Favored by the Family That Will Become the Strongest! - Chapter 17

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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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“You believe me now when I say you’ll need me, don’t you?”
He had never wanted anything before, yet now he felt a parching thirst to seize her hand and taste its warmth once more.
Barkan realized it quickly. Diena’s presence was dangerous to him.
It was the same for her.
He could picture himself all too easily losing reason and coveting her Ability in some moment of weakness.
Her words echoed back to him.
“If I’d revealed my Ability to my uncle in that situation, it’s too obvious what he’d do.”
“What do you think he’d do?”
“I’d have been used thoroughly. I know my uncle. He could pretend kindness on the surface, but in the end he’d work me without rest and drain my Ability until I died.”
Why he’d come to think that way.
When he heard those words, he’d thought Duke Rotwell was worthless trash without question—but now he understood the man’s impulse.
“Ha—.”
A deep sigh escaped his lips.
“Forget what I just said. Pretend you didn’t hear it.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t want to become trash.”
Barkan stepped forward and began examining the room carefully.
“First, I need to ask a few things. Why were you collapsed? What did Matilda do to you?”
“Oh no, Matilda didn’t do anything to me. She didn’t feed me properly, but I managed to take care of myself.”
“…….”
“The room I was in was nicer than I expected. I lived in worse places back in House Rotwell. Compared to that, it was practically a hotel.”
“Then why were you collapsed?”
“I’ve never liked being confined. I was locked away often in the Rotwell household. So I think I just… gave out for a moment.”
“What kind of bas—.”
Barkan stopped himself mid-curse. Diena was watching him.
“There are all kinds of terrible people, aren’t there?”
“That’s exactly it. Look, see? My body is perfectly fine.”
As she spoke, Diena raised her arm.
“Yes, I’m glad you’re physically all right. But still, don’t let your guard down. I’ll send a physician to treat you properly.”
“…….”
“And make sure you eat well, every day. Once your body has recovered—”
Barkan hesitated a moment, then spoke with sudden firmness.
“I think it would be better if you left our house.”
“I… beg your pardon?”
It was not what she had imagined. She had thought he would acknowledge her usefulness, but instead he was suddenly telling her to leave.
Diena lost her words and looked up at him.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re properly compensated for helping Bianca and me. And—”
Barkan avoided her eyes as he continued.
“I’ll send you somewhere safe.”
He rose from the seat as if shaking off lingering attachment and left the room. Diena stared blankly after him.
‘Why is Barkan… avoiding me?’
* * *
Barkan was, in truth, a fearful boy.
Only his mother knew this.
Proud even as a child, he had always pretended at a strength he didn’t possess.
Yet Barkan was especially afraid of rainy days. When thunder and lightning fell from the sky, he would spend the time with his eyes pressed shut against his mother’s chest.
At such moments, his mother would stroke his head and say to him:
“It’s all right, Barkan.”
“If people knew I was afraid of rain, they’d think me a coward.”
“No, that’s not true. Having something you fear means you can become stronger. Because you have so much to protect. That’s why you’re going to be such a strong person.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course. Your father is strong for the same reason—to protect us, isn’t he?”
Golden hair, soft and beautiful. Eyes the color of spring leaves.
His mother, who was not an Ability User and weaker than anyone, yet strong in her own way.
Barkan was fifteen.
His Ability manifested at a later age than other Ability Users. When he awoke to a powerful Ability, everyone was astonished.
“You are truly remarkable, Lord Barkan.”
“Awakening to the Highest Tier despite your late manifestation—what an achievement!”
Exhilaration. And happiness.
Those were the emotions he felt upon awakening his Ability. The people who had once despised him changed their tune at once.
And—
When he attended his first banquet as an awakened Ability User, he met Balthasar for the first time, before he became Duke Rotwell.
“Is that Lord Balthasar attending the banquet?”
“Truly a remarkable man. I hear he’s made another substantial donation to the Temple’s orphanage.”
“Yes, and it’s thanks to Lord Balthasar that the Temple’s Side-Effect Suppressant is distributed to lower-tier Ability Users.”
Originally, the Temple’s Side-Effect Suppressant had only been distributed to Highest Tier Ability Users.
Before that, when a lower-tier Ability User fell into darkness and Rampaged, they were usually executed. The Rampage could not be controlled by the Magic Tower’s Side-Effect Suppressant.
But Balthasar began distributing the Temple’s Side-Effect Suppressant to lower-tier Ability Users as well.
Barkan too admired Balthasar for this.
Ordinary Ability Users thought only of their own security. They despised lower-tier Ability Users and common people ruthlessly, treating them as though they were a different race entirely.
But Balthasar was different.
He was a man of justice above all others.
Even if Barkan had never awakened, such a man would not have scorned him. It was this thought that made him admire Balthasar.
Then Balthasar approached where he stood with his father.
“Duke Cardian, I hear you’re setting out for the Great Flood.”
“Indeed.”
“A truly honorable choice. To think of those beyond the Purification Zone. My brother is there now as well. If Duke Cardian fights alongside us, it will be a tremendous strength.”
“Well, if we have enough Side-Effect Suppressant prepared, we should be able to stop this Great Flood.”
“That is most fortunate to hear. Ah, this must be your son.”
Balthasar smiled warmly and extended his hand to him.
“Become a good Ability User. One who can protect the weak.”
But the moment Barkan grasped Balthasar’s hand, he felt an inexplicable revulsion.
That night, Barkan Rampaged.
The price was catastrophic.
He Rampaged while he was with his mother and his sister Bianca.
Unable to control himself in his Rampage state,
he attacked his mother and Bianca.
“Barkan, this isn’t your fault.”
His mother withered away under Darkness Corruption and met her death.
Bianca survived thanks to their mother, but her condition was equally catastrophic.
“We’ve barely gotten her past the critical point, but she’ll likely suffer lasting effects.”
“Lord Barkan must not remain at his sister’s side.”
“His Ability is too dangerous for those without the power.”
He could only watch as his sister hovered between life and death because of him.
His father.
Sevar could not undertake the deployment that had been arranged. Because he could not go to aid the Great Flood crisis, countless people lost their lives.
All of those deaths—
were entirely his fault.
Yet Sevar said nothing to Barkan. He did not blame him or hate him.
And Barkan sensed it instinctively: that Duke Rotwell had been involved in his Rampage. The sensation he had felt when grasping that man’s hand had surely affected his condition.

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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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