Parallel Story: The Fear of a Loving Father

Astaroth Sophrein de Dranalian.

Current Duke of the North of the Hazar Empire.

Astaroth is a member of the prestigious and powerful Dranalian family that was part of the founding of the nation, being a man who was born with the talent to be the strongest Duke in history, according to his own father, as well as the one who by obligation would lead the Order of the most powerful knights of the Empire after the Duke's official retirement as captain.

Since he was a child, he had always been good at everything. From the Arcane Arts to administration, there was nothing he couldn't learn, and even his unique strength was immensely powerful and dominant. That made everything boring to him.

The other people around him were quite busy praising his abilities, either because they expected something from him or because they genuinely admired him. In most cases, it was the former, and Astaroth was tired of dealing with those fools who, because they had no talent, sought to take advantage of what they did to make a good living.

And who admired him?

I despised them completely.

Why did they waste their time admiring others instead of improving themselves? He didn't understand any of it and found it annoying.

Because of this, Astaroth lost what little interest he had in forming relationships with other people and spent most of his time as a lone wolf.

Concerned about her behavior, her father told her she should build relationships with others instead of isolating herself. Not because they needed connections with other nobles to become stronger—their powerful family didn't need that—but because her father hoped that if she did, Astaroth would find true love.

Astaroth snorted uncontrollably in his face upon hearing such a thing.

True love? Ha! There's no such thing.

I wasn't a child who believed in those stories. There was no such thing as true love in this world, only different people with different interests who formed relationships to fulfill those same interests.

Many noblewomen fought tooth and nail to win Astaroth's attention and become the next duchess, which serves as proof of this.

Of course, there was no shortage of noble ladies who approached him, interested in him… but it was mainly his face and body that made him feel unpleasant; especially the way they looked at him with lustful eyes.

The imperial princess, the current empress of the empire, was the most bothered by this. A disgusting human being who seemed to want to shove him into her bed every night and devour him whole.

“Astaroth… I really love you. What’s wrong with wanting to show you that love in bed for hours?”

Just remembering those words (they weren't necessarily accurate) as she stared at him with those disgusting eyes was enough to send shivers down his spine.

This made him more reluctant to interact with people, especially women. With that, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find the predestined love his parents insisted he seek. He wasn't thinking about it anyway.

Furthermore, Astaroth had also read that when your partner can't fulfill their interests or develop others, a breakup will inevitably occur; something that wouldn't happen if true love existed. That was further proof in his books.

Sure, her parents may have had the romance of the century where they overcame every obstacle and lived happily ever after, but Astaroth still believed there were interests between the two that led them to be together in the end, instead of them parting ways once the fantasy bubble burst, they just didn't seem to understand that.

Astaroth's thoughts at that moment were governed solely by logic and reason. Something as unnecessary as love wasn't on his mind.

…Until he met her.

It was a day like any other, Astaroth was walking through the Academy gardens to clear his mind and stared for a long time at a new species of flower Runa Pulchritudo when suddenly, he felt the presence of another person nearby.

That made him frown.

Astaroth used that place to get away from the other nobles and commoners who were still valiantly trying to get his attention in order to establish connections with him, a noble of the highest rank after the imperial family, for the selfish sake of his own future.

He wasn't interested in such things, so he avoided them, and he found other people visiting his recreation area irritating, but not unexpected. In any case, it was a public place that, although rarely visited, still had some people interested in seeing plants from time to time.

He simply turned to face the other side when he felt him approaching. He would have ignored him if he were just passing by, but since he dared to try to talk to him, Astaroth should send him away so he wouldn't bother him.

From the steps, it must be a woman...

That made him feel the need to sigh in exasperation, but he held it back. Another one just here to be a nuisance… So he thought, looked at the intruder, and then, he was stunned.

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

She wore a cute smile on her small face as she walked with slightly flushed cheeks, holding her hair that was flying due to the strong wind.

Flower petals of different colors surrounded her as if fairies from another world were giving her their blessings, and the light of the sun, the king of heaven, descended upon her as if she were his protégé, the beloved daughter of heaven.

Her beautiful purple hair shone with that soft, sacred, and majestic light, making her more beautiful and charming, and her beautiful golden eyes like the purest gold reflected the astonished Astaroth as she looked at him with the kindest expression in the world.

It was as if a fairy tale princess had magically appeared before him, giving him a mystical and shocking feeling that made his heart tremble.

She was filled with such elegance and beauty that he couldn't help but admire her with all his being.

At that moment, Astaroth finally understood. He had no choice but to understand...

That person is a woman... she was his predestined love that his father and mother had talked so much about, the love he had foolishly refused to believe in, and who had now appeared before him to show him how wrong he was.

Firmly believing this, Astaroth approached the woman, Miréia Saber Von Solein, and without hesitation, declared his love to her with confidence in his tone and demeanor.

“I know it’s sudden… But will you marry me?”

…Or rather, he proposed to her right then and there!

An action that would leave any sane person speechless!

Far from rejecting him with so many words, the other side looked at him in astonishment and scolded him as she sent him flying with a punch. It was unexpected for a woman to be so strong... but Astaroth didn't care about that or the punch as she bravely proposed to him again with a rose and a smile.

If that didn't work, he'd try to be her friend and naturally they'd slowly get closer...

Fortunately, Mireia accepted his marriage proposal this time with the most beautiful smile I had ever seen.

This made them realize that, in reality, love conquers all. Although common sense told them that wanting to get married as soon as they met was illogical, they did it anyway, because that was their love.

They both dropped out of the Academy without hesitation and immediately got engaged, despite criticism from high society. His parents were supportive throughout, smiling happily because their son had found love. Eventually, they married.

Although there were several unpleasant problems such as stupid nobles trying to kill Mireia to obtain the position of Duchess for their daughters, or annoying relatives who wanted to take advantage of Mireia's future position for profit, fortunately Astaroth was able to solve it from the shadows without leaving any loose ends.

However, he could not avoid being sent to the battlefield as Captain of the Order of Knights.

He and the knights and adventurers had to repel the demons that began to appear more recently after the seal on the abyss weakened, and sometimes spent weeks or months away from his beloved wife.

That irritated him, but there was nothing he could do. After all, letting the growing demons run wild was a terrible idea, as they would reproduce quickly and cause more chaos and destruction in their wake.

He wasn't foolish enough to allow those plagues to grow strong and threaten the empire and, consequently, his family. He had to fight for the sake of the future until the hero appeared who would save him from those troubles by killing the King of the Eternal Abyss once and for all.

However, during that time, Mireia was obviously worried about why she still couldn't give him children after years of marriage, and he had to show her that he didn't care as long as he had time for it.

For Astaroth, it didn't matter that they didn't have children; he would still love Mireia. And he successfully conveyed that to her, causing her to always bring out beautiful smiles that continue to captivate his heart.

Then it happened, after Astaroth finally finished her succession ceremony after her father brazenly decided to step down despite still having the energy and power to spend more time with his wife, Mireia finally became pregnant. (Astaroth would never tell her that he knew she had alchemical help for that.)

And so she gave birth to a beautiful girl, whom they named Claudia.

That tiny life, which at birth resembled a cute, wet, blond-haired monkey, made his heart flutter as soon as he held her in his arms. The way she cried, trembled, and babbled seemed infinitely adorable to him, and Astaroth spent as much time as he could with Claudia, almost as much as with Mireia.

They were the two most important women in his life and soon another joined the family.

The light in her eyes, Ekaterina, the little sweetheart who looked so much like her wife. Although there were concerns for her because she was born prematurely, Ekaterina grew up very healthy and almost as strong as her mother.

She stole the hearts of not only her parents, but also her older sister Claudia, her beloved grandparents, and even the servants. She was like a super-adorable little angel whom everyone loved. Full of energy, she always walked happily with her adorable little steps while smiling at everyone.

I walked in on his daughters, she was his favorite (he would never say that out loud).

But one day, disaster struck. Ekaterina ended up damaging her own soul when she used her newly awakened One Force to save an animal from death... a cursed horned rabbit she kept as a pet.

Astaroth had never expected that her daughter's affection for those magical beasts would be the cause of grief for her entire family.

From then on, her soul nearly broken, Ekaterina became a doll-like child, expressionless and emotionless. All that remained of her was an unhealthy obsession with those evil horned rabbits, who, if she didn't tire of them, would force her to hurt herself.

Claudia, who knew nothing about the damage to her soul, was very worried about her and tried as hard as she could to make her little sister smile, but to no avail. No matter what she did, Ekaterina barely paid attention or responded to her words, and each time, she could only walk away disappointed.

It was distressing to see her like that, and the worst part was that according to Hecate, if something wasn't done, Ekaterina's soul would be completely broken.

Desperate, Astaroth used the Duchy's resources as much as he could to find a solution while forcing himself to hide his daughter's condition from the rest of the world, claiming she had an illness.

There were several idiots who laughed and mocked, saying that only the daughter of a bastard would get sick from a common illness, but the Duke didn't have time to waste on such nonsense. Regardless, he jotted their names down on his revenge list to resolve their subsequent mistakes as he continued his search.

However, even after a year of searching, no solution was found, which made his heart sink even more when he heard that Ekaterina was a little weaker these days. Still, he persisted.

But the situation was too much for his wife, and Mireia couldn't even be by Ekaterina's side, for it was distressing to see her acting like a doll. Her heart was aching, and Astaroth's consolations did nothing to soothe her anguished heart.

How could he? His beloved daughter would lose the integrity of her soul and eventually disappear. Even if everyone died, she would never be seen again because she had vanished from the face of the world, unable to go to heaven in peace.

Not even the so-called gods could save her.

He was also distressed, but still, he had to be strong, like the man of the house.

One day, however, Ekaterina suddenly fainted, and Astaroth feared the worst. He quickly summoned Hecate to check on her, fearing that her soul was crumbling faster than initially anticipated... but received the unexpected and joyful news that her soul was not only miraculously healing, but growing stronger.

That surprised him, but joy came soon after. Of course, Hecate's unnecessary recruiting comments had the power to pour cold water on that emotion, and she wondered why the hell that old woman pretending to be young would do things like that.

Still, I was happy. He didn't even care that his wife had nearly killed him when she interrogated him, but instead convinced her to sleep with Ekaterina to see what he was like after waking up from her.

It was too exciting for both of them to see a small smile on that previously emotionless face, and although it was still a little expressionless, they believed it would improve with time.

Mireia cried profusely as she hugged Ekaterina, happy after being away from her for so long due to her anguish, a hug that Astaroth joined while also crying at the same time, she felt happier than ever.

Now their hearts were finally at peace.

While it was a bit unexpected for Claudia to suddenly enter the room and pounce on Ekaterina with tears streaming down her face, seeing her squeal with joy because Ekaterina responded to her and smiled was incredibly heartwarming. Especially seeing Ekaterina make a disgusted expression about Claudia's snot for the first time was also strangely moving.

She was happy, as her family would be the same as before. Astaroth was grateful for what had saved his daughter, allowing her to remain by the three of them.

It was disappointing that his wife wouldn't let him join the three when Ekaterina demanded to go to the bathroom to wipe Claudia's snot, which was super cute, but it gave Astaroth time to make a nice breakfast for the four of them.

It was lovely and heartwarming to see Ekaterina in that beautiful black and white dress, and even more endearing was her expression of shock, with her little mouth agape, when the servants began to cry over her miraculous recovery (Not that everyone knew about the soul damage, by the way).

Astaroth, Mireia, and Claudia were delighted just to see her making these gestures, which had become so unusual for her over the past few months. She was especially impressed by how tender she was when she ate carrots like a rabbit (although she still hates them).

Ekaterina's thirteenth birthday was approaching. At that moment, a grand party would be held to officially celebrate not only the day she came into the world, but also the salvation of her soul. That day would be one of the most important in her daughter's life.

The best party ever~ Oh... in short, I also have to increase the cost to maintain Ekaterina's dignity even more. Maybe around 100,000 gold? No, a million gold.

“Ummm… I want more carrots… please…”

However, when Ekaterina said that with slightly red cheeks and playing with her fingers... those absurd thoughts disappeared from Astaroth's mind as he and everyone else went crazy.

Astaroth and Mireia were over the moon seeing Ekaterina so cute, Claudia squealed excitedly while playing with her cheeks, and the servants fell to the ground in their cuteness, some getting up immediately after, saying with a terrifying attitude: “We will force the chef to make a carrot cake!”

It was chaos, but oh well. Everyone was excited, even with puzzled expressions. It was very nice.

Astaroth was overjoyed and almost cried again. Now that he had his daughter back, there was nothing to fear anymore; they would always be together until the end.

That was what he believed with all his heart.

However... a few days after that breakfast, Ekaterina would look into his eyes and say to her father with some doubts in them, but with an unusually serious expression.

—Father… I want a magical tutor—she declared in her soft, sweet voice.

"Huh? Oh... sure, I'll call a magic tutor to teach you, if that's what my little girl wants."

Astaroth didn't know why this sudden interest in magic, but she didn't care much. If her daughter wanted to learn, so be it. It was better than being a brazen priestess like Hecate. That was for sure.

Of course, the other party has to be a women….

—No, Father. I want to choose my own magic tutor.

Ekaterina shook her head and said, her adorable eyes filled with determination. Astaroth was surprised by that attitude and... especially by his daughter's choice of words.

"When you say tutor... do you mean a man?" she asked with hesitation in her voice, as if she wanted to deny it, her face turning slightly pale, as she tried to maintain her kind smile toward her little girl.

"Yes? Of course it has to be a man... specifically, a young prodigy you might know. His name is Arthur. I've heard he's very good at teaching magic to young people like me... Father?!" Ekaterina stopped in her tracks and looked at him in concern and dismay.

––That's because Astaroth was hyperventilating due to a sudden panic attack.

My little girl… My little girl wants to meet a man!

Astaroth roared in his heart in shock and pain as he held his head in despair.