Chương 146: Chapter 138 - The Wixx Daughter

The knights obeyed Chelsea without question. They took the seats around the long table while Liam remained near the door. Chelsea stayed at the head of the room, hovering just above the floor as she studied their tense expressions.

"It's obvious you're all wondering why I've gathered you." She waited, but no one spoke. None of them even shifted in their chairs.

"You see, as you know, I am the Holy Empress of the Forgotten Children. This has given me an ability to detect a specific title in people and remove it. You six are the only ones in the mess hall who have it. This is The Unloved title. I've looked at it before, and it doesn't do much. It gives three to constitution while removing three Psyche. But… it's more symbolic." The knights glanced at one another. A few showed surprise, while others immediately looked down at the table. Chelsea gave them a gentle smile.

"I know, to some, it may not mean much. But to those who have it, it represents a trying time in their life. It could've been a short time or an extended period, but trying nonetheless. I'm able to remove that reminder if you'd like it removed." She allowed them a moment to consider the offer before continuing.

"If any of you would prefer to keep it as a battle scar, you're more than welcome to. If that's your choice, feel free to leave. You won't be in trouble or looked down on. In fact, I'll commend you. Personally, I wouldn't be able to resist the offer of removing it. Now is your time to make that choice. Stay or leave. It's your own personal decision." Silence settled across the room. One knight slowly pushed his chair back and stood. Two others followed. Each saluted Chelsea before walking toward the door.

She returned their salutes with a nod, careful not to let any disappointment show. Liam opened the door for them. Once all three had left, he closed it again.

"Wonderful. I'll need to use The Eyes on each of you." Chelsea lowered herself to the floor and approached the first man. She held one hand beside his head, allowing him to decide whether he was comfortable with the contact. He leaned slightly into her palm. Chelsea opened his information, located The Unloved, and removed it. The red mark disappeared from his face.

"And all done. You're dismissed." The knight blinked several times before rising. He touched his temple, then saluted and left the room. Chelsea moved to the next knight. He lowered his head beneath her hand, and she removed the title just as easily. His eyes were wet when he looked back at her. He thanked her before standing and following the first man out. That left only the youngest knight. Chelsea stopped in front of her and held out her hand.

The girl appeared to be about thirteen or fourteen, though the nervousness in her expression made her seem younger. The knight leaned forward, placing her temple against Chelsea's palm. Chelsea opened her information. She was a level fourteen Brawler without a subclass. Her Strength was her highest attribute at sixty two, which was impressive for someone her age. Chelsea also noticed the empty space where a family name should've been. She pushed aside her curiosity and used Remove Title. The red mark vanished.

Chelsea withdrew her hand.

"Congratulations. You're no longer Unloved." The knight bowed her head.

"Thank you, Holy Empress." She started to rise from her chair.

"Hold on a second," Chelsea said.

"That's not all." The girl froze before slowly settling back into her seat. Chelsea sat on the edge of the table beside her. Across the room, a large map covered part of the wall. Black, green, orange, and red dots were scattered across it, with several of the red ones blinking. Chelsea had no idea what any of them meant, but she made a note to ask Liam later. For now, she returned her attention to the knight.

"Let me start over. My name is Chelsea. What's yours?"

"Kira, Your Grace." Chelsea smiled and nodded once.

"So, Kira, like I said, I can detect those with The Unloved title. Also, I can detect those my class deems Motherless. I haven't confirmed it completely, but I believe that's exclusive to orphans. I noticed you were the only one in the mess hall who was Motherless. Is my detection ability right?"

"Yes, Your Grace. I grew up an orphan." Chelsea nodded. The answer confirmed what she had suspected from the missing family name.

"I'm able to give a title. Again, this may be something you're not interested in at all. You won't hurt my feelings, and you won't be looked down on for saying no." Kira watched her closely, her earlier nervousness giving way to confusion.

"The title is called The Child of the Holy Empress. It's an adoption title that can also boost attributes. You would legally become my daughter, have a family, and have a last name." Kira's eyes widened. Chelsea studied her face, trying to make certain the girl understood that this was an offer rather than an order.

"Is that something you'd be interested in?"

"Is… are you…" Kira looked toward Liam. The Lord Commander met her gaze and gave her a single nod.

"I…" Her mouth opened again, but no words followed.

"Your Grace," she finally managed. She paused, still staring at Chelsea.

"But you're the Holy Empress." Chelsea smiled and raised one finger.

"Of the Forgotten Children. Of orphans." Kira's attention remained fixed on her.

"Just note, you'll have twenty-two siblings, with many more to come. But they'll be family. Unlike the unloved title, that isn't just a symbolic thing to appease me. You'll be adopted into my family. Meaning my mother, aunts, uncles, cousin, and my fiancée. They'll all be part of your family too." The tension in Kira's face began to crack. Her eyes grew wet, though she quickly blinked and tried to regain control.

"You're sure you'd want me?" she asked. Chelsea didn't hesitate.

"Is there a reason I shouldn't?"

"I have a temper. I get into a lot of fights. That is, until I joined the Holy Knights. I found an outlet for getting my anger out." Liam let out a quiet laugh. Chelsea turned toward him and gave him a sharp look. He cleared his throat and straightened, though the amusement remained on his face.

"Kira, my aunt is a psychopathic killer who begged me to allow her to torture people in the dungeons. Up until earlier this morning, I ate humans. I have a bag in my pouch full of human organs. A little anger is nothing in this family." Kira stared at her, apparently uncertain whether Chelsea was trying to reassure her or warn her.

"You really are a demon?" she asked. Her eyes widened as she realized how the question had sounded.

"I'm sorry, Your Grace. I forgot myself."

"She's easy to talk to," Liam added to the conversation. Kira looked between them. Some of the tension left her shoulders, though her hands remained tightly clasped in her lap.

"If you'll have me, I'll accept," she replied with a bow. Chelsea's expression softened. She reached out and held her hand beside Kira's head. Kira met her eyes before slowly leaning her temple into Chelsea's palm.

"The title has been granted," Chelsea said with a sweet smile.

"Assigning it will officially make you adopted by the Holy Empress of the Forgotten Children. Are you sure this is what you want?" Kira stared up at her. A single tear slipped down the side of her face.

"Yes." Chelsea assigned the title. The prompt changed immediately, and she quickly removed her hand.

"Congratulations, Kira Wixx. You're officially my daughter." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. She bent down and kissed Kira gently on the forehead.

"Wixx?" she asked.

"Like…" Chelsea sighed.

"Yes, as in Adriane Wixx. She's your grandmother now." She looked toward Liam.

"I become the Holy Empress, and she still somehow overshadows me. What the hell?"

"No, no, no," Kira said quickly.

"Your Grace…"

"Ah, ah, ah. Mom. Or mother. Or mama. Or whatever version you want. It would be weird if I made my daughter call me 'Your Grace.'" Kira's mouth twitched as she fought back a smile.

"Ri… uh, right. Mom," she said with a smirk.

"I didn't mean anything by that. It just came as a surprise."

"Well, I guess if I fought greater dragons alone, I might have her prestige." Chelsea laughed, though Kira still appeared overwhelmed by the name she had just received.

"Welcome to the family. Come have dinner with us." Chelsea paused as she remembered where she had found Kira.

"Oh, wait. You were leaving. You already ate, didn't you?"

"Eat dinner with you and the Lord Commander?" Kira asked.

"I did already eat, but I'd love to sit with you."

"Very good." Chelsea activated Blessed Travel and rose from the edge of the table.

"Let's get going. I'm starving." Liam opened the meeting-room door, and the three of them returned to the mess hall. Several nearby conversations quieted when Chelsea entered with Kira beside her. Chelsea ignored the attention and floated toward the officers' tables, where Ivy and Rose were waiting. Once she reached her seat, she lowered herself to the floor deactivating Blessed Travel. She sat down, then patted the chair beside her for Kira.

Kira looked at the empty seat and then around at the officers gathered nearby.

"You really want me to sit beside you?" She leaned closer and added quickly and quietly, "Mom?" Chelsea lifted one arm and sniffed beneath it.

"I don't stink, do I? If you don't want to sit by me, I'll understand."

"No! I mean… you're the Empress."

"And you're my daughter. Come on!" Kira hesitated only another second before moving toward the chair.

"There's no point in arguing," Ivy explained from Chelsea's other side. Kira looked at the elf as she sat down. Ivy spoke up, "Did she adopt you too?"

"Yes. Are you one of my sisters?" Kira asked.

"Uh, no. That would be weird. I'm kind of employee turned Chelsea's best friend turned ex-lover turned employee again."

"No," Chelsea said.

"There's no 'kind of' about it. That sums up our relationship perfectly." She laughed and leaned closer to inspect the empty place settings.

"So, what did you order us?"

"I ordered a bite-sized portion of every fruit they have in the kitchen, along with some breads and different cooked meats."

"Oh! That's a great plan. I'm so excited to eat real food." Chelsea looked between the two women and realized she had skipped the introductions.

"Oh, sorry. This is Kira, my new favorite Holy Knight daughter. Kira, this is Ivy. She's my messenger and a former prisoner in the dungeons here."

"For pretending to be you and doing Chelsea shit," Ivy replied. Kira leaned closer to Chelsea, keeping her voice low enough that only her new mother was meant to hear.

"Is it okay for your employee to talk to you that way?"

"Yeah, Ivy gets special treatment. We go way back." Chelsea gestured toward the elderly elf seated beside her.

"This young lady to Ivy's right is Miss Rose. She's my new dressmaker. I'll probably have her make you some too. And then there's Sir Liam. It seems you two know each other and have some sort of mysterious history?" Kira nodded. Her eyes moved toward the Lord Commander, and some of the uncertainty returned to her expression.

"When I was kicked out of the orphanage for being too violent, I was sentenced to serve the knights. The Lord Commander stepped forward and asked that I be transferred to the knights for training instead, which they approved." Chelsea's hand stopped halfway toward the food.

"I see." She tapped her chin while studying Kira. The girl had spoken plainly, but there was no hiding how close she had come to losing control of her own life before Liam intervened.

"And it was the cardinals who sentenced you?"

"It was," Kira replied. Chelsea's jaw tightened.

"Their sins keep stacking up more and more." She turned toward Ivy.

"Ivy, have you made any decision about what you want to do with the cardinals? Maybe Miss Rose has an idea?" Ivy leaned back in her chair and considered the question.

"I haven't thought much about it today. Give us till tomorrow?" Chelsea nodded. They had already been through enough in a single day. There was no reason to force either elf to decide the cardinals' fate before they had eaten and rested. She looked back toward Kira.

"They sentenced me to death by combat for helping orphanages. Ivy was sent to the dungeons for following in my footsteps and giving a few thousand gold to them here in the Holy City."

"A few… thousand?" Kira stared at Ivy, then at Chelsea, waiting for one of them to correct the amount.

"There are thirty-eight orphanages in the city," Ivy said.

"Chelsea has a skewed outlook on money. Thirty-eight thousand to her is just a few thousand."

"Why would you give so much money, and why would they lock you up for that?" Kira exclaimed quietly. Several knights at the nearby tables glanced in their direction. Kira lowered her voice further, though her confusion remained clear.

"See?" Chelsea said, gesturing toward her.

"Common sense dictates that doing the right thing shouldn't get you locked up!" A servant arrived before anyone could respond, carrying several trays. She carefully arranged them across the table, placing a wide selection in front of Chelsea. Chelsea counted eleven different fruits. There were also four kinds of bread and four cooked meats prepared in different ways. The smell made the unfamiliar hunger in her stomach grow stronger.

"That's so much money to give to orphanages, though," Kira said. Ivy laughed and looked toward Chelsea.

"Chelsea, how much have you spent on orphanages prior to this morning's events?" Chelsea selected an orange slice and popped it into her mouth.

"Roughly five hundred and sixty thousand." The juice spread across her tongue, and her eyes rolled back. She hadn't remembered oranges tasting this sweet on Earth. After months of eating raw flesh and organs, the flavor was almost overwhelming.

"Oh, gods, this is good." She quickly reached for another slice before looking at Kira.

"Kira, you're a Wixx, and especially my daughter. Money should have no meaning for you now. I have my investments set up in such a way that we could buy a noble's manor every week, and our bank account would still grow larger." Kira stared at her new mother with the same confusion she had shown over the orphanage donations.

"How? I know my new grandmother is Adriane Wixx, but how could she make that much money?" Ivy immediately began laughing. Chelsea reached into her pouch and pulled out her Merchant's Guild card. That reminded her, she also pulled out Looty and placed her on the table. Everyone around either blushed or immediately averted their eyes.

"My mother has nothing to do with our money. Well, she did kill that one dragon, which gave us the boost we needed, but after that, it's all me." She placed the metal card on the table in front of Kira then grabbed a piece of bread and tore it into small morsels and placed them in front of Looty. She pet the top of her lid and moved on to her own food. Kira picked it up carefully and examined both sides. Her thumb passed over the markings engraved into its surface.

"What is it?" Liam answered while Chelsea pushed several grapes into her mouth. The first burst between her teeth, and she moaned before quickly eating the rest.

"That's a Merchant's Guild card. They use the same ranks as the Adventurer's Guild. Most people struggle to make it to D-rank. Your new mother is an S-rank, the highest rank there is. I can't imagine what has to happen to achieve that."

"I'm also the highest-ranked S-rank," Chelsea explained after swallowing. She reached for another grape, but stopped when Kira continued staring at the card.

"With this rank…" Chelsea paused to reconsider.

"Actually, with even A-rank, you can set certain machinations up at the guild that allow you to invest your money in various businesses, give small loans, or purchase parts of companies. I did this in five different cities and sat back to reap the rewards."

"I don't get it," Kira said. Chelsea considered how to explain investing to someone who had spent most of her life in an orphanage and military barracks. As she did, she bit a grape in half and placed it in front of Looty.

"Easiest way of putting it, I give people money, then they give me more money than I gave them."

"Why would they do that?" Kira asked. Chelsea picked up a piece of bread and took a bite. It was edible, which was already an improvement over the human heart, but the taste was mediocre compared to the fruit.

"Say a dress shop wants to expand or open a second location because business is going so well that they can't keep up with the number of customers. Well, they come to me and ask to borrow money to expand. They promise to pay it back slowly over a year or two, with extra on top. The extra gives me the incentive to say yes, and they get to expand their shop. We both win, and I don't really have to do anything."

"Wow," Kira said, looking down at the table. She seemed to be working through the explanation, though her eyes soon returned to Chelsea's armor.

"I'm curious. What level are you? You're wearing the armor the high-level officers wear." Chelsea let out a laugh.

"I'm level one, of course." She returned to the tray and took a bite from an apple slice. The crisp fruit tasted far better than the bread had.

"Okay. Fine," Kira said, defeated. Chelsea laughed again and reached for a piece of meat that resembled steak. She bit into it, only to spit it back onto the plate almost immediately.

"Meat's out. What the hell?" The flavor was worse than the human heart had been. Her stomach turned as she grabbed her cup of tea and took a long sip to wash the taste from her mouth.

"So, I'm a demon who can't eat meat. Got it. I wonder if animal products are out too, like elves." She studied the remaining food but couldn't identify anything that definitely contained milk or eggs. The breads might, but she had no way to know without asking whoever had prepared them.

"That's a question for another day." Chelsea finished the fruit that remained on the trays. By the time she swallowed the final piece, the hunger had disappeared. She leaned back, pleased that she could become full without consuming anything that had once belonged inside another person.

"All right. After some thought, I'm going to add my domain to the room. Would you mind taking us there, Sir Liam?"

"Of course," he said as he stood. Chelsea took one final sip of her tea. Being able to enjoy drinks again was almost as exciting as the fruit. She set the cup down before rising and activating Blessed Travel.

"Do you want me to come with you, or should I head back to my bunk?" Kira asked.

"Sure, if you want to. It's a weird paradise. I'm going to make a few rooms for people to stay in." Chelsea paused as another necessary change came to mind.

"Oh, I'm also going to fence off that grotto bath thing." Ivy laughed.

"Yeah, that was a bit awkward, bathing in the open like that."

"I turned my back the entire time, Miss Ivy," Liam quickly said. He sounded concerned that anyone might believe otherwise. Liam led them out of the mess hall and back toward the elevator. Once they arrived, he asked the operator to step out before the entire group crowded inside. This time, the elevator carried them upward instead of down. Chelsea made a note of the direction. The hidden room had been so disconnected from the rest of the cathedral that she hadn't known where it was located.

"I can't wait to introduce you all to Bradford."

"Is that your fiancée?" Kira asked. Liam, Rose, and Ivy all laughed.

"No, he's my steed. He's what I've been riding into battle for the last year or so." Liam answered the question Kira was clearly about to ask.

"Her Grace is betrothed to Lady Freya, the Goddess of Battle." Kira's eyes widened, but Chelsea continued before the girl could become distracted by another revelation.

"But if I wasn't, Bradford would've stolen my heart long ago. He's so charming." The elevator slowed before coming to a stop beside the hidden floor. Without Chelsea's glow, the entrance would've looked like another section of the dark wall. Her light spread into the opening, revealing the narrow passage beyond it.

"I had no idea this was here!" Kira said excitedly.

"Kind of creepy," Ivy replied as she stepped out of the elevator. The others followed her into the passage. Chelsea floated behind them until they reached the doorway leading into the hidden room.

"So, you four will stay out here while I go in. It's going to be really dark without me, but I have to set up my domain in there. It should only take a few minutes."

"We'll be fine," Liam replied. Chelsea opened the door and entered the same paradise she had visited earlier. Warm air settled around her. The water in the grotto remained still, and the distant landscape stretched out as far as she could see. Nothing appeared to have changed since she had left. Chelsea deactivated Blessed Travel and lowered herself to the ground. She didn't know whether floating would interfere with the space or how the ability might react while the domain was being claimed.

The door closed behind her. Chelsea activated Budding Domain. Would you like to add your domain to this space? * Y/N *Once domain has been added, it cannot be removed or moved. Chelsea stared at the warning. Claiming the room would permanently tie her domain to it, but she couldn't think of a better location. It was hidden, connected to the cathedral, and large enough for whatever she wanted to build within it. She took a deep breath.

"Yes." Forgotten Children domain has been claimed. Domain Menu has been acquired. Chelsea waited. Nothing changed. The water remained calm. The walls didn't change, and the ground beneath her feet stayed solid.

"That's it?" She looked around, half expecting the entire space to collapse and be replaced by the white void she had seen Freya's become when she was away too long. When nothing else happened, Chelsea turned around and opened the door. Her light spilled into the dark corridor, revealing Liam, Ivy, Rose, and Kira waiting where she had left them.

"Come on in, I guess? For some reason, I expected that to be more of an event."