Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 10

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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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The Heir is Unknown, But I’d Like to Heal — Episode 10

It hadn’t been long before Silvia sought out the lord’s chambers.

……

Patrick regarded Silvia standing before him in silence.

“You look considerably more at ease than before, sister.”
……

In truth, Silvia’s expression was far more vivid than the last time they’d met.
Confusion, surprise, joy.
Several emotions swirled across her face all at once.

“What sort of scheme are you running……?”
“Scheme?”
“I was aware the boy was bustling about. But even so, it’s impossible for him to create a Potion that works on me in such a short span of time…….”
“Sister.”

Patrick set down his pen and spoke firmly over her somewhat agitated voice.

“I employed no scheme whatsoever. You know this, don’t you?”
“……Yes. I suppose you’re right.”

Silvia knows it well enough. Patrick had been occupied with other matters while Lionel was away.
It was on account of Lionel’s belated Coming-of-Age Ceremony.

‘He collapsed just before the ceremony, so it all had to be cancelled.’

Now that he was recovering his health, the Coming-of-Age Ceremony needed to be prepared anew.

“If Lionel truly made a Potion of this caliber, doesn’t that present a different sort of problem?”
……

Silence descended at once.
Another problem.
The Potion Lionel created was no ordinary Potion.
The Hero.
The champion of a chaotic age who appears when the world succumbs to wickedness—the only being capable of releasing Silvia from her Contract.

‘But that ending…….’

One who could save the world, yet whose personal life was never blessed with happiness.
Countless battles, blood, death, loss.
The emptiness and despair that came with it.
Patrick gazed at the Potion vial that held only a swallow, its color now faint.

‘Why would such a recipe ever surface?’

The Hero had always claimed to be well enough, certainly, but what lay beneath those words?
Judging between light and darkness, drawing the blade by his own conviction each time, cutting down his enemies to protect.
He had stained himself in black so that a bright world might endure.
And then, on the day the world found peace at last.
The Hero vanished without a trace.
Whether he died, or lived somewhere in contentment—none could say.
The world regained its peace, but Patrick’s companion had gone missing.
His comrades and their descendants had made efforts to pursue his trail, yet…….

‘Not even a trace to be found.’

And that was something her grandson might have to endure as well.
Patrick’s expression darkened, barely perceptibly.
Silvia, reading that shift, exhaled softly and opened her mouth with care.

“Head of House, might I propose something?”

Silvia maintained her composure as she set an empty Potion bottle on Patrick’s desk.
Fifty years ago.
She didn’t know exactly what had transpired between Patrick and the Hero, but she’d noticed he carried a similar worry now.
He was anxious that his frail grandson might get hurt.
Predictable.
Patrick pretended otherwise, but his affection for his family ran deeper than anyone knew.

‘Then… perhaps I should give him a gift.’

After all, hadn’t she obtained and consumed something just recently?
Thanks to it, the emotions and mind that had grown turbid and withered for decades had become clear again.
For a witch who had lived a thousand years, it was no small elixir.
Our little one has no idea, though.
Silvia bowed to Patrick, lifting the hem of her neat skirt slightly in respect.

“This old woman, Silvia, will retire.”
“Sister, what do you mean by that?”
“Patrick, we must keep our little one well hidden. I shall remain close, watching over him… as the Contract stipulates.”

Silvia’s Contract contained the following terms:

To live as a human, and in times of crisis, to protect House Asteri.

That child had allowed her to live as a human a little longer, and so the witch Silvia would, in keeping with her Contract, protect Lionel Asteri—the weakest of the House—from her post beside him.
Which meant Silvia was relinquishing, perhaps, an opportunity that could have freed her.

“…I’m sorry. I wish I could find that Contract and let you rest.”
“Didn’t I tell you days ago? The most useless worry in the world is worrying about a witch.”

Perhaps from now on—forever—she would remain bound to House Asteri.
Even after Patrick and Lionel had passed, Silvia would stay with the House.
And yet it didn’t matter.

“It means our little one’s gift has pleased me that much. I’d appreciate all the praise you care to offer.”
“…Very well. Then what comes next?”
“First, old Silvia will retire, and young Elvia will enter the House. As our young master’s personal handmaid.”
“The grandchildren will miss you.”
“Learning the sorrow of parting is among the things one must learn.”

Silvia spoke without a trace of concern.

“See to it then. But I would ask that you say goodbye to the grandchildren yourself. They did follow you quite faithfully, like a true grandmother.”
“You needn’t worry.”

The head maid. The old grandmother Silvia would retire with a lighter heart than anyone’s.
And the children.
Lionel.
And his younger brother, Ricksile Asteri—they would understand her heart well.
And….

‘A good thought has just come to me.’

Silvia grinned mischievously.
She thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to use this as an opportunity to mend the relationship between the two brothers.

* * *

Ricksile Asteri.
Unlike Lionel, he bore a striking resemblance to Patrick, and he carried a distinctive coolness about him—the second son of House Asteri.
Of course, he had other titles besides.
An unparalleled genius, the next heir, the youngest 4-Circle Mage ever.
By common measure, he was the successor of House Asteri who most resembled Patrick.
The one destined to lead the family even after Patrick’s retirement.
He possessed a strength that made his youth not a weakness but a weapon.
And so on—entirely praise, unlike the “oddball Lionel.”

“Hah.”

From such a man, a surprisingly deep sigh escaped.

“You’re really retiring?”
“Yes. I intend to bid everyone farewell and then depart.”
…….

Ricksile regarded Silvia with a darkened gaze.
Her expression was certainly brighter than before.
Not just her expression—her eyes, once hollow, now gleamed with vitality, and not a trace of hesitation remained.
Yet he couldn’t accept it.
All of this was thanks to his foolish older brother?
It made no sense.

‘Though he has changed somewhat lately……’

Despite being younger in years, Lionel seemed to Ricksile like a younger brother who needed protection.
He occasionally collapsed from Mana Shock, and when he recovered, he behaved eccentrically.
Yet his potion had somehow healed her spiritual ailment and allowed her to retire peacefully?

“I can’t make sense of it……”

Merely thanks to a potion?

‘There must be something more that she’s hiding.’

Such doubt arose in him.

“Second Young Master. This old woman speaks only the truth.”
“I know you wouldn’t lie to me, Silvia. So I won’t stop his retirement, but I can’t say I understand it.”

Even the fact that the Master approved the retirement, even the potion itself……

“Hehe.”

Silvia gazed at Ricksile’s expression as though charmed, then ventured gently forward.

“Aren’t you asking all that precisely because you’re curious about how the First Young Master has changed, sir?”
“……Why should I be curious?”
“Not at all. This old woman must have misjudged, sir.”

Silvia let a few more words slip without bothering to contest what Ricksile had said.

“But if you find yourself curious later, it might be worth following the Young Master around once.”
“Me?”
“It’s rather amusing, isn’t it? And there was a time when you followed me about quite often.”
“……That was only when I was young.”

At some point, he’d stopped trailing behind her like that.
He couldn’t say when it had happened, but it was only natural, wasn’t it?
He was nearly grown now—such behavior didn’t suit him anymore.
And more than anything…….

‘I have to become stronger so I can protect my brother.’

In Ricksile’s eyes, Lionel seemed far too fragile.
As head of the household, he looked as though he wouldn’t last a year before some wasting illness claimed him.

“I see.”

Silvia deliberately braced her knees and pushed herself to her feet.

“In any case, this old woman shall take her leave now. I’ll return home and enjoy my remaining years in peace, so don’t trouble yourself—and please, do take care of yourself.”

Silvia finished her farewell and left the room at a measured pace.

Click.

After the door closed, Ricksile stared at the space where she’d exited for a long while.

“……The master must have made the arrangements already.”

Silvia was indispensable to House Asteri.
Her retirement was no small matter, but the fact that permission had been granted meant preparations were surely in place.
Besides, her expression had been far too bright to hold back.
And so Ricksile decided to accept it as it was.

“…….”

……In truth, it made him rather sad, though as a direct heir of House Asteri, he felt he ought to conceal such sentiment.
It was natural enough for Ricksile, still in the throes of adolescence, but he didn’t notice it himself.

‘Right. Better to think of something else.’

As he tried to push aside the parting with Silvia, another question rose unbidden in his mind.
Lionel Asteri.
It concerned his older brother.

‘He asked me to look into it?’

Ricksile tapped his fingernails against the desktop, one after another.
It felt rather awkward now to go poking about his brother’s affairs.
But…….

‘Just this once should be fine.’

Since he had nothing else scheduled, he decided to simply close his eyes to his qualms and investigate.
A mage’s fundamental virtue was satisfying curiosity, after all.

“He’s been in Mimir Forest lately, wasn’t he?”

Finding Lionel’s location wasn’t difficult.
And so Ricksile Asteri quietly began to shadow his brother.

Rustle.

It had been a long time since Ricksile last visited Mimir Forest, and it remained as desolate as ever.
Trees and leaves rose in such thick profusion that they blocked out the sun, while trunks and roots grew in every haphazard direction, making the path uneven and treacherous.

‘What could possibly be appealing about a place like this?’

If he needed medicinal herbs for Alchemy, couldn’t he simply ask Jone to procure them?

‘In any case……’

By the time Ricksile had ventured deeper into the forest, grumbling to himself.

“……”

A sweet scent began to drift through the air.
It wasn’t dessert, certainly, yet the aroma was unmistakably pleasant.
Nutty, sweet, and delicate all at once……

“……Brother?”

And then he saw it.
Someone digging up a Famine Crop and eating it straight from the ground.

‘This is absolutely filthy!’

How could someone in such poor health not know what they were putting in their mouth?
Ricksile immediately raised his staff and knocked the Famine Crop clean out of Lionel’s hands.

Thud.

“You mustn’t!”
“You can’t!”

Both Ricksile and Lionel cried out at once, and in that same moment they discovered each other.

“Ricksile?”

……Oh no.
Only then did Ricksile stop moving.

‘I was supposed to slip away after watching him in secret!’

He’d been caught red-handed.

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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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