Favored by the Family That Will Become the Strongest! - Chapter 69

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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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“…….”
“I had to find a way, no matter what. So while searching for one, I ended up making contact with the Duke of House Rothwell.”
* * *
“Ludrik, I hear you’ve been having nightmares. Are you managing all right?”
“Ah, there’s no need to worry about it. I’m sure it will pass soon.”
Ludrik downplayed it at first.
“I think it’s just the pressure. The Winter Banquet is approaching, and I haven’t awakened my Ability yet……. It should clear up soon.”
But as time crept forward, his face grew haggard. He trembled at the mere approach of nightfall.
“Are you sleeping at all? What in heaven’s name is happening to you!”
“I can’t fall asleep. When I close my eyes…….”
With each passing day, Ludrik’s condition worsened. Hollow eyes sunk beneath dark circles. Cheeks growing gaunt by the hour. Words from her son that made little sense.
And then, gradually, the wounds appearing across his body.
“What happens in my dreams becomes real. If I’m injured in a dream, the wound appears in reality too. If this continues…….”
Eliah could feel it instinctively. If she did nothing, her son might die.
Her husband had left, and only one family remained to her. Eliah had to protect him, by any means necessary.
So she began searching everywhere for a way to heal her son, exhausting every avenue she could think of. When no clear solution emerged despite all her efforts, a priest came to her with a word.
“Perhaps the reason Lord Ludrik dreams these nightmares is because of Darkness. Among Ability Users, there are quite a few who suffer nightmares because of Darkness.”
“That can’t be right. Ludrik is a Non-Ability User—the House measured him and confirmed he has no Ability. So how could Darkness accumulate in his body?”
The priest lowered his head and replied.
“It often happens that people known to be Non-Ability Users later awaken their Abilities. Surely you know of cases like Barcan of Cardian or Malacar of the Magic Tower. So it is not impossible.”
“So…… you’re saying my son might awaken as well?”
“That is one possibility, yes.”
The thought that her son’s troubles might vanish was overwhelming, if only for a moment. But Eliah’s hope soon collapsed.
For shortly after, his condition deteriorated, and he fell into a deep sleep from which he would not wake. Watching him in that state, Eliah’s heart felt as though it were burning away. Now she had to find a way to save her son before he could even wake.
“How can I wake my son?”
“A great deal of Side Effect Suppressant is needed. But low-quality Side Effect Suppressant will not help.”
In the end, she had no choice but to contact House Rothwell. They held the monopoly on the Temple’s Side Effect Suppressants. When Eliah came to him, Balthasar greeted her with a bright face.
“I’ve heard the news. That your son has been suffering from nightmares.”
Balthasar examined Ludrik’s condition, then spoke.
“Yes, it is indeed the influence of Darkness. If we treat the Darkness with our Side Effect Suppressant, we should be able to cure him.”
The senses of a top-tier Ability User are sharp. So she could perceive it—the certainty that flooded Balthasar’s words.
Eliah harbored hope. Perhaps he truly could save her son.
But then.
“And how will you pay the price?”
* * *
Diena turned to her and asked.
“What price did my uncle demand?”
“He said I must make any Weapon he desires, without fail. Beyond that, he demanded I promise to supply only House Rothwell going forward. And he wanted thirty percent of the profits from sales of my Weapons.”
“And? I doubt my uncle stopped there.”
At Diena’s piercing question, Eliah nodded.
“He told me not to interfere in whatever he does with the Weapons I create.”
Diena’s face grew grave. The conditions reeked of something rotten, plain and simple.
“I have a principle. I do not forge Weapons that kill people. That is my principle.”
The conditions Balthasar had laid out practically declared that many would die by her Weapons. So Eliah had been wrestling with the decision—whether to accept his offer or find another way.
Then at the Winter Banquet, Diena revealed a Side Effect Suppressant, and that was when she reached out to her.
After hearing the whole story, Diena exhaled softly.
‘It’s almost transparent what he’s doing.’
Balthasar likely hadn’t bothered to hide his true intentions at all. He was confident that Eliah would fall into his hands regardless. And in the previous life, he had succeeded.
Diena let out a long breath.
‘From the start, it was an enormous swindle.’
Ludrik’s nightmares themselves were something Balthasar had orchestrated.
“Don’t take that contract. Let me help you instead. I’d say my terms are far more reasonable, wouldn’t you? I’m not someone who makes absurd demands like my uncle.”
Eliah watched Diena with an anxious expression.
“You’ll help me?”
“Yes, I can resolve this for you.”
At Diena’s answer, Eliah’s face brightened in an instant.
“Then…… you’re offering to give me the Side Effect Suppressant, aren’t you?”
“No.”
“……What?”
“I know the solution. If I fail to resolve this, then I’ll give you the Side Effect Suppressant.”
Eliah hesitated for a moment.
By Diena’s logic, she wouldn’t be losing in the bargain. Either way, if Ludrik couldn’t be healed, she would receive the Side Effect Suppressant. Yet it felt strange to her that Diena would go to such lengths for her sake.
“Why are you helping me like this? I’ve done nothing for you.”
Then Helio, who had been quietly observing the situation, interjected.
“Yes, now tell us your real purpose. You didn’t come here for no reason, did you?”
Diena nodded without resistance to his words.
“That’s right, there is a reason.”
Helio’s eyes gleamed.
“Good, then tell us what purpose you came here with!”
“Because I know how painful it is to lose family.”
“……What?”
In that moment, everyone in the room turned to stare at Diena in silence.
“I know a way to wake your son, but I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. I understand how desperately this means to you, Lord Castleton.”
“…….”
“When my father was in a desperate situation during the Great Flood, I too yearned so deeply. I wanted anyone—anyone at all—to come save him.”
At Diena’s words, spoken with bowed head, Eliah’s lips trembled. During the Great Flood, all she could do was send reinforcements.
But in another corner of her heart, she had thought this: she was grateful she was not a top-tier combat-class Ability User.

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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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