I’m the Strong Youngest Daughter Here to Save My Family from Darkness - Chapter 5

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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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Chapter 5
* * *
In a small rowboat bound for Monster Island.
The attendant from the Imperial Palace was far kinder than Count and Countess Rheinfeld had been.
After all, he believed Arienna was Melissa.
I tried to say that I was Tuntuni, no, Arienna.
“Cough, cough…!”
My heart thudded as if someone had set one side of it on fire, and no words would come out.
The attendant, quite courteously, explained what Arienna was expected to do.
“You know you’ve been given in prenatal betrothal to Prince Kyle, correct? One of the terms of the betrothal is that once Lady Arienna turns five, the two of you are to live together.”
People had said things like “bride” and “betrothal,” but until now Arienna hadn’t really understood what they meant.
So she carefully raised her hand and spoke.
“Um, what’s a betrutha… betrothal?”
“It’s a promise to marry someday.”
At that moment, a memory of Mom and Dad’s conversation floated up in Arienna’s mind.
Most of what they had said was hazy, but a few phrases stuck with her vividly.
“If you keep this up, you’ll be crying on the day our daughter gets married, you know?”
“Please don’t say that. I might actually die.”
If Tuntuni gets married, Dad dies?!
Five years old, and Arienna had fallen into a truly tremendous dilemma.
The attendant let out a brief sigh, perhaps thinking the young Arienna simply hadn’t understood.
“Well, for now, I think it’s fine to think of him as a friend. Or family, if you prefer.”
Arienna nodded her head vigorously.
Just then, the man set Arienna down on the shore of Monster Island. Then he rubbed his face with both hands and pointed in one direction.
“Head that way. That’s the direction of the mansion where Prince Kyle resides. The islanders have long called it the Monster Mansion. …I hope you come through safely. I wish you luck.”
With those words, the attendant left.
Arienna gazed up at Monster Island, which was thick with towering trees, until her neck ached.
Well, she’d made it to the island, at least.
‘What am I supposed to do now? Do I really have to live as the prince’s bride?’
If that turned out to be true, she would have to keep it a secret from Dad.
‘If Dad dies, that’s absolutely not allowed!’
She had barely finished nodding firmly when another problem surfaced.
To make a wish, she had to defeat a monster, but how was she supposed to find one?
Arienna tilted her head to one side.
‘And they said that if I came to Monster Island, I’d get a power!’
Yet now that she had arrived on Monster Island, the Status Window remained silent.
Arienna waved her hand back and forth at the empty air.
“Now what do I do?”
Nowww… what… do… I… do… Only a mournful echo answered her from the empty air.
Just then.
Ding! Words appeared before her.
“Wow!”
[※ Child Adjustment Complete (100/100)]
[※ Wondering how to defeat a monster and make a wish? The answer is to become close with Prince Kyle!]
“Become close with Prince Kaili?”
[Prince Kyle is incredibly, incredibly strong. If you make the prince your ally, you might be able to defeat the monster in no time?!]
Arienna thrust her hand up sharply toward the sparkling words.
“Then, what about Tuntuni’s power!”
At that, the words changed with a whoosh.
[Tuntuni’s power has just come into being! Hold out your hand!]
Arienna obediently held her hand out in front of her.
And then.
“There’s nothing here!”
No sooner had she said it than a tiny pair of glasses dropped onto her palm.
They were cute children’s glasses with round, bright yellow frames.
“Huh!”
[Now try putting on the glasses!]
Arienna gave a little “chirp” and put the glasses on.
Perhaps because her face was so small, the glasses sat slightly crooked.
Then the bright yellow frames slowly, smoothly turned transparent.
“Hup. Where’d you go?”
Arienna patted the bridge of her nose.
Her fingertips found a round rim of glasses. They hadn’t disappeared. They had simply become invisible.
[These are special glasses that only Tuntuni can use!]
Arienna peered around through the lenses.
The trees, the rocks, and the grass all looked just the same.
“Whatcha? Nuh-uh, it looks the same!”
Except for the little weight sitting on my tiny nose!
[You’ll soon find out what these glasses are going to show you.]
With that, the sparkling words faded away.
Glasses. I don’t know what they’re for, but still.
Arienna blinked a few times, then clenched both fists tight.
‘First, let’s go to the Monster Prince’s mansion. And Tuntuni, I’m not scared of a single thing!’
The road to meet Mommy and Daddy might be a little dark, but that’s okay.
Because at the end of it, Mommy, Daddy, and my big brother will be waiting, smiling brightly.

A little while later.
The distance from the shore of Monster Island to the mansion wasn’t far, so Arienna reached the front of the Monster Mansion without any trouble.
The tallest structure on the island rose before her.
Its pointed tower was buried under heaps of snow, and the mansion looked like a lonely outpost abandoned in the middle of deep winter.
A gust of wind whistled past, and a biting chill brushed against Arienna.
But Arienna didn’t feel the cold at all.
She was too filled with plans to go inside, become friends with the Prince, and defeat the monster!
“Hel-lo? Is anyone thee-ere?”
Knock, knock. Arienna tapped carefully on the mansion door.
With a click, the door swung open.
Arienna rolled her eyes around in a circle.
‘That’s odd?’
It had looked like it would never open for anything, yet a single tap and it swung wide.
‘Is it okay to go in?’
She hesitated only briefly. Through the narrow gap in the door, the atmosphere of the castle tickled her curiosity.
The mansion’s interior, despite the name Monster Mansion suggesting ruin, was kept in pristine order, as if someone had been waiting for visitors.
So Arienna hurried inside, tumbling over her own feet.
‘This house is so big. Anyone who lives here all alone must be super lonely.’
Arienna murmured in a tiny voice.
“Ex-cuse me? Hel-lo? Anybody home?”
She began tiptoeing along, following someone’s footprints left on the hallway carpet.
The footprints led toward the staircase.
She followed them all the way up to the top floor of the Monster Mansion.
The tower was open on all sides like a small rooftop. But apart from the railing wrapping its edge, there was nothing at all.
Wind simply swept across the empty floor with a whooshing sound.
‘The footprints disappeared right here. But why is there nothing? Where is the Prince?’
Arienna tilted her head and looked around once more.
Just then, a loud noise rang out as the door burst open.
Bang!
At the same moment, a shrill metallic screech sounded, and someone came pattering toward her, tap-tap-tap, and then—
“Intruder, you’ve been caught…”
The figure was a boy who looked about eight years old, with black hair and blue eyes. He was holding a fearsome-looking weapon in his hands.
‘He looks like he’s so angry his hair’s sticking up like horns!’
Arienna took one look at the boy and froze stiff.
Right then, the boy stretched out one arm.
“Hmph. I’ll have to dispose of you first.”
D-dispose… of?
Arienna’s eyes went wide.
Oh no, I forgot all about Tuntuni.
‘I’m a scaredy-cat…’
“Why is my daughter so timid? She’s always hiding.”
Mommy’s warm words drifted through her mind, but her heart pounded so hard it felt ready to burst.
Surely he doesn’t mean to take out Tuntuni with that weapon?
He must be the Prince. Does that weapon turn into the terrifying ice of the Prince’s Special Ability?!
Amid all her wild imaginings, Arienna squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath tight.
‘So terrifying!’
And then…
Clang!
The sound of a long weapon coming down rang out.
It’s going to hurt so much.
Thwack. Arienna’s eyes rolled back until only the whites showed.
Then, darkness.
* * *
Meanwhile, on Monster Island, lived a seven-year-old little prince, Kyle, who lived there alone.
He gripped a broom, his face full of bewilderment.
The weapon that had frightened Arienna turned out to be a broom.
“What? I said I was going to get rid of the dried mud on the floor.”

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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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