Chapter 16

Due to the nature of the Winter Castle, people were rarely in sight. When no one was in sight, Khalid opened a teleportation portal.

Pshh…

A blue portal in the form of a broken ice shape appeared.

‘Where are we going?’

Khalid’s usual cold violet eyes today showed a deep sadness. Despite their short time together, he rarely wore such a forlorn expression.

Coming inside it, and after passing through a dense forest of oak trees, Khalid stopped in front of a gated building covered in shield. He recited the spell to deactivate it.

Clunk.

The iron gate swung wide open. The building inside was completely white.

As they entered the building, a room with stretched white cloth came into view. Several seal stones stood tall, and on the floor, a purple magical circle shimmered.

Floating above the magical circle, wearing a white dress, was a woman. Pudding looked up at the Duke with surprise.

‘Who is that?’

Even though she had never seen her before, Pudding’s heart ached inexplicably. Her small heart throbbed with unease.

‘It hurts.’

“If you truly are my daughter, that woman is your mother. She fell under a curse and fell into a deep sleep.”

The Duke’s eyes filled with sorrow, and his gentle violet eyes turned into anger.

“I will save her and tear apart the person who did this with my own hands.”

Pudding gently nudged him with her paw, then licked her large hand.

‘The Duke, too, who seemed so strong, had his own wounds.’

Her heart felt strange. Pudding looked back at the sleeping woman.

Rachel, the Duke’s wife.

‘She might be my mother.’

She knew nothing about her, but the woman with brown hair looked radiant and beautiful.

She occasionally imagined what her mother might be like, but her memories were hazy.

She didn’t want to think too specifically about it. She believed she was abandoned right after he was born.

But if she had fallen into a cursed sleep like this, if there had been such a story… maybe she hadn’t been abandoned after all.

A glimmer of hope stirred in her heart.

‘Really… Are you my mother?’

Pudding whimpered, looking in her direction.

“Woof! (I want to get closer)!”

For some reason, her heart raced. Pudding continued barking and perked up her ears, which made Khalid wonder.

‘Could he recognize his mother? Or is it the bloodline pulling him?’

The Duke released the dog from his grip, as if telling her to move freely.

Then Pudding, with her small and endearing paws, ran toward the woman.

Pudding’s big, clear eyes were filled with inexplicable tears. Drop by drop, her tears fell to the ground.

‘Why is this happening? My heart hurts so much.’

Thump thump. Her heart throbbed loudly, as if it would burst out of her chest.

In an instant, Pudding’s body emitted a large beam of light, hovering the Duke’s wife briefly before disappearing.

“…!”

Pudding felt her heart tighten and unconsciously emitted mana.

‘Oh no!’

She summoned the small, round yellow sun once again. As the small sun sparkled, the room was filled with a bright and warm radiance.

The Duke’s pupils trembled as he looked at the light emanating from Pudding and the small sun.

“Oh… Is this the sun? Is this the power of a Sun Child? Then, are you truly my daughter?”

Realizing this, Khalid slumped down in his place. The guilt of not recognizing his own daughter and the guilt of living without her burdened him heavily.

“I am truly a wretched father. I couldn’t even recognize you. I couldn’t protect you all this time.”

The Duke fell to the ground, his dry lips moving.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t recognize you at first sight. I couldn’t protect you all this time.”

Pudding’s small heart thumped along with the trembling, low voice of the Duke. The blessing of the sun engraved on her palm shone brightly.

And then, in that moment, the combination of her heartbeat and the sun’s blessing caused a radiant light to emanate from her entire body. Pudding’s body began to transform.

She reached out her foreleg.

Just like that day, her foreleg transformed into small limbs. Khalid, who was looking down at her, was overwhelmed by an indescribable wave.

“You… You’ve finally…”

“A-are you my dad?”

Pudding was startled by her own spoken words in the human language and was unable to continue speaking, closing her mouth tightly.

She then moved her head and examined her own body. The slender and fragile arms and legs attached to her body swayed.

‘This is it! I’ve become a human. Just like when I awakened the power of the sun that day. I’ve really succeeded in becoming a human, haven’t I?’

Her eyes widened in surprise. Humanization had occurred much faster in this life. In the past, it took over twelve years to succeed in humanization.

Pudding blinked her eyes roundly. Her heart pounded with anticipation for the new changes that would occur in this life.

‘The power of the sun has awakened quickly, so humanization has also become faster.’

The Duke, who was gazing at her in awe, sent a gaze mixed with astonishment and tenderness.

Though he initially seemed intimidating and cold, he now exuded an entirely different atmosphere.

“You’ve succeeded in humanization. Well done, my daughter.”

“M-my dauwgter?”

Because her three-year-old tongue couldn’t pronounce the words properly, Pudding felt frustrated, but the Duke kindly clarified it for her.

“You’re my daughter.”

“I… dad.”

The Duke’s gaze was warm, as if it was embracing the sunlight.

Looking intently at the child in his arms, the Duke’s mouth curled into a gentle smile, seemingly filled with emotion.

He gently wrapped his cape around the child’s body and carefully lifted her up, then tilted his head to examine her small face. She had round and puffy features, with brown hair covering her forehead neatly, and long doll-like eyelashes over her black irises.

Her tiny nose, lips, and rosy cheeks made it impossible for him not to gush over her.

She was an utterly lovable three-year-old human baby, so cute and harmless that it made him hard to breathe. She was so small and insignificant that he didn’t know what to do.

Although he knew that she was special, he couldn’t help but feel more concerned about the child, especially because she had the appearance of a dog rather than a lion. Above all, he felt deeply sorry for finding his own child so late.

The Duke looked at the child with affectionate eyes while silently contemplating.

“From now on, I will protect you. Your name is Elliana. Elliana von Crovache. My daughter.”

“…Elle… ina?”

“Yes, Elliana. It’s a name that Rachel and I chose a long time ago. It means ‘daughter of the sun.’ Isn’t it a fitting name for the power you possess?”

The Duke affectionately explained the meaning of the name. With Elleana still tightly embraced, he approached Rachel. Then, with a pained expression in his eyes, he looked at her.

“Rachel, can you see? We have finally found our daughter, Elleana. She resembles you quite a bit. Such a cute and delicate little lioness.”

His voice was sweet and melodious, as if speaking to someone awake.

However, his heart was filled with both joy and sorrow.

“Now, if only you would wake up… I couldn’t ask for anything more. You must know, don’t you? The one who cursed you and tried to harm this child. I will definitely reveal their identity and seek revenge.”

Khalid gritted his teeth, emitting a cold aura.

Meanwhile, Elliana, who suddenly received a name and was acknowledged as a daughter, felt bewildered.

‘So, my name isn’t Pudding but Elliana. I had such a noble and strong mother and father.’

She had always felt as if she was the only one in the world, like a lonely and silent branch floating on a deserted lake.

But now she knew that wasn’t the case, and Elliana couldn’t believe how warm it made her feel.