Chapter 52 Promise.

Chapter 52: 52 Promise.

"Daughter, please," he said. "I was... Well... You have to understand. He was the reason you left the Fortress in the first place. All those blasted posters, those ridiculous videos you were forever watching... How was I supposed to simply sit back and let you run off after him?"

...Hm?

I looked toward Glacia. Our eyes caught for the briefest moment before she immediately turned her head away, a delicate blush creeping across her otherwise deathly pale face.

"That..." she began, before quickly shaking herself. "Father, that is neither here nor there."

"Of course it is!" the Captain barked, straightening to his full height and pointing accusingly toward me. "You abandoned the Ice Palace to find this man, and for what? So he could throw you into battles against heroes and let you get yourself hurt? Absolutely not! You are the Lady of the North! You are my daughter! I will not simply hand you over to some reckless man and pretend that is acceptable! If you insist on leaving the Palace, then I will personally make certain nothing in this world lays a finger on you!"

"Do you really think I am helpless?" Glacia cried. "Father, he stood against you! He pushed you this far! Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me you cannot acknowledge his strength?"

Once again, the Captain’s confidence seemed to falter. "Well... I... That is hardly the same as... Hm..."

His attention returned to me, and I instinctively straightened. The Captain’s weather-beaten brows knitted together, his expression resembling the rough bark of some ancient tree.

"He is not... entirely incompetent," the Captain finally admitted, though the words sounded as though they’d been dragged from his throat one syllable at a time.

I had to admit, I hadn’t expected that.

For a man who’d fought through two world wars and more conflicts than I could count, that was practically a glowing endorsement, particularly considering how violently he’d resisted giving it. Glacia, meanwhile, looked downright triumphant.

"Exactly!" she said. "No hero has pushed you so far since the War, when Extraordinary confronted you during the Siege of Yakutsk! Father, who else could possibly protect me beyond the Palace? He alone has proven capable of standing against you. He is strong enough to train me, to help me develop my powers and skills!"

"But Glacia..." the Captain said, his voice suddenly losing nearly all of its authority.

"Papa, please," she said, moving closer with her hands clasped before her, her pretty face taking on an unmistakably pleading expression. "I want him to train me. I want to see the world beyond the Palace walls, and this is the safest way I can do that. Please let me go. Who could possibly protect me better than someone who managed to match you?"

The Captain stared at her.

His eyes widened.

For a moment, he looked almost like a man who’d just been struck by the realization that his little girl had grown up without asking his permission.

Then his gaze softened.

He lowered his chin, muttering beneath his beard as he wrestled with whatever remained of his objections.

I couldn’t help staring at him.

Was... was this genuinely the same man who had conquered Greenland? The man whose mere attention had once been enough to make entire nations tremble?

The man whose name appeared at the top of the most wanted lists belonging to every alphabet agency, from the FBI to the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs (BSA)?

Because at that moment, he looked less like a terrifying supervillain and more like a grumpy old father desperately trying to convince himself that letting his daughter grow up was a good idea.

Not that I thought it made him any less dangerous. He’d thrown enough ice at me today to make that painfully obvious.

I glanced around the ballroom again, taking in the devastation surrounding us. It looked less like a hotel ballroom now and more like some frozen wasteland.

"You!"

The Captain’s voice snapped me back to attention, his glare immediately finding me beneath his frosted whiskers.

"You," he repeated, though the fury in his voice had noticeably diminished. "Tell me something. Do you truly believe you can keep my daughter safe?"

"What? Oh, er, yes. I do," I said.

The Captain stared at me, his jaw working as though he were physically grinding my answer between his teeth.

Then he glanced at Glacia. She was watching him. Her eyes were wide and hopeful.

The Captain’s expression immediately softened. He looked back at me.

"Fine," he snapped, pointing directly at me. "Then she will remain with you. You will train her as you see fit, and you will ensure she wants for nothing. But understand this clearly: if so much as a strand of her hair is harmed, I’ll show you why hell is better than the artic!"

Was... was he actually serious?

I searched his face for even the faintest trace of a bluff, but there wasn’t one.

He absolutely meant every word.

"I... Yes. I mean, yes," I said, forcing myself to sound more confident. "I will protect her. I swear it."

The Captain gave a dismissive grunt, though his attention immediately drifted back toward Glacia. "Very well. Then here."

He reached inside his coat and tossed something toward me. I caught its magnetic signature and lifted a hand, stopping it in midair, fully expecting another grenade.

Instead, I found myself staring at an elaborate ring of keys.

"I will not have my daughter living in some filthy apartment like a common serf," the Captain grumbled. "You will have this building as your home. Consider it a gift, my dear."

His entire expression softened as he looked at Glacia.

"It is important to me that you are comfortable. If you require anything else, you need only ask."

"Papa!" Glacia cried, throwing both arms around the Captain’s neck and hugging him tightly. "Thank you! Thank you, papa! I won’t disappoint."

The Captain’s eyes went wide with surprise before softening into an almost absurdly affectionate expression. He wrapped his enormous arms around her and gently patted her back, the terrifying menace disappearing from his weathered face as though someone had simply flipped a switch.

"My darling girl, you could never disappoint me."

While father and daughter were occupied, I awkwardly turned my attention elsewhere, suddenly very interested in examining the ballroom.

There was a gigantic hole in the floor. Ice coated the walls, stalactites dangled from the ceiling, and once everything eventually melted, there would probably be enough water damage to bankrupt a small country.

Oh, and somewhere beneath all that wreckage was a burning pile of Edward.

It was beginning to feel like I’d been given a reward with a rather impressive catch attached.

Still, you didn’t exactly turn down a gift from someone like Captain Zero.

Besides, he’d already destroyed my apartment, and I wasn’t particularly interested in spending the next few weeks sleeping in my car or hopping between hotel rooms while the mess got sorted out. If keeping Glacia with me meant taking a financial hit, then I’d deal with it.

"I’ll look after her," I said, levitating the keys toward myself before catching them from the air. "I promise."

"Hmph," the Captain scoffed, though he gave a reluctant nod. "Good. Then I shall take my leave."

He turned toward Glacia, and the intimidating expression vanished almost immediately.

He crouched slightly, bringing himself closer to her level, and gently adjusted the collar of her coat as though she were still a little girl he’d personally bundled against the cold.

"Farewell, my precious daughter. You will write to me every day, won’t you?"

"I will, father," Glacia said. "I promise."

The Captain’s eyes softened again. "Good girl."

There wasn’t anything else that needed saying.

He finally turned away from her, though he looked back twice before reaching the doors, giving me one final warning glare that sent another chill through my blood.

Then he disappeared into the main room.

I could hear him barking orders at the arriving henchmen, directing them to deal with the destruction we’d left behind.

Meanwhile, I stared down at the keys in my hand, the full weight of what I’d just acquired—and what I’d willingly agreed to—finally beginning to sink in.