The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 188

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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 188
“Huh?”
“Your mana!”
Rubian cried out sharply. She rubbed the hand that had touched mine, her expression contorting.
“Why has it become so heavy? You startled me! Ow, it tingles….”
“I’m sorry. Are you alright?”
He hurried toward Rubian.
“Seriously. Put your bracelet back on! Where did the other one go?”
“That’s…. I’m sorry, but I can’t. It won’t hurt this time, I promise. Give me your hand again.”
Kalid controlled the surging power within himself, refining his mana to be as gentle and pure as possible.
Rubian was small and delicate. He gathered only the clearest, most pristine aspects of himself, concentrating them with utmost care.
Before long, Rubian’s eyes widened with wonder, her suspicion melting away.
“Oh.”
“Better?”
“Yeah. Wow, it’s been so long!”
See? I told you it would feel good.
Kalid smiled faintly as he channeled his mana throughout Rubian’s body. The blue mana intertwined, and as Rubian’s eyes narrowed slightly as if she’d tasted something sour, he suddenly realized he’d rather enjoyed this since childhood.
This moment—he’d always found it quite pleasant.
“But Kalid, weren’t you with the Princess of Casalia?”
Rubian asked as if the thought had just occurred to her.
“Oh.”
Kalid tilted his head only then.
Now that she mentioned it, he’d forgotten.
The moment he sensed mana that seemed to be Rubian’s, he’d rushed out.
“About that Princess, Rubian….”
Just as Kalid withdrew his hand from sharing mana and tried to change the subject.
“Really. He just vanishes out of nowhere, and here he is on a date in a place like this.”
A familiar voice drifted from behind them.
“Ah!”
Rubian’s eyelids fluttered rapidly.
Kalid slowly rose to his feet, positioning himself protectively in front of Rubian. Sebelena stood at ease, one hand resting casually on her hip.
Beside her, her Guard Knight was earnestly placating a shop employee. It seemed they’d been searching for him by visiting every store in the area.
“Hello? So that means….”
Sebelena narrowed her eyes as she caught a glimpse of Rubian peeking out from behind Kalid’s figure.
“Bean….”
Ahem. Cough.
“Young lady. I’m Sebelena.”
“Did you hear? She just called me ‘Bean lady’….”
Kalid, struck by shock, pretended not to hear Rubian’s whispered voice.
* * *
Sebelena was a foreign princess with a captivating presence. She was beautiful and elegant. Exactly as I had anticipated.
What I hadn’t expected, however, was this.
“I wanted to meet you through Sir Kalid.”
The first words she spoke.
‘Me? Why on earth?’
I gazed into her deep green eyes while concealing my suspicion, when Licht’s voice suddenly echoed in my mind—the one mentioning her origins.
‘The Western Forest of Iosia.’
I had dismissed it as insignificant until now, but thinking about it, that was also where Second had arrived after crossing the Babylon Border.
‘Could the Princess be connected to Second? Is that why Kalid followed her?’
I turned my head slightly to look at Kalid. Without saying a word, he tilted his chin slightly in affirmation, as if he had already read my thoughts.
‘…So that’s how it was.’
Uncle had gotten ahead of himself.
Between them, there was no tender emotional exchange—only dry, matter-of-fact circumstances.
Realizing this, I was engulfed in a strange sense of relief as I waited for Sebelena’s next words.
Fortunately, she got straight to the point.
“I’ll be direct. The Mage Kingdom will approach you with ulterior motives. Their movements have been unusual lately.”
“What’s your evidence?”
When I asked calmly, the Princess’s gaze fixed directly on me.
“Do you know Senia?”
That was Second’s new name.
“I came to meet you at Senia’s request. She asked me to help you if anything ever happened to her.”
“Has Second…. died?”
Sebelena closed her eyes slowly, then opened them.
“Not yet. But her health began deteriorating sharply several years ago, and now she’s lost consciousness.”
“Ah, so that’s why….”
That’s why contact had been difficult.
I felt a melancholy settle over me.
Such was the fate of a mage who had lost their mana core. Still, having endured for over seven years—I suppose that counts as lasting long.
“But why would you go to such lengths to honor Second’s request? Even risking danger like this?”
Sebelena continued speaking calmly.
“Have you heard of the paternity confirmation potion? Through it, I was recognized by the King…. my adoptive father.”
I nodded. Licht had mentioned it before.
“Senia found the base herb for that potion. Of course, the people of the Iosia Forest Village played a significant role in turning it into an actual effective medicine.”
Mages possessed a distinctive eye for identifying herbs.
Of course, since Second had lost her core, it would have been purely based on existing knowledge.
Moreover, Second had been a mage who managed the secrets of the Mage Kingdom. So it wouldn’t be strange for her to know rare herbs unknown to the general public.
Sebelena continued speaking.
“Senia took good care of me in many ways when I was young. We grew up like sisters in the Iosia Forest Village.”
“So…. you’re helping me to repay your debt to Second?”
“Yes. Because Senia’s wish was not to let you be taken away by the Mage King. Of course…. I agree as well. And besides.”
“….”
“I heard the Mage Kingdom is trying to revive dark magic. To think such a terrible war might plague this land again. We have to stop it, don’t we?”
Silence settled over the table.
I felt Kalid, seated beside me, quietly rest his hand on his sword hilt, and I parted my dry lips.
“But you see, Your Highness.”
“Yes?”
“For someone determined to stand against the Mage Kingdom….”
“….”
“How is it you know so much about their movements?”
“That’s….”
Sebelena’s gaze lingered briefly on the table before a long sigh escaped her.
“The King of Casalia…. My stepfather is in secret contact with the Mage Kingdom’s mages.”
“So the King is a traitor.”
Kalid, who had been silent, added the words like a quiet murmur. His tone was low and chilling, and Sebelena’s expression grew troubled.
“He’s merely a bystander for now. He simply turns a blind eye to our side’s use of the Gate Portal.”
“I’m not so sure.”
This time, I was the one who spoke.
“Isn’t turning a blind eye the same as complicity?”
“That’s…. You make a fair point.”
I swallowed a sigh and organized the situation in my mind.
So this was it.
It was fine that I’d been recognized as a princess and entered the Royal Palace.
But when I arrived, my stepfather had become dazzled by immediate gain and turned into a traitor to the Mage Kingdom.
The Princess, unable to act either way, had no choice but to seek me out in place of the Second, who lay in a comatose state.
“Miss. In the forest village where I grew up, they say the names of benefactors are carved into one’s soul and remembered.”
Sebelena grasped my hand, which lay carelessly on the table. Her warmth was palpable.
“Please use me. Senia is like family to me, a true benefactor, and I’ve heard that you are Senia’s benefactor. That makes you my benefactor as well.”
I withdrew my hand slightly.
“How exactly are you thinking of helping?”
Sebelena, who had been considering for a moment, answered carefully.
“The Mage Kingdom will approach our King again. What if we seized that opportunity?”
Though Father and the Emperor were actively pursuing the Mage Kingdom, in truth they had yet to uncover any real leads.
If the only thread connecting us was the Casalia Kingdom, there was honestly no reason to refuse.
But….
“Your Highness. But that would be no different than exposing your father’s shame to the world.”
He might very well be branded a traitor to the Allied Forces.
“Are you still willing to do this?”
At my question, Sebelena regarded me with a deep, searching gaze for a moment.
She settled back into her chair and sipped her tea—a refined, impeccable gesture.
“Were you not adopted, Miss?”
“What do you mean all of a sudden?”
“If your biological parents suddenly appeared before the Princess… what do you think she would do?”
“….”
My brow furrowed slightly.
“Would she go with them?”
I offered no response. However the Princess interpreted my silence, she laughed with a brittle, desiccated sound, like dead branches scraping together.
“I spent most of my life that I can remember in Iosia. From age eleven onward, I spent it with Senia. But I’ve only been in the Casalia Royal Palace for a year now.”
“….”
“I thought finding my real family would make me happier….”
The last words were barely more than a whisper to herself.
“In a situation like this, who should I choose? Family bound only by blood? Or…. the family that embraced my soul?”
Her forest-green eyes searched mine.
“What choice would you make, if you were me?”

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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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