The Eldest Daughter Walks Down The Flower Path - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Eldest Daughter Walks the Path of Flowers Episode 22

“Haah…”

She patted the horse’s neck to calm it down before dismounting.

After riding for several hours, the sky had turned black.

The ground was the same.

There was no light anywhere around.

In the wide plain bathed in moonlight, there was only her.

“…”

Radis looked beyond the plain at the forest shrouded in darkness.

The forest that covered the horizon in black was completely black.

Even on such a bright moonlit night, that forest was pitch black as if it devoured light.

Radis, as if entranced, tied the horse’s reins to a tree and walked toward the forest.

That forest was strange.

The sounds of insects and night birds that should naturally be heard from a forest were absent.

The scents wafting over weren’t the refreshing fragrance of grass and trees, but only the damp smell of rotting earth and an unidentifiable fishy odor.

Radis, who had reached the edge of the forest, stretched out her hand and placed it on a tree.

Even though it was clearly a spot where sunlight would reach during the day, the trunk was covered with thick moss.

A growling sound came from not far away.

Radis was certain.

“Monster Forest…!”

She knew that the Russel Manor was adjacent to the Monster Forest.

But she hadn’t known it was this close!

In her previous life, Radis had roamed this vast forest to the point of exhaustion.

Even now it was vivid.

The seemingly endless tedious marches, battles with terrible monsters, and the terrible demonic energy that led her to death.

Yet strangely, Radis had never once felt that she disliked this forest.

Sometimes this forest felt more like home than the Tilrod Estate.

Monster hunting was certainly difficult work.

However… there were times when it was enjoyable too.

‘Why is the deputy commander so quiet?’

‘You don’t know the deputy commander? She becomes taciturn once we’re in the forest. She’s different outside though.’

Her comrades who followed her without any suspicion, even though she barely spoke for fear of her female identity being discovered.

‘I trust you.’

Robert, the extermination troop commander, who was as quiet as her but whose occasional words were as warm as sunlight.

‘Dee.’

But in the end, she had ultimately betrayed Robert’s trust.

“Robert…”

Radis began walking as if he were somewhere in the forest.

“I was curious about what you meant when you said you’d come back and do it…”

As she walked with her head down, she heard something rustling in the darkness and looked up.

Three green lights were shooting toward her.

“Ah…”

Radis looked around.

It wasn’t just that one.

Green lights were appearing one by one in the darkness.

They were creatures she had seen many times.

“Three-eyed wolves.”

As if answering her words, a large wolf emerged from the darkness, growling.

It was twice the size of an ordinary wolf, with eyes that glowed green in the darkness – two in their normal positions and one embedded in the crown of its head, making three total. It was clearly a monster just by looking at it.

“Coming out to the edge of the forest like this. You must be quite starved.”

Radis looked around.

These creatures never traveled alone.

They moved in packs of at least five, usually ten, and sometimes more than twenty.

Once encountered, these disgusting creatures forced you to either run for your life or annihilate the entire pack.

Radis habitually reached for her waist, then stopped.

She was empty-handed.

“Running away is… too late now.”

Radis raised her head to look up at the sky.

Through the pitch-black branches, the bright full moon looked down at her with a sad face.

She didn’t know how she had ended up here.

It wasn’t as if she wanted to be in this situation.

She didn’t want to live like this either.

How wonderful it would have been if she could have lived like David or Yurhee instead of Radis.

She endlessly envied a life where she could have reverence and respect for her parents to the point of being ashamed to bow her head at the mention of filial duty.

But what could she do?

She was Radis.

Then she had no choice but to live as Radis.

“Growl!”

One wolf charged at her.

As if that was a signal, dozens of green eyes poured down like hail.

At that terrible sight, Radis closed her eyes.

‘If I just died like this, I wouldn’t have to suffer anymore.’

However.

Radis’s second heart, her mana core, began to beat.

With her eyes closed, she stretched out her hand and crushed something that was rushing at her.

“…I didn’t come back to life just to die here.”

Radis opened her eyes.

And looked down at her hand.

The color of blazing flames.

Blood-red mana was wrapped around her hand.

In her childhood, she had loved flowers of that color.

No beautiful flower could compare to the majesty that flower possessed.

That tall flower never acted coquettishly and simply threw itself toward high places, burning beautifully and fiercely.

A slight smile appeared on Radis’s lips as she confirmed the bright red flame-like mana.

“You’re still the same.”

The wolves charged.

At her, and at the corpse of the wolf whose head had been crushed by her hand.

There were more of the latter.

To these low-intelligence, starving monsters, the corpse of their comrade that had become a chunk of meat was more attractive than the enemy before their eyes.

Radis also rushed toward them.

Her mana-wrapped hand was like a heavy blunt weapon or a sharp greatsword in itself.

She struck down the wolves like a starving beast.

She crushed wolves’ heads, struck their necks, and pierced their chests.

Yet her expression remained utterly calm.

Just like when she cleaned her small room, dusting off surfaces, replacing candles, arranging her bed, and finally sweeping the floor.

With familiar movements that felt almost boring, she systematically annihilated the wolf pack.

“Whine!”

In an instant, the area was covered with wolf corpses.

The survivors weren’t in good shape either.

Some fled in terror, others limped away whimpering from their wounds.

Radis deliberately didn’t chase after them.

Today, she hadn’t come here to hunt those creatures.

Among the wolf corpses, Radis extracted mana crystals from the third eyes of the larger wolves that emanated relatively strong magical energy.

She didn’t forget to wrap her hands with her sleeves.

Most of the mana crystals extracted from the three-eyed wolves were only the size of wheat grains.

Since three-eyed wolves were inherently low-grade magical beasts, it would be difficult to get a high price for them.

But considering her situation where she could be kicked out of the Russel Manor at any moment, even this much was a blessing.

“Well, for now…”

Radis sighed as she looked down at her body covered in the wolves’ black blood.

“I’ll wash this off roughly… and head back.”

After washing off the wolves’ blood at the stream and returning, Radis decided to seek out Lord Russel as soon as the sun rose to finish the conversation they couldn’t complete yesterday.

However, she couldn’t do as she had planned.

That day, she came down with a terrible cold.

Looking back, it made sense.

She had used mana recklessly as if abusing her body that wasn’t yet accustomed to mana, then sweated profusely and washed herself with cold stream water.

Moreover, she had ridden back on horseback in the cold wind without even drying her body.

It would have been strange if she hadn’t caught a cold.

But something strange happened.

Allen, who came to find Radis for breakfast, looked as if the sky had fallen when he learned she had caught a cold.

“I’ll call for a doctor!”

“It’s fine. It’s just a cold.”

“I’ll bring one right away!”

Radis could count on her fingers the number of times she had received medical treatment.

Much less seeing a doctor for a minor illness like a cold was something that could never happen to her.

The person who came at Allen’s summons was none other than the Russel Manor’s personal physician.

Even while feverish and disoriented, Radis felt overwhelmed with gratitude.

However, the doctor didn’t scold Radis for calling him over a mere cold, nor did he make her feel intimidated by discussing medical fees in front of her.

The doctor very kindly diagnosed Radis and said he would bring her herbal medicine.

After drinking the hot herbal medicine, Radis felt her stomach warming up as she lay down on the soft bed.

Though she was feverish and disoriented, and her whole body ached as if she had been beaten, she still felt a little—no, quite a bit—happy.

When she was at the Tilrod Household, no one looked after her when she was sick.

When Radis was ill, Margaret would only say, “Rest well and you’ll get better.”

Whether she had stomach pain from eating spoiled food, suffered from severe fever, or broke her finger while using a wooden sword, Radis always had to endure everything alone.

‘This is the first time anyone has worried about me.’

Radis decided to thank Allen once her cold got better.

But the strange occurrences continued.

“Lady Radis, let us help you change your clothes!”

“Shall we add lemon to your water?”

“How about warm milk with honey?”

“Let us change the wet cloth on your forehead!”

Groups of three to five maids took turns visiting Radis’s room.

When she woke up after falling asleep from the medicine’s effects, there were maids, and when she woke up again after falling back asleep, there were different maids.

Perhaps it was natural for maids to attend to guests like this at the manor…

But there were too many of them.

It seemed like almost every maid in the estate was coming to see Radis.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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