732 The Price

When a piece of news reached the headquarters of mars administration, it sent ripples throughout the planet.

Kristine Bell, Daughter of Sovereign Kreo, was found!

Thousands of experts rushed to her location and treated her like a living treasure.

"Miss, we will be there soon! Your father was very anxious about you! After you meet, tell us who dared to kidnap y--"

"Shut it and hurry up," Kristine said in a cold tone.

"You..." The head officer escorting her looked at the woman in disbelief.

Was this really the same 'girl' Sovereign Kreo was talking about? Yes, the DNA test matched perfectly. So did the memory test. She even had the treasure Sovereign Kreo attached to her.

Then why was she behaving like this?

Kristine, on the other hand, ignored the man and focused on her memories.

[My father used to a gangster. He killed many helpless people. The throne he sits on today is built on countless corpses.

My mother was a good woman who tried her best to help our family. But she was brutally killed by the abyssals...and her head was hung on the wall.]

Kristine clenched her fists so hard they turned white.

*** ***

"And until there, it's true," Varian said with a nonchalant expression.

"Then what memories did you change?" Sia asked with a curious expression. Anna perked her ears.

"That..." Varian smiled.

*** ***

[My father knew it was dangerous for my mother to go there. I even saw him get the reports informing him that it would be hard for him or my mother to survive that day's attack.

But he...]

Kristine bit her lips to the point they started bleeding.

[He still sent my mother. For his military merits. After her death, he 'went' into a rage and his performance was awarded by the superiors. He got special resources which greatly helped him in his advancement.]

Kristine's eyes flashed with grief and betrayal.

[And when he realized I might expose the truth to the whole world, he...to me...]

Her body trembled violently as she 'recalled' a memory of Kreo attacking her to keep her mind immature.

He did it again and again and again.

Every memory of Kreo visiting her was slightly twisted. It wasn't a session of a father bonding with his daughter, but a father suppressing his daughter's maturity to keep her from revealing his dirty deeds.

With each memory she recalled, Kristine felt more and more disgust towards this father.

With the deep emotions flooding her, she didn't even pause to think about gathering evidence or notice the loopholes in her memory.

What remained in her memory was her truth.

Kristine slowly raised her head as a pink castle appeared in the distance.

*** ***

"That's very cruel..." Sia sighed.

"I know. As someone who had his memories sealed, I can tell you it's a horrible thing to do." Varian said, but there was no remorse on his face.

"But you still went ahead and did it." Richard shook his head.

Anna, on the other hand, gave him a thumbs up. "I don't really care about the means. You are doing this as revenge, right?"

Varian gave a slight nod and smiled. "According to master, Kreo always wanted Kristine to be normal, and normal she is. But there's a condition to maintain that normalcy. A very harsh condition."

*** ***

"K-Kristie!" Kreo stood up from the bunch of toys and rushed to his daughter with teary eyes.

Without a second thought, he pulled her into an embrace and started crying. "H-How have you been...I'm so worried about you, little girl."

The officers nearby read the atmosphere and left the room.

At last, the father and daughter reunited.

And Kreo couldn't stop his tears from falling. The weight on his heart was thrown off and he seemed to be younger overnight.

With a concerned expression, he touched her face, hands, and feet. "You aren't injured anywhere, right?"

Kristine didn't respond.

If it was without those memories, she'd have been moved to the point of tears seeing her father's love.

But now, all she felt was disgust. And hatred.

"I want to kill you."

"Huh?"

"I hate you," Kristine said through gritted teeth.

"Y-You can speak well? You're cured?" Kreo's eyes widened as a big smile formed on his face.

"What do you think?" Kristine spat back with open hatred.

Kreo was at first taken aback by her reaction before he burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! My daughter is cured! My little princess is normal!"

He laughed and laughed until he broke down into tears. Tears that wouldn't stop even after he kept wiping at them for minutes.

When he no longer had tears to shed, Kreo raised his head and saw his daughter...staring at him with utter disgust.

"W-What happened...how did you cure...no, most importantly, did I do something wrong?" Kreo's face paled.

The Sovereign who put the whole mars into fear was scared.

"I want to kill you." Kristine retrieved a sword from her storage ring and a box. It opened up, revealing a lethal poison.

She dipped the sword in the poison and pointed it at her father. "For what you did to my mother and to me, I want you to die."

"What I did to your mother and you?" Kreo blinked twice in confusion as his brows furrowed.

Suddenly, a thought flashed in his mind and his expression grew grave. "Kristie, how did you cure..."

Whoosh!

Kreo stepped to the side and dodged the sword slash.

Even though he was a psychic, due to his level, he more or less had a strong body.  Dodging attacks from Kristine who never fought was too easy.

"Who cured you? It is Evan?" Kreo asked as his body trembled with rage.

That bastard, he cured his daughter but made her hate him.

"Evan? You still want to utter his name after betraying him?" Kristine's anger flared up and she swung the sword left and right.

Kreo stepped back and dodged the attacks as he asked in confusion. "Kristie, whatever I did to Evander was only for your sake, I--"

"Shut up!" Kristine dashed to him to slash at him, but she tripped and was about to crash to the floor.

Kreo's eyebrows jumped and he caught her from falling.

"Phew." Sighing in relief, he looked at Kristine who was about to swing her sword at him.

"Just a second." Kreo's eyes shone with a blue light and Kristine's body froze.

Kreo's mind power entered her brain and he caught the glimpse of her memories.

"W-What..."

Kreo stepped back before he slumped on the floor on his butt. His face paled as his lips trembled.

"F-Fake memories...no wonder she hates me so much."

Looking at the hatred in the eyes of frozen Kristine, Kreo felt his heartbreak.

She finally grew up. It was what he wanted all along.

But.

"I can't even restore her memories..." Kreo's brows furrowed more and more as he probed her condition.

His breathing turned more and more ragged as sadness welled in his heart. "And that bastard..."

The golden power in Kristine's mind was given an order.

Kristine would only stay 'mature' if she managed to kill him today. If she didn't, then she'd revert to her previous self.

"I can't change the golden power. Freezing her won't change a thing." Kreo clutched his head as he racked his brains.

He couldn't trick her with his powers. Nor could he show her an illusion and make her 'believe' she killed him.

The golden power. That damn golden power destroyed any possibility of trickery.

"Arghhh!"

Even though he was a Sovereign who controlled a planet at the tip of his fingers, he was helpless now.

"If she doesn't kill me, Kristine will go back to her previous self." Kreo's eyes reddened as he gritted his teeth. "She'll never enjoy her life."

If nothing happened and Kristine stayed the same way, Kreo wouldn't be this conflicted.

But Kristine right now was cured.

It was Kreo's dream to let his daughter live a normal life.

He had that option now.

But only...

"Is it my life or my daughter's life?" Kreo closed his eyes to hold back the tears.

** **

"He won't sacrifice himself." Varian shook his head.

"What if he does?" Sia asked.

"Julius killed his own son for trivial jealousy." Varian shook his head.

"Kreo is Julius' partner in crime. That bastard manipulated my memory and erased your existence from so many people. He even betrayed my master and almost killed us. Do you think he's a person who'd sacrifice himself?"

Varian saw Kreo through the lens of Julius and it appeared that his analysis was right.

But.

Sia bit her lip.

For Varian, she was willing to kill anyone. Including herself.

What if Kreo's love was as strong?

Sia shook her head, recalling the time she saw him. She was in a pitiful state, her blood painting the walls of the glass tube red and she was deep in tears.

It was through a hologram, but she could still recall his emotionless eyes and cold words.

'I've erased the boy's memories. If you don't cooperate, I don't mind killing him in front of you.'

*** ***

"Everyone, evacuate," Kreo ordered the soldiers.

Within seconds, the pink castle was empty.

"Rami," Kreo called into his comm.

A few seconds later, a woman in black clothes appeared in front of him and knelt down.

"I have a task, no, a request for you," Kreo said in a heavy voice.

"Yes?"

"Take care of my daughter."

"Master?"

"Disappear for now."

The woman in black still had questions but left the castle as ordered.

Kreo kissed Kristine's forehead for one last time before returning her body control to her.

"You!" Kristine seemed to realize she was frozen as she glared at him with red eyes.

"Kristine," Kreo called out softly.

"I hate you!" Kristine gripped the hilt of her sword and aimed it at Kreo's heart.

Kreo smiled at her brightly.

Looking at her eyes, he was reminded of another girl who hated with the same passion.

Sia.

He only saw her once through a hologram, but the hatred she showed him was no less than what Kristine was showing.

'Is this your revenge, Varian? For removing the memories of the girl you love...you made my daughter hate me.'

"Daughter, I love you." Kreo opened his arms wide.

"I hate you!" Kristine pierced his heart with her sword.

"Guh!" Kreo gritted his teeth as the sword appeared from his back.

The poison began to spread.

He could stop it. He could heal himself.

The poison wasn't very rare that he'd have trouble finding the cure.

Rather, it was a common poison, albeit strong.

'Varian, you must have thought I'd neglect my daughter, right?' Kreo smiled as blood spilled from the corner of his lips.

His chest started to turn purple as the poison spread in his body.

"Y-You are..." Kristine didn't understand why he let her stab him.

Kreo smiled brightly, his face now light purple. "I'm happy. I got to finally see you like this."

"Don't act like this! You tortured me every day! You used your powers on me and stopped me from growing! Why are you acting as if you love me now?" Kristine slashed him with her sword as she yelled in tears.

Hearing the pain in her words, Kreo smiled lightly.

Even though the fake memories made him hate her, the reason she cried was that some part of her still loved him.

For him, that was enough.

Kreo slowly lost the sensation of his body as he collapsed on the floor.

As his consciousness faded, the last thing he saw was his daughter's crying face.

In the end, her love won out and she ended up sobbing.

Kreo smiled, imagining the bright future Kristine had ahead of her.

She'd live like a normal woman. She'd enjoy the small joys of life. She'd do the work she's interested in. She'd fall in love with someone. She'd start a family and have loving kids...

A fulfilling life...a life that he couldn't give her, Varian granted her.

The price was something he didn't expect. But Kreo accepted it.

The only regret he had was that he wouldn't be able to see her live her life.

'It's a pity, but...'

As everything was about to turn dark, Kreo opened his lips for one last time.

"I-I wish you happy life..."

Sovereign Kreo died in the hands of his own daughter.