Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint-Chapter 469: The One Who Might Be My Father

Hmm. To confess here that her mother had been a courtesan... No matter how I responded, it would inevitably sound offensive. Choosing my words carefully, I softened my tone.

“So, your esteemed mother chose a profession in the art of love. That must have been wonderful, having so many fathers.”

“Yes. Thanks to that, I was able to meet you as well, Father... and I’m truly... grateful.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I’ve never even set foot in a place like that! I don’t have the money or the power to spend my time with courtesans! I was so broke that I had to take a part-time job at a host bar just to survive!”

If anything, I was more on the selling side than the buying side! ...Wait. Wasn’t I just looking down on courtesans a second ago? That was practically spitting straight up into the air.

“You weren’t a customer, Father. You were an employee. The brothel was testing the waters for a business catering to women, but you ended up catching the eye of a courtesan instead—so they kicked you out immediately.”

“Oh, so that’s the new setting now?”

“But thanks to that, I was able to gain the best father possible.”

Look, I may have worked at a Military State host bar, but I had professional ethics. I never once touched anyone connected to my workplace. Hilde’s version of events was absolute nonsense.

But... I was starting to understand why she insisted on calling me ‘Father.’

“Hilde, were fathers your audience? Was your acting meant to win over the constantly changing fathers in your life?”

“...Yes. The guests at the brothel came to see my mother. I was merely a lingering trace left behind by one of her past visitors. None of my fathers wanted to acknowledge me. To my mother, my existence was a defect—one that lowered her status and her worth.”

“That’s some nerve, considering she was the one who gave birth to you.”

“The Empire and its vassal states follow the teachings of the Celestials. A child must be born if conceived, even in a brothel. That’s why I was brought into this world... but for a child to survive, they must also learn to please others.”

Hilde murmured as if recalling a past so distant that it was barely even her own.

“My first father didn’t even want to look at me. Every time he saw me, he’d grimace and gesture for someone to take me away. I didn’t understand back then, but now, I think it was because he saw me as proof of his failure—of the fact that he couldn’t have my mother all to himself. The only time he ever smiled at me... was when I called him ‘Father.’ It was a twisted smile, one of self-satisfaction, as if he had won something.”

“Hah. Your first esteemed father must have really cherished your mother.”

“He refused to officially acknowledge me, though. He said he didn’t want to bring home a plucked flower that someone else had already claimed.”

“Damn. With that many parents, no matter what I say, it’s bound to sound like an insult. What the hell am I supposed to do?”

This was like walking blindfolded through a minefield. All I could do was sit and listen to Hilde’s story.

“...I was a flaw in my mother’s life. Because of me, her clientele declined, and her price dropped. If I could have been hidden, maybe it wouldn’t have mattered, but... a courtesan’s scandals never truly disappear. As her ranking fell, my mother became furious. She blamed me for it.”

“Hmm. Would it be rude to suggest she was just... aging out of demand?”

Apparently, it was rude. Hilde pinched my side.

She didn’t even use qi, but it still hurt like hell.

“The only people who were ever kind to me... were the fathers who visited my mother. They had to maintain a façade of dignity, after all. I became their prop—a tool to showcase their generosity. So I tried my hardest to please them. At the very least, while they were around... I could pretend to have a family.”

“So that’s where Hilde’s acting began.”

“...I suppose so. Though whether it was acting or flattery is debatable. To avoid being abandoned by my father, to avoid being a burden to my mother, I had to play my part. To the strict fathers, I became an obedient and well-behaved child. To the vain fathers, I played the clever and precocious daughter. To the elderly fathers, I acted like a sweet, doting child.”

“Call a courtesan, get a perfect daughter on the side? That sounds more like a bonus feature than a flaw.”

I had meant it as a joke, but Hilde only muttered bitterly.

“It was the typical path for a courtesan’s daughter. If I had stayed there... I might have ended up selling love just like my mother.”

“Well, lucky you. Not that I mean to say your mother’s profession was something to avoid entirely.”

“Compared to being bound to a brothel, working in the theater was far better. It paid well, and I had freedom.”

“...What am I supposed to say to that?”

I grumbled, but Hilde only smiled faintly and whispered,

“...But as you said, Father, I just needed an audience. No matter how much skill I gained, no matter how many techniques I mastered, if there was no one to watch me, none of it mattered. Unlike other humans, I don’t exist for myself. I have always needed someone to define me.”

Hilde was acting as her past self. She had deliberately forgotten all her experiences and returned to the moment where it all began.

She had erased the memories of fleeing for her life. Forgotten the days when she had devoted herself to the Celestials and fought as a Holy Orbit Sacred Sword. Cast aside the time she had spent working in the shadows for the Saintess.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Now, standing at the origin of it all, she whispered,

“You can be that person, Father. If you take me in... I will become yours. Not in the sense that I own you—but in the sense that you will own me.*”

Fathers, audiences, Celestials, even the Saintess.

Hilde had sought approval from all of them... and had been disappointed by all of them.

And now, she had latched onto me.

“I will obey your every command, serve you with my body and soul. I will become your Holy Sword.”

She was pledging to abandon both the Military State and the Celestials, dedicating herself entirely to me.

A Sixfold Saint, a warrior of unparalleled strength, offering to become my devoted, self-sacrificing servant. A woman who could transform, imitate, and infiltrate anywhere I needed her to go.

It was quite the temptation.

The sincerity in her voice only made it more compelling.

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If I were just an ordinary man, I might have accepted her offer without hesitation.

But unfortunately for her... I was just a completely normal person.

“This performance of yours... is it supposed to be an autobiography? I have to say, it was quite impressive.”

My will is enough to move only myself.

I have no intention of ruling over vassals like a vampire lord. That would be a waste of their desires.

Gently pushing Hilde away, I spoke.

“But you’re old enough now to be independent. How long do you plan to keep searching for a father? No matter how much a father dotes on his daughter, if she stays past the age of independence, he can’t help but look at her with mixed feelings.”

A firm rejection.

Hilde blinked from within the blanket. Perhaps she hadn’t expected me to turn down her offer so easily, despite staking even her self on it. After a moment, she gave a wistful smile.

“...You’re too cruel. I’m not good enough for you?”

“I’m rejecting you because you’re good enough. The moment something moves exactly as I want, it stops being interesting. I cherish and value my own hands, but I don’t find them particularly fascinating or awe-inspiring. Why would I go to a theater if the actors simply performed as I dictated?”

Some people seem to misunderstand the title King of Beasts—as if it means ruling over beasts.

But that’s not it.

The King of Beasts is the one who represents them, not the one who controls them. The one swayed by the beasts, rather than the one who bends them to his will.

A leader who simply manipulates those he represents? That’s not leadership. That’s coercion. And if coercion were all it took, then a King of Beasts wouldn’t be needed at all.

As I answered calmly, Hilde suddenly seemed to realize something.

“Father... you have no intention of becoming the king of the Military State, do you?”

...Oh.

Now that was a direct hit.

For a moment, I hesitated. That brief pause alone was enough for Hilde to confirm her suspicions. She placed her hand against my chest and murmured.

“I’ve watched you long enough to know. You have no interest in ruling over others. You only watch. You observe without attachment. That’s why you left the Military State without hesitation. That’s why you abandoned Tyrkanzyaka so easily.”

“...That’s...”

“You won’t even own someone like me, so how could you possibly desire an entire country? My plan was doomed from {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the start.”

As my rejection sank in, warmth slowly returned to Hilde’s body.

The moment I denied her new role, she slipped back into her old one—the Holy Sword, the Ghost of Shadows, the one who followed a King of Humans. She pushed me aside with a controlled movement imbued with qi. This time, I couldn’t resist.

With her blanket draped over her shoulders, Hilde gazed down at me with a chilling air.

“You’d rather have me force you to return to the Military State, wouldn’t you? You’d rather I act on my desires instead.”

“That’s not entirely true. I did intend to visit the Military State.”

“...But you will never become its king.”

I couldn’t deny it.

If I had any desire for the throne, I wouldn’t have left it to Captain Aby or Historia.

As long as humans were the ones deciding humanity’s fate, that was enough for me.

“If you had at least lied and told me you’d take me in, things might have been easier for both of us.”

“That wouldn’t have sat well with me, though.”

Hilde spoke self-deprecatingly, but I answered her with complete honesty.

“I don’t mind being abandoned by Hilde. But losing such a skilled actress? That would be a real loss. Wasting a treasure of humanity on my own selfish desires would be a tragedy.”

She fell silent.

It was a shame, but that’s just how it was.

A King of Beasts does not control those he represents. He simply watches as they choose their own paths.

Unlike what most people believe, a King of Humans does not rule over anyone. At most, he lets them believe they are being ruled.

That is the natural way of existence.

And yet, an unsettling feeling tugged at the back of my mind.

Even if my decision was inevitable, my thoughts were perfectly aligned with what a King of Beasts would choose. But something deep inside me was pulling me elsewhere.

The last time I felt this, I hadn’t fully grasped what it was.

But I am a mind reader.

If something is happening within my own mind, I understand it better than anyone else.

This... is my will.

A part of me that refuses to be controlled by me.

“Either way, Father and I both need to escape the Principality.”

Hilde’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Like it or not, I have no choice but to stay with you. Tch. How annoying.”

There was something oddly lonely in the way she muttered those words.

Almost without thinking, I spoke.

“...I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. That just makes it worse.”

Hilde cut me off, her voice sharp and indifferent.

“Just go to sleep.”

Then, without any hesitation, she climbed on top of me.

As if my body were nothing more than a mattress, she curled up and closed her eyes.

Before long, the soft sounds of her breathing filled the small burrow.

I almost told her she’d catch a cold sleeping like that... but I stopped myself.

It didn’t matter.

She was using qi again.

Even sleeping naked, she wouldn’t have any problems.

Steam rose from the water bucket, heated by the Lightning Tangle. The air in the burrow was thick with warm humidity.

It was enough to make it feel like I was sleeping with a portable heater.

Wrapping myself in the blanket, I closed my eyes.