Bloodline is a Cheat Code - Chapter 7

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 7
“T-Tiae.”
Minabell suddenly burst into tears, interpreting my expression as I envisioned a peaceful future, and pulled me into an embrace from the opposite side.
In an instant, I found myself sandwiched between two women like jam in a pastry.
It was less moving than it was suffocating.
“You’ve worked hard, Bell. Without you, this wouldn’t have been resolved so easily. I was genuinely nervous.”
“What are you saying! For someone who was nervous, you fought brilliantly! You wouldn’t lose even if you got into a brawl on the street.”
Regardless of what she meant, being praised felt wonderful, so I laughed weakly.
Though the road ahead still stretched endlessly before me.
* * *
“By the way.”
As we boarded the carriage to return home, Minabell broached the subject hesitantly.
I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. Why was she struggling so much?
“I was wondering when you’d ask.”
“But now that there’s no original source to harm, every single action feels more terrifying!”
“I understand, so what is it?”
She’d been wearing that expression of wanting to ask something since earlier. Her face brightened visibly.
“Tiae is really quite beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Huh? Suddenly?”
I prided myself on my perceptiveness, yet I hadn’t anticipated this at all.
What on earth was she talking about?
“She’s a peerless beauty. Truly a treasure of the Empire. Of course, Serpina is beautiful too.”
“I’m not sure why you call her Serpina, but you can just say Pina. Anyway, Tiae’s beauty is renowned throughout the entire Empire. At her debutante ball, those seeking to dance with her formed a line that extended beyond the ballroom itself.”
My sister seemed oblivious to compliments directed at herself and began singing my praises instead.
“But she danced three times and fainted from exhaustion…”
Ever since that day, I’d concluded that dancing simply wasn’t suited to my nature.
“It was truly a spectacular debutante.”
Minabell nodded with a smile, as if the memory had just returned to her. After all, we were already friends back then.
“So perhaps that’s why His Highness seems smitten? My extensive reading experience serves as evidence.”
“What?”
The color drained from my sister’s face. Mine likely looked no different.
“No.”
Drawing a firm line, Minabell tilted her head in confusion.
In any case, it was no. Since I hadn’t noticed it, it couldn’t possibly be true.
It wasn’t!
* * *
Lucian Advein returned to the Imperial Palace, surrendering himself to a sensation of unreality that left him adrift.
Flotiae Rosena.
The moment her true form was revealed, her pink hair seemed to bleach before shimmering into silver, and her green eyes soon transformed into a cool violet.
In that instant when she became an entirely different person, Lucian found himself unable to forget the impression of that fleeting moment.
My heart leaped erratically, and a strange sensation swept through my mind as if the world itself was trembling.
‘It felt as though that young lady’s gaze alone gripped my heart and shook it—like being pierced through by a blade.’
Had there been someone wise enough to teach me, they would have called this ‘love at first sight.’
Unfortunately, no one in my circle possessed such romantic wisdom.
“Your Highness, you’ve returned?”
Upon arriving at the Prince’s Palace, Haeston greeted me with his perpetually stern expression.
A cherished attendant, knight, and friend who had stood by my side since childhood.
Lately, he spoke without restraint or respect, as if all decorum had abandoned him. Still, I’d decided to tolerate him for a while longer.
Though I never imagined that tolerance would stretch ten years.
“Mm.”
“Surely you could tell me where you’ve been? You said not to follow, that you’d kill anyone who tailed you—both of them. You shouldn’t speak of killing so carelessly, Your Highness.”
“Then I’ll say I’ll handle it ungracefully instead.”
“If you claim to live quietly, you should be even more careful with your words. Lately, there are rumors that you’ve been frequenting shabby taverns, and this Haeston’s heart has been so anxious about it…”
“I did go to that shabby tavern, so what’s there to be anxious about? I reported it accurately.”
For every word I speak, ten come back at me.
He was always talkative, but as he aged, rather than becoming more composed, he grew increasingly worse.
“That’s precisely why this loyal servant begs you not to go to such places. You understand my meaning better than anyone—why do you pretend not to? There are already many unsavory types there. Today, there was even an assa—”
Haeston, about to say assassin, fell silent and cast a sharp glance around the surroundings.
The Imperial Palace had more listening ears than the outside world.
“It seems word has spread and caused quite a stir. Perhaps it’s time to cut ties with that place.”
Originally, that tavern was where I purchased information.
But seeing assassins stationed there suggested the Information Broker had either betrayed me or was dead.
I’d been watching with exasperation at how clumsily they poisoned drinks and drew blades, when suddenly Tiae appeared as an unexpected variable.
“Never mind that—do you know anything about Tiae Rosena?”
Ignoring my loyal servant’s concerns, I moved straight to the matter at hand.
“The youngest young lady of the Rosena Family, is she not?”
“I heard she hasn’t married yet.”
“Yes, she’s said to be seventeen this year. It’s already well-known that Duke Rosena dotes on his daughters. I’ve heard marriage proposals arrive constantly, but they’re continuously postponed due to her delicate health. Especially after he passed the position of Vice Duke to someone else.”
“There seem to be many audacious people around.”
As I spoke with obvious displeasure, Haeston, who had been accepting my outer robe, wore an astonished expression.
When had I ever shown concern for any noble in the Empire? Yet suddenly, this interest.
“Then how much do you actually know about the Rosena Family itself? Forget the rumors—tell me only the truth.”
“The truth, you say?”
‘He’s never asked this before, so I wonder if he’s finally lost his mind.’
Haeston, whose lips had been trembling, continued with resignation.
From how Serpina Rosena, whom the Magic Tower coveted, came to inherit the position of Vice Duke, to how she ended up confined to the Duke’s Residence alongside Tiae.
Yet after all I’d explained, this prince seemed interested only in the relationship between the sisters.
“The sisters seem to have a good relationship.”
“Indeed. Terribly so. Since Tiae’s health is naturally frail, those well-versed in rumors know this well. The notion that she’s a madwoman who torments her younger sister is pure fabrication.”
“Tiae’s health is poor?”
“Yes, I’ve heard she was born with a weak constitution. She suffered from frequent illnesses, and when she was younger, there were even rumors she wouldn’t live past ten years old. She spent nearly every day bedridden, though I’m told her condition has improved somewhat in recent times…”
At some point, Lucian Advein stopped listening to Haeston’s words and found himself recalling Tiae’s appearance.
The moment the disguise magic that had been concealing her face dissolved, the color drained from her complexion entirely.
A pallor so pronounced it transcended mere coolness—it was excessively ashen.
‘She did look fragile.’
He also remembered how she had trembled with all her strength when he had released his aura-infused energy at that moment.
An ordinary person would not shake or suffer so visibly from mere threatening energy—they would simply stiffen in response.
But Tiae had appeared so precarious, as though she might lose consciousness at any moment.
It was only because she looked so vulnerable that he had even bothered to regulate his energy.
‘Now that I think about it, the magic that escort had woven was no ordinary thing either.’
If ancient magic was being deployed so broadly around the Duke’s Residence, then surely those who served within it possessed considerable magical prowess.
The Rosena Family, being a meritorious house, wielded such formidable influence throughout The Empire that even information reached Lucian Advein, who had deliberately ignored much of it.
He had certainly heard rumors about Tiae as well.
Tales of how she was selective in her meetings and possessed a cold, fierce temperament.
Yet the Tiae he had actually encountered was entirely different from the rumors.
‘May I humbly receive your divine will, O Master of the Crimson Eyes.’
Her gaze had flickered with something far more than mere desire for personal peace.
Yet for such a frail body to lead her to seek a private audience with him spoke volumes—the Rosena Family was no minor house.
They possessed power formidable enough that, should the Imperial Family fall, they could even aspire to seize the throne in its aftermath.
‘It would actually be more convenient to accept divine punishment and watch the Imperial Family crumble to seize power. Yet she calls herself selfish—how amusing.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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