tub?”

“It’s like a big bucket that gets water for a bath.  It’s really nice to get warm water and go in.  Would you like to do it?”

‘Ah, you mean the wooden barrel.  I know it well because I used it when I lived in a hut with my mother.’ 

Ivanna remembered that it felt great when she and her mom went in and soaked together.  But since she was taken by people, she had never done it.  They will just say she was dirty and wiped her roughly with a cloth dampened with water.

“Yes, I want to do it.”

(TN: YESSSSSSSSSS BATHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.)

Ivanna answered loudly, and for the first time and expressed her opinion.  Valerie smiled.  Luan, who was troubled while moaning, changed his mind. There was nothing he couldn’t do for his Little Sister.  Valerie called Alaine straight away.

“I’m going to play in the water with my sister. Get some water in the bathtub.”

Alaine opened her eyes wide.

“Really?”

“Yes, don’t forget to adjust the temperature so it’s not too hot.”

“Oh, yes.  I’ll get it ready right away.”

‘A bath?  Oh, my God! At last, Miss Ivanna will bathe!’

Alaine quickly wiped the corners of her eyes with her sleeves.  She thought she was going to cry and the tip of her nose frowned.  She asked another maid to hurry and let Dante and Sullivan know this good news.

Later, she opened the door to the attached bathroom. It hasn’t been used for a long time and it smells cold, but it will only be a while.  Finally, this bathroom welcomed the new owner.

“Miss, please wait a bit. I······.”

Dump.

“Ivanna!”

Alaine, who was busy moving, looked back at a loud sound.  Ivanna was sitting down on the floor, trembling.

When Valerie and Luan tried to raise the child, a small hand shook them off.

“Ivanna?”

“Miss? Are you alr-”

“Huh, hah, hah······.”

Ivanna suddenly grabbed her chest.  Her whole body trembled as if she had a seizure and stepped back away from the door.  The familiar appearance stopped Alaine and the twins as if they had been struck by lightning.  It was like when she first arrived at the castle, when her anxiety and alertness reached their highest level. No, it looked worse than that.

‘Why so suddenly?’

“Huh, did you hide it there?”

A terrible trembling voice burst out of her rough lips.

“Now, you’re gonna take it away, aren’t you?”

“What are you saying, Ivanna?”

“Everyone, you are all liars.  You said you wouldn’t take my power.  You said you didn’t need it!”

Her small body trembled like crazy.  They were worried that she might faint, but when they tried to get closer, she had a bigger seizure and they could not approach.  The three were frustrated.

‘Why all of a sudden?’

“This isn’t my mom’s room, is it?  We are in a prison, right?  You locked her up here and you pulled her strength out in this prison!”

The face covered under the hair was soaked with tears.  Shivering scarred fingers pointed to something.  Three people’s eyes followed the end.  At that moment three people realized.

“You bullied my mom at that altar!  You are trying to bully me now!”

The altar for the god is a pure white marble.  And the bathtub in the duke house was also white marble.  It feels similar at first glance to a person who knows nothing.  Now, Ivanna was thinking of the bathtub as an altar and was suspicious once more.

“You are trying to kill me here too!”

Alaine hurriedly shook her head and shut the bathroom door at the grieving cry.  It was so hard to come all the way here, she could not bear to see Ivanna’s heart harden once more.  If she closes her heart this time, it won’t open ever again.

“No, my lady.  It’s a misunderstanding.  That’s really just a bathtub······.”

“You said you didn’t need it, you said you wouldn’t take it, you said you’d protect me······.”

She was shaking fearfully and her words were crushed, but she could be heard by three very accurately.  Her heart was so broken.

“Huh, uh, it hurts, it hurts······! It hurts!”

Ivanna curled up on the floor, hugging herself with her small arms.  While saying she was hurting for the first time ever, the child shouted with all her might.  Alaine’s tears burst at the desperate appearance of everything collapsing.

“Miss, please calm down! Baby······. Ivanna!”

“Ahhhhhh!”

The child’s terrible scream burst out violently, muting any other sounds.