Favored by the Family That Will Become the Strongest! - Chapter 32

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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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His original plan had been so elegant: appear and show everyone what a devoted older brother looked like. Diana had even picked out his outfit for the occasion—but it hadn’t quite worked out that way.
‘An elegant older brother, indeed.’
In the end, he could only make an entrance the way he did best.
“And you—you were about to hit her, weren’t you?”
“I—well, that is….”
“She’s my guest. How dare you lay hands on her?”
“I—I didn’t think of her as a guest, sir.”
“And?”
“I thought she was just a maid….”
“It wouldn’t make a difference if she were.”
At those words, Daniel’s face drained of color.
“Everyone in my household belongs to me. You just put your hands on my person.”
……
The moment he spoke, Barcan’s gaze shifted to Diana.
Diana’s eyes widened without her meaning to.
“Touching my person is the same as touching me.”
An invisible force emanated from Barcan’s body.
Daniel’s eyes darted to Bianca, grasping at straws—surely she would speak up for him as she always had, surely she would restrain Barcan.
But Bianca wasn’t even looking at him.
“Diana, are you all right?”
“Miss, your dress—”
Bianca held the trembling Diana in her arms, eyes glistening with tears. Then, abruptly, she turned. Bianca rushed toward Barcan.
“Wait! Let me do this first.”
Daniel’s hope flickered only an instant before she drew back her hand with all her strength and struck his cheek.
Crack—!
“Ah!”
Daniel staggered backward, his feet slipping on the floor. Bianca looked down at him coldly.
“We’re done. Don’t ever think of darkening our family’s doors again.”
Unlike when she’d grabbed his wrist earlier, the pain now wasn’t so sharp. But it was humiliation enough.
While Daniel reeled in shock, Barcan answered for Bianca.
“I don’t think you need to worry about that. If you do come back, you’ll be dead.”
Barcan placed a hand on his waist. As he slowly drew his blade, the very air grew heavy, crushing the breath from those who stood near.
“I always repay what I receive.”
“P-please, if you’d just listen—”
“And I only have conversations with people.”
Daniel tried to flee, but his feet wouldn’t obey.
Thud!
“Ah—ahhhhh—”
He opened his eyes to find the blade embedded in the floor beside his hand. An inch to the left and it would have pierced clean through.
Barcan seized Daniel by the collar and lifted him. Daniel thrashed, clawing at Barcan’s arm.
“P-please! Spare me!”
“Stop your whimpering. I’m restraining myself from cutting you down right now.”
A gasp rippled through the crowd. Barcan had hurled Daniel into the Lake.
“Ugh—cough, cough!”
Daniel spluttered and clawed toward the shore, but Barcan stepped into his path, extending the sword’s point with another warning.
“Listen well, you fool. Remember this.”
……
“Anyone who touches my sister or her friends will end up just like you.”
The cutting edge of his presence allowed no one to speak.
After a long silence, Barcan turned to address the remaining guests.
“The party is over. Everyone out.”
* * *
Diana followed Barcan across the Garden, with Bianca at her side.
“Barcan.”
He turned at Diana’s thin voice, his expression tense, one eyebrow raised.
“Did you provoke those men deliberately, knowing this would happen?”
Diana looked up at him with wide eyes.
After a moment, she answered carefully.
“To some degree.”
“You really—”
Barcan brushed his hair back, exasperated.
Since Hasen had handled the decor, Barcan had only seen what Diana had arranged when he arrived.
The perfectly arranged Party Venue, Bianca standing confidently in its center, and the aristocratic young women watching her with undisguised displeasure.
When he saw Diana facing off against Esina, he understood.
This tea party—it was a stage Diana had orchestrated to help Bianca, who was scorned in society.
And when Diana had nearly been struck, he’d seen immediately that she’d provoked it deliberately, and it had infuriated him to the point of a pounding headache.
‘What does she think her own body is?’
It was something she couldn’t do if she truly valued herself. Yet here she was, recklessly provoking danger.
Had she done the same with Matilda—deliberately?
The thought made his expression harden further.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would spiral this far out of control. Daniel was far more upset than I expected.”
Diana hesitated, then spoke. Daniel had been the rude one, so why was she apologizing?
Barcan found even that grating. He sighed, then removed his Jacket and draped it over Diana’s shoulders, covering her thin Dress.
“It must have been awful—having to stand there and listen to that without saying anything. You should have slapped him across the face.”
He thought of how infuriated he would have been if Bianca, as a daughter of the Rothwell Family, had endured such insults in silence.
Yet if she truly had slapped him and it caused problems, he would have protected her regardless.
Diana coughed awkwardly. Objectively speaking, Daniel was the one who had reason to feel wronged….
He had been on the receiving end all evening, and his final attempt at retaliation hadn’t even landed.
He would probably lie awake every night from now on, kicking at the air as he replayed this moment.
“Miss Bianca struck him beautifully on my behalf. If I’d done it, I never would have managed it so well.”
Barcan looked at Bianca. Her eyes seemed to be unfocused, lost in thought. He waved his hand in front of her face.
“Are you all right?”
“Hm? Oh—yes….”
“More importantly—when did you Awaken? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Awaken?”
“Yes. I saw how fast you moved. The nobles around you looked like they were about to faint.”
Barcan set aside his concern for Diana for a moment and broached another question that had been nagging at him.
Just for an instant, when Bianca had struck Daniel back, he’d felt her Psychic Ability clearly.
At his words, Bianca’s head snapped up.
“Yes, my Psychic Ability! But it feels like it’s disappeared now.”
“It hasn’t disappeared.”
“…It hasn’t?”
Diana explained to the excited Bianca.
“You haven’t fully freed yourself from the Dark Erosion yet, which is why it seems that way.”
Bianca blinked. Dark Erosion—that was her condition. But freeing herself from it…?
“What changes once I’m free?”
“Your dormant Psychic Ability will awaken, and you’ll be able to use it.”
“How would you know something like that?”
Diana met Barcan’s eyes. He nodded.

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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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