Favored by the Family That Will Become the Strongest! - Chapter 48
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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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Diana’s eyes looked distant as she spoke of missing someone. It was a perfectly natural thing to feel, and yet an inexplicable displeasure washed over him.
He’d made a promise to himself never to give Diana reason to grieve, but toward this person he felt an intense hostility rising.
“……Who?”
Diana looked up at him quietly.
A past version of himself he would never meet again. Barcan as he was now could never comprehend such an answer.
“It’s a secret.”
So Diana laughed instead of answering him directly.
* * *
Bianca’s eyes opened slowly.
Her body felt oddly light.
‘What is this?’
Like that moment at the Tea Party when she’d shielded Daniel.
That sensation had vanished in an instant then, but somehow she didn’t think it would this time.
‘Now that I think about it, I feel like I dreamed something.’
She remembered hearing Diana’s voice, and the terrible pain that had tormented her was gone.
It was as if she’d been given a new life.
As if time, which had been frozen, was flowing again.
‘I feel completely refreshed.’
A strange exhilaration rose through her—a sensation of being able to do anything. Bianca looked down at her own hands. The strength flowing through her body was strange beyond measure.
Then she felt someone’s gaze and slowly turned her head.
“Oh—Father?”
Sevar was staring at her intently without a word. When had he even arrived at her bedside?
Sevar’s expression turned disbelieving, and he reached out to gently stroke her hair. Without meaning to, Bianca tensed and gripped the armrest of the bed with all her strength.
Crack.
The armrest shattered.
“Wh—what……why is this happening?”
Sevar slowly took hold of Bianca’s trembling hand.
“Exert your strength, Bianca.”
“M—my strength?”
“Yes.”
Bianca hesitated for a moment. The bed had just broken without her even realizing what she was doing.
‘Is it safe to use strength? Won’t I hurt Father?’
Sevar smiled faintly, as if he’d sensed her worry.
“It’s fine. I won’t be hurt.”
Bianca realized how foolish her concern was. Sevar was a top-tier Ability User. There was no way he could be injured by whatever strength she exerted.
Once she understood that, Bianca relaxed and applied pressure. Sevar’s face registered surprise—her grip strength had become abnormally powerful, entirely different from before.
“Do you feel anything different?”
“Yes, I do.”
“What does it feel like?”
“It’s like……I could release something from within me?”
Bianca tilted her head pensively, then swept her hand downward. Her shadow began to move grotesquely, advancing toward Sevar of its own accord.
Bianca froze in shock, but Sevar moved swiftly, sweeping his hand through the air. A shadow extending from his palm consumed her shadow entirely.
Bianca gasped roughly in astonishment.
“F—Father? Are you alright? What on earth is—”
Sevar let out a hollow laugh.
“You’ve Awakened, Bianca.”
“Awakened?”
“Yes. That’s why you couldn’t control your strength. When you Awaken your ability, your physical capabilities develop. At first, everyone struggles to control it.”
……
“But don’t worry. Once you undergo proper training, you’ll all learn to regulate your strength.”
Even as she listened to Sevar’s words, Bianca’s expression remained dazed.
“Bianca, what you just used was our house’s ability.”
“Our house’s ability?”
“Yes, you already know. The ability to command shadows. Though truly it’s the ability to manipulate darkness, others know us only as shadow wielders.”
Apart from those of the Five Great Houses, people from other families knew only that House Kardian used shadows.
If they were to learn that their power stemmed from darkness itself, they would feel repulsion and fear. When the house rose to the rank of Dukedom, the Emperor himself ordered this truth sealed in secrecy.
“I see……”
“You’ve Awakened that ability.”
“So I have……Awakened……”
Bianca blinked both eyes. Now that she heard it, she realized that the ability she’d just used was identical to what Sevar and Barcan wielded.
She looked down at her hands. Memories of all the times she’d been told she was a Non-Ability User flooded her mind.
“Miss Bianca, who knows. Perhaps you aren’t even Master Sevar’s child.”
“Why, doesn’t Prince Barcan use the same ability as Master Sevar? If you share the same blood, it makes no sense that only you haven’t Awakened your ability.”
Now that she’d finally become an Ability User, a torrent of suppressed sorrow came pouring out instead of joy.
Sob.
Tears began streaming from Bianca’s eyes. Sevar embraced her silently, awkwardly patting her back with one hand.
He, too, found it unreal. Bianca, who had been dismissed as a Non-Ability User and suffered so much heartache, had Awakened.
Bianca wept in Sevar’s arms for a long time. Sevar held her, patting her back in silence for just as long. This emotion—both joyful and sorrowful—he couldn’t quite put a name to.
* * *
“Diana, the house lord requests that you join him for a meal.”
“Me? Really?”
“He specifically said to bring you.”
Diana was taken aback when Jordick came seeking her out so early in the morning.
A meal with Sevar at breakfast?
‘Just thinking about it feels strange.’
But looking at the earnest plea in Jordick’s eyes, she found it hard to refuse.
‘And I’m not sure I’m even in a position to refuse.’
It was certainly about Bianca. And regardless, there was much to discuss regarding her own circumstances.
Diana walked toward the dining room with a tense expression.
As she entered the Dining Room, she saw the members of House Kardian already seated.
Sevar, Barcan, and Bianca as well.
“You’ve come.”
Diana bowed to Sevar.
And seeing Bianca sitting beside him with a vibrant expression, she let out a relieved sigh.
‘Thank goodness. She’s awake.’
Bianca waved her hand cheerfully at the sight of Diana.
“Diana, come here—hurry!”
It was the brightest expression Diana had ever seen on her face. Not content with just waving, Bianca rose abruptly from her seat and took Diana’s hand, personally seating her beside herself.
Then the meal began. Diana felt a slight unease. The dishes presented on the table were quite lavish—even more ornate than what Bianca had prepared for her birthday.
For some reason, Bianca watched Sevar with a guarded expression. Then she suddenly leaned close to Diana’s ear and whispered.
“Diana, just wait a little bit. I’ll grow up soon and earn money, and then I’ll be able to do so much more for you than Father can.”
“……Miss?”
“If I were only as old as Father, I could spend far more money on you!”
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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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