Chapter 240: Memories Of a Father

Gideon stayed beside Delilah until she finally fell asleep.

Her breathing gradually became slow and steady, and the frown that had remained on her brows finally disappeared as she drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Only then did he carefully loosen her grip on his hand.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned back against the chair.

He was terrible at conflicts like this.

One wrong sentence was enough to make everything collapse.

Elaine had been wise enough not to interfere too much. She only stepped in whenever she felt the two of them were about to hurt each other.

"...Well, I guess I’m not that wise."

A bitter chuckle escaped his lips.

Gideon was only twenty-three years old, almost twenty-four. He was far more comfortable solving problems with a sword, a fist, or a signed agreement than dealing with emotions.

Especially this many emotions.

"Sister." He lowered his head slightly. "What would you do in my place?"

The memories came almost immediately.

When he acted like a brat, his sister would usually smack him on the head, punch his shoulder, or lecture him in the least gentle way imaginable.

But...

There were also times when she simply let him go.

She would give him enough time to cool his head before quietly sitting beside him, listening to everything he wanted to say, and only then deciding what to do.

Maybe he should do the same.

The curtain rustled. Gideon instinctively looked up.

Morning had arrived without him even realizing it. Pale sunlight filtered through the canvas, illuminating the silhouette of a young woman standing just outside the emergency room.

"Freya?"

The figure immediately stiffened before turning around, clearly intending to leave.

Gideon rose from his chair at once. His longer stride easily caught up to her before she could take more than a few steps. He gently grabbed her wrist and turned her back toward him.

Freya looked just as miserable as her mother.

Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot from crying the entire night. Her usually silky hair had become tangled and messy, sticking together from neglect.

She hadn’t even bothered to wash properly.

Freya had never been particularly good at taking care of herself. Gideon still remembered the first time they met, when she constantly smelled unpleasant simply because clean water had been too precious to waste on bathing.

Things are different now. They had warm water every day. She had enough time to care for herself.

The fact that she hadn’t meant this conflict had weighed on her mind far more heavily than he had imagined.

"Where do you think you’re going?"

The words came out colder than he intended.

Freya instinctively lowered her head. "I... I was just going back."

She couldn’t even meet his eyes.

Gideon silently cursed himself. He took another deep breath before relaxing his expression.

"You came here because you wanted to see your mother, didn’t you?"

He paused. "Or maybe you wanted to apologize."

Freya remained silent for several long seconds. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Is Mom okay?" She swallowed nervously. "How’s the baby?"

Gideon smiled faintly. "They’re both alive."

"The baby is still weak, but..." He couldn’t help laughing softly. "It’s my child. It’ll grow up as stubborn as a mountain and as resilient as a canyon."

"You don’t need to worry too much."

Freya lowered her head again. Her clenched fists trembled uncontrollably.

"Of course I have to worry." Tears welled up in her eyes once more. "This is all my fault. If... if I hadn’t said something so horrible..."

"You’re right."

Freya froze. She looked up at him in disbelief.

Gideon didn’t look away.

"Some words can never be taken back once they’re spoken." His voice remained calm but firm. "That’s why you have to be careful before saying something cruel to someone."

His hand remained gently wrapped around her wrist. "But everyone makes mistakes. What matters It’s what you choose to do afterward."

Freya’s lips trembled.

"You can’t run away from your mother. You can’t keep hiding from her either. If you do, she’ll only blame herself even more, and her condition will get worse."

He looked directly into her eyes. "So take your time and think carefully."

She opened her mouth. But no words came out.

She didn’t know.

Seeing that, Gideon simply nodded.

"Alright." He released her wrist before gently patting her shoulder. "Come with me. We’re both going to take a bath."

He looked down at her tangled hair before smiling helplessly.

"You’ve been crying all night, you need refreshment. After that, stay by my side until you find your answer."

Freya stared at him blankly. She had expected anger or even a punishment. Instead he simply turned around and began walking.

After a moment of hesitation, she quietly nodded and hurried after him.

***

The bath was warm. Warm enough to chase away the cold that had settled deep into their bones.

It was the large bath Gideon had summoned from the key he bought from the system, steam slowly rising from the water and filling the room with the calming scent of mint and lavender.

Ironically...

This was the same bath where he had taught Freya and Summer how to kiss properly, probably even where they had shared their first kiss with him.

Now, only the two of them were here.

Freya sat across from him, shrinking into herself. Her head stayed lowered, as though simply looking at him required more courage than she had left.

Guilt, shame and regret. All of it was written plainly across her face. Yet the words she wanted to say refused to leave her mouth.

"Freya."

She slowly looked up.

"Do you want me to help wash your hair?"

She blinked in confusion.

Even after entering the bath, she hadn’t touched the shampoo beside her. She simply sat there, letting the warm water surround her without making any effort to clean herself.

"No." She shook her head weakly. "It’s fine. I... I don’t think it’s appropriate to be doing something like this while my mother..."

The sentence died in her throat. She bit her lip before forcing herself to continue.

"You... you should’ve blamed me instead of..." She gestured vaguely around the bath. "...Whatever this is."

Gideon gently rubbed her shoulder.

"You need to understand something." His expression remained calm. "I’m disappointed in you too."

Freya immediately looked at him. Fresh tears filled her eyes.

"You acted like a child."

Before she could argue, he continued.

"And that’s not strange. You’re eighteen years old. Your world was turned upside down in a single night. You felt as though everyone was attacking your father, attacking your memories, and even trying to take your mother away from you."

He paused. "But you were unfair to Delilah. She was the one who stayed beside you through every hardship."

"The one who raised you and the one who never abandoned you."

Freya suddenly clenched her fists.

"No!" Her voice echoed through the bath. "You don’t understand! My father was kind! He deserved to live!"

"If Mom thought he wasn’t worth staying with..." Her voice cracked. "...Then she could’ve just left me with him!"

The anger burning inside her finally erupted.

Gideon remained silent. He already knew there was no point telling her how terrible Leon had truly been.

She wouldn’t believe him. Not today.

Freya was as stubborn as her mother.

"I don’t care what everyone else says!" She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.

"In my memories... My dad was a good person. He taught me how machines worked about aberrants."

"He was the one who taught me how to fight and hunt." Her breathing became uneven. "When we were crossing the Deliric Desert, he was always the one pointing at old ruins and telling me where we could find parts from the Old World."

A faint smile appeared despite the tears.

"We’d spend the whole day looking for them and afterward he’d carry me on his shoulders all the way back to Climber Rift."

She laughed weakly through her tears.

"I always thought the world looked so much bigger from up there. We’d walk through the market together. He’d buy me snacks whenever we had enough money."

"He told me stories. He taught me what was right and what was wrong."

Her shoulders shook violently.

"So..." She looked directly at Gideon. "How am I supposed to believe everyone? When my father is a bad man"

"...when every memory I have of him is a good one?"

The room fell silent.

Only the sound of Freya’s sobbing remained.

Gideon didn’t interrupt. He didn’t argue or try to correct her memories.

Because to Freya, those moments were real.

She had lost her father while she was still too young to understand what had truly happened.

Everyone else had eventually moved on. Some had even been relieved by Leon’s death.

But Freya never had that chance.

The father she remembered wasn’t the man everyone hated.

He was simply the man who had carried her on his shoulders, taught her how to survive, and made her believe the world was a little less frightening.

Those memories had remained untouched for years.

And now, for the first time, someone was asking her to question them.