26 26. Blood Dragon Festival : Mysterious Man

...

Bum!.

"Leonhart, now!"

A small explosion made all the birds on the tree branches flap their wings hastily in surprise. They all fled from there for fear that they would suffer the same fate as the creatures currently bound by magical chains .The poor sacred animal is a griffin!.

"Catina Elixen latias... Ligabis!"

Leonhart stomped his red walking cane to the ground and the griffin which had been tied to a magical chain in front of him now fell and knelt in the middle of the magic circle like a wild dog being tamed in a cage. And the taming process is complete.

Leonhart stretched out his gloveless hand and the griffin's forehead in front of him now had the same rune symbol as the one on the back of Leonhart's hand as a sign that this sacred animal had been subdued.

Wosh!.

The wind surrounded the griffin's body which slowly shrank and also spun into a small tornado of light that entered Leonhart's palm in an instant as the palm turned into a black hole that pulled everything into it.

"Okay. We're done. Come on, let's go home," said Duke Carrion. He pressed the word 'it's finished' quite hard on purpose so that Leonhart wouldn't be blinded by his ambition.

"Ah, I can't wait to meet my wife and cute niece..." muttered Carrion. Again he said it on purpose. that was to attract Leonhart so that he would immediately remember his little daughter who was waiting for him at home.

Leonhart clenched his fists. His face looked disappointed, but he was already drawn into the Carrion zone which had been giving him the signal for this hunt to end immediately.

With a heavy heart, Leonhart turned around and followed Carrion out of the forest.

A few more steps, Leonhart could see the entrance portal to the Aetheria forest, but his steps suddenly became so heavy as if something was holding back his movements and that was his ambition and all the emotional turmoil that had been swirling since he arrived in the forest and smelled the faint scent of the dragon's presence.

"Even though there's only a little left..." Leonhart muttered. He felt very annoyed with himself because he still couldn't get Carrion to tell him how to use hunting magic.

"If I had mastered that magic, I would definitely be able to chase that dragon!" thought Leonhart.

He still had a strong desire to return to the forest to chase the trail of the dragon that appeared in the forest of Aetheria. After all, the appearance of a dragon is a very difficult thing to chase even if you have hunting magic skills though.

"Leonhart. Don't force me to do that!. Come on, let's go home... you don't miss your daughter, huh?!" Carrion shouted at his stubborn friend.

Leonhart imagined that he would be knocked unconscious by Carrion if he was still stubborn. But it didn't matter if Carrion would hit him or not. The problem comes if he has to go home unconscious and makes his daughter cry because of that. If he made Cellia cry, he better hit himself in the first place.

***

Once he returned, Leonhart was not greeted by his daughter so he felt emotional turmoil that was difficult for him to handle. He felt sad, but on the other hand, he also felt relieved because he had gone home and not gone to chase the dragon again.

At least, he wanted to thank Carrion for reminding him that his only daughter was waiting for him to come home. The only figure he has to look after right now. He didn't want the same thing as Aliciaa to happen to Cellia too.

"Where is Cellia?" Leonhart asked Vio who was tidying up the dining table that Cellia had used earlier.

"Oh, my lord. You're home. WELCOME. If you're looking for the Young Lady, she said she wanted to go to the library...

"Library?"

"Yes, My Lord"

"I see ..."

Leonhart rushed to the building to the east to approach his daughter. He already missed the figure of his little angel even though his feelings were a little disturbed by several thoughts. One of them was about why his daughter was in the library?. Leonhart still doesn't know if his little daughter can now read.

"My dear, Cellia ..."

Leonhart approached the table in the middle of the room and found his daughter asleep on the table surrounded by many books.

"What book is she looking at?" Leonhart muttered. He took one of the books that Cellia was reading.

"A magic book?"

Leonhart looked at his daughter in turn at the book that Cellia seemed to be reading, even though he didn't understand why his daughter was reading that book. Normally, Cellia should read books like that when she is over seven years old....

However, Leonhart didn't feel there was anything strange about what Cellia did. He just thought that his daughter was full of curiosity, so maybe she was just leafing through the books for fun.

"Okay, let's sleep in the room. You might catch a cold if you sleep here..." said Leonhart. He then picked up Cellia and took her to his room.

"Tonight, sleep with dad, okay..." whispered Leonhart to Cellia, who was sleeping quite soundly.

Leonhart immediately changed his clothes and got ready to sleep with his baby girl. To be honest, after his activities in the Aetheria forest, he kept thinking about Aliciaa and missed the woman he loved. But now he can only embrace the baby of his love with Aliciaa.

Leonhart hugged Cellia and stroked his daughter's head gently.

"Honey, I'm sorry dad. Dad can't find mom yet..." whispered Leonhart. He became sad when he thought about Cellia, who might also miss her mommy.

On the other hand, Cellia slowly woke up when she realized something.

The warmth that spread across my body made me wake up from a dreamless sleep. As soon as I opened my eyes, dadsy was by my side!. Dad is home! Ah, I immediately felt relieved when I realized this. Again, I hope that all of this is real. I hope this warmth is not an illusion from my sleeping flower. I hope that hope will not betray me....

I got closer to my dasdy like a cold chick and finally got warmth from his mother.

"Dad, don't be sad. Cellia will also help dad look for mommy!" I thought. I was sad when I heard dad's whisper. It turned out to be true as I guessed. Dad not only hunts but he also looks for mom's whereabouts. Dad must also miss mom. I can imagine how it feels to be left behind by a very powerful figure you love. That must be very hard.

Cuit~

Cuit~

Vaguely, I heard the sound of birds and other busy sounds that made me unable to resist opening my eyes immediately.

When I looked out the window, I knew it was morning. But the only thing that made me shiver when the warm light of the sun came into this room was my daddy's presence. As soon as I opened my eyes, I didn't see dad!. Where is dad?. Was last night really just a dream?. Is daddy actually not home yet?.

Without realizing it, my tears started to fall. I still miss daddy....

"Hiks. Daddy ..."

"Daddy ... Cellia misses dad... dad come home quickly"

I cried along the hallway while looking for my daddy.

"My Lord!. Young Lady was crying looking for you," said one of the maid who looked a little scared when he said that the little princess from the Leonhart residence was crying.

"What?. Crying?"

Without waiting any longer, Leonhart immediately left his work and immediately approached Cellia who was already at the family dinner table because naturally he was looking for his daddy there.

"Daddy!"

"Dear Cellia, why are you crying. Dad's here... Dad's home. I'm sorry daddy left you"

I fell silent as soon as my daddy hugged me. There was an emotional turmoil that seemed to be managed before it finally broke out again and I started crying even harder. I felt relieved because it turned out that my daddy had indeed come home and it wasn't a dream.

"Daddyyy!!. Don't leave Cellia!"

Dad hugged me tighter, "dad won't leave Cellia. Don't cry anymore okay?, cup, cup. Dad is here, darling..."

After being satisfied with releasing my emotional burden, my daddy and I were finally able to have breakfast together again, but it was a shame because Aunt Freya and Uncle Carrion weren't there today to have breakfast with us.

"Dad, Cellia can read!" I said. I don't know why I really want to tell my daddy about my achievements. Well, I think I want to be praised by him too. Which child doesn't like being praised?, especially praise from their parents.

In my previous life, I was quite envious of those who were given appreciation from their parents for the small actions they had achieved. No matter how small the achievement, a child's heart will always want recognition and appreciation, especially from their parents.

So, showing appreciation for your child is actually a very important part, even if it only involves trivial and small things.

"Eh?. Cellia can read?. Is it true?. Great!. How come you can already read?. Come on, tell dad. Ah, my little girl is really great..." said my daddy who looked happy. I was much happier because I felt I had made my daddy proud of my achievements.

Duar!.

Duar!.

"Oh. The festival has started, it seems..." my dad muttered when we heard the sound of explosions from the fireworks that lit up the bright morning sky today.

"Dear Cellia, let's go to the festival today," said my daddy and we immediately got ready to go out again after finishing breakfast.

I'm curious, what festival does daddy mean?.

When I looked around, I only found one thing that really dominated this festival. All the knick-knacks for this festival, for some reason, have a dragon theme!.

Is this a dragon festival or what?!.

Busy thinking about the name of this festival and busy seeing everything at this festival, without realizing I was separated from my daddy!. Ah, how could this happen?!.

"Dad?"

I looked here and there looking for my daddy, but couldn't find anyone.

Bruk!.

OK, now I've hit someone because I didn't look around while walking. My eyes and mind were busy looking for daddy.

"Are you okay little girl?" Asked the figure I had just bumped into. Then I accepted his hand and looked up to see who the figure I accidentally bumped into was?.

"Crown Prince Kharel?"

"Sorry little girl, I'm not the Kharel you mean. You must be the wrong person. My name is Enziel... are you lost?. Where are your parents?" Asked the man in the robe. He spoke very softly in his baritone voice.

I just stayed confused. How can this man have a face that is so similar to a choco kid?. Even though his face is the adult version of a choco kid's face!.

But if you look closely, this man is indeed different from the choco kid, especially in his attitude and character. He looks very different. He's not the choco kid. This man seems to have a very mature attitude and looks like a wise figure. His aura was almost similar to that of the king of Yevonia. Right!. He has the aura of a knight!.

But still. Who is this man?. Why does his face look so similar to that choco kid?!.