# Chapter 57
Chapter 57
“…Is Allen going to die?”
“No, he won’t die.
So go to your room.”
But if things stay like this, Allen will die.
Bernie could tell.
He had seen many people die before.
He could see it—death rising from the body like a mirage when a person is about to die.
“If he dies… I can’t eat Choco anymore.”
At Bernie’s words, Kiriel roughly swept his hair back.
He tried to compose his expression and opened his mouth to speak to the child.
“…Bernie, as you can see, Allen is badly hurt and in a lot of pain.
I know it’s upsetting, but right now, you should follow Rebon and go back to your room…”
“If I go now… I won’t be able to see Allen again.”
“Bernie.”
“Yeah, I won’t see him… What should I do?
I can’t touch him…”
I don’t want to not see him.
Allen had shared cookies with him, always held his hand, and told him he was good.
So, not being able to see him is something Bernie didn’t want.
Muttering to himself, Bernie blinked his eyes.
His pink eyes slowly moved, and his pupils gradually narrowed.
Just as Bernie was about to stretch out his hand with a blank expression—
Beep!
A red bird, who had been nodding off on Bernie’s shoulder, suddenly jumped up and flew into the air.
Whoosh—!
A sound of crackling flames filled the air.
Bernie’s eyes widened as he looked up.
As he lifted his head, the small bird was gone.
Instead, a large and enormous bird, flaming with fire, appeared in the sky.
“Hugyeomryong…?”
It was a red bird.
Each feather was imbued with flames, creating a beautiful and majestic creature.
The bird, as large as an adult man, gently swayed its yellow-tipped tail feathers.
What was strange was that while the flames on the bird seemed dangerous, they weren’t hot at all.
“…This is…”
Kiriel’s eyes widened as he watched the giant bird flaming above Bernie’s head.
The bright red bird circled above Bernie once.
“A firebird…?”
“…Phoenix.”
Amid the crowd, murmurs started to rise, slowly growing louder until someone shouted out.
“It’s the Phoenix!”
At that shout, Bernie’s eyes widened.
“A Phoenix?!”
Bernie’s face, which had been dark just moments ago, now sparkled with surprise.
The Phoenix folded its wings and slowly descended to the ground, lowering its head toward Bernie.
At that moment, a pure white light suddenly burst from Bernie’s hands.
It was divine power.
“Huh?!”
Pyooh—!
The Phoenix screeched sharply and flapped its wings once, rising into the air.
The pure white light that had erupted from Bernie’s hands slowly seeped into the Phoenix.
Startled, Bernie opened his eyes wide and flapped his hands desperately.
‘Bernie’s power, big!!’
“Ugh.
Dad!!
Bernie’s power, power!
Waaah.”
No matter how much Bernie flapped his hands and jumped up and down in place, the white light coming from his hands refused to stop.
Kiriel, holding Bernie in his arms as he stamped his feet, patted his back.
“Calm down, Bernie.
It’s okay.
It’s just divine power.
The divine beast seems to need your divine power.”
As Kiriel gently patted his back, Bernie’s head tilted in confusion.
‘Bernie’s divine power…?’
Bernie blinked in surprise.
“Huh…?”
Does Bernie have divine power?!
The moment the Phoenix flapped its wings again.
A burning feather, as big as an adult man's fist, fell and landed gently on Allen's chest.
Everyone stood frozen, watching the scene in a daze.
Despite the red, flaming feather falling, everything about the moment appeared sacred.
The fallen feather slowly seeped into Allen's body, and the moment it completely disappeared—
Fwoosh—!
The spreading light enveloped Allen's body.
And just as the divine light, so bright that no breath could be heard, vanished—
Allen, who seemed on the verge of death, exhaled calmly with a peaceful expression, as if nothing had ever happened.
The injury that had seemed so fatal was now completely healed.
Allen, who had been fluttering his eyelids, slowly opened his eyes.
“Ah, it’s gone.”
The divine power that had been flashing from Bernie’s hands also completely disappeared.
“Phew.”
As Bernie, who had been flapping his arms, sighed lightly and suddenly lifted his head—
Huh?
‘The world is spinning.’
Bernie’s body swayed heavily.
“Bernie!”
The last thing he saw was someone rushing toward him before the world turned black.
***
“Can you believe it?
This is our peace, As.”
“…The peace you speak of, I cannot understand, my lord.
This is but a mere lump of flesh, and it will never become the key to the peace you desire.
The world rejects what is different from me.
This, as foreign as it is, will only be crushed and trampled, disappearing in the end.”
“No, it’s okay.
I’m sure… it will grow well.”
A pure, white hand gently caressed the chubby cheeks full of baby fat.
“Ahh.”
“Have you thought of a name?
As.”
“Not really.
To us, children hold no value or meaning.”
The beautiful woman, who was naturally more driven by desires than any human, smiled slightly as she added the dry words, “children are just an inevitable consequence of instinctual acts,” while looking at the somewhat plain-faced man.
“But, wouldn’t you think about it and tell me?
I want to give this child my last name.
So… As, I think you should give the child a name.”
The man with soft, gentle voice, whose pale blue hair looked so delicate, spoke with such kindness that the woman frowned in annoyance.
After a long silence, the woman, who had been leaning against the headboard, slowly blinked her eyes.
“…Bernadette.”
At the quiet voice that finally came after a long pause, the man holding the child in his arms looked up with wide eyes and turned his head.
“Bernadette.
It’s a beautiful name.
How about the nickname Bernie?
She’ll be a cute girl.”
“I still don’t understand your tastes, even after all this time.”
The little baby, with lovely pink eyes, blinked and gazed up at the person who was gently stroking her head.
That was the warmth Bernie first learned of.
***
Softly.
Droopy.
Perhaps because Bernie had suddenly used divine power, she collapsed and fell into a peaceful sleep.
Meanwhile, Kiriel, who had stubbornly decided to wait until Bernie woke up, looked at Allen, who had fallen asleep beside her, and sighed softly.
Allen's stubbornness was one thing, but Bernie’s actions gave him a headache.
‘Children never seem to go as planned.’
Although he had given the child a name, whether a daughter or a son, nothing ever went the way he intended.
“You’re truly wonderful parents at heart.
Though I’m not sure how long that mindset will last.”
“…What?”
“Children never go as planned.
Even parents who try to control them have their reasons.”
Kiriel clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction as he recalled Rebon's voice in his mind.
‘…And now, I sense the demonic energy again.’
Feeling a sensitive prickling sensation on his skin, Kiriel slowly closed and opened his eyes.
‘How did things get like this?’
Yes.
Initially, he had only kept Allen around because of the demonic energy.
He felt a strange connection, as though Allen was a reflection of his own childhood—just a protective instinct, nothing more.
If it had just been concern, it wouldn’t have needed to become this complicated, uncomfortable guardian-child relationship.
He could’ve simply been a benefactor.
‘But now...’
For some reason, in this strange and tangled, almost like a ragged cloth, relationship that could hardly be called family, Kiriel felt a strange sense of stability.
When Allen had been injured earlier, his heart had skipped a beat and pounded loudly.
When Bernie had swayed and collapsed, his heart raced so fast and loud, it felt as though his whole mind was filled with the sound of his own heartbeat.
“…Bernie.”
Kiriel slowly reached out and gently sent divine power into the child’s body.
As expected, he could feel the dark energy stagnating inside her.
“Who exactly are you?”