Favored by the Family That Will Become the Strongest! - Chapter 74

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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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He blinked his eyes.
Then came a rush of wind.
Another scene unfolded before him. Diena, aged a few years beyond what he’d just witnessed. And now no one remained at her side.
Diena turns her gaze slowly. At the edge of her vision: Romie and Cassian, and Dietrich.
“Oh my, isn’t that my non-Ability User cousin?”
Romie approached Diena, her arm linked through Cassian’s. She shoved Diena’s shoulder hard with her hand.
“I told you not to draw attention. You make my friends uncomfortable when they see you.”
Dietrich patted Romie’s shoulder as he spoke.
“Don’t waste your energy on this, Romie. Let’s just go.”
Romie and Dietrich moved away. Cassian glanced back at Diena for a moment, but made no move to help her. Diena said nothing, only touching the shoulder where Romie had shoved her.
‘This is infuriating.’
Barcan’s brow darkened. He was merely witnessing Diena’s dream. This was already in the past, and there was nothing he could do.
So his chest burned with frustration. The helplessness of watching, unable to act or intervene.
And it grieved him.
How lonely Diena must have been in House Rothwell after Theodore’s death.
‘Cassian—why did that bastard look at Diena with such tender eyes at the winter banquet, when he treated her this way?’
A man without conscience. If Barcan had any influence here, he’d drive his fist into that wretched face.
Yet something puzzled him.
‘Diena isn’t the type to take this lying down.’
The Diena he had known always repaid in kind, by whatever means necessary.
If this were the real Diena, she might have thrown a punch before he even stepped in. Barcan stopped there and shook his head.
‘No—she’d have dealt out something more elegant than mere violence.’
Indeed, at the winter banquet he’d witnessed her give as good as she got, never yielding a word.
But the Diena he saw now was simply suffering Romie’s cruelty. It was as if a completely different person stood in her place.
‘Can someone change so drastically in such a short time?’
The Diena before his eyes now didn’t even seem much older than she was then.
As doubt took hold of him, the scene began to shift again.
This time, he saw Diena cradling someone in her arms.
She was badly wounded, breathing in ragged gasps. Tears streamed endlessly from her eyes.
“No, please hold on……. Please.”
Barcan tilted his head in confusion.
Based on everything shown so far, this dream was clearly drawn from events Diena had experienced.
‘But what is this? Why is she holding me?’
The person in her arms was himself. Barcan Cardian with eyes closed, so powerless he couldn’t even imagine such a state.
Moreover, the two of them looked remarkably intimate.
In the way Diena gazed at him, affection and sorrow were unmistakable. He found it bewildering beyond measure.
Jealousy stirred at the sight of this man who wore his face.
It was nothing like the way she had treated him until now.
* * *
Cain, witnessing the same scene as Barcan, tilted his head in confusion.
‘What is this?’
He had clearly meant to attack Diena with his Fantasy Ability. So he was drawing out her memories and showing them to her as dreams.
‘But something’s wrong.’
Dream Ability and Fantasy Ability were perfectly complementary. The Dream Ability burrowed into the target’s memories, laying the foundation for an even more perfect fantasy to take shape.
In other words, everything in the dream was Diena’s actual memory. So it should be impossible to see her at an age older than she was now.
Yet the fantasy was showing Diena looking far more mature than her current age.
And worse—Diena, who should be trapped in this dream, was nowhere to be found. Only Barcan existed in that place.
Cain found the whole thing absurd. Before he knew it, the words spilled from his mouth.
“Where the hell did she go?”
Not that he truly expected an answer.
“What are you looking for so hard?”
Cain’s head turned slowly.
His eyes widened in shock. There stood Diena.
“W-what? Diena! How are you here?”
Cain blinked, unable to comprehend the situation.
He was clearly using his Fantasy Ability.
And when an Ability was active, it should be impossible for anyone to find him. They should be lost in the fantasy, unable to think clearly.
Even that powerhouse Barcan Cardian had fallen prey to it. Of course, being a monster of his strength, he might break free eventually—but he certainly couldn’t act unaffected like Diena was doing now.
‘But how?’
Cain asked with alarm in his voice.
“You—can you see me?”
“Yes, I can.”
“What? You weren’t an Ability User. I mean, I heard you became Malacar’s student, but you’re saying petty Magic can break my power?”
“…….”
“No, that’s impossible. No matter how I think about it, it’s impossible.”
“Listen……Cain. This might sound unpleasant, but—”
“……Huh?”
“If you think about it even a little, you’ll understand. I’m standing right in front of you now. Doesn’t that mean it’s possible?”
Her words were logical, but they tasted bitter. Cain’s expression twisted in frustration.
“What? You’ve been with House Cardian and now you’re cocky? You think you’re something special just because you own some Suppressant Device from the Magic Tower?”
Diena responded coolly.
“No. You’re right—that wouldn’t change me.”
Cain’s face hardened.
It wasn’t mere offense. His words were dismissive, laced with bluster, but beneath it all, he felt a deep, creeping dread.
After glancing nervously around, Cain looked back at Diena and asked again.
“How did you find my location? Why isn’t my Ability working on you? Even Barcan Cardian fell victim to it.”
“Because my Ability is stronger than yours.”
As she said this, Diena approached him slowly. Cain clenched his teeth and cried out.
“What Ability! If you had one, you couldn’t have lived the way you did until now.”
Yet even as he spoke, Cain felt a chilling terror grip him. Because Diena’s words rang true—the fact that she could be here proved it.
“If I’d awakened my Ability earlier, would things have been different?”
“I—that is…….”
Diena shrugged as she spoke.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s just that I don’t like what you’re doing.”

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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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