I Won't Let Anyone Have My Beloved Daughter Rabi! ~The Love Circumstances Full of Misunderstandings Between the Former Strongest Mage and the Cursed Girl~
Douglas was once hailed as the strongest—an SS-rank royal mage who stood beside heroes. Now he's a washed-up old man with a rusty staff, a revoked license, and nothing left to his name. He's made peace with being needed by no one.
Then a soaked, mud-covered girl collapses at his door and calls him "Daddy."
Rabi carries a curse that destroys everything around her when her emotions surge—the same curse that killed her parents and burned her village to the ground. Hunted and cast out, all she wan
I Won't Let Anyone Have My Beloved Daughter Rabi! ~The Love Circumstances Full of Misunderstandings Between the Former Strongest Mage and the Cursed Girl~ - The Cursed Beloved Daughter and the Blizzard's Exile — Those Words Dad Shouted at the Depths of Despair
A cold wind swept through the village square of Kitaki.
The sky was a heavy, gray blanket, clouds hanging low and threatening snow at any moment. The villagers watched from a distance, their gazes pricking at Rabi's skin like needles.
Kyle had hold of Rabi's wrist.
"It's okay, Rabi. I'll protect you. I'll make that curse disappear, I promise."
Kyle smiled brightly and squeezed her hand tighter. His blond hair swayed in the wind, and his blue eyes looked straight into hers. He was like a prince straight out of a fairy tale.
But Rabi's face had gone pale.
"St-stop... let go of me..."
Her voice trembled. Silver hair whipped across her face in the wind, and her large, violet-tinged eyes shook with fear.
"Please, let me go... I need to get to Douglas..."
"Douglas? Oh, you mean that old man? You deserve someone better suited to you. Someone young and strong—like me."
Kyle laughed. His smile was utterly innocent, and utterly cruel.
That was when it happened.
Rabi's left arm—the curse mark hidden beneath her sleeve—began to throb violently. The black, intricately tangled pattern burned beneath her skin, searing hot. The color drained from Rabi's face.
"No... don't... get away from me...!"
Rabi screamed.
At that same instant, pale blue light spilled from her arm. The light swelled in an instant, making the air itself shudder. The ether was running wild. Uncontrollable power poured out of Rabi's body.
"Rabi!"
Douglas broke into a run. But he was too late.
The light exploded.
DOOOOON!!!
A deafening roar. The ground shook. Dust billowed up from the square, and the windows of the surrounding houses shattered into pieces. The blast wave hurled Douglas through the air. He slammed onto his back, the breath driven from his lungs all at once.
"Guh—!"
Douglas forced his face up. His vision blurred. The taste of sand spread through his mouth.
And then he saw it.
At the edge of the square, a small body lay on the ground. A boy, about seven years old. Just moments ago, he'd been drawing pictures in the dirt with a stick. Now the blast had thrown him, and he wasn't moving.
"—!"
Douglas crawled toward the boy. Blood ran from the child's forehead. His breathing was shallow, and he was unconscious.
"Hey, stay with me! Hey!"
Douglas lifted the boy into his arms. The small body hung limp.
"What have you done to my child?!"
A scream. The boy's mother came running, frantic.
"It's your fault! Because of that cursed girl, my son—!"
The mother pointed at Rabi and shrieked. As if answering her cry, the villagers gathered. Their faces were twisted with rage and fear. Some gripped hoes and clubs.
Rabi had collapsed in the middle of the square.
She was staring at her own hands. Her trembling hands. Those hands had hurt a child. Her curse had thrown an innocent boy through the air. The truth of it was shattering her heart.
"I-I... I did it..."
Her lips moved faintly. A voiceless voice. Tears spilled from her large eyes.
"I did it... my curse... that child..."
Rabi cursed her hands, her arms, her very existence.
Douglas handed the boy to his mother and rose on unsteady legs. His whole body ached. The old wound in his left arm throbbed dully. Even so, he stood in front of Rabi.
"Rabi is not to blame."
Douglas spoke to the villagers.
"This is my responsibility. I failed to protect her, and that makes it my fault. That child was hurt because of me."
"What are you talking about?! It's because of that cursed girl you brought here!"
"That's right! Ever since you two showed up, the well water's gone cloudy, our children get hurt—nothing but trouble!"
"Get out! Get out of this village right now!"
The villagers' angry shouts flew thick and fast. Spit flew. Fists were raised.
Douglas dropped to his knees.
And then he pressed his forehead to the ground.
"Please...!"
It was a dogeza. He pressed his forehead into the muddy earth. The cold sensation of the soil seeped through his skin.
"I'll make this right. I'll take full responsibility, I swear it. So please... just don't blame Rabi. Don't blame her..."
Douglas's voice was shaking.
The mage once called the strongest. A man who had belonged to the hero's party and slain countless magical beasts. And now that man was groveling before a crowd of villagers. His pride, his honor—he cast it all aside.
All to protect Rabi.
"Papa... stop... please stop..."
Rabi clung to Douglas, weeping.
"This isn't something you should apologize for... It's my fault... It's all my fault...!"
Rabi's tears fell onto Douglas's back. Hot drops soaked into his clothes.
"...How pathetic."
A cold voice came down from above.
Kyle stood there. He must have dodged the blast—his clothes were only lightly dusted, and he appeared unharmed.
"Old man, you can't protect this girl. What just happened is proof of that."
Kyle's blue eyes looked down on Douglas. In them were contempt, and a faint trace of pity.
"I'll take her in. I can control her curse. She won't cause any more trouble for this village. That's the best solution for everyone."
Kyle held out his hand to Rabi.
"Come, Rabi. Come with me. I'll protect you."
Rabi looked at Kyle's hand.
Then she gripped Douglas's hand tightly in return.
"No... I'm not leaving Papa!"
Rabi raised her tear-streaked face and glared at Kyle.
"I'm staying with Papa! Wherever he goes, I'm going with him! I want Papa! I don't want anyone but Papa!"
Rabi's voice rang out across the whole village.
There was no hesitation in it. She carried all of it—the fear, the sorrow, the despair—and still, she chose Douglas. Her will was iron.
Douglas squeezed her hand back.
"...Aye. So am I. I won't let you go, Rabi."
Still holding her hand, Douglas stood.
"Village chief. I've caused you trouble. We'll leave this village."
Douglas bowed his head to the chief.
The chief was an elderly man. His deeply lined face regarded Douglas and Rabi in silence. In his eyes were anger, resignation, and a faint trace of sympathy.
"...See that you do. Don't ever come near this village again."
With that, the chief turned his back.
Douglas took Rabi's hand and walked out of the village.
The villagers' cold stares pierced their backs.
"The cursed girl..." "How could she do that to my child..." "Don't you ever come back..."
Their muttered curses rode the wind, chasing after them, meant to be heard.
Douglas gripped Rabi's hand tighter. Her hand was cold as ice.
By the time they reached the edge of the village, white things were drifting down from the sky.
Snow.
At first it fell in scattered flurries, but it quickly grew fierce. The wind howled, and the world turned white. It was a blizzard.
Douglas and Rabi kept walking through the storm.
They had nowhere to go.
"...Papa."
Rabi spoke in a tiny voice.
"It's my fault. If I hadn't been born, you could have lived peacefully in that village. My curse took away your place in the world."
Her voice was nearly swallowed by the sound of the blizzard.
"You're wrong."
Douglas answered without breaking stride.
"It's not your fault. It's because I'm weak."
Douglas gritted his teeth.
"If I were stronger, I could have suppressed your curse. Kyle never would have said I couldn't protect you. We never would have been driven out."
Kyle's words echoed in his head.
*Old man, you can't protect this girl.*
Those words stuck in his chest like a sharp thorn.
(Can I protect Rabi?)
(With this worn-out body of mine?)
(I'm not the man I used to be.)
Douglas asked himself.
No answer came.
"Papa..."
Rabi flung herself against his chest.
"You're not weak! You're the most important person in the world to me! Because you were there, I've been able to keep living all this time! If you hadn't been there, I would have died long ago!"
Rabi clung to Douglas, sobbing.
"I love you, Papa! I love you so much! So don't ever say you're weak! My papa is the strongest person in the whole world!"
Rabi's tears soaked into Douglas's chest.
Douglas held her close.
(Aye. That's right.)
(I will protect this child.)
(No matter what happens.)
(Even if this life of mine burns out.)
Douglas tightened his arms around her.
The blizzard grew fiercer still.
The snow beat mercilessly against their bodies. Their warmth was being stripped away. Feeling in their limbs grew dull.
How long had they walked?
When he came back to himself, they were surrounded by a pure white snowfield. The lights of the village were no longer visible. Nothing lay ahead, either. Only a white darkness stretched out before them.
Rabi's body grew heavy in Douglas's arms.
"...Pa...pa..."
Rabi's voice was fading.
"Rabi? Hey, Rabi!"
Douglas peered into her face.
Her face was pale as the snow. Her lips had turned purple and trembled faintly. Her violet-tinged eyes were vacant, unfocused.
"It's cold... Papa... I'm so cold..."
Her body heat was draining away fast.
"Damn it...!"
Douglas tore off his coat and wrapped it around her. But it wasn't enough. The blizzard mercilessly stole their warmth.
(What do I do?)
(Somewhere—somewhere I can get her warm—)
Douglas looked around.
But as far as he could see, there was nothing but snowfield. No trees, no rocks. Nowhere to take shelter.
(Magic...)
Douglas reached for the magic stone staff at his hip.
But his fingers wouldn't obey. When he tried to sense the ether, the depths of his body were hollow. He hadn't eaten since last night. And the blast had slammed him hard into the ground. His ether had long since run dry.
(I can't... form a spell.)
Douglas bit his lip at his own powerlessness.
Once, brushing aside a blizzard had been child's play—a flick of his fingertips. Back when they called him the strongest mage, a situation like this would have been nothing.
But now.
(I am...)
(I am this powerless.)
Frustration welled in Douglas's eyes.
Rabi's body grew heavier still.
"...Papa... thank you..."
Rabi murmured, as if in a fever dream.
"I... was really... so happy... that I got to meet you..."
"Stop. Don't say things like that."
Douglas held her tighter still.
"It's not over. Not yet. I won't let you die. I swear it."
Douglas shouted into the snowfield.
"Someone... someone, please help Rabi...! I can't... I don't have the strength to protect this child anymore...! Someone... please...!"
Douglas's cry was swallowed by the blizzard, echoing hollowly.
There was no one.
No one answered.
The village lights were gone from sight.
Ahead, only white darkness spread.
It was complete despair.
(Is this the end?)
(Is this how my life ends?)
Still holding Rabi, Douglas sank to his knees in the snow.
The cold snow leached away his warmth. His consciousness receded.
(Rabi... I'm sorry...)
(I couldn't protect you.)
(I couldn't be your papa.)
Tears spilled from Douglas's eyes.
Hot drops traced down his cold cheeks and fell onto the snow.
That was when it happened.
Rabi's left arm—the curse mark—began to glow.
It was clearly different from the wild outburst before. The black pattern was wrapped in pale blue light. The violently throbbing mark now pulsed slowly, rhythmically, as if breathing.
"...What?"
Douglas's eyes went wide.
The light from Rabi's mark illuminated the snowfield. It stretched straight through the blizzard, toward the depths of the forest.
Deep into the Mistral Great Forest.
In the direction of the ancient ruins.
And from that direction, something answered.
A pulse of ether. A heavy, deep wave that seemed to resonate from the bowels of the earth. It was in perfect sync with the flickering of Rabi's mark.
Thump.
The earth was pulsing.
"...The ruins are calling to Rabi?"
Douglas stared into the depths of the forest.
Beyond the blizzard, deep within the Mistral Great Forest, lay the ruins built long ago by the ancient kingdom of Arcadia. From there, Rabi's curse was responding to something.
(Something is there.)
(Something connected to Rabi's curse.)
Douglas looked at Rabi's face.
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