Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 39

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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 39.
Breaking Through the Trap, Into the Storm (9)
“I have no obligation to serve anyone but Young Master Boris.”
Now I understood why Langie hadn’t returned sooner.
But I still didn’t know the reason. Uncertain whether I should intervene, I hesitated and stopped in my tracks.
In that moment, Silviet’s voice reached me again—her tone entirely transformed.
“Such stubborn consistency. Truly, nothing has changed about you. Why won’t you listen to me? You lived in Keltika too, didn’t you? Don’t you wish to return to your homeland? I can promise you so very much—aren’t you curious what that might be?”
Langie offered no response. Silviet’s voice gradually softened.
“Life with me would be filled with wonderful things. Far more entertaining than being stuck in this provincial backwater, attending to some ignorant child. Imagine it as I do—traveling between estates, attending elegant parties, hunts, and social gatherings in endless succession. How magnificent would that be?”
Her whispered voice possessed considerable charm, the kind that had surely swayed many. Yet the substance of her words seemed unlikely to captivate Langie at all. In essence, it was temptation born of misunderstanding her target.
“Keltika is rife with nobility who squander their fortunes freely. Someone of your caliber could easily command substantial wealth. It’s common knowledge that nobles with reputations for exceptional service compete fiercely to retain such attendants, offering handsome pensions. Come with me. Why wouldn’t you seize such an opportunity?”
I couldn’t fathom why I was eavesdropping on their conversation. It was hardly honorable. Yet I remained, listening intently to Langie’s response.
“You have no need of me, Miss.”
Silviet seemed taken aback.
“Why not?”
“Because I have no need of you.”
Silence fell. Then came a sharp crack—the sound of something striking the garden.
“How insolent. One day I’ll take away what you hold most dear. And even if you grovel before me in tears, kissing my feet, you won’t be able to stop me.”
In that instant, I felt compelled to act.
As I appeared, both their eyes snapped toward me. Neither looked particularly surprised.
“You’ve been gone quite long. I was about to come looking for you. What of the task I assigned you?”
I spoke with deliberate coldness and turned my gaze toward Silviet. She quickly opened her mouth.
“Ah, Boris. I was simply having him do something for me. Surely there’s no harm in borrowing your servant for a moment?”
Silviet’s voice had already returned to its usual tone. It would have been easy to let the matter pass. Yet I found myself responding reflexively.
“Of course. So long as you return him when I have need of him.”
“Hmph.”
Silviet’s eyes narrowed slightly—an expression that suited her gaze well. I stepped forward and cut the conversation short.
“I believe it is my duty to correct my servant’s mistakes. As a guest of the Belnoer Family, I trust you’ll conduct yourself accordingly.”
Silviet’s thin lips trembled slightly.
The thought that I was being mocked by two children infuriated me beyond measure. One a mere servant, the other some adopted foundling of unknown origin!
Yet I remained a guest of the Belnoer Family. Since I still didn’t know Boris’s true nature, I had to be cautious. Who could say whether he might cry and cause a scene, creating difficulties for me?
Displeased as I was, I had no choice but to speak thus.
“What would a child understand? There’s no need to discuss this further.”
Silviet immediately turned and departed the garden.
When I looked at Langie, he offered a smile that seemed somehow strained. This expression, like the fierce light in his eyes moments before, was entirely new to me.
“My apologies. I haven’t yet brought the wine. Shall we return inside?”
Rather than answer, I simply observed Langie in silence.
I wondered why I had acted as I did. Silviet was a relative of the family I would soon call my own. There was nothing to gain from offending her.
I had never before felt compelled to defend Langie in such a manner. Reflecting on our conversation just moments ago, hadn’t we been pressing each other with sensitivity rather than goodwill?
After a brief pause, Langie spoke.
“I apologize for the inconvenience I’ve caused you.”
Suddenly, I no longer wanted to return to the Party Hall.
I was neither a noble of Anomarad nor a relative of Silviet. Not a servant, yet possessing nothing—wasn’t I more similar to Lanji in that regard? The moment I realized I’d acted boldly despite having empty hands, my resolve crumbled.
“Never mind. There’s one thing I need to ask of you. Will you do it?”
Perhaps because I’d apologized, Lanji answered without hesitation.
“You need not ask me for anything. Simply command me.”
“Let’s go to Lanzumi.”
Only then did I understand why I’d used the word “ask.” Lanji lowered his eyes for a moment before speaking.
“Very well.”

The first time I’d visited Lanzumi’s Room, it had been daytime, but now it was night. The frail girl who had been sitting by the sunlit window was nowhere to be found.
Or so I thought. A faint light seeped from one corner of the darkened room. It came from the direction of the bed.
Lanji held the lamp he’d brought high, illuminating the room. Perhaps one of the servants had forgotten to remove the lamp from the bedside.
That would have been perilously dangerous given Lanzumi’s inability to control her body. Dangerous not just for her, but for the entire Manor. A fire could easily break out.
Lanji took a few steps toward the bed before freezing. In the raised lamplight, a strange shadow became visible, sitting before the bed.
In the next moment, Lanji’s response was startling. He practically dropped the lamp and threw himself at the figure without hesitation, unarmed and undefended. I’d never seen him react with such swiftness.
The moment he wrapped both arms around the figure’s neck in a chokehold, the shadow rose and lifted Lanji’s body effortlessly into the air.
The figure was an adult. A very tall one at that.
“Shh! Don’t make a sound. This is a critical moment.”
A familiar voice… Walnut Teacher? What was he doing here?
Held aloft in Walnut’s grip and then set down, Lanji glared at him with unrelenting wariness, his tone harsh.
“What is the meaning of this? How did you enter this place? This is not somewhere you can enter as you please.”
“Shh. Stay quiet. I mean no harm. Just trust me for now.”
Lanji was not one to trust so easily. He pushed against Walnut’s shoulder and moved toward the bed.
Boris, who had been standing behind until now, picked up the lamp Lanji had set down and approached as well. Only then did I realize the faint light by the bed was not from a lamp.
An inexplicable luminescence surrounded Lanzumi’s small face, buried deep in the pillow. Because of that light, Lanzumi appeared even paler. Yet looking closely, a faint flush of color bloomed across skin that had seemed like wax.
“Lanzumi… Lanzumi?”
Unable to discern what had happened to his sister, Lanji turned back to Walnut with fierce eyes. Walnut approached the bed without answering.
He knelt and placed his elbows on the bed, then closed his eyes as if in prayer.
His two hands came together, forming a triangle.
Moments later, incomprehensible words flowed from Walnut’s lips as a seal was formed. Opening his palms, extending them forward, overlapping them, then drawing them back together—in that instant, the shutters rattled violently with a sharp sound.
A fierce wind. Only then did I realize the window had been open despite the night. The full moon’s light poured in abundantly.

Will you remain a girl forever?
Though the Mother Moon knocks upon the door,
Silent spirit, will you remain a girl forever?

The final words carried a mysterious timbre, as though spoken by multiple voices in unison—like a pipe organ. Boris’s eyes widened.
Walnut Teacher, whom he had believed to be merely a swordmaster, and an exceptional one at that. Could it be that such a man wielded magic as well?
The window shutter rattled violently in the wind. When Walnut’s enormous hand came to rest upon Lanzumi’s luminous forehead, the girl’s body was engulfed in a bluish light.
In the next moment, Lanji found himself doubting his own ears.
“Brother….”
Was what he heard truly his sister’s voice—the voice he had longed so desperately to hear?
Lanji’s shoulders trembled faintly. For so long they had remained rigidly closed, silent as though the shell alone remained while the soul had departed. Yet now, hesitant and faltering like a wounded spirit wandering home at last, came the voice exactly as he remembered it from their childhood….
“Lanzumi!”
As Walnut stepped back, Lanji drew his sister into his embrace. Lanzumi’s eyes remained closed, but her slightly parted lips quivered delicately. Could she herself feel the profound emotion of having recovered her voice?
Boris felt Walnut nudging his ribs repeatedly. The message was clear—they should leave the two of them alone.
Yet as always, Walnut was not a man whose intentions could be so easily anticipated.
“Well? How was my handiwork? If you’ve seen it, you ought to look suitably impressed, like a proper student. Let me bask in a little pride.”
While Boris stood speechless at this audacity, Lanji, still cradling Lanzumi, held his breath. Not a muscle moved in his fingertips, as though terrified her voice might slip away again at any moment.
Walnut spoke.
“Your sister is well now. She can manage only a few words for the present, but in time she’ll be able to converse properly.”
Boris asked, “How did you do it? Do you practice magic as well?”
“What did you do? Do you know magic?”
At that, Lanji rose to his feet and turned his head toward Walnut, one hand still clasping his sister’s tightly.
“I am grateful. But I must ask—how did you accomplish this? Since the incident when Lanzumi was seven years old, she has not spoken a single word until now. With such a sudden change, I cannot help but fear the possibility of side effects.”
“Don’t worry. I had a conversation with the girl’s heart. She thinks of you often—a very kind child. If she simply has someone watching over her as you do now, she may well return to normalcy by the time she reaches adulthood.”
Lanji released his sister’s hand and rose. He stepped forward and bowed deeply.
“If your words prove true, I shall never forget this debt for as long as I live. I shall endeavor to repay it without fail.”
Walnut replied in his characteristically cheerful voice.
“If my words prove false, it seems you might stake your very life on it.”
Lanji lifted his head and offered a faint smile.
“Perhaps I would.”
When the three of them approached Lanzumi, they found her eyes already open. All their faces brightened.
Though questions abounded, they asked nothing of one another, choosing instead to respond to the girl’s thin, rarely heard voice.
Boris felt a warmth spreading through his chest.
This quiet moment pleased him far more than the party downstairs, a celebration to which he could never truly belong.

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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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