Chapter XXVI: Farewell

The entire place was pitch black, a space inside the mind of Lillibet, a naive little girl who's been showered with love since the day she was born.

Lily was always protected and treasured by her family, so there is nothing for her to wish for anymore. But then she could be seen quietly standing in a gloomy place all alone with her hands tightly gripping the hem of her plain long dress, which has a similar color to mud.

The silence eating the place was enough to make her eyes blur from tears, as she kept trembling like a drenched cat.

"D-daddy?"

Lily could feel the anxiety in her mind. She called her father a lot of times, but no one answered or came. No one was even there by her side, just like an abandoned kitten that kept wandering around the dark and abandoned alley.

When she felt that the hope was gone, her eyes became so watery that it almost blurred her sight, but then her face brightened when she saw a beautiful and colorful venetus-colored butterfly with a luminous blinding light covering itself while gold dust sparkled on its wings, which reminded her of the eyes of her father.

"Are you lost too, Mr. Butterfly?" 

She began to rub her eyes.

The light surrounding its body devoured the gloomy place, which soon turned into the brightest room that was painted white, where she began to feel at ease.

"What?"

"Do you want me to follow you?" 

She didn't have a second thought and hurriedly followed the butterfly without any clue as to where it wanted to take her, but even so, Lily wasn't afraid because she was being led to a place that was brighter than before.

"Don't go!"

"Wait for me, Mr. Butterfly!"

When the butterfly began to fly away further than her, Lily's small and fragile legs lost so much energy that her face fell flat on the ground, and the butterfly she was chasing was already too far for her small hands to reach.

*Hic!*

Lillibet slowly tried to stand up with her trembling knees that had left a fresh wound after falling on the ground; she even slowly pulled up the hem of her dress above her knees because she didn't want it to be tainted by her blood.

"I'm a big girl; I don't cry." 

She stated while looking at the ground with wobbly legs that were like noodles.

When the crystal-like water almost filled her eyes, she suddenly heard a familiar tone of voice that was laughing at her before it lifted her to the ground, putting Lillibet gently on his muscled arms, where she could feel the real warmth and comfort—a feeling of sudden security in the arms of the bearded-looking man.

As soon as she lifted her head, her emotions immediately began to be out of her control, which startled the two.

"M-Mama?Papa?... WAH~"

She suddenly wailed out loud while Liena slowly and gently wiped her tears on her fluffy cheeks.

On the other side, Khalid was standing still in a destroyed kingdom like a stiff statue that was staring from afar, while the area was covered in dust and crumbled pieces of brick and ashes floating in the air.

"Milord, we did try our best, but we could not find their body." 

The knight stated with a weary expression, looking like a zombie.

Khalid didn't respond and just looked straight into his eyes. 

"We-well, no single trace of verendus was found either."

The guy stutters.

"It might be because of the explosion."

Stated by the knight standing beside him.

Their words left Khalid in silence while he rubbed his chin, looking so pale and dull. 

Now that he has looked back on the battle scene, Khalid already knows the culprit behind the body's disappearance.

'Unbelievable.'

He thought after realizing the truth about the body he possessed.

"That's not a surprise." 

Khalid then suddenly spoke the words in his head, leaving the knight he was talking to in so much confusion. 

"Pardon?"

The knight questioned, but he just turned his back on him before he answered.

"Put a grave where the explosion happened."

His tone of voice, his facial expression, and even his eyes were bleak and lifeless, which made the knight cautious towards him.

"O-oh yes, milord." 

Soon after that, Khalid left the scene, which made the others feel that they could breathe again after holding their breath, fearing that they could get on his nerves.

"Ha-" 

Khalid looks at his palm and stares from afar. 

"This damn flesh-eating demon." 

He mumbled as he strutted out of the scene.

Again, he must have already been questioning his existence after experiencing hellish death nine times. Who could have thought that he was still alive and kicking because of the mere luck that caused his nightmare? 

Now he must have been wondering: if he dies as Lee Hyun and doesn't transmigrate into the world of fantasies, could he be so much happier? ... Well, no one knows; even Lee Hyun himself didn't know the answer either.

Meanwhile, Lillibet was over the moon to be in her parents' arms; she was so happy that it made her cry. She thought that she could never meet her mom again, but seeing her mother so happy to meet her made her heart feel warm.

"Daddy, what took you so long to find mommy?!"

She bawled her eyes out. 

"WAH! I'm so scared!" 

Lily's wailing voice covered the place while she cried in their arms. It also made Liena feel happy that she could finally touch the face of her daughter, even for the last time.

Liena then tucks her daughter's hair behind her ear, and the mellifluous tone of her voice makes her feel calm and safe. 

"Well, you don't have to be afraid anymore." 

Her smile was so bright and warm, and even her voice was so calm and sweet—a perfect melody in the ear of a little kid who was so scared of the things around her.

Just then, Lily sniffed and looked at them with her innocent, round eyes that were full of curiosity.

"Why?" 

She asked curiously.

But then she didn't expect that her mother would reply logically. 

"Remember that he will always be there to protect you." 

Her reply made Lily think harder because she was completely clueless as to who her mother was referring to, but then, after thinking of a certain someone, Garion nodded in agreement.

"Is it..brother?" 

Her face lit up. 

"So it is, brother Khalid!" 

She screamed in joy, but after seeing her parents' worried, smiley expressions painted on their faces, the smile on her lips disappeared, and she began to feel worried as if her parents were about to bid farewell.

"But why? Are you leaving Lily alone?" 

She fidgets.

"Daddy, could you just take me on an adventure with Mommy?!"

Lily's eagerness to be with her parents made the two feel as if they swallowed a thousand needles that were piercing inside of them, but even so, they still kept the smiling faces that seemed to be fake in the first place, and you could see the water filling their eyes that they tried harder to prevent.

"Lily, my bright child, our sunshine, you can't yet come with us." 

Her voice almost cracked, but they continued to persuade their daughter that everything was alright with those fake smiles.

"You have to grow up as a strong and dignified lady, okay?" 

Even though Liena wanted to be greedy to be with her child a little more, the time was already running out, just like a candle that was melting in front of the altar. She couldn't do a thing but stare, even though no one was there to hear her prayers.

"Yes, mom!" 

When the both of them glanced at each other, they knew that the time had come to say goodbye, so they caressed Lillibet for the last time as they kissed her on the forehead for the last time. 

It was so warm that Lily felt like she was on cloud nine, which made her close her eyes, but as soon as she slowly opened them, watching her parents slowly disappear from her sight left her unbelievably unspoken. Before she completely woke up from the dream, she never thought that it would be the cause of her nightmare.

Lily immediately sits up on the soft bed inside the small, shabby-looking tent and rubs her eyes, knowing that everything is just a dream, but when she looks beside her, Lily is startled to see Khalid sitting on her side with dull eyes, without uttering words out of his mouth like a creepy-looking statue.

"B-brother?" 

She stuttered and covered her mouth immediately after realizing what she had said.

Khalid didn't answer and continued to stare at her.

'This kid...'

He thought she looked so dreary and pale, like a ghost that came out of a horror movie.

His stare seemed to be taken so seriously by Lillibet that she began to sweat like a candle and was left frozen on the bed while feeling Khalid's deadly stare poking her face.

'Uwah! Brother stare is so scary... Did I perhaps do something wrong?!'

Lily then thought that she could not even feel her heart, which must have jumped out of her mouth.

"B-brother?" 

"Ha.....ha.ha"

She called again and then laughed awkwardly without having the courage to look into his eyes.

Khalid seemed to have also noticed it, so he let out a deep sigh and rested his forehead on his palm.

"Ah."

After seeing his action, Lily lifted her head and saw the other knight looking like a zombie with a restless, worried expression carved on their faces.

'Am I still dreaming? Or do their faces look so stressed? '

She thought while shrugging off the negative thoughts in her mind.

"Hmm~" 

She thought clearly before she looked at him.

"By the way, brother, have you seen Papa?"

Lily questioned Khalid, but he just stayed silent while others looked so sympathetic.

He didn't even move an inch and kept rubbing his forehead; in fact, he didn't even know how to explain everything to her. He just kept swallowing his saliva, but no words came out of his mouth.

'How can I tell her? No, where do I even start? '

He didn't look bothered by her question, but Khalid's mind was in such a mess that it made him wonder that if she found out the truth, the innocent look and smile on her face would fade.

Even so, he doesn't want to care about anything anymore, so he looks straight at her, who is waiting patiently for his reply.

"Well that's-"

Khalid was already prepared to accept the hatred of her words as he spoke, but then he stopped in mid-sentence when Lily gently patted him on the head with her small, fragile hands that were like a pair of chopsticks.

"Brother, are you sad?" 

She smiled. 

"Don't be, because Lily is here!"

"Because Lily is here to protect you!" 

She added, looking so fired up while her eyes sparkled at his sight.

"Hehehe."

'That's right, I'm going to protect my brother!'

The way she spoke was so sincere that it made Khalid clench his fist so tight that a red-colored liquid with the smell of rusty iron escaped from his hand as it dripped on the ground. 

He wasn't angry at her words; he wasn't touched either, but in fact, Khalid couldn't feel a thing. He doesn't know how to feel or what kind of expression he would make; it's as if he were just a talking AI in front of a little kid.

'Numb? Paralyzed? Feeling these things is much worse than being dead.'

He absurdly thought while his eyes locked up on her, not even caring how much blood came out of his hand. When Lillibet noticed it, she was so shocked that she almost jumped out of bed.

"UWAH! B-blood-"

"Milord! Your bleeding-"

Even Reinhardt, who was quietly standing inside the tent, hurriedly reached out his hand in worry, but before he could even hold him, Khalid immediately slapped his hand so hard that it echoed inside.

The place was soon covered in an awkward silence that lasted for a minute until Lily laughed forcefully.

"Ha-ha-ha-N-now, then, should I find Papa?" 

She awkwardly stated before continuing to speak.

"Ha-ha-ha!" 

"Is p-papa already with m-mama?"

She couldn't even look at him when she spoke. Khalid was also the same; he didn't say a thing and just watched the wound on his hand heal.

He even noticed Lily hesitating to look at him while continuing to blab nonsense out of her mouth.

Lily's adorable action made him want to pat her on the head, but he stopped immediately when a knight called him. Luckily, Khalid put down his hand before Lily even noticed.

"Milord."

He glanced at Lily as he whispered in his ear.

"The funeral was already prepared."

After informing Khalid, he then walks off quietly as he stands up to follow him without even looking at Lily or giving her a spare glance.

When he reached outside the tent, he stopped and began to speak while staring from afar.

"I'm sorry."

He bluntly apologized, which left her dumbfounded. Lily couldn't even have time to figure out things that she had left unspoken with some thought. 

"Brother, are you okay?" 

When Khalid decided to at least look at her, her innocent, rounded eyes almost pierced into his heart.

'Well, it's not like I wished to be forgiven by a child.'

He thought incautiously and was about to head out from the tent when he heard the sweet, melodic tone of her voice, which was full of worry. 

"B-brother, are you feeling sick?!"

Even though she always stutters when she talks to him, she doesn't have any sort of fear or hatred for him. 

'Brother's complexion didn't look good; he was paler than a corpse.' 

She was even worried, like the others.

"Pft-"

After hearing such words, Khalid snickered. 

"Forget it."

"Take your time and rest." 

He added.

Khalid even walked past Erwin when he went out of the tent, but he just ignored him after being called a thousand times.

"Milord..."

Erwin was left with a big question mark on his face while his eyes were just focused on Khalid; he didn't even try to utter some words and just watched him walk further until he was out of sight, but instead of feeling pity or sorrow, he was rather eaten by guilt after seeing his dull eyes.

"Hmm, Brother's eyes felt so empty." 

Lily also felt the same way toward him. 

'But then... Why are they so sad? ' 

She questioned herself inside her head after seeing the knight look so concerned at her earlier.

'Ack!'

"Did something bad happen?!"

She was left frozen after having that thought. Reinhardt also scoffs after witnessing her adorable action. Right now, looking at the little kid who just lost her parents without her knowing makes him understand Khalid's actions.

'He might never have said a thing, but I know that he was blaming himself for everything.'

Reinhardt let out a deep sigh and stole a glance from outside as if he were waiting for a comet to pass by. 

'Milord, I hope the day will come when you accept your fate and live happily like no one else.' 

Reinhardt wishes as he looks from above.

While having such thoughts, Khalid could be seen standing so gloomily at the grave where Garion and Liena had died. Even though their bodies weren't buried there, he wanted to at least give them a proper funeral after the demonic mummie inside his body had devoured all of their flesh like a scavenger.

"You've tricked me again, Garion; you shouldn't be resting in such a place where I should belong." 

Khalid mumbled while holding a white flower in his hands, which soon withered in an instant before he could even put it on their grave.