Favored by the Family That Will Become the Strongest! - Chapter 15

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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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Matilda shook her head frantically at Varcan’s low voice.
“No, no—it’s unfair! I did nothing to Bianca. I only wanted everything to go well for her. Diana, whatever she told you is all lies……!”
“How much longer are we going to drag out this tedious conversation? You know it’s ridiculous too.”
……
“Who would believe that? Why are you acting so foolishly?”
His tone was light, but the presence it carried was anything but. Matilda felt as though she might faint.
“I’m being treated unfairly……”
Before Matilda could finish, Varcan seized her throat. His shadow rippled in the darkness as if drinking in the light itself.
A thick, suffocating darkness stretched out from beneath Varcan’s feet, writhing like a living creature, dense enough to swallow torchlight whole.
Terror bloomed in Matilda’s eyes as she faced that grotesque shadow.
“If you confess honestly before my patience runs out, I might just let you live.”
As Varcan’s grip tightened, Matilda trembled like an aspen leaf. Her eyes darted wildly, searching for escape.
‘What do I do?’
If she betrayed Duke Rothwell, death awaited her.
But if she fell victim to Varcan’s ability, something far worse than death would be waiting.
He was an Ability User who commanded shadows.
It was common knowledge that the moment one’s flesh touched his shadow, the soul tore itself apart in unbearable agony.
“……I, I’ll tell you. The truth is, Ro……!”
The moment she was about to confess that she belonged to Duke Rothwell.
“Gack……!”
Before the words could leave her mouth, dark blood erupted from her lips.
Matilda fell to the ground without even a cry, her convulsing body growing cold within moments.
The knight standing guard checked the corpse, then spoke in a heavy voice.
“Vicious work. They’ve set a curse to trigger the moment she tried to confess.”
Varcan brushed the blood from his hands and set his jaw.
“Keep the chamberlain’s death quiet. Spread word that she’s locked in the Underground Prison. And investigate that woman’s background more thoroughly.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And replace all of Bianca’s attendants. Assign Diana as her personal chambermaid. Have the rest of the servants take their orders from Diana.”
“Understood, sir.”
As Varcan left the Underground Prison, his shadow stretched long behind him.
He gripped his head tightly. His mood was foul—so much so that he wanted to smash everything apart right then and there.
It was because he’d used his ability without taking the Side Effect Suppression Medicine for some time now.
He’d need to take the suppression medicine the moment he returned to his room. And with that thought came the image of Diana, lying unconscious, floating before his mind’s eye.
Ah…… really.
“Annoying.”
With that muttered complaint, his footsteps turned toward where Diana was.
* * *
When Varcan arrived at his room,
Hasen stood before the door, his face flustered.
“What? Why did you come back so quickly?”
“Didn’t you ask me to? I was worried, so I hurried back.”
“You didn’t just buy anything random?”
“No, sir. I bought exactly what you told me to—from here to here.”
“So you bought all the clothes in the shop?”
“Yes, so I certainly didn’t buy anything random.”
“Good job.”
Without thinking, Varcan had already answered, and now Hasen fussed as he opened his mouth again.
“But really, what on earth happened? The Mansion is in such an uproar, and why is Diana staying in your room?”
……
Varcan didn’t answer. He simply opened the door and stepped inside. Hasen followed him in with a puzzled expression.
Varcan looked down at the sleeping Diana with annoyance, brushing his hair back. Her face looked peaceful.
Her sleeping face appeared so utterly harmless.
“I heard that Diana collapsed. Surely you didn’t……”
Suddenly Hasen’s eyes widened as though he were looking at a man without shame.
“I knew your character was harsh, but this is too much. No matter what mistake Diana made, how could you do such a thing to someone so delicate!”
“I didn’t do it.”
“Of course, I know you’d never commit such trash-like acts.”
Hasen’s teasing manner fell away as Varcan furrowed his brow. He regarded Varcan with worry now, where he might normally have looked at him with cold eyes. But Varcan’s mood seemed extraordinarily bleak.
Hasen gazed at him with concern. Normally, he would have fixed Varcan with an icy stare by now, but the boy looked terribly unwell.
“Your complexion isn’t good. You didn’t sleep last night either, did you? Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you sleep in days.”
Varcan grimaced and nodded. Hasen was right—he hadn’t slept properly in days.
Sometimes he managed to close his eyes for brief moments, but even that was fleeting. The vicious pain kept him locked in relentless insomnia.
“The Side Effect Suppression Medicine from the Mage Tower seems to be working less and less. Even though you take dozens of doses……”
“There’s nothing to be done about it. Don’t worry.”
“How can I not worry? You’re not sleeping properly. Do you even sleep once or twice a week?”
Varcan’s lips curved upward slightly.
“I’m sleeping fine.”
Hasen looked at him with pity.
Even for someone of tremendous ability, Varcan was still a boy. The trials he endured were too cruel for a child to bear.
Then it came—a headache so severe it felt like his skull was splitting open.
It was a familiar agony, yet always as unbearable as before.
“Hasen.”
Varcan’s voice came out suppressed and low.
“Bring me the Side Effect Suppression Medicine.”
“Y-yes, right away!”
Hasen’s face drained of color as he rushed from the room.
The pain Varcan had endured since childhood was of such intensity that an ordinary person would have screamed and lost consciousness.
To keep his dimming mind anchored, he drew the sword from his belt and cut deep into his own arm.
Red blood welled up, but compared to the agony the darkness inflicted, it was nothing but a sting.
‘It’s not enough to cause a rampage.’
Varcan had experienced a rampage once before. He knew his body’s limits well.
This level of pain was not enough to trigger one.
Yet still, fear crept through him.
‘But what if I rampage anyway?’
His gaze shifted to Diana.
The moment his power was released, her fragile body would shatter.
Varcan recalled the moment he’d failed to see Bianca.
When he rampaged, he couldn’t control himself, and because of that, Bianca fell into Darkness Corruption. All because of him.
Varcan forced his sluggish body toward the door to leave the room.
It was then.
Diana seized his hand. Varcan turned in surprise to find her awake, her eyes now open.
“What—when did you wake up?”
“When you came in.”
“Then why did you pretend to be asleep?”
“……I missed the moment to wake up.”
Varcan raised an eyebrow. But that wasn’t important now.
“Let go. I need to leave.”
“To receive the Side Effect Suppression Medicine from the Mage Tower?”

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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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