Favored by the Family That Will Become the Strongest! - Chapter 35

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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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Are you saying I deserve whatever happens to me?
Barkan’s brow furrowed.
“You never seem to think about yourself at all.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Looking at you makes me angry, and I don’t know why. The way you act like a moth flying into a flame irritates me.”
“Does it anger you that I’m doing something dangerous?”
Barkan couldn’t answer, and his jaw tightened.
Yes, this was definitely anger.
She was already fragile enough without constantly choosing to do reckless things—he couldn’t bear to watch it.
Barkan pressed down the mounting frustration and exhaled deeply.
“Yes, I’m truly angry. So furious I can’t contain it! So stay here and rest quietly. If you develop even the slightest fever, I won’t let it slide—not for a moment.”
Having delivered this rough command—whether rebuke or concern—Barkan turned away.
Then, as though something were chasing him, he spun around urgently and left the room.
* * *
Heavy silence settled over the room after Barkan departed.
Servants could be heard filling the bath with water in the adjacent room, but Diena remained motionless for a long while. Barkan’s jacket draped across her shoulders felt large and heavy.
‘His fingers touched my cheek…….’
Diena slowly lifted her hand and traced her cheek where he’d wiped away the water droplets.
Barkan was a man who could be frightening in his indifference at times. She knew well how coldly he treated those who were not his people.
So why was he getting angry on her behalf? Like the Barkan of the past.
‘Why exactly? Is it because of my Ability?’
Those with Abilities who had experienced hers typically felt drawn to her. The Duke of Rothwell even exploited it for various schemes.
Though she tried to dismiss it as mere instinctive reaction, the image of Barkan just moments ago kept surfacing in her mind.
Her body trembled from the cold, yet a strange warmth that had begun near her heart spread gradually throughout her entire being.
Startled by this realization, Diena clenched the jacket sleeve tightly.
‘I mustn’t hope.’
The more she hoped for something, the more it inevitably disappointed her.
Especially now—she and Barkan had known each other such a short time. There was no reason he would suddenly be concerned for her.
It must be a temporary whim brought on by her Ability. Diena nodded to herself with that thought.
‘I should focus on what comes next.’
Soon the Winter Banquet would be held. When that happened, the truth would come to light—that Bianca had recovered and awakened her Ability.
She had come to the Cardian Family for that very purpose: to save Bianca’s life. And if Sevar returned and cast her out or sent her back to the Rothwell Dukedom……
‘I need to think about what happens after I leave the Cardian Family.’
With that thought, Diena smiled bitterly.
* * *
The Rothwell Dukedom.
For Baltazar, reviewing correspondence after breakfast was a pleasure. The news contained in letters always lifted his spirits, proof of his family’s steady prosperity.
But not today.
Today, Baltazar’s mood hung lower than usual. He crumpled the letter in his hand roughly. Romie, standing nearby, caught his expression and asked cautiously.
“Father, you seem to be in a poor mood. Has something happened?”
Baltazar replied in a low voice.
“Count Roshe sent word. He says there’s someone there who he suspects is Diena—at the Cardian Family.”
Romie tilted her head, looking confused. “Isn’t that good news? You’ve found where Diena went when she ran away.”
Baltazar’s jaw tightened.
“So I commanded him. I told him to show what becomes of those who try to slip from my grasp. But the answer that came back was unexpected.”
“What did the letter say?”
Baltazar had not expected even the most incompetent servants to fail at such an order.
But the response that arrived was completely contrary to his expectations.
“It says that Bianca Cardian has possibly awakened—it’s not certain, but it seems she has. And because of that, she helped Diena.”
At his words, Romie’s voice rose. “Bianca? That’s impossible!”
“I thought it was mere rumor too.”
After a moment of thought, Romie spoke with a worried expression.
“But if Bianca is treating Diena well like that, she might refuse to come back to the family, mightn’t she? Because those people are treating her kindly.”
“There’s nothing to worry about. Even if a miracle happened and her Darkness Corruption healed, there’s still Darkness that I planted in her body. Sevar knows this too, so he won’t act rashly.”
A smile spread across Baltazar’s lips.
“Soon I intend to trigger that Darkness to rampage.”
Now Romie’s expression brightened. “Then she’ll be forced to obey your commands, won’t she?”
Baltazar answered with conviction. “Yes. And to suppress the rampage, she’ll have no choice but to rely on the Side Effect Suppressant from the Temple.”
He smiled darkly.
“So it won’t be difficult to bring Diena back.”
2.
The morning at the Cardian estate was far busier than usual. Servants had been hurrying along the corridors since early dawn. An inexplicable tension hung thick in the air.
“Diena!”
And Bianca’s voice rang throughout the mansion.
Bounding down the hallway to Diena’s room, Bianca burst in with flushed cheeks, her voice bright with excitement.
“Today—today Father is coming!”
“The Duke?”
Finally, it had come.
Diena nodded, careful not to let her tension show.
“And there are guests coming with him, it seems. I wonder who.”
At that, Diena tilted her head.
‘Guests? At this time of year, the only guests who would come to the Cardian Family……’
Then, at last, it clicked. Her eyes went wide.
Ardin Lumines.
It could be no one else. The First Prince of the Lumines Empire. In her past life too, he had visited the Cardian Family on the occasion of attending the Winter Banquet.
“Miss, we should change your clothes first.”
Calming an excited Bianca, Diena quickly finished breakfast and helped her prepare.
After finishing Bianca’s preparations, the two made their way to the front of the main mansion.
A long line of servants had gathered to welcome Sevar. Barkan stood directly in front of the main gate, while Diena and Bianca took their place at a distance.
The excited voices of the maidservants reached their ears.
“They’re coming, they’re here!”
As someone recited softly, the carriage came to a stop before the main gate.
Diena slowly turned her gaze.
While several carriages entered together, Barkan stood in front of one of them.

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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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