Raina's eyes leaked tears and she hugged him tight. "Da..Dad."
Harry sighed and caressed her back. "...we have a lot of catching up to do. And I have to apologize too..."
Raina's sky-blue hair was ruffled, and her blue eyes were watery. And he could see some marks on her body like small wounds after a fall or some scrubs against sharp rocks and such.
Anyway
She was hurt – even though only extremely minor wounds. Nevertheless, that made Harry ashamed as he in the end had let his daughter go through it for his own selfishness.
Yes, that would have indeed trained her to be better but she must have really felt the sensation of being abandoned – loneliness too.
As they hugged and just stood above the temple complex in a daze, that day briefly flashed past Harry's mind.
***
Harry was sitting on the throne and silently meditating and reflecting on his inner self when Raina walked into the room with a smile.
During the past months, she had grown closer to her adoptive father and Harry had been training her. Even though her "Age Lessening" Gift that made others look like they had aged back was useless, Harry had chosen to make her a Cultivator.
"Dad, thank you for yesterday," she said and sat beside Harry. The throne was wide enough.
Yesterday, her back had twisted somehow and she was in extreme pain but Harry fixed it with gentle hands and Gifts.
Harry opened his eyes by a slit and said, "Don't be thankful. Work hard on yourself and use your 'Learning' path for something good. Thank me by reaching Rank 1 in cultivation. That was not much, even idiotic royal doctors could've fixed you up."
Raina sighed and rested her head on his lap. "But Dad, Learning Path was a mistake. I should have chosen something like Business or Teaching, it is so hard to learn this stuff. You know? Maths is so hard..."
Harry caressed her long blue hair. "It will get easier as you get used to it."
Raina pouted. "I wish I had some Gift that could remember everything like you do. It is so much harder, you don't get to have a say in it since you don't know the hardship."
Smirking, Harry put a finger on her lips. "Let me tell you something. I didn't always have that Gift to help me memorize such studies."
"But at that time you didn't have to study. You were a prince!"
"You are a princess Rain."
"What is the use of that?" Raina took his hands and placed them on her chest. "All other Princesses get to sleep with you and do all sorts of things. But you barely let me sleep in your lap and never do you touch me either. Cruel. Very cruel dad."
Harry took his hands away from her chest and gave her a flick on her forehead. "You look like a child almost and I have no interest at the moment. So just lay there."
"That's what you always say! Humph." Raina shifted her appearance back to normal and became a woman who had a mature charm.
Her chest area bulged and her ass became more prominent. Even Harry was impressed by her looks.
"You should stay like that from now on. Why are you so hell-bent on looking like a kid?"
"...I feel more comfortable like that. This form is kinda of... What can you say, uncomfortable for me." She had always liked appearing childish and that was her thing, she had gotten used to it.
"It is much more sexy though. Even I might end up doing something naughty if you keep sleeping on my lap."
"Then why don't you just do that?"
Harry sighed. His mind wandered.
Both of them turned silent as a heavy mood settled in between them. "Raina, tell me something. What will you do if everything around you is fake and nothing is real? If everything is just a fleeting illusion cast by some supreme god to mess with you. Every person and every emotion might be fake, what will you do then?"
Raina didn't quite understand the depth of the question and stared blankly for a while. "What do you mean?"
"I have a hypothesis that I haven't even told Evis or Lilly yet. Something that bugs me often."
Raina blinked and Harry continued.
"I am now in an illusion, Raina, an Illusion of unbelievable complexity that it feels real beyond a shadow of a doubt. But an illusion nonetheless. You, Lilly, Emma... Evis. Every one of you is an illusion and only... I am real. Everything will collapse one day and I will be left with nothing, turning to dust and vanishing into the Eye of Disasters."
Raina turned silent. "We are all... Illusions?"
"Yes. All of you are and I already know it." Harry smiled. "But I don't really mind though. Even if one day, all of you guys are suddenly manipulated by the Eye and aim at my throat, I don't think I will be able to resist or attack.
"Lilly... That idiot. I can't think of myself harming her. Mom... I am sure I can't bring my hand against her.
"All of you are my weaknesses and this illusion knows how to taer at the weakness. When my time comes, I will probably have to see something like that as the beautiful illusion of this world turned against me.
"So, Rains... I don't want to really feel more attached to others. I... Am a bit tired. At the moment, I am waiting for that day. A day where everything will soon come to an end."
The Eye of Blessings had been right. There was no way for him to win against the Eye of Disasters. It was sure, he was in an Illusion now.
Raina looked at him with a pale face. "Do you ever think of yourself as selfish? Have you ever..." her eyes grew moist.
She had always believed Harry loved all his women equally and that she was at least looked at with love. She had always believed she was a part of Harry's heart.
But he was saying... He never cared for her nor does he want to put her in his heart.
"...That's cruel." Her cheeks trembled and her body felt weak.
Harry sighed. "Truth is cruel and you know what? Even I am far less cruel than it. Just wait enough and you'll see, as everything collapses, nothing remains... What true cruelty is.
"But it's no problem for me. I will still love my girls before my death arrives and die. Guess this will be my biggest failure of all in two lives." he chuckled. "I had a System like mine and I still failed to become something big. A failure indeed. But before I die, I will not harm any of you, and you... Are special enough for me to not bring you into this."
"W..what do you mean?"
"I can feel myself growing attached to you like you are growing attached to me. I love you much more than an adoptive Dad, I want to make you mine this second. But no, unlike the other girls, you haven't fallen too deep in love with me yet. So you don't have to suffer. Go away and out of my life, so that you are not part of all this mess."
Raina looked up at him, her heart trembling and her hope growing.
"From now on, you are no daughter of mine, Raina. Get lost and do whatever you want."
Raina looked at him with suddenly calm eyes. "If I prove you wrong, will you marry me? Will you give me a child like Big Sis Lilly got? I never wanted to be your daughter anyway. I only want to be yours!"
Harry sighed and shook his head. "Unnecessarily stubborn. Believe me, you are young. When you spend years without me, you will get over it. Go, Cultivate."
Raina's lips trembled. She robotically stood up and left. Her mind was a mess.
Harry sighed.
But then days passed and just like that. Harry lost his daughter.
He was pretty gloomy but he kept it inside.
But later on, he came to know that the girl was striving to better herself by learning Life itself.
Climbing mountains, dipping into seas to see the world and what it truly was. She was attempting to grow in cultivation since she knew no other path.
Honestly, Harry hadn't expected the girl to be that resolved, but he was wrong. She was resolved beyond his expectations.
Harry had then decided to call her home many times but he didn't. He waited to see what happened. Since in the end, it was training for her.
On the other hand, he looked after his pregnant women whom he believed to be illusions. Nevertheless, they were still his last chance at loving them.
But then days passed and finally, he had to move out of that world and one of the first faces that came to his head was this determined and calm daughter of his.
And right after, he also had confirmation. He was not in an illusion.
Then, his daughter was in his embrace.
That... was the unpredictability of life.
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