The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 93

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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 93
‘No, wait—why?’
Did she have some unhappy memory tied to Magical Engineering?
I froze like a stone, but inside my head it was chaos—a storm raging through every thought.
‘What did I do wrong? Oh god, could Magical Engineering be connected to the dead Empress? If that’s the case, the Academy tour is off the table! Fine, I’ll just hide in the baggage compartment of the Crown Prince’s carriage instead—’
Then she exhaled.
The Duchess of Stria drew a long, deliberate breath.
“My dear.”
Then she asked me.
“Do you like Magical Engineering?”
“A l-little, yes.”
I answered honestly, caught off guard.
Noticing the shift in my response, the Duchess of Stria’s eyes softened with something like apology.
“My dear.”
“Yes?”
But why had she suddenly started calling me ‘my dear’?
The question lasted only a moment before I guessed the answer.
‘Ah, now she’s seeing in me—’
Her dead daughter. The Empress who had passed away.
A guilt too heavy to bear tore through my conscience with savage precision.
I had approached the Duchess of Stria with that very intention from the start, but now that it was working, I felt myself become something ugly.
“How old are you now?”
“Seven years old…….”
“So lost in your books that you forget the hours…….”
“…….”
“How much…….”
Wrinkled, warm hands gently traced the skin beneath my eyes.
“You’re alike in such things.”
“…….”
I lifted my head carefully, my chin trembling slightly with remorse.
My heart sank in that instant.
It was then I understood for the first time that a smile born of love and remembrance could be so achingly, devastatingly sorrowful.
“Go to bed soon. Your aunt must be worried.”
“Yes…….”
“Might this old woman bid you well and good sleep?”
“Of course.”
The Duchess of Stria held me close—firmly, yet with infinite gentleness—and pressed her lips to my forehead.
“Sleep well, my dear.”
“Good night…….”
I took Ian’s hand without thinking and walked toward the bedroom.
“……Miss.”
Ian spoke in a voice barely louder than a whisper.
“Turn around once.”
I turned as he asked, and the Duchess of Stria stood where we’d just been, watching me.
“…….”
I raised my hand slightly and waved.
The Duchess of Stria waved back.
A maid beside her said something, and the Duchess gave a short nod before turning her body slowly away.
Then she walked back to her own chambers.
“…….”
“…….”
Ian and I said nothing all the way back to the room.
The moment the door opened and we stepped inside, I threw myself onto the bed.
Rather than scold me for diving onto the mattress still dressed and without changing into nightclothes, Ian simply sat beside the bed and ran his fingers gently through my hair.
I felt my nose twitch for no reason.
“Miss.”
Ian’s voice fell quietly from above my head.
“The Crown Prince was watching.”
* * *
“Elder Sister.”
The maid assisted the Duchess of Stria into a chair.
“Shall I bring tea?”
The Duchess smiled sadly and shook her head.
“No need. I’d never sleep if I drank now.”
“My lady, just a moment ago you were…….”
“Kara, spare me the lectures.”
……
“I know. Better than anyone.”
My daughter is dead.
“I held her myself and laid her in the coffin.”
The maid quietly wiped her wet eyes with a handkerchief.
The Duchess of Stria, meanwhile, had tears glistening on her lashes but not a single drop fell. Her eyes had long since dried.
‘I wept enough that day.’
The day she washed her dead daughter with her own hands, dressed her in her favorite clothes, and laid her in the coffin.
The Duchess of Stria had sworn through tears of blood.
‘The tears I shed next…….’
Remembering the vow she had made before her dead daughter, the Duchess exhaled a trembling breath with difficulty.
“……I’ve done something unforgivable to that child.”
Beni was remarkably clever for her age, quick to pick up on things.
“So she likes Magical Engineering.”
“Rena and Leon were fond of it as well, were they not?”
“Yes, both of them had talent.”
The Duchess of Stria laughed softly.
Even now, closing her eyes, she could see the young siblings bickering over experiments—one insisting the other was wrong, the other claiming to be right—their images vivid and clear.
“Those were happy times.”
……
“The Magical Engineering Academy…….”
The smile on the Duchess’s face faltered slightly.
“That child showed interest in it too, once.”
“My lady…….”
“I’m hardly human, at my age.”
……
“How is it that I feel more affection for a stranger than for my own daughter’s blood?”
* * *
“……Yes, I understand.”
Beep.
After ending the call, Verity set the mobile phone on her desk and stretched her arms high above her head with a long, satisfying stretch.
“Nngh……!”
The Demon loosened her stiffened body and massaged her brow gently with her fingers.
“Phew, I’m exhausted.”
“Arf.”
Ppoppi, sitting in the chair across from her, let out a short, sullen bark.
Verity raised an eyebrow at this.
“That growl doesn’t scare me one bit.”
“Grrrrr!”
“Oh? That call was from Ian. You don’t want to hear news about the young lady?”
……
Ppoppi, who had been baring her teeth and snarling, quickly closed her mouth.
But her eyes remained narrowed stubbornly, showing no sign of softening.
“Ow!”
Chutchu appeared silently and bit Verity’s ankle as she stood unguarded. Then she trotted away and settled herself beside Ppoppi.
‘Those damned dogs…….’
Verity swallowed her irritation and rubbed the bite mark absently with her other foot.
Her anger faded faster than expected.
‘They’re frustrated and angry too, aren’t they.’
The master they had found again doesn’t remember them, and the weakened restrictions prevent her from properly protecting them.
‘Of course they’re on edge.’
Above Izelium Village, a large, bright full moon had risen.
The moonlight that once created the only passage between the Primordial Forest and the outside world now cast long shadows—of the Demon and the two Chihuahuas.
The shadow of the Demon moved.
“The young lady wept, saying she was sorry for deceiving the Duchess of Stria.”
“She has a good heart, that one.”
“In a way, she’s the most Clavis-like of all of us.”
The two shadows across from him stirred.
Verity lifted her head and looked forward.
Two dogs had leaped onto the desk at some point, wagging their tails as they gracefully trampled the scattered documents strewn across its surface.
They were materials brought from the Antemma Research Institute.
Verity lowered her gaze again.
“How did the Emperor summon the Demon? Our interrogation still isn’t finished. It seems breaking the Divine Language Curse takes time.”
“Divine Language Curses are troublesome things, after all.”
“That must be why the Multidimensional Alliance infiltrated the Demon’s side. The Demon guards the most Divine Language—or Magic, as they call it now.”
“Magic is what they call it these days, isn’t it?”
“Oh no, what if more leaked magic is out there……!”
Before Verity’s eyes, wracking her head in despair, a small black paw emerged from beneath her hands.
“Commander.”
The dog’s paw slid something forward.
“This is…….”
The contents of the document looked familiar.
[In the case of corpses treated with special substances, the efficacy of the White Stone increases further…….]
It was one of the pieces of evidence they’d found together in the research materials on the day Hebenia uncovered the Emperor’s true intentions.
“Humans possess creativity rivaling creation itself. It is no exaggeration to say they have risen to the apex of the ecosystem through that power.”
“…….”
“The Emperor sought out unawakened Transcendent Beings and placed them here to obtain White Stones.”
“White Stones…….”
Empty stones, devoid of everything.
They could become Magical Stones or Holy Stones by absorbing mana or Holy Power, but that process took considerable time.
“On the day the guards tried to kill us, the final shipment of White Stones never made it beyond the Primordial Forest.”
Recalling Hebenia’s words, Verity read through the research materials more carefully.
* * *
Four days later.
Myself, Ian, Modi, and Frelia.
And Verity, Pex, and Popina as well.
The six of us gathered in the basement dungeon of the Deste Estate for a brief morning meeting.
Modi spoke first.
“My contact with Rashid the knight commander was only on the first day. He shows no intention of sharing information with me.”
“Molle Rebus clearly failed to build any trust.”
It was what I’d expected.
Who would trust and employ a man who betrays his own allies out of jealousy?
“There is barely any surveillance. The same goes for the other knights. They are all expendable pieces.”
Frelia spoke next.
“I’ve grown quite close with the Duchess’s handmaid. She kept fussing over me, saying I should find a good man. It seems Molle Rebus has a very poor reputation.”
And then.
She paused, glancing sideways at me.
“It seems the Duchess also sees in you the late Empress, who returned to the village chief.”
“Tsk.”
I made a small sound, clicking my tongue for no real reason.
Ian, Pex, and Popina reported in turn.
“The servants are still manageable. There are no undead showing abnormal behavior.”
“The Magical Devices are functioning well. Rashid speaks little, so there isn’t much being recorded, but the Crown Prince talks to himself quite a bit.”
“Since I’ve been cooking according to the Duchess’s preferences, the Crown Prince has started interfering in the kitchen. He says he’ll have his own food prepared separately.”
Then it was my turn.
“I’m going to the Magic Engineering Academy today.”
“I’ll accompany you as an escort.”
Verity raised her hand beside me.
The visit to the Magic Engineering Academy had to succeed, and we’d achieved our objective far faster than planned.
But no one offered congratulations.
Instead, they looked at me with worried eyes.
‘They have good reason to.’
And indeed, they did.
“I never expected the Crown Prince to suggest it first…….”
Ian made a low sound in his throat and tilted his head slightly to the side. Then he voiced what he’d begun to suspect.
“So that’s it—you were eavesdropping back then, weren’t you?”

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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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