Novel Full Chapter 1194: Cruel Father!
Chapter 1194: Cruel Father!
Feng just shook her head, but the smile tugging at her lips betrayed her amusement.
Quinlan finally raised both flowers.
“Each of you will take one. You’ll inhale its essence, not consume it. What follows will be… personal.”
The tone in his voice shifted.
“These flowers test one’s self. If you pass, they’ll awaken a potential greater than any ordinary class could offer. But the challenge won’t be the same for either of you.”
Feng and Felicity exchanged glances. Both swallowed.
Felicity hesitated again before whispering, “But… is it really okay for me to try? I’m level one. I haven’t even cast a single spell…”
“Jasmine was even weaker than you are right now. A merchant girl with no combat skills. Yet she passed.”
His eyes sparkled at the memory. “Iris faced her own demons, too. Despite being a strong warrior, she killed no enemies yet still passed.”
That seemed to steady Felicity’s nerves. She nodded slowly, determined.
Quinlan handed them each a blossom.
“Breathe in and face what awaits.”
Both girls sat side by side on the bed with the blossoms cupped in their palms.
They examined the flower one last time, looked up at Quinlan, swallowed, then nodded.
As they inhaled, the petals shimmered, releasing wisps of translucent light that curled into their nostrils. Their eyes went glassy, looking unfocused and misty. The tension in their shoulders faded, and their breathing slowed into a steady rhythm, synchronizing with the pulse of the flowers’ fading glow.
Quinlan and Rosie watched in silence. The only sound was the soft exhale of the two girls lost to the flower’s dreamscape.
But then Rosie’s little legs shuddered inexplicably. She frowned.
“… Daddy?” she questioned with a voice that was barely above a whisper.
Quinlan didn’t respond. His focus remained locked on Feng and Felicity, his expression unreadable. Yet something about the air around him changed. To the dryad, it felt like the calm before lightning struck.
Her instincts screamed.
Without another thought, she pushed off his head with magic propelling her upward in a burst. But before she could escape, a hand shot up and caught her ankle mid-flight.
“Ah! No!” she squeaked, flailing wildly. “Let gooo! Bad Daddy!!!”
She twisted, kicked, and cried injustice – a whole lot – but Quinlan’s hold didn’t budge. He reeled her in effortlessly, and within a second she was dangling in front of him, held under her armpits like a squirming cat.
“Stop wriggling and look into my eyes,” he demanded evenly.
Rosie puffed out her cheeks. Her lips trembled in protest. She averted her face in utmost refusal and even squeezed her eyes shut.
“Rosie.”
She shook her head. “N-No!”
“Open up.”
Her whole body tensed. She knew that tone. It wasn’t angry, but it carried the weight of something that could not be ignored. Unless she wanted to become a bad daughter in her father’s eyes.
“Rosie.”
A low whimper escaped her throat. Tears welled up as she forced one eyelid open, looking utterly betrayed.
“Daddy is cruel!” she declared, voice quivering.
Quinlan’s sigh was long and tired. “And you’re still talking like Blossom again.”
“…”
“No one can hear you right now. Drop the act.”
Rosy sniffled with her face scrunching up. Her magic dimmed to a faint glow as she muttered under her breath, “Okay… I’ll speak normally…”
Her tone lost the exaggerated sweetness she used to ensure she was pampered by all the women around her, ranging from the maids to her mothers.
“You owe me an explanation, little miss,” Quinlan continued, not one bit feeling guilty despite his daughter clearly doing her utmost to guilt-trip him.
“Yes… I promised I’d tell you all that I know.”
“I’m honestly a bit hurt that you kept silent until now.”
Rosie whimpered. She looked guilty herself now. “I’m sorry…! I didn’t open up because I wasn’t quite sure myself, and because I thought all this enemy of the gods business would come into play much later…”
Indeed, the dryad intervened back when Sel’Ashra invaded his soul realm a second time and awakened the Corruption Seed, overriding Mimi’s – the little blue dryad who was planted in his soul realm – control.
Rosie arrived there, materialized due to a ’failsafe’ she’d put into place when creating Mimi. She then helped the inexperienced Mimi expel the evil goddess and regain control over the rebelling seed.
“Well, better late than never,” Quinlan spoke up. He’d lost the edge in his voice after seeing that his daughter was finally serious and felt bad about keeping things to herself.
Rosie straightened as she looked deep into his eyes.
“I… I’m a never-before-seen existence. I was created from the interaction between a Geim and… your seed. Maybe it’s your [Primordial Breeding Technique] that made this possible… but I don’t know all the details. What I do know is… I’m no longer just a Geim.”
Her little hands clenched in front of her chest. “Geims… they’re creatures with no purpose, no goal in life. They just… live, like all mortal existences. But I’m different. I am Rosie Elysiar, Quinlan Elysiar’s creation. I am the guardian of everything you are.”
Quinlan remained silent, waiting for her to continue.
Her eyes sparkled fiercely at that. “You should already be very aware that my tree is growing taller every day. But that’s not all… faaaar beneath the earth, where even you can’t sense things unless you were to investigate on purpose, my roots have expanded for miles upon miles. I am expanding further than any Geim ever could, because it’s my life’s mission to protect you… and everything you own.”
Rosie’s voice hardened with conviction. “To make sure no invader ever comes near, my roots spread beyond the stronghold, deep into the surrounding lands. And… I’ve already stopped many monsters from coming near our home. Humanoids too. They never even realized anything before my roots rushed out at them and snuffed their lives out, sometimes dozens at once.”
Quinlan found himself at a loss for words. He had known she was unique, even that she was more than she let on… but hearing her speak like this, outlining her unseen work, her invisible vigilance… he didn’t know what to say.
“I… see,” he finally managed. “I always knew you were special, Rosie. But to think it’s… like this…”
Rosie’s smile widened. “Even now, I’m siphoning raw energy from the planet, pulling it into myself so that I can grow strong enough to protect you. It shouldn’t have been possible, yet I face no resistance from Thalorind itself. It’s as if the world wants me to take and take and take.”
The dryad then planted a finger on her chin, visibly in thought. “This no-resistance phenomenon wasn’t always there, however. After being born, I was growing slowly.”