Chapter 153
The next day, Han Si-hyuk called me to his office.
After everything that had happened, I had a feeling he would summon me again, so I went there without much fuss.
[Han Si-hyuk’s Magical Investigation Office]
“Still holding onto this little office, even with your professor title?”
“Sit down.”
Han Si-hyuk, wearing his usual stern expression, cut straight to the point.
Seeing him now, it was clear he had taken quite a psychological hit from the recent events—he looked noticeably worn out.
It seemed like he hadn’t slept well.
“What’s going on?”
Though it had been a nerve-wracking experience, my encounter with the Emperor had ended without any dire consequences.
I couldn’t think of a reason why Han Si-hyuk would urgently call me in like this. Something felt off.
Han Si-hyuk seemed unusually uneasy.
“I need to ask you a favor.”
I nodded slowly at Han Si-hyuk’s words.
“What is it?”
“Stay away from Adela.”
I glanced over at the investigation file Han Si-hyuk was gripping tightly.
Though I didn’t know all the details, I could tell it was the document the Emperor had given him.
I had a pretty good idea.
The true nature of the incident must have been detailed within.
Han Si-hyuk spoke in a hard tone.
“It’s for your own good. Don’t get close to Adela.”
“Why?”
I chuckled, brushing off his warning.
“Because Adela is the survivor of the Katablam Unsolved Case?”
“How… How do you…?”
“I’ve been hearing that line way too much lately. It’s like I’m some kind of fortune teller at this point. Might as well set up a tent.”
Now that I think about it, he’s supposed to be the fortune teller here.
Han Si-hyuk’s expression grew more complicated.
I could guess what was going through his mind.
He was probably agonizing over how to handle this incredibly tangled mess.
I was on the verge of losing it too.
I spoke with a bitter expression.
“Should I just tell Adela the truth?”
“Are you insane?”
His response came without a moment’s hesitation.
It was a crazy thought, even I had to admit.
“Yeah… Maybe not.”
Adela became a mage for the sole purpose of revenge.
Everything she did—getting into Ardel Academy, training so hard to grow stronger—it was all for that reason.
Telling her the truth would destroy her.
Maybe when she’s ready to accept it.
Only then could we tell her.
For now, I had no choice but to lie.
A bitter smile crept onto my face.
“So, I have to lie to her. For the rest of my life.”
I stood up abruptly.
Han Si-hyuk looked up at me in surprise.
“Where are you going…?”
“I’m not going to her.”
There was someone else I needed to see.
—
Leaving Han Si-hyuk behind, I headed straight for the Castica territory.
I arrived late at night.
Han Taesu greeted me warmly, though he seemed surprised by the unexpected visit.
“What brings you here at this hour?”
Just like last time, an extravagant feast was laid out, with the table almost buckling under the weight of the food. But I wasn’t in the mood to leisurely cut into a steak tonight.
I needed to ask questions, to know the truth, and then leave.
“Father.”
Han Taesu’s face grew serious at the faint tremor in my voice.
“There’s something I need to ask you.”
I could still hear Adela’s words from that night by the bonfire, echoing vividly in my ears.
‘All those innocent villagers… they just disappeared, for no reason, all of them in a single day.’
‘I was the only one who survived.’
Was it truly the best course of action?
Did they have to rob an innocent child of her family and her village?
Honestly, I could no longer look at him the same way.
So, my voice came out colder than I intended.
“Why did you wipe out an entire village?”
“What… What did you say?”
Han Taesu’s eyes flickered.
I calmly drove the point home.
“You know I’m talking about Katablam.”
“How did you…?”
“Why did you erase a perfectly fine village—a village that wasn’t even that small—off the map?”
Though my voice was calm, it wasn’t without a growing edge.
In fact, it was getting more heated.
A moment of silence stretched between us.
Han Taesu finally spoke, his tone heavy.
“It was… the best option.”
“How the hell was that the best option?”
Right now, I couldn’t help but assume the worst.
“Why would you… Why would you bury an entire village…?”
Han Si-hyuk had wanted to bury this matter.
It was the most logical and prudent choice.
But…
In the original story, Adela eventually uncovered the truth behind the Katablam Unsolved Case.
That’s why she killed Han Siha and sought revenge against Castica.
One way or another, the truth would come to light in the future.
It was something that couldn’t be hidden.
I might end up in danger.
But none of that mattered anymore.
I spoke, my voice trembling.
“A classmate of mine lived in that village.”
“I’m sorry.”
“She… She remembers everything.”
“It’s my fault.”
“Why… Why did you do it…?”
A girl who believed her village had been cursed and that everyone had died.
If she were to find out that the village was buried just to kill a single dark mage.
And if she found out that the one who carried out that order was Han Taesu…
“…She’ll be devastated.”
“She’ll be shattered.”
Adela would break.
She seemed tough, but in reality, she was a fragile soul.
She could just crumble.
It was a relationship that should never have begun.
Trying to survive, I had built a friendly bond, but now that bond would tighten around both our necks.
If Han Siha had just been the worthless, creepy bastard he was supposed to be, it would have been easier for Adela.
She could have just killed me, gotten her revenge, and that would have been it.
But we were far past that point now.
I clearly remembered the Adela of my childhood. I had seen her with my own eyes.
Though she lacked some manners, she was a cute and cheerful child.
She didn’t have to live as fiercely as she did now.
But everything had gone wrong ten years ago.
“Father.”
Han Taesu looked at me with a troubled expression.
I bit my lower lip so hard that it started to bleed.
“How am I supposed to face that girl…?”
** ** **
Han Taesu sat on the sofa, staring intently at me.
I sipped the tea the servant had brought, waiting for him to speak.
I wasn’t calm, but I tried hard to compose myself.
Because I needed to hear the truth of that incident.
“Did Han Si-hyuk tell you?”
He must have already known that Han Si-hyuk was investigating the unresolved Katablam case.
It was odd to say I found out through the Emperor, so I kept my mouth shut.
Han Taesu, assuming that Han Si-hyuk had told me, began to speak.
“Adela, right? The child who survived from there.”
“She would be the only survivor of Katablam.”
Adela, a genius mage who could control the earth.
Her name was well-known enough that even Han Taesu knew of her.
However, his expression darkened at my words about her being the only survivor.
“Han Si-hyuk… didn’t tell you that much, did he?”
“Sorry?”
Han Taesu spoke in a low, gravelly voice.
“There was more than one survivor in that village.”
What is he talking about?
“No, let me correct myself. I thought only one survived too.”
“….”
“But the one I knew wasn’t Adela, that child.”
“Sorry?”
“I didn’t even know that child existed.”
My head throbbed.
Han Taesu’s words were hard to grasp.
Were there two survivors of the Katablam case?
And was that information in the documents the Emperor handed to Han Si-hyuk?
“Siha.”
Han Taesu’s gaze was calm.
However, his faintly trembling voice indicated that he wasn’t all that different from me.
Struggling to piece his words together, Han Taesu forced himself to recall the past.
“When the order to surround Katablam was issued….”
“Yes.”
“I had no intention of participating in the operation directly.”
Han Taesu frowned as if recalling that time.
“Nox was quite a tricky dark mage. He wasn’t worth engaging personally.
It was a battle where it wasn’t much of an issue even if I just pretended to dispatch troops. There were many mages who could handle that role.”
Han Taesu intended to step away from the Katablam case because of Nox.
There were plenty of dark mages that needed dealing with, and for someone of Han Taesu’s caliber, it was more efficient to face certainly strong opponents rather than troublesome ones.
That’s how it should have been.
“Then, a prophet came to me and said this.”
“….”
“The one who survives from that village will kill my son.”
Han Taesu took a deep breath and continued.
“After hearing such a prophecy, I couldn’t leave it to someone else. I had to confirm it with my own eyes.”
Did Han Taesu directly enter the operation to ensure not a single person was left alive?
“I planned to finish it cleanly. However….”
Han Taesu furrowed his brow and painfully dragged out his words.
“…there was a child alive.”
When the entire Katablam village sank into the ground.
Han Taesu, convinced that the mission was complete, circled the village.
That’s when he discovered it.
A child sitting alone in an open space.
Han Taesu’s mouth twisted into a bitter smile.
“Maybe he saw a future where he died and hid by himself.”
“…”
“I remembered what that prophet had said. That brat would grow up… and try to kill my child.”
“So, then….”
“That’s why I took him. I erased his memories. It’s illegal, but I could do it.”
I sat silently, listening to Han Taesu.
Yet, the questions in my mind didn’t disappear.
Then where did the survivor of the Katablam incident go?
I could find the answer in Han Taesu’s words.
“I raised him as a son born out of wedlock.”
“Sorry?”
“It wouldn’t be strange to say he was just a child I picked up from somewhere.”
“Wait, wait a minute.”
“You didn’t like him either, but you never found it particularly odd.”
“No, hold on!”
I urgently stopped Han Taesu’s words.
If I’m understanding this correctly now….
Is this right?
So the survivor Han Taesu brought back from Katablam village was….
“Yes.”
Han Taesu calmly nodded.
“…Han Si-hyuk.”
** ** **
‘Why do you dislike Han Si-hyuk so much?’
I had asked that before.
And I remember Han Taesu’s cold response.
‘He’s not my son.’
So those words back then weren’t a mere empty statement.
Even if he was a son born out of wedlock, he would still be his child, so I thought it was too harsh.
Now I understand.
“Ha… haha….”
From the start, Han Si-hyuk wasn’t his child, which is why he loathed him.
Not just any child of a stranger, but one destined to kill his own son.
There was no way Han Taesu could have accepted him.
“So that’s… how it was.”
Han Taesu’s eyes wavered.
As if repulsed by his own thoughts, he furrowed his brow but didn’t stop speaking.
“I regretted it.”
“Do you regret destroying that village? That you buried innocent people with your own hands?”
“No, no. I regretted letting him live.”
Han Taesu bit his lip hard as if in pain.
“I should have killed him back then, but failed to do so… I regretted it countless times.”
“That… that’s….”
“That’s the mistake of my life. But it seems there was another mistake.”
I realized he was referring to Adela as the ‘mistake.’
I stared blankly at Han Taesu, who was murmuring about his regrets.
Simply, just watching.
Han Taesu gave a twisted smile.
“Even if you look at me like that, I would have made the same choice.”
A sad but realistic excuse.
“…It was the best option.”
“It was the worst.”
“The best option back then can turn out to be the worst now.”
“…”
“I’m no prophet, so I couldn’t have known that.”
Han Taesu added that with a sad smile.
“Stay away from Han Si-hyuk.”
“That’s….”
“The same goes for Adela, that child.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
The choice that seemed best back then had come back as the worst.
Han Si-hyuk and Adela. The future where one of them would try to kill me.
Maybe that’s true.
After all, Adela did kill Han Siha.
I stared intently at Han Taesu.
I should have blamed him, but I couldn’t.
Han Taesu’s choice was to protect Han Siha.
Therefore, I couldn’t accept Han Taesu’s words.
“I’m sorry. I can’t abandon that child.”
Just as Han Taesu did.
I will only do what I believe to be the best.
“Because that’s the best I can do.”
Han Taesu, who had been silently staring at me, stood up.
“Follow me, I have something to give you.”
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