The Unfilial Heir Who Tries to Kill Me Tempts Me - Chapter 23

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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 23

“I’m so sorry, so sorry!”
Feeling heat flood my face, I hastily drew the curtain shut and spun around.
Kaius emerged from the other side, having changed his shirt, and pulled the curtain open again.
“So you’re the type to scheme rather cleverly, then.”
“I really am sorry…”
“Was this sort of thing your preference?”
He touched the curtain’s edge, amused.
As if I had preferences.
But since this was my own mistake, I kept my mouth shut and simply bowed my head. The embarrassment was bad enough, but giving him ammunition like this—that stung far worse.
“So what did you want to say? Surely you didn’t pull back my curtain just to admire my body for no reason.”
He’d caught me red-handed.
I took a breath to calm the burning in my cheeks, looked away, and spoke.
“When we return, would it be possible for you to give me one laboratory of my own? The location doesn’t matter.”
“Ah, so you suddenly burst through the curtain for this?”
“Ugh…”
I wanted to rewind time.
Why was there no Dark Magic spell to turn back the clock?
“…Magical Potion Craft is my specialty, you know. When we return, there are things I want to try. If you give me a laboratory, I can make many potions that would benefit the realm.”
Besides, once I completed the Elixir, I’d be leaving this world anyway. Making various things beforehand wouldn’t hurt—and it would give me an excuse for needing the laboratory in the first place.
Kaius, who had fallen quiet in thought, nodded.
“I’ll consider which room to give you.”
“Really?”
He agreed that readily?
“I told you—it’s a reward for your accomplishments.”
Oh.
Excellent.
What a man.
“Thank you. I’ll only need it temporarily anyway, so you don’t need to give me anything too large. I’ll keep it clean and leave it in good order.”
Kaius stared at me for a long moment, then asked.
“Have you thought about where and how you’ll live after a year?”
“Well, I’m planning to buy a house beyond the Border. Somewhere no one knows me.”
I counted off on my fingers as I answered.
“I’ll also buy some land for farming, and since the currency is common across the continent, I can save up my salary from working in the Grand Duchy as my settlement funds… Beyond that, I haven’t decided yet. I’ve really only planned that far.”
After that, it would be Charlotte’s life, not mine.
What kind of life she lived beyond the Border would be her decision to make.
“You have no intention of returning to the Capital, it seems.”
“How can I return when I’ve been banished? Besides, there’s no reason to go back. There’s no one there I want to see.”
All I’d find in the Capital was being surrounded by hostile people.
More than anything, I didn’t want Charlotte to have to face the Count and Countess again. They were wonderful parents to Leoni, but to Charlotte, they were only people who had used her.
After a moment of watching me, Kaius turned away.
“If crossing the Border becomes difficult for some reason, you’re welcome to remain in the Grand Duchy. I can arrange a place for you there.”
…What?
“Does that mean you’ve changed your mind about not killing me after I stop being your Exclusive Mage in a year?”
Have you finally reconsidered?
I yanked back the curtain and asked; Kaius, who had been adjusting the bedding, turned to face me.
He rolled his eyes, then stretched his lips into a long smile.
“Of course, that’s assuming you don’t aim for the position of Grand Duchess.”
“Sleep well.”
I immediately drew the curtain shut again and turned away.
Things were going so well, and then he had to be infuriating like this.
“Just so you know, I’d prefer if you didn’t cross over to my side while I’m sleeping. I’m a light sleeper.”
“I won’t!”
From the other side of the curtain came the sound of quiet laughter.

***

The Cottage lay silent in the deep of night.
Daemon was organizing his belongings in the corner of the living room, with only a small oil lamp lit.
Suddenly, he sensed a presence behind him and turned.
“…Your Highness, you haven’t retired yet?”
“Neither have you, it seems. Do you intend to spend the entire night awake?”
“After eight years in this place, there’s quite a bit to sort through.”
Daemon gestured awkwardly at the pile of miscellaneous items heaped before him.
Kaius’s gaze fixed on a single point.
A longsword bearing the Imperial seal lay at Daemon’s feet—a blade bestowed directly by his late father when he was still alive.
Feeling the weight of that stare, Daemon laughed uncomfortably.
“I abandoned everything and fled, yet I couldn’t bring myself to leave this behind.”
“It was a sword made for you.”
Daemon didn’t answer.
Instead, he carefully picked up the blade and held it for a long moment, running his fingers along its length.
“The truth is, these past eight years I’ve been searching for the Divine Artifact and the Crown Prince.”
A faint crack appeared in Kaius’s hitherto impassive face.
“I thought that perhaps I could wash away some measure of my sin in doing so.”
That day, the culprit had absconded with the sword and the body of an Imperial family member.
Unlike the Emperor and Empress, from whom only parts of their bodies vanished, the Crown Prince’s corpse had disappeared entirely, as though it had simply evaporated.
The Imperial investigators had declared him dead on the basis of the gruesome scene and the considerable volume of blood presumed to belong to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince was given a funeral with an empty casket.
“…I’m afraid I never found them.”
“As I’ve said before, that failure was not yours. This was a murder orchestrated from the start to claim the Divine Artifact.”
Among the three Divine Artifacts known to exist in this world, the Sword of Dominion was the only one whose location had been clearly documented.
It was said to grant its owner absolute power.
Yet for a Divine Artifact to manifest its true strength, a fitting sacrifice was absolutely necessary.
The Crown Prince at that time possessed noble bloodline and the most formidable Mana among all Imperial family members. Thus, the missing corpse likely became the perpetrator’s sacrifice.
Daemon pressed something into Kaius’s hand.
“Please accept this.”
“What is it?”
“The locations where the remaining two Divine Artifacts are expected to surface. Should the perpetrator be hunting for the other artifacts as well, I suspect they will reveal themselves at one of these places. I selected them based solely on intuition while moving about in disguise, so they may lack precision. However…”
Daemon half-joked that he himself carried the blood of a Paladin, after all.
“All these years I thought you were merely hiding, yet you’ve been engaged in such work?”
“I had intended to report my findings to Your Highness one day. I didn’t expect that day to be today.”
“You are truly beyond my comprehension.”
Kaius accepted the paper.
“Deliver this to the mage.”
Even as Kaius folded the paper and tucked it into his breast, Daemon continued to gaze at him intently.
“What is the meaning of that look?”
“Is there truly nothing between you and the mage?”
Kaius’s eyes went dull.
“What answer are you hoping to hear?”
“I am in favor of it.”
“You speak nonsense.”
“The intuition of an old man, perhaps.”
“Now I see your wits have dulled considerably. If you wish to avoid dismissal shortly after your appointment, you’d do well to retire and sleep.”
Kaius clicked his tongue and turned away.
“Sleep well.”
When he returned to his quarters, ignoring Daemon’s farewell, darkness still reigned within.
Only moonlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves and passing through the window frame dimly illuminated the room.
Kaius stood for a moment with his hand on the doorknob, then turned his head.
It was toward the direction of Charlotte’s room, beyond the curtain.

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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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