The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 110

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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 110
‘Finally, I understood why Leviathan’s movements in the latter half of the original story remained unclear….’
At last, it all made sense.
I had assumed I simply couldn’t remember his actions. That held some truth, but more importantly…
‘He truly couldn’t engage in any activities at all. Much like Grandfather before him.’
Injuries had forced him into seclusion in Zelocks, confined to the shadows.
I gripped Father’s sleeve tightly.
The Father before me now was Zebert Duke, conducting external affairs more actively than ever. According to the original story, he would never have come to Ipson in the first place.
‘That’s right—it’s different from the original. Most importantly… Father isn’t cursed right now.’
Father hadn’t fallen into a trap while recklessly pursuing the Dark Mage, and therefore wasn’t a dying man.
‘I never imagined that glass bottle would prove so helpful.’
Thanks to the hint I’d given with that bottle, Father not only avoided the curse but successfully ambushed the Dark Mage, ending the war without a single wound.
It was merely an action born from wanting to help the protagonist and resist the Mage King… I never expected such a butterfly effect.
I genuinely felt my chest lighten.
‘But there’s one thing that troubles me.’
Just one thing….
My hand drifted instinctively toward my lower back.
“Come now, Miss. Please have some of this and calm yourself.”
Just then, Borbel appeared with the maids and offered me a warm cup of tea. I took the mug under Father’s gaze.
My sobs subsided, and the fragrant tea slid down my throat.
The scattered atmosphere quickly settled.
“Ugh, I feel like my lifespan just shortened.”
Rosetta collapsed into a seat. Her voice carried the exhaustion of someone aged ten years, and she rubbed her face wearily.
“A father and daughter causing trouble in the middle of the night. Rubian, what on earth were you doing there?”
Father’s gaze turned toward me. I fidgeted with my fingertips and took a breath.
“Kalid….”
“Kalid.”
I glanced up at Father hesitantly.
“He said he saw you riding out on horseback. It seemed to be in the direction of the Mage Residence… I wondered if you were going to meet the mage, and I got worried….”
“And so you followed him there?”
“When I saw him at the banquet, he seemed like a bad person for some reason….”
As I stammered, both Father and Mother sighed simultaneously as if exasperated.
“This is maddening.”
“If the Outpost Mage hadn’t been there, you could have been in serious danger, Rubian.”
Mother Rosetta spoke to me with deliberate sternness. I murmured a small apology and watched Father’s expression carefully.
Father simply stared at me intently.
‘Why isn’t he asking anything?’
As I calmed down further, the fact that I’d used magic in the garden began to surface in my mind.
It had been unavoidable given how urgent the situation was… but now I was beginning to worry whether Father might have noticed something.
“Everyone, leave us.”
As expected, a low voice issued commands to those around him. Borbel and the other servants hastily withdrew.
What remained was me, somehow shrunken in on myself, Mother with a puzzled expression, and Father whose face was unreadable.
A long, heavy silence descended.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Finally, Mother, unable to hold back any longer, asked first.
“…Rubian.”
Father moistened his lips with his tongue, hesitating over his words for some reason.
“Father, earlier in the Garden….”
His slightly hoarse voice trailed off and couldn’t continue for a long time.
“Leviathan?”
Mother tilted her head in confusion.
“…No, I don’t know how to even ask this.”
He seemed bewildered. Then, as if he’d made a decision, his lips parted.
“Rubian, so you were in the Garden earlier….”
That was when it happened.
Knock, knock, knock knock.
The urgent knocking shattered the tense atmosphere in an instant.
“What is it?”
At the somewhat irritable response, the door swung open.
It was Adolf, the Butler.
“Pardon the intrusion, sir. Urgent news has arrived from the Imperial Court….”
“What’s the matter?”
Adolf approached quickly and whispered softly into Father’s ear.
“From the Mage Kingdom side….”
My eyes widened as I caught fragments of the conversation nearby.
At the same time, my ears burned hot.
[ Rubian. ]
“A mage who fled….”
“What?”
“…they say.”
I froze completely.
‘What did I just hear?’
What I just heard was….
Right?
In that moment, my gaze and Father’s collided as if by chance.
“The Mage Kingdom….”
When Father, his brow deeply furrowed, repeated Adolf’s words.
Crackle.
Kalid’s composed voice resonated in my mind.
[ The Tracking Mages from the Southern Region. ]
“…You captured the escaped mage?”
[ Everyone has withdrawn. ]
* * *
Arcadia Royal Palace.
“Is it true! You discovered traces of dark magic!”
The Mage King thrashed about with bloodshot eyes.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Where?”
“It’s the Delcan Ruins beyond Iosia. A mage searching that area discovered an underground entrance, and they say black mana emanates from within.”
A serpentine smile spread across his smooth face. The Mage King’s legs gave way, and he collapsed into his throne.
“Haha…ha.”
So the answer truly lay on that continent.
He issued orders swiftly.
“Dispatch all senior mages to that location at once.”
“Understood. However, what about the Tracking Mages in Babylon….”
Skeletal fingers gripped the armrest.
Crackle. The letter from the Fourth, held alongside it, crumpled mercilessly.
“There was no child with mana there, it says.”
Then the Mage King’s Second, who had been standing quietly, stepped forward cautiously. They were the one who had brought this letter.
“Yes. The Zebert Duke’s daughter we were monitoring shares only one point in common—silver hair. Her eye color differs, and she possessed no mana, they report. Her age and temperament were entirely different from the Seventh….”
Moreover, the Emperor had officially approved the adoption documents.
That cunning schemer from Babylon would never recognize a child of unclear identity or suspicious origins as nobility. And certainly not so readily, as if he’d been waiting.
‘Who would go to such lengths for that child?’
Then, as the Mage King pondered, the Second hesitantly asked.
“Father…. About that magical artifact you gave the Fourth.”
The Mage King turned his gaze. He seemed to understand without hearing the rest.
“Why did you deceive him, saying it was a teleportation artifact?”
“….”
He laughed coldly.
“If he were to use it, it would mean an emergency situation had forced him to flee. And if he caused trouble and returned like that… wouldn’t this father be in a bind.”
“….”
“It’s better to eliminate seeds of discord beforehand. We cannot afford to give the continental powers any leverage yet.”
Perhaps it worked out well.
The Mage King murmured, stroking his chin.
“I see….”
“But… I didn’t expect him to use it after sending this letter. I’m curious why he suddenly destroyed that artifact….”
“Then, what shall we do. Resume tracking elsewhere in the Empire.”
“No.”
The Mage King spoke as if tossing the words away.
“Stop for now.”
“Pardon?”
Everyone lifted their heads at the sudden command.
“For now, I’ll have to appease the Empire’s whims. It would be troublesome to be excluded from the Continental Alliance just yet.”
To investigate the traces of dark magic, I couldn’t afford restrictions on continental access.
The Fourth’s death was quite an interesting card to play.
I could pressure the Emperor of Babylon by feigning outrage over losing a mage in foreign lands, or alternatively, I could pretend to be a magnanimous neighboring king who understood it as an unavoidable accident.
‘The latter for now.’
I couldn’t afford to lose the thread of dark magic.
Of course, the Emperor of Babylon might also attack me in return with various pretexts.
‘But there’s no evidence. The crucial Fourth is dead, after all.’
In the end, it would amount to nothing more than protests.
Besides….
“The Seventh only hides more when I press openly. I’ll need to change my approach.”
I decided to return to the fundamentals of hunting.
Covert and silent.
Turning away as if I’m not searching, waiting for that beautiful silver-haired head to let its guard down and lift itself.
‘Then I’ll snatch her.’
My eyes narrowed like a serpent’s.
“Besides, with the mark I’ve placed, once it fully matures… she’ll naturally return to her father’s embrace.”
The mark I carved into the Seventh myself.
I wanted to reclaim her immediately because of the dark magic, but… well. There’s no harm in slowly driving her into a corner now.
A sinister laugh filled the air.
The Mage King swept back his long hair and caressed the throne once more with an elegant gesture.
‘Just don’t wander too long.’
My jewel. You audacious traitor.
His eyes gleamed with unbridled ambition.

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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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