The Unfilial Heir Who Tries to Kill Me Tempts Me - Chapter 56

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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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Episode 56.

What was he doing here again?
I stared at Kaius, baffled.
“He said he wanted to avoid ‘official’ military support. So I called for unofficial assistance instead.”
He explained that after returning from the ancient dungeon, he’d obtained a Summon Stone from Eden in preparation for emergencies.
The two of them had been conspiring behind my back.
“Hey! You called me over acting all urgent like something happened to my Contractor, and the moment I get here, this guy tells me to just hold onto these people!”
Eden grumbled.
“Ever since last time, you keep giving me boring jobs while you run off to have all the fun by yourself!”
I didn’t answer, letting my gaze slide past his shoulder.
Enslaved people lay in orderly rows, bound by Eden’s Authority. Several of them bore the marks of physical abuse, their condition pitiful.
It seemed he’d found more than a little entertainment in the meantime, despite his complaints.
“But I kept them safe, didn’t I? I did well, right? This Eden didn’t let a single one escape.”
He blinked his eyes eagerly, seeking praise. I obliged, patting his head as he hoped.
“You did well. You’re the best.”
“These are slave traders, yeah? This one was getting smart-mouthed with me, so I sealed his mouth for a bit.”
He nudged a man lying nearby with his foot. The body tipped to one side and tumbled with a thud. I recognized the face instantly—the Auctioneer, the one who’d been calling out bids with that frivolous voice at the Auction House.
The Auctioneer’s eyes met mine, and he began thrashing on the ground like a seal.
“Mmph! Ugh! Ugh!”
His swollen face brimmed with betrayal. He wanted to point an accusing finger at me, but with his hands and feet bound, he was helpless.
“Yes, I’m glad to see you again too.”
“Ugh! Mmph!”
“Hey, shut it.”
Eden’s kick made the man gag into silence.
Hmm.
Not particularly worth pitying.
Although Eden’s arrival was unexpected, things had worked out well.
The people had been evacuated safely, the Crow Beasts eliminated, and the slave traders captured. Now I just had to hand them over to the Imperial authorities and this would be done.
I needed to wrap this up quickly and return to Lucifenia before I ran into Leoni by chance. I couldn’t bear waiting any longer—the anxiety was suffocating.
I was about to call Kaius to deal with the slave traders when—
“…Charlotte?”
What?
That voice—I shouldn’t be hearing it here, not now.
My neck stiffened as I turned.
At the mouth of the alley stood a short figure in a pulled-up hood. Cherry-blossom-pink hair drifted beneath it.
Behind Leoni stood a Knight of the Schmidt Count’s House in a white uniform, watching us cautiously.
“What? Contractor, is this someone you know?”
Seriously.
What kind of day was this?
Why was this happening to me?
If she’d sent those people to the Entertainment District to escape, shouldn’t she be busy protecting them instead? Why did she come all the way here?
“Charlotte, isn’t it?”
Leoni asked again, approaching me slowly.
Don’t come closer, don’t—
I stepped back without thinking.
Whether Telepathy reached her or not, Leoni’s steps halted abruptly. In the next moment, her blue eyes shifted to my side.
“Next to you—surely that’s not the Archduke?”
Damn it.
In a panic, I pulled the Cloche from my head and placed it on Kaius’s, yanking the Veil down hard to cover his face.
“Ah.”
Sorry about that.
Just stay like that for a moment.
I lifted my chin and faced Leoni head-on, answering with shameless audacity.
“Who are you?”
“…What?”
“I’m not sure who you’re looking for, but I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. I’m not a person named Charlotte.”
Confusion crossed Leoni’s face. Her eyes traced over my appearance methodically, then shook her head as if the very idea were impossible.
“Don’t lie to me. You think I won’t recognize you just because you changed your hair color?”
Even my hair color changed, so I’m not entirely unrecognizable.
“What in the world is happening here? Why are you here with the Archduke, and before that—did you really survive? Are you all right?”
Leoni finally pushed back the hood that had covered her face and hurried toward me.
The power of a protagonist was truly remarkable. The night plaza, which had been dull and ashen without a single flame, seemed to brighten miraculously at her mere appearance.
A soft gasp escaped from the lips of the Auctioneer sprawled across the ground.
Right—you can see it too. The protagonist is something else entirely, isn’t she?
“Miss, it’s dangerous. Do not approach.”
At that moment, a Knight who had been observing the situation stepped forward to block her path.
I recognized the face.
The First Knight-Commander of Schmidt Count’s House.
Unlike Leoni, he fixed me with a cautious gaze and kept his guard firmly in place.
Schmidt Count was certainly something—sending his strongest force, the First Knight-Commander, on his daughter’s personal leave instead of anyone else. That’s what I’d call overprotective.
I looked between the two of them slowly, then squeezed my eyes shut. A deep sigh escaped unbidden.
It’s over. Everything’s fallen apart.
I should have used Polymorph Magic like Kaius suggested. Burning through my mana and collapsing the next day would have been a hundred times better than running into Leoni.
Though of course, that would have meant struggling far harder against the Crow Beasts.
“…Leoni, this isn’t a tourist attraction. How did you end up here?”
“I should be asking you that, Charlotte. You rescued the people from the—from the Auction House?”
I didn’t answer.
Instead, I desperately racked my brain for a way out of this situation.
Unfortunately, no brilliant solution came to mind.
Leoni, who had been silent for a moment, spoke.
“I heard Fabian went to find you. When I learned you were working as a Mage at Archduke’s Castle, I didn’t know what to make of it, but what’s really going on? How did you find out about the slave market? Who are all these people?”
Breathe for a moment.
You’re going to suffocate yourself.
“Leoni.”
I called her name firmly.
“Why do you need to know?”
“What…?”
“You said you wouldn’t treat me as your sister anymore. Didn’t we finish our farewells in the Underground Prison of the Imperial Capital?”
“That’s…!”
Leoni tried to speak but clamped her mouth shut. Her clear, transparent blue eyes—like the sky itself—wavered without direction. She had so much she wanted to say, but the words caught in her throat.
Before she could press me further, I decided to make my move first.
I walked toward her and held out the single Black Mana Crystal I had left.
“Leoni, listen carefully.”
I’m only telling you this once.
“Saldwich has been trading in slaves in secret for a long time. The collapsed three-story theater you passed on the way here is the Auction House, and everyone being held there is either a merchant or a buyer. And this is a Black Mana Crystal—an artifact created by the Dark Mage Group that backs those people.”
“What…?”
“So from now on, you hand all these people over to the Imperial Palace, and make sure Fabian investigates Saldwich. That way, you’ll soon be able to trace the Dark Mage Group that left this crystal behind. They’re different from ordinary Dark Mages, so be careful.”
“Wait, wait. Charlotte, what are you talking about? I don’t understand any of this.”
Leoni blinked her wide eyes in obvious confusion.
It’s all right. You won’t understand now, but you will soon. You’ll awaken Holy Power before long and become the only Saint who can stand against them.
Wait—if I try to hand this crystal directly to her, the Knight-Commander will slash my wrist, won’t he?
I quietly set it down at Leoni’s feet instead.
“Don’t forget what I said.”
In the end, Leoni will act according to her own sense of justice.
This wasn’t speculation—it was certainty.
This world was made for you, after all.
You are my one and only protagonist.
“Leoni, you do what you need to do.”
And let’s never meet again.
I turned without hesitation and took back the Cloche I had placed on Kaius’s head, pressing it firmly onto my own.
“Eden, draw a Teleportation Magic Circle.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s go.”
Eden, who had been staring at me with a bewildered expression, drew the Teleportation Magic Circle.
I didn’t look at Leoni once until the scenery before my eyes changed.

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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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