Translator: Nox

Chapter 70

Episode 70

Billy trembled, looking down at his body. He had some burns, but he was otherwise fine.

"How… how… without a Catalyst…!"

Wizards and Priests needed time to chant in order to unleash their power. The sign that the chanting was complete was the Catalyst.

Everyone in the Empire knew I had Divine Power. Yet, the reason Billy rushed at me without hesitation must have been because he thought I couldn't succeed in chanting without a Catalyst.

To defeat me before I was ready.

In fact, most cases of Wizards or Priests being killed by knights were due to a lack of time to chant.

While Billy was trembling, I waved my arm once in the air.

The branches of the garden trees stretched out and rushed at him. Then, they slapped his buttocks and cheeks.

"Aaaagh-!"

Surprised, Billy hurriedly ran out of the garden.

I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows.

'Yeah, go and tell The Capital that I have this much power.'

That way, the powerful people in The Capital will be interested in me.

I was preparing step by step to meet the powerful people.

"Wow."

The children, who were peeking out from behind the bushes, exclaimed.

"Amazing…"

"Strong…"

I turned to look at them.

'I feel sorry for the kids.'

Instead of following the useless social custom of the higher-ups appearing last, if I had come early and inspected the party venue myself, I would have known that Billy had come instead of Count Dellerd.

Then the children wouldn't have had an unpleasant experience because of Billy.

Above all, I felt so sorry for the girl who was being harassed by Billy.

I approached her.

"Are you okay?"

"…"

She stared blankly at me.

Only after I held out my hand did she blush bright red and hesitantly take my hand.

"Y-yes, I'm okay…"

Her voice was small and she seemed flustered, as if she was very surprised.

I looked at the girl with a worried expression.

"Would you like to rest inside?"

"I-inside? The main residence where the Young Lady lives every day?"

"Yes."

The girl's face brightened.

I asked Noth to take care of the party atmosphere and took the girl to my room.

She put her hands together near her chest and looked around my drawing room.

"Wow…"

I pushed the warm chamomile tea that Leah had brought to her.

"It will calm you down a bit if you drink it. Oh, come to think of it, I haven't even heard your name."

"Veronica! Veronica!"

I was startled when she suddenly grabbed the table and shouted.

As I blinked, Veronica sat back down on the sofa hesitantly.

"Viscount Dubois is my…"

Viscount Dubois only had two sons, and both of them were unmarried, so she was probably a relative.

"Nephew."

It was similar to what I expected, so I nodded.

"Ah, Young Lady Veronica is Viscount Dubois's niece…"

"No, no."

She quickly shook her hand.

"Viscount Dubois is my nephew."

"…Pardon?"

"I am the head of the Dubois family."

Well, it was possible if Viscount Dubois's father had a very, very late child, but the head of the family?

It was true that the head of the Dubois family was a woman. But her alias was the Witch of the West, and she had hunted Monsters with her predecessor.

"I heard that the head of the Dubois family is an eighty-year-old woman…?"

"Yes! She's eighty-seven this year."

Veronica blushed and mumbled.

"I was wondering if I should tear him limb from limb and make him spew out his intestines for laying his hands on a child. I avoided murder because the Young Lady stopped me."

"…"

"I'm glad I didn't kill a baby at this age."

Looking at her shyly expressing her gratitude, I swallowed hard.

'It was strange that I didn't see her at the central table.'

If she was a Young Lady from the Viscount Dubois family, she should have been at the central table.

She said, "Ah, right!" and took out a few pieces of paper.

"Drew brought this from a Video stone he brought to the mansion. Ah, Drew is Viscount Dubois's name. Anyway, it's so cute that I've always treasured it."

More than that, she extracted a scene from a Video stone?

It was amazing magic.

No, more than that, why was the picture like this?

It was a scene of me opening my mouth wide and shoving cake into it.

"Everyone is afraid of me… I was hoping that the Young Lady would treat me kindly… I'm so glad that it's as I expected."

Seeing Veronica happily grabbing my hand, I swallowed hard.

After finishing the tea party, it was evening.

Henri said to me as I was lounging in the small drawing room in my pajamas after taking a bath.

"Lady Veronica was at your party?"

I nodded as I drank water.

"Yeah."

Then Isaac, who was sitting in a crooked posture, clicked his tongue.

"He bothered Viscount Dubois so much about not being able to get a party invitation, and he finally went."

"Did you guys know Lady Veronica?"

Henri said as he dried my hair with a towel.

"She's the one who created the opportunity for us to ally with the Magic Tower. She's from the Magic Tower."

"But she looked so young."

"I guess she failed in her research when she was young and has been living in that form ever since."

"Other old people must be jealous?"

"Not really."

Isaac said, leaning deeply against the back of the sofa.

"People are afraid of 'what is different from them.' In Dubled, there are at least people who answer if you talk to them, but in other places, they treat her like a Monster and run away in panic just by appearing."

That's why she was so happy that I treated her kindly.

Hmm, as I was groaning, Henri said, "By the way."

"The second son of Phenyak caused a disturbance at the party, right?"

"What?!"

Isaac jumped up.

"Why are you telling me that now!"

"LeBlaine completely crushed him, so sit down and don't be late."

Isaac grumbled, but Henri nonchalantly grabbed the nail clippers.

And he was about to cut my nails.

"It's my turn this time."

Dad, who was sitting in the living room with us, looked at Henri with dark eyes.

Henri, who was subtly trying to cut my nails, clicked his tongue silently.

Because they fought so much over cutting my nails, I set a order a few years ago. It was Leah, Isaac, Henri, and then Dad.

"Didn't Father steal my turn the year before last?"

At that time, Henri and Isaac were at the Academy for the Gifted, and the two were very much looking forward to cutting my nails during the vacation.

But as soon as my nails grew a little, Dad quickly cut them, so there was nothing to cut when they returned to the estate.

Henri thought that he was being robbed of his turn because he was always in The Capital. So he studied like crazy and received his diploma that year.

"Don't look back on the past."

Dad said sternly and picked me up and sat me down next to him.

Then he held my hand and gently picked up the nail clippers.

When Dad cuts my nails, they get very, very short.

Leah was happy that there was a lot to cut, but I don't know what to say every time I see Dad trembling as he cuts my nails, afraid that I'll get hurt.

"You stole my turn last time too."

As Isaac intervened, the 'LeBlaine Nail Clipping War' broke out again.

'Ugh, again…!'

I looked around at them in embarrassment. The attendants swallowed hard and desperately hoped that their master would be the winner.

This was because the servants of the person who lost the nail clipping war would suffer for several days.

The heads of each of the men's attendants looked at me with tears in their eyes, so I sighed and put my hands on my lap.

"If you keep fighting, I won't let anyone cut them."

At my words, the three of them closed their mouths with shocked faces.

"We weren't fighting!"

"Yeah, LeBlaine."

"It's my turn today."

I narrowed my eyes and asked, "You're not going to fight?"

The three of them quickly nodded.

"Okay. Then Dad will cut my index, middle, and ring fingers on my right hand today, and my little brother will cut my index, middle, and ring fingers on my left hand. The rest is for my youngest brother."

As I pointed with concentration, "Here, here," the three of them sat down in a row on the sofa in order.

And soon, they trembled and concentrated on clipping my nails.

At that time, at the Phenyak estate.

Billy shouted in front of his father, grumbling.

"That crazy bitch really tried to kill me!"

"How many times have you repeated the same thing?"

"Are you going to just stand by like this? I almost died! A commoner orphan girl…"

Count Phenyak sighed.

It wasn't that he wasn't upset.

When his youngest son returned in a panic, anger soared.

But what could he do to the rumored Child of Destiny that Duke Dubled cherished so much?

After declaring "My daughter is the cutest in the world" at the last cabinet meeting, people decided not to step on LeBlaine Dubled's shadow.

'But it's damaging to my dignity to just let it go.'

He was lost in thought, rolling a walnut in his hand.

At that time, the Countess Phenyak, who came in with tea and tea food, smiled.

"What are you so worried about?"

"She fought with a girl and even lost, so how much will people point fingers at us?"

"I think it's cute."

"What?"

"Would the Child of Destiny really step up to protect the children of the vassal family she met for the first time?"

As she laughed, the Count asked.

"You mean there's another reason."

"Kids sometimes express their interest in other ways. Isn't our son usually handsome?"

At those words, Billy's eyes widened.

Come to think of it, it seemed like that.

It was strange that she shouted at him so much for yelling at a girl who had nothing to do with him.

'Was she jealous of me showing interest in another girl?'

Count Phenyak looked at his son as if asking if it was true.

"Well… her eyes sparkled when she looked at me."

"Really?"

"She also blocked me from getting between me and another girl."

"Hmm. She's interested in you…"

Count Phenyak's mouth twisted as he rubbed his chin.

'If so, this isn't a matter of damaging dignity, but of hitting the jackpot.'

Even though she was adopted, she was a Duke's Young Lady.

And the Child of Destiny.

She wasn't a bad condition to have as a daughter-in-law.

If he could coax her and take control of Dubled, he would be able to enter the Imperial leadership with their aura on his back.

"You go and meet that girl again."

"Yes?! No! Why would I meet a girl who beat me up…!"

"Don't say stupid things. If you get married, all of Dubled's power will be yours."

"I don't want to marry such a violent girl!"

"Can't you just have a concubine of your taste after you get married?"

Billy hummed.

'Well, if that's the case.'

Since she liked him so much, he couldn't not meet her.