webnovel

Devotion

The staff stopped centimeters away from his head.

Feeling slightly disappointed, Jun thought it may have actually been for the best that he didn't get hit in the head by someone who has B- strength. If he was wrong about how much damage his current body could endure, then that blow would probably have killed him.

In the distance, a small white haired child with bright red eyes and a pale face came walking out from the castle in haste.

The moment Jun saw her he knew exactly who she was. The cursed child of the Einzberns destined to never find true happiness.

'Illyasviel.'

Seeing the small child approach, he reined in his fighting spirit and relaxed his body.

Removing herself from Jun's reach, Leysritt moved next to her mistress and stood behind her like a trained bodyguard.

Ignoring Jun's presence, Illya walked past him and went to check on the unconscious Sella. Crouching down, she felt her pulse and felt her heartbeat. Confirming that Sella was still alive, she turned to Jun with an angry expression on her face. If not for the fact that she had previously seen him toy around with both Sella and Leysritt she would have gone and bashed his face in.

"Who are you?" She asked slightly curious about him.

'She seems different from the anime.'

Jun thought before realizing that the Illya from the anime is the one from 10 years in the future.

Letting out a wry smile he introduced himself. "My name is Jun, I'm here to talk to you about your father."

================================================================

"So he's dead."

Sitting around a table inside the Einzbern castle, Illya's hands were balled into fists as she struggled to keep her tears in.

She had not seen her father in a year and thought that he had abandoned her. Everyday her hate for him grew a little more, but at the end of the day she was still a child. No matter what a parent might do their child will always harbor a sense of love for them in their heart. So to find out that he was dead... was a blow to her.

Leysritt went forward to comfort her but was stopped by the now healed Sella who simply shook her head.

Looking at the weak Illya who bore almost no resemblance (Mentally) to her psychotic future self caused Jun to sigh. It was strange seeing how the almost always confident Illya that was the most level headed master in the fifth holy grail war could look so fragile.

"Its okay to cry. Crying doesn't make you weak." He said trying to help.

In all fairness, he felt somewhat guilty for Kiritsugu's death. He knew that his body was weak and that when he released so much demonic energy in the Matou house the strain must have been too much for someone in Kiritsugu's condition to bear.

He had also gotten news from Sergei that Raiga came over to visit and informed Kariya of his granddaughter's depression.

"I won't cry!" Illya shouted. "I won't cry."

Her body started to tremble as she bottled up her emotions.

'Goddammit!'

Leaping out of his seat, he pulled her into his embrace and held her tight.

"LET ME GO!! I DON'T NEED YOU!!" She screamed and struggled. "I DON'T NEED YOU! I DON'T NEED YOU! I DON'T NEED YOU!"

Feeling that her attempts were useless, Illya stopped struggling and let out a heartbreaking scream as tears started to pour out from her eyes.

"Its okay, he loved you very much." Jun said remembering Kiritsugu from the series.

================================================================

Once Illya had tired herself out, Leysritt took her from Jun's embrace and took her to her room.

Left alone with the white haired boy, Sella felt slightly uncomfortable.

"I apologize for my earlier actions towards you." She bowed and apologized.

"Its fine." Jun waved his hand.

"What I'd really like to know is how did you know that I was a demon?" He asked curious of how they discovered him.

Straightening up from her bowed posture, Sella answered his question.

"Your body emits a faint trace of demonic energy. We normally wouldn't notice it if it weren't for you passing through our barrier."

"I see..."

'So even if I suppress my energy to the limit some of it still manages to leak out which is what the barrier detected.'

Understanding how they discovered him, he nodded his head.

"If you knew about me then why did you allow me to make it to the castle?"

"Unfortunately there was no way we could have stopped you from entering and exiting the forest." She explained.

Remembering what he had read about bounded fields in the Matou books he gave a simple nod.

"Now onto the real reason I came here."

"Y-You weren't here to inform Illya about her father." Sella stuttered while backing away slowly.

Chuckling at her actions, Jun reassured her of his intentions.

"I'm not here to hurt you, in fact it's the opposite." He smiled.

"Opposite?" Sella looked at him with confusion but stopped backing away to the door.

Putting on a serious expression he stopped teasing the homunculus. "Illya's body has been modified in order to maximize the amount of magic circuits in her body. That patriarch of yours created the ultimate homonculus capable of handling the most powerful of mana consuming servants in preparation for the next holy grail war. Unfortunately these modifications lead to stunting her physical growth and shortened her lifespan by a considerable amount."

Sella stood rooted to the ground unable to speak after learning what the Einzbern's had done to Illya's body.

Jun wasn't surprised by her shock as he understood that besides Jubstacheit von Einzbern (Head of the Einzberns) there were only a selected few that knew the purpose behind Illya's birth. He was also pretty sure that Illya herself didn't even understand her whole purpose at this point in the timeline.

Letting out a sigh he waited for Sella to compose herself before continuing.

"Better?" He asked.

"....Yeah." She answered quietly while balling her fists.

"Good."

"As I was saying, Illya's body was modified due to the upcoming holy grail war, so it only makes sense that the holy grail war can also save her."

Sella lifted her head with hope in her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Smiling at her response Jun put his arms behind his head.

"What if there was a servant that was capable of breaking the restrictions imposed on Illya's body? What if I was able break the rules that said that Illya's body had to remain prepubescent? What if Illya could live a full life as an ordinary human, what would you say?"

"DO IT!!" She shouted without a hint of hesitation.

"It'd be dangerous."

"Do it."

"People will die."

"Do it."

"The Einzberns will turn on her once she fails her purpose."

"D-Do it!!"

Smiling at her resolute eyes, Jun nodded his head.

"When they come for her, what will you do."

"I will protect her!" She proclaimed.

"Heh, you couldn't even protect yourself from me let alone an entire magus family trying to kill you. Sorry to say but you're doomed to fail."

Hearing his comment, her will faltered for a second before re solidifying itself.

"Even so, I will protect her to my dying breath."

Staring at the red eyed homunculus Jun felt that must it feel nice to have someone dedicate their life to you.

"*Sigh* You don't need to go that far."

"Huh?"

Walking up to the homunculus, he jumped up and removed her headdress cap thingy and released her beautiful snow white hair to the world.

"Join my family and I swear that I will protect and fulfill Illya's every desire for the rest of her life."