The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 108

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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 108
A blue barrier materialized before Father’s eyes.
“Rubian?”
A sharp, thunderous boom erupted. In the dark night, the sky flared bright from a violent explosion.
The shockwave unleashed a whirlwind that tore through the air.
Trees snapped like twigs, jagged branches hurtling toward us, and Father instinctively wrapped his arms around me and dropped us both to the ground.
“Duke! Rubian!”
Asha poured more power into her protective spell.
Cradled in Father’s embrace, I squeezed my eyes shut.
‘A self-detonating magical artifact!’
My heart hammered wildly.
Why would he destroy it himself?
My thoughts spiraled before I reached a conclusion.
‘He thought it was a different artifact.’
The Mage King had deceived him.
To eliminate the Fourth, who had failed to achieve his objective.
I clenched my teeth hard.
‘But Father—Father is—!’
The wind gradually subsided.
I clutched at Father’s garments frantically, feeling the frantic pulse of his heartbeat clearly against my palms.
Confirming that sensation, all the tension drained from my body.
‘He’s alive.’
He hadn’t died.
‘The Fourth didn’t get him.’
‘Did I… manage to stop it?’
My head spun as I furrowed my brow.
The savage gale that had rushed at us soon came to a halt.
“Rubian! Duke! Are you all right?”
Asha came running frantically. Kalid was right behind her.
“Rubian! How did you even get here!”
Father quickly pushed himself up and checked on me in his arms.
Confirming I was unharmed, Father exhaled a long breath and pulled me close again. He looked considerably shaken.
“What in the—”
“Duke, Rubian is—”
“Doesn’t appear to be injured.”
Kalid released a held breath and dropped to one knee.
“Rubian, lift your head. Let me see your face.”
Father gently cradled my cheeks in his hands. People who had heard the commotion were gathering from a distance.
I struggled to lift my head.
The reason was—
‘Wait, wait. Time out!’
The sensation of light that had been concentrated somewhere in my abdomen spreading throughout my entire body was overwhelming.
‘I think I’m going to be sick.’
Damn it, Wizeria.
You’re really going to do this to me.
The herb I drank hours ago was only now beginning to take effect!
As my vision spun in circles, I cursed the knowledge in my head.
‘Drink the herb and circulate mana throughout your body….’
You should have told me beforehand!
Rubian!
Father’s voice echoed like a reverberating wail. The strength gradually drained from my hand that had been gripping his sleeve.
I hastily lifted my head in preparation for the approaching darkness.
“Father, I’m so glad you’re safe. But from now on, I’m just going to….”
Of course, I had no idea if I was even speaking properly.
* * *
“I told you not to stand against your father.”
I was confused from the start.
‘What, what is this.’
The vision in the dream had cleared. The first voice to strike me was….
“There was nothing you could do.”
It was a clear woman’s voice.
‘It wasn’t Fourth?!’
That’s impossible!
“But now that I see you….”
The woman approached Leviathan with her mana-infused hand clenched.
“You’re cursed.”
Because of the white priestly robe’s hood pulled over her head, black shadows fell across the woman’s face.
The crimson eyes barely visible in the pale moonlight were completely clouded.
A face devoid of any sense of will. Like a marionette on strings….
“…Well, you faced the Dark Mage alone. Being unscathed would have been impossible.”
“….”
“You’ve hidden it quite well all this time.”
Leviathan exhaled a long breath and stared at the woman.
The war had been brutal.
It had been extremely difficult to detect traces of the Dark Mage.
He had thought the mages were strangely uncooperative at the time, but now Leviathan fully understood the reason.
‘You were secretly trying to obtain the Dark Mage’s power for yourself.’
Leviathan pursued the Dark Mage with all his might.
As a result, he succeeded in finding and killing the Dark Mage, but in the process, he fell into a trap the Dark Mage had set and sustained an injury.
A curse—the obsessive madness of dark magic that slowly led to death.
“I thought I’d hidden it well.”
A low, raspy voice escaped him.
My senses had grown so dull that I hadn’t even noticed the Mage approaching me. He acknowledged it cleanly.
“It seems I’m reaching my limits.”
“I’m dying soon anyway….”
The woman muttered flatly.
“Let me make it easier for you.”
The Mage reached out her hand. Between the slightly raised sleeves, a skeletal wrist was exposed. Long branches of the World Tree were visible.
Leviathan reflexively tried to grip his sword, but soon abandoned the effort.
The woman’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the sight.
Leviathan asked.
“Are you planning to kill me?”
“Yes.”
“What if you don’t kill me?”
“I’ll be punished.”
“By your… ‘Father’?”
The woman answered with silence. Leviathan let out a bitter laugh.
“What does that bastard think of his own daughter….”
“….”
“He seems like a terrible father. Why don’t you run away?”
The woman stared at him intently.
“…Where to?”
“I don’t know.”
“….”
“But the world is so vast. Surely there’s somewhere that could protect you.”
The doll-like woman’s pupils wavered slightly. In that moment, the World Tree branches inscribed on her arm grew a little longer.
The woman clenched her teeth.
“That mark looks painful.”
“It doesn’t….”
“Is it because of the atmosphere in this place?”
Leviathan stepped back slightly.
The woman steadied her breathing and layered a cold expression over her face.
“The price for defying our King is merciless…. That is the rule I follow. Spare me any more pointless words.”
“That’s exactly what’s strange about it. Who would force such a thing on their own daughter?”
When she should be cherished above all else.
Leviathan muttered like a sigh and rummaged through his belongings.
At the sudden unexpected action, the woman stirred her mana.
And in that moment, Leviathan drew out a pale blue short blade and laughed.
“Aim for the heart. Don’t miss. Everything you desire will be at this center.”
“What do you mean….”
“And run. Far, far away.”
A silver arc slashed through the empty air.
“No…!”
The night was dark.
It happened beneath the faint glow of the moon.
* * *
“What in the world….”
The Emperor exhaled a hollow breath.
The state of the ruined mansion was utterly absurd.
After the explosion, he had rushed over first, accompanied by the knights he commanded like extensions of his own limbs.
Had he not been keeping constant watch over the Mage’s mansion, even he would have struggled to arrive so quickly.
It was a brief but violent explosion.
Soon people would come flooding in. The Emperor decided he had to contain the situation before then.
‘Has the Kingdom Mage Order’s mage perished?’
He clenched his teeth.
All traces of the mage had vanished cleanly.
Or rather, only a pathetically torn scrap of fabric remained….
She had died as if disappearing.
“Duke!”
The Emperor approached swiftly, surveying the Garden that had become a scene of devastation.
Leviathan sat collapsed on the ground, cradling Rubian in his arms.
“What in blazes is happening!”
He furrowed his brow and lifted his head.
“Your cloak.”
“….”
“My daughter has fallen asleep, so please lower your voice as well.”
The Emperor ground his teeth audibly, yet he removed the cloak he wore and gently draped it over Rubian.
The surrounding knights gasped in protest, but that was not the pressing matter.
“What in the world is this about? Explain yourself properly, Duke Zebert.”
Leviathan rose slowly, cradling the sleeping child tenderly.
“It appears to be a mana runaway…. She suddenly caused an explosion on her own.”
A mana runaway?
The Emperor’s face twisted. Only black soot remained around where the mage had apparently been.
“Ha. What is this…. How did you all survive?”
Then Leviathan’s gaze shifted slightly to the side.
“Thanks to the Outpost Mage.”
Asha Drucan hiccupped with her hair completely disheveled.
“Did you use magic to stop the explosion?”
At the Emperor’s question, Asha Drucan’s lower lip trembled slightly. She bit down on it hard and nodded frantically.
“Yes, yes! It was me!”
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed to slits.
‘The Outpost Mage’s abilities are better than I expected….’
Quite serviceable.
I thought she specialized in practical, everyday magic. But her performance has been impressive since the kidnapping incident.
Then Leviathan moved with an impassive expression.
“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave. Kalid, come with me.”
The Young Boy, who had been staring fixedly at the sleeping Rubian the entire time, stirred. Looking more closely, it was the very same boy who had performed brilliantly at the equestrian tournament.
The Emperor stiffened his expression and blocked his path.
“Stop.”
“….”
“You never explained why you were here with the Princess in the first place.”
He lifted his sharp gaze.
“I infiltrated because his constant approach to my daughter seemed suspicious. I even found traces of him having stolen a look at Rubian’s adoption documents.”
“What?”
“And then I overheard a plot to attack my mansion.”
“So you killed him?”
Leviathan stared directly at the Emperor.
“I told you it was a mana explosion.”
“Hmm…. Then why was the Princess here at all?”
There was no way he would have brought his precious youngest daughter to a place like this.
Leviathan exhaled a short sigh and brushed his hair back.
“…That’s precisely what I’d like to know.”
What is he saying? The Emperor furrowed his brow.
Then came a soft drip, drip. The sound of something pooling.
The Emperor’s gaze lowered and he clicked his tongue harshly.
“Duke, you’re…injured.”
Whether from a sharp ornament or something else, there was a deep wound on one of his arms.

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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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