Favored by the Family That Will Become the Strongest! - Chapter 20

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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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“Sevar.”
Malakar cut through his reverie with a voice that rasped like nails scraping skin.
“That thing you just used—it looks like the Suppression Potion we’ve been storing at the Magic Tower. Since you’ve put out the urgent fire, I trust you understand the debt you’ve incurred?”
“Good grief. This is absurd.”
Sevar’s icy response did nothing to deter Malakar, who pressed on.
“A debt repaid is the only honorable course, wouldn’t you say? Sparing one seat in a carriage hardly seems an insurmountable burden.”
“If you’re so eager to travel, use Spatial Movement Magic.”
“Why bother, when we’re fellow travelers headed the same way?”
Sevar’s brow deepened into a scowl.
“Petty, contemptible old fox.”
Sevar muttered the words between his teeth, harsh and bitter—yet even so, he leaned back and jerked his chin toward the carriage interior.
“Get in. But keep your mouth shut. One more word out of you in there, and I won’t answer for the consequences.”
Malakar smiled at the cutting warning with unruffled ease and climbed aboard.
The heavy carriage door swung shut, and the vehicle bearing Sevar and Malakar lurched forward into a rough gallop toward the Cardian Family estate.
* * *
Since Matilda’s disappearance, Diana had been settling into the Cardian Family household with remarkable speed—though the maids watched her warily.
Diana had finished a detailed discussion of wages and terms with Hassen before leaving Varcan’s office.
“Are you sure you can give me this much?”
Hassen answered her question.
“If it troubles you, you’re welcome to accept less, of course.”
She shook her head with quiet firmness.
“No, I meant—I’m grateful. I’ll accept it gladly.”
“You really are… quite the remarkable woman, Diana.”
Diana read Hassen’s true thoughts at once. As the steward of the Cardian Trading Company, he was surely bleeding inwardly at the sum.
“Don’t worry, Hassen. Who knows? Perhaps I’ll repay you far more handsomely one day.”
“In all my years managing the company, I’ve heard many people say that. Not a single one has ever succeeded.”
“Then I’ll be the first.”
Hassen stared at her in open surprise. Her certainty was absolute. He murmured with genuine longing.
“I truly hope that day comes.”
As Diana turned the corner of the corridor, her footsteps slowed.
She had caught the whisper of maids beyond the marble wall.
“So Matilda’s locked up in the dungeons, I heard?”
“You know that new maid Lord Varcan brought in? Diana or whatever. The one attached to Lady Bianca’s side like glue? She was positively swaggering around.”
“What does it matter? Once Lady Bianca’s expelled from the family, that girl’s nothing.”
“Shush—you’ll end up like Matilda if you’re not careful.”
One maid lowered her voice to the others.
“You never know. Maybe Lady Bianca will awaken an Ability late, just like Lord Varcan did.”
“Lord Varcan awakened his at fifteen. Lady Bianca’s already sixteen—she’s past the mark.”
“Either way, I hate this. I wanted to be Lord Varcan’s maid!”
“No prestige, no power—it’s the worst.”
Bianca held little sway in the household. She was a Non-ability User, and so many maids harbored resentment at being assigned to her service.
Though she was a ducal heir, Bianca was scorned even by the servants—that was the place of the Non-ability User in the Empire.
‘Lady Bianca must carry such deep wounds.’
Diana understood Bianca’s heart better than most. She had lived much of her own life in Rothwell, facing the same circumstances.
Bianca’s reputation for dismissing maids on a whim likely stemmed from enduring such slights again and again.
‘To be told she lacks even prestige… she must have suffered so. Lady Bianca cares for her reputation more than anyone I know.’
The Cardian Duchy had originally been a baronial house.
When Sevar and Varcan proved themselves to be Ability Users of the highest rank, the Emperor elevated them among his favored nobles and granted them the rank of Duke.
But a ducal title erected in haste could never have deep roots.
Several of the Emperor’s appointed vassals had ties to the Rothwell Duchy, and many of the maids here were likely their agents.
Bianca could not dismiss them all outright; she only sent a few away now and then, because they had been recommended by the vassal lords and removing them wholesale would appear unseemly.
To discharge a family servant without clear cause was considered dishonorable conduct.
‘And Lady Bianca would never wish to be known as someone who mistreats those beneath her for being Non-ability Users.’
If word spread that she did, the nobles would whisper that she was a shameless aristocrat who denied her own shortcomings.
The nobles showed no mercy to the feelings of Non-ability Users.
Many believed that Non-ability Users deserved contempt as a matter of course, and could not fathom why one would object to that fate.
Diana’s heart ached for Bianca.
Hassen moved to step forward, but Diana held him back with a shake of her head.
Tap.
Diana made sure to announce herself with a deliberate sound as she stepped into view before the maids. They visibly startled.
But upon recognizing her, they broke into dismissive sneers.
“Oh, it’s just you. I thought it was someone.”
“And what would it matter if I were someone?”
“What?”
Diana’s eyes snapped wide and steady, pinning them where they stood.
She had no intention of leaving power unutilized.
She had decided to remove the troublemakers one by one, starting with those in plain sight.
“As a maid favored by Lady Bianca, I’m telling you this:”
Diana folded her arms and spoke to them clearly.
“From today forward, you’re dismissed from this house.”
The maids stared at her as if she’d lost her mind.
“What are you talking about?”
“The Cardian Family has no use for maids who disrespect their betters.”
“Ha—what gives you the nerve to talk like that?”
Then one of the maids stepped forward threateningly.
“You really think Lady Bianca would dismiss us just because you said so?”
She knew Bianca’s nature well enough to be brazen. The others giggled in agreement.
Diana tilted her head, studying them.
“You’re right—Lady Bianca wouldn’t. She values her honor too much.”
“See? So—”
“But Lord Varcan is different.”
Diana cut off the maid’s words with a slight smile.
“It’s Lord Varcan who stands behind me. And he cares nothing for honor or appearances.”
The maids blinked, confused by the implication.
But Diana saw no need to explain herself to them.
She turned her head and spoke.
“Hassen.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll handle it as you’ve directed.”
At Diana’s call, Hassen stepped out from where he’d been waiting. The maids’ faces went pale in an instant.

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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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