Seraphic Wings

133. Stay with Me

Lucette just stood there for a moment. The man, who was standing in front of her, couldn't be her father, right? As she stared at this man, her mouth opened and closed, until some words finally came out.

"But you're....." She trailed off, before speaking once again. "Aren't you?" She realised that these were really vague questions, but can she believe what she was seeing?

The man in front of her casually smiled. She noticed that he had blue eyes that were kind. At that moment, a gust of wind then blew past and his long hair fluttered in the wind, which was the same colour hair as her natural.

"My little owl."

At the sound of this man speaking, it felt like something broke within her. It was then that she realised that the man, who was standing in front of her, was the father that she knew and loved. Not the one that was vaguely in her memories as a horrible man.

"You were killed, were you not?" She had to ask. This was because of the fact that what she knew was different. Was it truly her father, Ivar?

As a response, he shook his head.

"No."

Lucette felt even more curious, so she pressed him for more answers. "But what happened to you? Everything with our family? .... What about mother?"

As she watched him react to those questions, she noticed that his face fell.

"... I take it that you know so much about the beast that plagues our family?"

Lucette nods.

".... I see.... But I went searching... I went searching for ways to end that beast's reign. I never expected it to masquerade as me."

"What do you mean?"

"I was gone for a long while, and I thought things would be ok... But apparently not. When I finally came back, that thing had a puppet in place of me, corrupting my entire family." He let out a long sigh. "It was then that I heard of my son's intriguing plan. I didn't argue with it, I just accepted it. If losing my entire family was enough to save them? Then so be it...."

".... So you just watched everything from afar?" Lucette couldn't exactly believe everything that she was wearing right now.

"... Yes...."

"But why did you show yourself now?" She wasn't sure when this happened, but tears started to form in her eyes again. "What was the point?"

"... I'm just a weak man, little owl."

"What are you talking about?" Was this truly the father that she fondly remembered? The same man who sang to her when she was small?

"... I never deserved to show myself again. Seeing your face right now tells me that I should've done more. But I can see that the beast is once again plaguing my family.... Albeit, in a different way...."

"You mean...?"

"I am well aware that my 'grandsons' are, in some way or another, causing trouble. But, little owl? One of them IS the true heir to that beast. However, not in its current state. It will just cause suffering, which is why I reached out to that man. Somehow, I'm really not surprised that he knew that I was still alive."

"What man?"

"Nocte. He assured me that he had a plan. It was a weird one, but it was a plan nevertheless."

"I see..." Lucette still wasn't sure what was going on. It was barely hitting her that her father was still alive. "... Are you doing anything then?"

"I've been singing it to you."