Chaos Heir

Chapter 1453: Traitor

Yeza was a precocious child. That much had been obvious right away and even had quite reasonable justifications.

Having mana from birth was a significant advantage that bolstered every physical function, even before gaining any control over that energy.

Yeza was also part Niqols, a species that reached physical maturity far earlier than humans. A quicker development was the norm for her.

Lastly, Yeza had ancient horrors’ genes, granting her hunger disproportionate to her size and age in exchange for strange abilities and superior toughness. She never had any chance of being normal.

Still, despite all those inborn advantages, it was quite evident that Yeza’s previous words didn’t really refer to Khan. She was simply too young to make that mental connection and realize what it meant.

Chances were, Yeza had only misspoken or had adjusted her usual "ba-ba" after Khan jokingly corrected her multiple times.

Of course, none of that mattered to Khan.

"Yes!" Khan cried, jumping to his feet, lifting Yeza with him. "Yes!"

Yeza made a happy sound, laughing as Khan stretched his arms and lifted her in the air, gently spinning on himself to celebrate that moment.

"Yes!" Khan shouted again, joining his daughter’s laugh, pulling her closer to hug and kiss her to no end. "Are you Papa’s little Princess? Yes, you are."

Khan spun on himself a few more times, happily lulling and swaying Yeza left and right. Liiza smiled at the scene, but also rolled her eyes, and Khan couldn’t possibly miss that reaction.

"Together, we’ll defeat Mama," Khan whispered, turning Yeza toward Liiza. "You’ll lower her defenses, and I’ll deal the finishing blow."

Yeza seemed to be having the time of her life. She laughed to no end and stretched her small arms in Liiza’s direction, uttering a word she thought would continue the fun. "Papa!"

Silence immediately fell in the area. Doku and George diverted their gazes, doing their best to suppress laughs. Rodney pretended to be bored, but both Monica and Zalpa ended up showing unconscious smiles.

Meanwhile, Liiza shot a knowing look at Khan, as if telling him that she knew that would have happened all along.

Khan wore a dramatic pout, turning Yeza toward him again. The baby was still smiling and laughing, waving her tiny arms and legs happily, and continued to do so even after her father voiced her punishment. "You are grounded."

Of course, Khan’s tone didn’t match his words at all. Yeza couldn’t even understand him. It was still playtime for her, so she kept laughing, reaching for her father’s nose and trying to hold onto it.

Khan kept pretending to pout, tickling Yeza’s side while she held onto his face. Her following laughs hinted at her liking that, delivering an emotional attack Khan couldn’t defend against.

"Yes, yes, you are adorable," Khan exclaimed, kissing Yeza’s head before whispering another word. "Traitor."

Afterward, Khan sat back down, accepting the cold hands that slipped under his to steal Yeza from his embrace.

"[Do you like making Papa sulk]?" Liiza asked, using an uncharacteristically childish voice as she pulled Yeza onto her. "[Mama enjoys that very much, too]."

Yeza settled on Liiza’s waist, secured in her embrace. She laughed again before bringing a hand to her mouth, losing interest in her parents to study the audience.

Khan found it hard to retain his fake pout before that scene. Despite having seen it many times already, often being the cause behind it, it was always nice to watch Liiza drop her aloof and cold demeanor, and Yeza’s addition intensified the picture’s emotional depth.

Doku, Zalpa, and the other Niqols on the scene shared Khan’s reaction. They hadn’t seen those sides of Liiza often, if at all, so the sight brought quite the shocking but welcome surprise. Even Rodney couldn’t help but compare that with his memories from Nitis.

"That still counts," Khan uttered, and Liiza simply smiled, biting her lower lip as she scooted closer to him, leaning on his torso.

Needless to say, the gesture defeated Khan, making him drop any pretense as he lay his head on Liiza’s shoulder so that their joint glow could illuminate their daughter.

Yeza looked mostly interested in her surroundings now, but strands of her mother’s white hair fell to her sides, claiming her attention. She began to try to catch them again, even succeeding at clinging to them on her own.

"We have a little climber," Khan commented. "Where did she even take that from? We are both more of fliers."

"You climbed a mountain to get me to date you," Liiza pointed out, switching to the human language so that everyone on the scene could understand her.

"You are getting so good at this," Khan praised, kissing Liiza’s cheek. "But it was you who were testing me to see if I was truly as noble and virtuous as you had hoped."

Liiza chuckled, nodding at Doku and George. Khan looked at his friends, only to see them wearing skeptical faces. Even Rodney diverted his eyes, hearing that, siding with Liiza’s version of the story.

"What?" Khan gasped. "It’s true. I’m totally innocent here."

"I’ve seen him so little in the human camp I often forgot he was in Nitis with us," George whispered to Doku.

"He left every single party early," Doku joined George’s teasing. "I bet he knows those quadrants better than I."

"[Horny kids]," Zalpa cursed, somehow joining that conversation. "[They even begged me to use my cave]."

"Do I really have to call Ilman to get someone on my side?" Khan asked, ignoring the glances Zalpa had earned for herself, wanting to change the topic since it didn’t feel right to go too deep into it in Monica’s presence.

Yet, Monica was ignoring the jokes on purpose, finding something else worthy of her attention. She had covered her face with her hands, only to stick out her tongue at Yeza when she lowered them.

Yeza seemed to like that. Her blue glow never left Monica, and the playful gesture even earned her some happy sounds. However, it didn’t take long before more lights fell on Monica.

The sudden general attention startled Monica, making her straighten herself and play with her curls in coyness. She could ignore the others, even Khan, but she felt utterly shy when she spotted Liiza’s smile at her.

"What about this Ilman?" Monica quickly said, wanting to divert the attention from her. "I want to hear more about him and the witch."

"I think you might hear directly from him or Jenna soon enough," Khan revealed, gazing at the horizon past the group. "It’s almost time anyway."