The Unfilial Heir Who Tries to Kill Me Tempts Me - Chapter 14

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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 14.

The weather was lovely.
The sky was blue, the sunlight warm.
If I hadn’t been walking alongside this wretch of an unfilial son who looked ill-favored from every angle, the day would’ve been perfect.
“…Do we really have to go see it in person like this?”
“And what do you suppose that suggests about my trust in you?”
What’s the point of arguing?
I’d sooner trust a passing shepherd boy.
“There’s nothing wrong with building the City Wall in advance. What good is it to build after disaster strikes? Every fortress is made to prepare against calamity and invasion.”
“Which is precisely why I’m going to the trouble of examining the site in person with you.”
Kaius shot back with shameless composure.
It was infuriatingly clever, and I had nothing to counter with, so I pressed my lips together.
“Mage! So the Grand Duke is here too!”
A cheerful voice called out suddenly from ahead. The orchard keeper was rushing toward us, straw hat flying in the breeze.
“Charles!”
I waved my hand.
“How are the crops coming along these days?”
“Couldn’t be better. The plants shoot up the moment I put them in the ground—it’s almost too much, really.”
“That’s wonderful. You haven’t had any other difficulties?”
“Not at all, thanks to you both.”
He broke into a broad smile.
“And while it’s nothing much, I brought this along for you.”
“You shouldn’t have.”
The basket was brimming with Tomatoes and Oranges.
Propriety dictated I should refuse, but I found myself grinning despite myself.
“Just thinking of the favors you two have done me—one basket wouldn’t be enough repayment if I gave you ten. How did the Grand Duke manage to find someone like this?”
See?
I glanced at Kaius with a triumphant look.
“If anything becomes difficult, just let me know. Making medicinal draughts is hardly labor-intensive.”
“Your kindness is thanks enough.”
Charles laughed heartily and hurried back the way he’d come, saying he had work to finish.
I waved after his retreating figure before plucking a Tomato from the basket and taking a bite.
Fruit never loses its charm, no matter when you eat it.
“Would you like one?”
“You eat your fill.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
Well then, I wouldn’t hold back—I’d finish the lot. I was hungry anyway, and this was convenient.
“You’ve certainly won over the Territory folk quickly.”
“What can I say? It’s this innocent look of mine. Everyone finds me persuasive.”
Kaius let out a scoff. Without bothering to engage further, he strode ahead with a lazy gait.
“No, I’m serious.”
Abruptly.
Kaius stopped in his tracks and turned back. He walked toward me again and bent at the waist, bringing his face close.
Within a hand’s breadth of distance, his golden eyes examined me intently. My own reflection shone clearly in them. Without thinking, I leaned back.
“Why—what are you—”
Suddenly crowding in like this.
Bewildered.
After a few seconds, Kaius curved his long eyes into crescents and straightened, his lips curling upward.
“So you’re not particularly innocent after all.”
He let out a low chuckle and turned to walk on.
“Come along.”
…What a contrary man.
“Still, you can’t deny that I’m proving useful to the Territory.”
“That remains to be seen.”
“Which is why you arranged a place for me in your Office, isn’t it?”
“I’m glad you catch on quickly.”
The more I spoke, the more it felt like I was digging myself into a hole, so I fell silent and focused on chewing my Tomato.
By the time I’d finished about half the basket, I felt a gaze on me and turned to see Kaius watching with an expression of wonder.
“…All of that fits inside you?”
“Mages have large appetites, you see. All this magical power comes from my food intake. And since my magical capacity is far greater than other mages, I simply need to eat more.”
I can eat this and still have a separate meal afterward? To be honest, fruit is just a snack.
“Ah, so that’s why such a clause was in the contract.”
“If I ate the same rations as the other servants, I’d likely starve to death.”
Kaius, who had fallen silent in thought for a moment, suddenly spoke up.
“Who taught you magic?”
“You’re curious about that too?”
“There’s no record of you ever having a master.”
So he’s stopped hiding the fact that he looked into my background.
It was something I’d already anticipated, and there was no real secret about it anyway, so I picked up an orange and began wiping it on the hem of my dress as I answered.
“I first used magic purely by accident. It manifested when I was on the verge of starving to death in the streets. It started when I summoned bread from a market stall. I doubt you’ll believe it, though.”
Charlotte had never known her biological mother. Like all children born in the slums, she had been abandoned the moment she came into the world.
Had her mother known that Charlotte possessed such remarkable magical power, she might not have abandoned her—but unfortunately, Charlotte’s mother was an uneducated commoner with no knowledge to make such a discovery.
“You learned all those complex magics entirely on your own?”
“Not all of them—only Survival-type Magic. Things like Preservation Magic or Summoning Magic are spells you can use without understanding the theory or equations.”
Kaius’s gaze settled on me.
“But I suspect that’s not really what you’re asking about.”
I’d already grasped the true intent behind his question. He wasn’t asking about magic in general—he wanted to know how I came to wield Black Magic.
“Black Magic wasn’t taught to me by anyone either. Strictly speaking, I mastered it out of necessity.”
“Out of necessity?”
“I needed to be useful.”
Charlotte had been adopted for one reason and one reason alone: necessity.
“Why would a nobleman adopt a young mage with no connections? To use her for advancement, of course.”
But unfortunately, Charlotte’s Survival-type Magic fell far short of satisfying the count’s ambitions.
Every time Schmidt expressed dissatisfaction, he would hurl insults at her—wounds that cut deep because Charlotte had come to regard him as family, as the one who had taken her in.
“Schmidt didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow when I used Survival-type White Magic, but the moment I started using Black Magic to punish nobility that displeased him, he was absolutely thrilled.”
“So you spent fifteen years alone researching Black Magic just for that?”
“Back then, I thought proving my usefulness would let me become part of their family.”
Kaius’s gaze lingered on me.
I didn’t need to meet his eyes to sense what lay behind that look, so I quickly added to my statement.
“The truth is, I was able to master it alone because I’m gifted. Do you have any idea how remarkable it is for a child to research Black Magic entirely on her own, without a master?”
After I finished speaking, I suddenly glanced up at him. Kaius, who had been studying me intently, spread his hand and slowly dragged it across his face.
“Ugh.”
“That’s certainly impressive.”
Damn it.
I grimaced at him while rubbing my flushed face.
“As I’ve mentioned before, Black Magic isn’t inherently evil. It’s only seem that way because the people who use it now have impure motives. Black Magic by itself is actually more focused on practical application than White Magic. That’s true of its origins too.”
“And yet you say this after seeing the damage Black Mages inflicted on my territory?”
That’s because you stole their land and executed anyone who caught your eye….
“What I mean is, just as not all swords are the same, there are both good and bad Black Mages.”
“Are you a good Black Mage, then?”
“Well… if I had to say? You’re currently benefiting from my Black Magic, aren’t you?”
I laughed breezily.
Naturally, I was ignored.
We soon arrived at the Territory Outskirts, and the conversation naturally came to an end.
“Here we are.”
Just as the map had shown, the City Wall was absent only in the area near the mountains. Beyond a few houses stood the Coniferous Forest, and a tall mountain rising in the distance served as a natural barrier in place of a wall.
“So this area has been without a City Wall for all eight years?”
“The Security Commander stationed here compensates for it.”
“Security Commander?”
“Robert Gale. His name should be on the personnel documents that were sent to you.”
“Ah.”
I suspected as much—so it really was him.
That man has his own set of problems.
Setting that matter aside for now, I replied.
“Still, I think it would be wise to construct a City Wall. Even if it’s built only at the point where the forest ends, it would significantly reduce the damage landslides cause to the houses below.”
I’m really doing good deeds here.
At this rate, I’m spoiling the original story.
Kaius, who had been lost in thought while gazing at the houses below, nodded slowly.
“Yes, your reasoning has merit.”
What was this?
Before I could even register surprise at his ready agreement, he turned his body.
A radiant smile directed itself toward me.
“Then let us begin constructing the City Wall.”

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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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