Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 152

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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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There was only one person stronger than me—someone I’d show respect to just by looking at them, who could attend Imperial Palace parties whenever they wished, and who would laugh and indulge even my most unreasonable demands.
“Arrrrrgh!”
My life felt so utterly miserable that the pain was suffocating. I’d even tested whether Eugene would use formal speech with me earlier, but it didn’t work at all. Why are you weaker than Reina Letem when you’re the Northern Grand Duke! Sure, our bare-handed combat skills are comparable, but it’s obvious Reina is stronger when she can use ultra-rare magic too, dammit!
“Evan! Calm down! What’s wrong!”
“I need to ask Duke Zibenstein for a favor!”
“Oh… I see.”
Eugene seemed to understand my distress and embraced me as I continued punching the wall with my fists. Using only my raw strength without any superhuman skills, I pounded the brick wall, sending dust cascading down. I couldn’t destroy someone else’s home, so I needed to stop and compose myself.
“Evan. Can you tell me what kind of favor you need? I might be able to help.”
“Eugene. Do you know about Professor Heinrich’s commoner outburst?”
The truth was, there was a skill that could distinguish between nobles and commoners. When I explained this to Eugene, he understood it was the skill’s influence.
“I have a similar skill too.”
I could confide in Eugene. If this reached Reina’s ears, that bastard would mock me for the rest of my life, so I emphasized secrecy before sighing deeply and explaining my Beast Charisma skill to him.
“I cannot bow to anyone weaker than me.”
“I see.”
Eugene treated me with such care, as if I were precious, and wrapped me in his compassion. After comforting me about how difficult things must have been, he even offered to come with me and make the request on my behalf.
“No. It’s less embarrassing to go alone.”
“All right. I’ll have a carriage prepared for you.”
At Eugene’s command, a carriage and coachman were quickly arranged to take me to the Zibenstein Townhouse. I was delighted to reunite with Butler Grandfather, whom I’d parted with earlier, but I clenched my teeth at the news that the idle Duke Zibenstein had been rolling around the house doing nothing.
When I requested a meeting, Bruno Siebenstein came rushing to the reception room barefoot in his pajamas. Even as he cooed about finally becoming my adoptive father, I couldn’t bring myself to object, so I clenched my trembling fists and straightened my posture.
“Oh my, our dear daughter! Why are you kneeling!”
“Ugh… ugh.”
I really hated this. I really, really didn’t want to say it. I hated it so much that tears began to spill from my eyes. At the sight of my tears, the man finally became somewhat more composed and asked what on earth had happened.
“Would you… go to the party… with me?”
My lips trembled as I spoke, and Bruno Siebenstein stared at me for a long moment before asking in a shocked voice.
“You hate asking that so much you’re crying?”
I hated it enough to cry.
As I knelt there sobbing, Butler Grandfather, who had been bringing refreshments, rushed over in alarm to support me. When he asked what the Duke had done to make me cry, I explained that I needed to go to the party with the Duke. The grandfather became angry.
“Apologize at once! Is that how I taught you!”
“Did I do something wrong?!”
Somehow misinterpreting my words, the grandfather sternly rebuked the Duke. He thundered that it was unheard of for a young person taking their first steps into society to be the one asking to go to a party together, and now that I thought about it, he had a point.
“Oh, now that you mention it, you’re right! I’m sorry, my dear daughter!”
“Ugh… I’m not your daughter.”
“Stop calling her that! Miss Evan finds it burdensome!”
I really liked Butler Grandfather. If he were my adoptive grandfather, I’d be fine with it. On impulse, I asked if he’d consider becoming my grandfather, but he flatly refused with a look of distaste.
“Do you wish to become the same kind of person as Bruno Siebenstein?”
“I was wrong.”
I couldn’t spend the rest of my life being despised by the grandfather. At my sincere apology, Bruno too began to shed tears.
“Does it really hurt my feelings?”
We decided to end a quarrel that left nothing but wounds, soothing our pain with spoonfuls of affogato. Incidentally, Butler Grandfather deliberately sat beside me and ate affogato with me. I felt like I had won a small victory.
“Grandfather, why aren’t you sitting next to me?”
“Do not ascribe meaning to such trivial matters. You are still a child.”
“It is precisely because you harbor such thoughts that you end every sentence with that childish whine.”
I seized the opportunity to criticize Bruno alongside my grandfather. The man grew tearful and then attempted to retaliate against me like a petulant child.
“If you keep doing that, I won’t grant your requests!”
“Then I shall simply approach the next candidate.”
So I bluffed as well. There were indeed two other individuals I could petition besides Duke Zibenstein. One of them I suspected was now weaker than me no matter how I thought about it, and the other—well, as long as he didn’t attempt to kill me the moment our eyes met, I could count my blessings.
In the worst case, I could even petition Count Letem, but I had no desire to incur a debt to Reina. That woman alone seemed to have swallowed dozens of schemes, and with thirty more years of fermentation, I suspected she harbored not schemes but seven immoogi serpents within her depths.
“Heave! Someone with a respectable name to escort me to the party—someone of at least baron rank!”
“The Academy Headmaster. Count Letem.”
“Tch…”
The problem was that I had grown stronger, but the Academy Headmaster could declare his willingness to attend any party hosted by the Crown Princess at any time. Count Letem was a senior member of the Crown Princess Faction and the mother of my friend, so there would be nothing strange about him escorting me.
When I proceeded logically, the Duke shrugged his shoulders. At this, Butler Grandfather scolded him once more.
“When someone makes a request of you, should you not promptly accept with gratitude!”
“Whine, Grandfather only hates me.”
How irritating.
The man, having apparently recovered emotionally already and pretending to be cute with that childish whine again, asked me to wait a moment before dashing off and returning just as quickly. In the Duke’s hands was a suspicious book.
“You know what quid pro quo is, right? I’ll grant our daughter’s request, so deliver this book to Cecilia for me.”
“I don’t want to get arrested. And I am not your daughter.”
“It’s the mild version, so it’s fine!”
At the man’s suggestion to read it if I was suspicious, I opened the hardcover book. Given the fluffy illustrations and large font size, it appeared to be a fairy tale.
“Hmm…”
A remote village, a community where fairies and humans coexist, a society where all are equal, representatives chosen through voting. Every single item seemed nothing but propaganda for some ideology, but this was likely because I was viewing it through the tinted lens of knowing that Duke Zibenstein was the book’s owner.
Setting aside all prejudice, it was an ordinary fairy tale. It was rather extreme that a bird advocating elitism was executed by burning at the end, though the flames did look pretty when painted in various colors.
The book’s essence seemed to be that we should capture and kill everyone who believes a small elite should rule the world, but that was surely just my tinted lens talking. In any case, that was how it appeared.
“If I feel like I’m about to get arrested, I’ll invoke your name as the instigator.”
“It’s fine, I’ve been inside once before—surely I can’t go in twice?”
“I am now too old to smuggle contraband into the prison.”
Butler Grandfather admonished him, noting that going back and forth was exhausting and that he should remember the previous Duke Zibenstein, who had made prison life comfortable, had now retired. But Bruno remained undeterred.
“So I just need to accompany you! Ask me for anything, daughter!”
“I would appreciate it if you stood subtly behind the shoulder of the person I’m greeting! And I am not your daughter!”
A deal is a deal, so I would certainly deliver the book. I would only deliver it, though. I would not promote it. Once I made my position clear, Bruno said that was sufficient and asked about the party.
“Is there a dress code? Don’t I need to have custom clothes made to match what our daughter wears?”
“There doesn’t appear to be a specific theme for the banquet. I am not your daughter. The clothes I will wear are the formal version of what Cecilia’s attendants wear.”
“Ah, that dark thing.”
The Duke seemed to understand what I meant and grew uncomfortable. And at his next words, I found myself at a loss.
“Do I need to wear a dress?”
“You didn’t even attend school during the Village Chief’s time, so how could you harbor such a notion?”
“The Village Chief?”
Our Academy has one such celebrity in the Homeless Settlement. Now that I think about it, the two of them have similar vibes. If you’re going to adopt someone, why not take that guy instead? They’d look just like real blood relatives.
“He’s the man who taught me the Crowell Empire Collapse Huu gymnastics. He’s also the one who created the tradition of Magic Department male students wearing skirts in summer.”
“Ha, quite the amusing fellow, isn’t he?”
No matter how amusing he is, he can’t be more entertaining than your speech patterns. When I caught him on his words, Butler Grandfather chuckled heartily and agreed with me. I felt quite satisfied.
“I’ll go pick him up in a pumpkin carriage. Should I head to the Brandenburg Estate?”
“Have him brought to the Separate Palace on the day of the party.”
After reminding Duke Zibenstein not to wear anything strange and to keep his word on the time, I turned away from him coldly and left. At least I wouldn’t get beaten by Cecilia at this party. That was a relief.

◇ ◆ ◇

Thanks to Butler Grandfather’s help, Eugene and I were able to catch the last shuttle and attended tennis practice together, cheerfully volleying back and forth. It was slightly disappointing that the tennis instructor insisted we play only against each other in a single court for the next class, but the physical gap between us and the other students was simply too great to avoid.
“We could have done a 2-on-1 handicap, or restricted it to forehands only.”
“The General Studies Department students said they felt their lives were in danger.”
“Who gives their all against ordinary people?”
Eugene was sulking—a rare sight. Because it was so unusual, I poked his chubby cheeks with my fingers. Though he would become the future Grand Duke of the Northern Region, he was still a child, and his cheeks were soft.

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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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