"Huh?"
"Huh—!!"
Gildarts' bewildered expression, which had just surfaced, was instantly replaced by shock.
Hope and Makarov sat on the sofa, nodding repeatedly.
Hope had already sensed something from Cana's special attitude toward Gildarts earlier.
Makarov, old and wise, had the exact same answer in his heart as Hope when Cana mentioned the reason she joined the guild.
"Due to some reasons, I was never able to tell you about our relationship..." Cana buried her head even lower. "You must be very disappointed to have such an ordinary daughter..."
Gildarts shook his head wildly. "Wait... wait, wait, wait, whose... whose child are you?!"
Gildarts knelt on the floor in a panic, spitting out one woman's name after another. That endless string of names completely shattered Cana's anxious mood.
"Old man! Just how many women do you have?!"
Seeing Cana's angry expression, Gildarts had a flash of inspiration. "I know! You're Sara's daughter, right! You two are exactly alike, for example, your gender..."
Hope, who was watching the show, shook his head repeatedly. What gender could a daughter's mother be if not female? Gildarts was truly hopeless if he could even utter such a clumsy excuse.
Cana was truly exasperated with anger. "This hopelessly stupid, womanizing rotten old man is actually my dad!"
"Ah—I'm so mad!"
Cana turned around huffily. "Anyway, that's the gist of it. I've said everything I needed to say, and my heart feels clear now. It doesn't matter if you don't acknowledge me as your daughter..."
"It's Cornelia."
Gildarts hugged Cana from behind. "There's no mistake. You are Cornelia's child. Why didn't you ever tell me..."
Gildarts had indeed dated countless women in his life, but he only walked down the aisle with one woman, the woman he truly loved, Cornelia.
But married life was unsatisfactory; Gildarts' love for freedom and adventure kept him constantly elusive and away from home, so Cornelia eventually chose to divorce him.
Years later, when Gildarts heard news of his ex-wife again, he learned that Cornelia had already passed away.
But he never expected that she had left a child for him.
Gildarts looked at his daughter, whose hair color was exactly the same as his wife's, his eyes filled with self-reproach. "I'm sorry, I never managed to figure out who you were..."
"Don't blame yourself. I was the one who didn't have the courage to say it."
Cana gently pushed away the embrace of the father she had long desired.
Since joining Fairy Tail, she had many chances to reveal her identity to Gildarts, but she missed them all due to various reasons.
When she was young, she constantly looked forward to seeing his expression when she told Gildarts who she was, or perhaps the day Gildarts would recognize her as his daughter.
But as she grew older, Cana's Hopes were gradually extinguished by herself.
Because Gildarts was too powerful; everyone in the guild praised his strength, and even Makarov had long wanted to hand the position of Guild Master over to him.
This caused the unremarkable Cana to doubt herself, fearing that her weak self was unworthy of being Gildarts' daughter, and even more afraid that Gildarts would reject her.
So she started keeping her distance and learned to drink.
The little girl who used to rush up to Gildarts every time he returned to the guild slowly became someone who only dared to watch her father from afar.
Cana thought about working hard to become an S-Class Mage, believing that would give her the right to acknowledge Gildarts, but after repeated failures in the exams, she was close to giving up.
She had originally planned to try one last time in the S-Class Promotion Exam at the end of this year, but who knew that her excessive concern for Gildarts' health would be noticed by Hope.
Now that she had gotten everything off her chest, the weight in Cana's heart had finally lifted.
"I don't need you to take responsibility; we can just interact like before. It's just... let me say this one thing..."
Cana showed a heartfelt smile. "It's good to see you, Dad."
"Cana!"
Gildarts hugged Cana again, his mind filled with the image of his daughter, accompanied only by a small white dog, when they first met 10 years ago.
"I will never leave you alone again, never again."
"Whether it's work or drinking, I'll be by your side."
"Give me the right to love you again!"
Cana gently hugged Gildarts. Regarding this belated paternal love, she thought she could be indifferent, but why was her father's embrace so warm?
Watching the reunited father and daughter embrace and weep, Makarov secretly wiped away tears of emotion from the corner of his eyes, grabbed the alcohol Gildarts had casually placed on the coffee table, and took a large gulp.
"Hoo, this liquor is strong."
Hope chuckled from the side. "Master, using the excuse that strong liquor made you cry is too poor. Besides, this is a bottle of beer; it has nothing to do with high-proof liquor, okay?"
"You brat! You just have to expose this old man, don't you!"
Seeing Makarov raise his fist, which was the size of a sandbag, Hope immediately tumbled onto the floor. "Ouch! I'm dying of pain! The Master is hitting people!"
"This old man didn't even touch you!"
"Doesn't that just show how superb your boxing technique is?"
The playful roughhousing between the old man and the young man brought Gildarts and Cana back from the warmth of their familial moment.
Gildarts scratched his head, walked up to Hope and Makarov, and said, seriously for once, "Master, Hope, thank you for taking care of Cana all these years."
"And Cana, I made you worry before."
Cana turned her face away and mumbled softly, "Who worried about you..."
Makarov watched the scene and cleared his throat. "Alright, since Gildarts has recovered, let's go downstairs and continue the banquet. It's also a good chance to celebrate Gildarts coming home."
Returning to the first-floor hall, Gildarts announced his relationship with Cana in front of everyone, instantly triggering a chorus of gasps, cheers, and inquiries.
Just as Hope quietly retreated to the bar counter and asked Mirajane for a glass of juice, Cana followed him over.
"Hope, thank you. If you hadn't pointed it out, I don't know when I would have dared to tell Gildarts who I was."
Hope shrugged. "Gathering courage is a difficult thing. Cana, you don't need to thank me, but if you insist on thanking me..."
Before he could finish speaking, Cana suddenly stepped forward and hugged Hope, immediately followed by their lips meeting.
Then, Hope saw Erza, who had just returned to the guild after finishing a job, drawing the Knight Sword she wore.
And Mirajane, who was openly dumping large amounts of chili powder into his juice.
Misery!
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