Leonard Gallagher clutched his daughter’s lifeless body, questioning himself why things had come to this.
He had believed he was prepared to sacrifice his daughter for the greater good.
Raised from a young age under harsh training alongside his younger brother, all for the sake of the ideal society of magicians his father envisioned.
His father had said, “We will change the current state where non-magicians exploit magicians. Magicians will live as they should, controlling others instead of being controlled by the weak.” He had been told this almost every day.
However, Leonard didn’t know the reasons behind his father’s conclusion. Despite that, he had believed in his father and tried to fulfill his ideals.
Looking back, his life had been one of blind obedience to his father.
It wasn’t just him; his brother, who had no official identity, was the same. Leonard was better off, but his brother had lived as a double for his older brother, fighting and dying. No, he had died due to severe injuries inflicted by Leonard’s own hand.
“What should I have done?”
His marriage had also been dictated by his father’s wishes, yet his days with his wife were like treasures. When his daughter was born, the world became vibrant with her talent and loveliness.
But after his wife’s death, and when his father began forcing his daughter into training, the world gradually clouded over. Aware of this, Leonard continued to obey his father.
“If I had defied my father, would the outcome have been different?”
He became the head of the Royal Mage Corps to gather allies. At times, he had committed murders he didn’t want to. Gradually, guilt and discomfort no longer bothered him.
At his father’s command, he killed humans, magicians, monsters, and even his comrades.
Before he knew it, he felt nothing. Like a doll, he continued to move according to orders. Perhaps it had been easier that way. By simply obeying without thinking, he might have protected himself.
“Someone, please tell me what I should have done. Avril, Jiril.”
His voice called out the names of his deceased daughter and brother, but of course, there was no reply. Perhaps it would have been easier if he had died too.
Strangely, now that he had lost those dear to him and suffered defeat, the emotions he thought were lost now resided in his chest.
Regret and guilt occupied the majority of his heart.
Regret for taking his brother’s life. Regret for the outcome that led to the loss of his daughter, the keepsake of his late wife. Guilt for involving and using innocent people.
The guilt of involving students from the Royal Academy was particularly immense. Most of them had already been defeated in battle. They had no clear intentions, merely manipulated by Avril’s curse techniques. Now that Avril was dead, they would likely be automatically freed from the curse.
However, the fact remains that they were involved in their rebellion. Even if the youths harbored discontent towards the country, and even if that discontent was disproportionate, Leonard, who exploited them, was entirely at fault.
He could only pray that the country would show leniency towards these young boys and girls.
“I must question my father.”
Dragging his leaden feet, he arrived at the mansion where his father resided.
Though it was a familiar mansion, it now felt strangely inorganic.
“…Father.”
“Leonard, why are you here? You were supposed to use Jared Murphy as a pawn and seize the Royal Palace?”
A sixty-year-old man with white hair, standing calmly in the meticulously maintained garden, noticed Leonard and questioned him.
This was Lucas Gallagher, Leonard Gallagher’s father.
His bearing belied his age. His gaze was sharp. Clad in robes reminiscent of a magician, he still exuded an active aura.
“Father, Avril… she’s dead.”
“…”
“She died protecting me.”
Kneeling and shedding tears, with his daughter’s corpse in his arms, Leonard was met with a chilling question from Lucas.
“Is that so? And why have you brought the remains of your useless daughter to me?”
“Why are you asking?”
“Of course, I’m asking. Our plan isn’t over yet. None of you have executed things satisfactorily. And yet, you, just because your daughter died, have come crawling back here!”
The brutally cold words, unbefitting a father, revived the dying emotions in Leonard. With anger and a torrent of tears, he glanced at his daughter’s body, scoffed dismissively, and raised his voice in response to the merciless attitude.
“She is your granddaughter, Father! Avril! My daughter, Avril!”
“So what? You can have another child. I’ll prepare something superior to the previous vessel. Then, a more capable child will be born.”
“…What, what do you think my daughter is to you!”
“A pawn.”
“What, what did you just say?”
To Leonard, who couldn’t believe his ears, his father stated clearly once more.
“I said she was a pawn, Leonard. Not just Avril, but you and your brother Jiril, were nothing more than pawns to fulfill my ambitions.”
“Those are not words for family.”
“Hah, that’s laughable. Have you ever felt any love from me? If so, I apologize. I’m sorry for giving you the wrong impression.”
He no longer knew if the tears flowing now were from sorrow or frustration.
“Father.”
“Ultimately, you are all just pawns to me. If I could have done everything myself, I wouldn’t have needed you. But since there were things that needed to be done, I needed hands.”
“…Father!”
“Even so, I trust no one. Therefore, I thought it would be best to create pawns from my own kin… It seems I overestimated you.”
“Fatherrrrrrr!”
He could not forgive him. He had devoted himself body and soul until now. It was all for family, for love. It was out of his son Leonard’s desire to fulfill his father’s wish.
And Avril, his daughter, had also worked diligently to fulfill her father’s wishes, despite her disadvantaged treatment. Even his brother, who was treated unfairly, had smiled, accepting it for the sake of family and the future of magicians.
And yet, Lucas, the person at the center of it all, did not consider Leonard and the others family at all.
“Foolish. Have you lost your mind?”
Sighing, the old man snapped his withered fingers. The next moment, flames erupted from within Leonard, engulfing his entire body.
“Wh-what, what have you done to meeeeeeee!”
His body burned from the inside and out, and unimaginable pain assailed him. But none of that mattered. All he wanted now was to strike back at the man who had betrayed them. That was all.
But Leonard’s body was burning, and it wouldn’t obey him. His legs wouldn’t move, and he collapsed to the ground.
Looking down at his own child, Leonard let out a hollow laugh, as if ready to spit.
“You are truly foolish. Did you really think I placed my complete trust in you, my pawn? I had already anticipated you rebelling. I placed the same curse on you and Jiril when you were children. And of course, on Avril as well.”
“Fatherrrrr! How, how far will you go with usssssss!”
“Dolls should simply obey their masters. When you foolishly try to assert your own will, you meet a pathetic end.”
Is this all there is? Is this all? Did I expend all this effort, and lose my daughter and brother, for the sake of a man like this? The thought made his insides boil. Beyond regret, his feelings towards his father had now reached hatred.
“…Jared Murphy, kill this man.”
His eyes, burning with hatred, were scorched, and even his vision was stolen. With a final wish sent to the enemy boy, Leonard died.
“Farewell, my son, Leonard Gallagher. You were an exceptionally competent pawn. But that is all you were. Leave the rest to me, and rest with your daughter. I shall destroy this country and reclaim my homeland.”
