The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 207

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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 207
“Hm? What is this?”
Rosetta suddenly felt something foreign in Leviathan’s embrace and reached into his inner pocket.
A luxurious violet box came into her grasp.
“Oh my, a necklace?”
“I hadn’t given you a gift yet.”
It was a shimmering blue necklace—precisely the sort of thing that would suit Rubian beautifully.
“I never knew you had such refined taste. Tsk, what about mine?”
Rosetta laughed playfully and delved deeper into Leviathan’s embrace, discovering an old bundle hidden in the depths.
“This is… Rubian.”
The worn portrait of baby Rubian that the Mage had brought.
It appeared he had succeeded in purchasing a locket to match the portrait’s size.
That was not all. He was carrying even the old pillowcase Rubian had once used, folded neatly as though it were a handkerchief.
“…Well. It’s rather awkward to carry around.”
Leviathan turned his head away, embarrassed.
“You don’t mean to say you’re in a foul mood right now…?”
She, who would normally have scolded him first for being such a homebody, was about to speak with a peculiar expression when—
“There she is, Rubian.”
Leviathan spoke. Turning his head, I could see Rubian quietly revealing herself through the open Balcony doors.
The grand ball—the flower of the coming-of-age ceremony—was beginning to start.
“Why does the guest of honor keep running away like that?”
“But her expression seems troubled. Oh dear, I suppose the explosion startled her. I should go—”
“Duchess, good evening.”
At that moment, a beautiful noblewoman called out to Rosetta.
“Ah, Marchioness Evrich.”
“Today’s party is truly splendid. But tell me, would you care to step over here and discuss the charity gala happening next month with us?”
“Ah, is it already that time? Well… yes, of course.”
Rosetta eventually moved with the Marchioness toward where the other ladies had gathered.
‘Father, go fetch her for me.’
She conveyed this firmly with her eyes.
Since he had already intended to bring her back without being asked, Leviathan moved without hesitation. She must have been startled by the explosion and needed reassurance.
‘Look at that.’
I watched as some straw-haired young noble approached Rubian, who was walking with her gaze fixed downward. Behind his back, he concealed a rose.
‘Ha!’
Merely one flower?
Absolutely not permitted.
“Rubian.”
I called out deliberately, and upon spotting me, the young noble scurried away in panic.
A coward and a fool, then.
Did the Academy not teach proper decorum? With petty amusement filling my heart, I turned my gaze directly toward Rubian.
“Stop running around and come here…”
I extended my hand gently and took a step forward.
Her small shoulders, which had been drooping, flinched and jerked upward. Rubian hesitated and retreated, putting distance between us.
“…Rubian?”
“Ah.”
But it was only a moment. Rubian blinked several times before approaching again with a bright smile.
“Oh, Father. What was that explosion just now? I got such a fright!”
Her voice, chattering away with arms crossed as usual, sounded no different from always.
Yet her pale cheeks, viewed from up close, were utterly drained of color. Her fingertips trembled as she wrung them. Her lips were pressed so tightly together it seemed she was biting the inside of her mouth, tension evident in every line.
Leviathan’s eyes grew cold and distant.
To any observer, she merely appeared startled by the explosion.
But he knew his youngest daughter’s habits well.
“You know! I really should greet the guests! It’s my party, after all. Oh, I’m so busy!”
Rubian.
“Sorry!”
She was hiding something from him.
* * *
My heart pounded frantically.
I walked quickly, offering perfunctory greetings to the nobles who approached me.
I could feel my expression was strained and unnatural.
‘Father will suspect something with a face like this.’
That I’m hiding something.
‘Ugh, why did I have to listen to Sebelena!’
The potion…what was it again?
The potion bottle clutched in my hand felt scorching hot, as if burning with guilt.
It was newly received from Sebelena, and aside from the clicking sound that came from its stopper, it appeared no different from the one at the Duke’s Residence.
I made my way to the Lounge under the pretense of freshening up, retracing my conversation with Sebelena.
Just moments ago.
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed through the air, and Sebelena’s head snapped up.
“What was that explosion?”
“Hmm. That was…”
I easily discerned the source of the sound from the surge of mana that swept through the space.
“It seems a magical artifact misfired. Most likely…someone dropped a fireworks-type magical artifact.”
As expected, Kalid burst through the balcony door and offered an explanation.
“Are you alright? Rubian. That just now was…”
“Yeah, I think I know what it was. I’m fine.”
She nodded indifferently and glanced past Sebelena before disappearing.
The door closing behind her felt oddly cold and distant.
“…He probably has no intention of asking me to dance after all.”
“Pardon?”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing. But what were we discussing just now?”
As I asked this, the Princess, who had been alternating her gaze between my face and the spot where Kalid had vanished, hastily opened her mouth.
“The potion I gave you. You haven’t used it yet, have you?”
“No, well… that’s correct.”
I had tested it, certainly, but I hadn’t used it directly on the Mage confined to the Zebert Mansion.
“Ah, thank goodness.”
“You even emphasized it in your note… Is there some problem with it?”
“Actually, I should have given you this instead.”
“This?”
What Sebelena pressed into my hand was a potion bottle of a familiar form.
The cork of the transparent vial creaked and wobbled. It wasn’t loose enough to fall out entirely, but it looked rather unstable.
“As you can see, the bottle cap is a bit loose. My maidservant tried to replace it with a proper one and apparently selected a different one by mistake. I had asked her to do this while I was speaking with the Emperor, and since they all look identical on the surface, she thought there was no problem.”
“What? Then what do I have?”
Sebelena exhaled a short sigh.
“An incomplete version I was still working on. You did ask me for a potion, didn’t you?”
“Ah, yes.”
“The final ingredient took some time to procure, so I kept it in storage. That’s why the potion’s efficacy is incomplete.”
Blink, blink.
My eyelids moved slowly.
Incomplete?
“That… it sounds like the potion does have some effect. Which aspect of its efficacy is diminished?”
“The result.”
“The result?”
“As you know, this potion has quite a pronounced visual effect, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does…”
If blood is related, it mixes; if not, it doesn’t.
A proof method more powerful than a thousand words, almost a performance in its own right.
“But in its incomplete state, the effect manifests in reverse. That’s why I need a specific herbal ingredient to invert this phenomenon.”
…What?
“I went through considerable trial and error in Iosia to correct this phenomenon. When you say ‘true daughter,’ showing it mix is intuitive and powerful. There’s no need for lengthy explanations.”
Sebelena’s voice rushed forward like a galloping racehorse. Somehow it was difficult to keep pace in one breath.
“This is my theory, but I suspect the Mage you’re holding captive was trying to tamper with the potion based on this same principle… by excluding the effects of certain herbs, for instance.”
She leaned close to me and whispered low.
“Is such magic possible, my lady?”
The Princess’s green eyes pierced like spears. In that instant, my consciousness, which had drifted far away, snapped sharply back.
“…No, wait, please give me a moment.”
What do you mean by the result? What does it mean for it to mix?
My mind was in complete disarray.
Understanding such a day, Sebelena smiled gently and opened her mouth.
“Simply put, that potion you possess, Princess.”
“….”
“It mixes when there’s no blood relation….”
Our eyes met in the reflection of her pupils. Her vacant expression felt as though it belonged to someone other than myself.
“But it doesn’t mix between true parent and child.”

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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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