The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 209

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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 209
“Your Majesty.”
A Knight approached with urgent strides.
“What is the matter?”
“It is that….”
The Emperor set down his wine glass with a hardened expression upon hearing the report. Then he spoke.
“A massive swarm of magical beasts has appeared near the Southern Coastline, it seems.”
Leviathan instinctively furrowed his brow and glanced at Rubian. The Emperor’s cloak billowed in the wind.
“I must return. Please convey my apologies to the Duke’s daughter for not being able to remain until the end.”
“Will you be alright?”
At this question, the Emperor smiled gently and patted the Duke on the shoulder.
“Do not worry. The Imperial Court will dispatch troops, and I hear the Border Count is also mobilizing. Many of the Southern forces distinguished themselves in the war against the demons, so there should be no cause for concern. However….”
“However?”
The Emperor chose his words carefully.
“The message the Border Count sent along was somewhat peculiar.”
“Peculiar?”
Leviathan’s grip tightened around the wine glass he held.
“…There were testimonies from some soldiers that they sensed the aura of dark magic from the corpses of the magical beasts…. Ah, please. Calm yourself.”
Crack.
The Emperor pressed his forehead as the glass shattered into powder. I felt Rosetta, watching from afar, glance in this direction.
The sharp glass cut into his fingers. As crimson blood welled up profusely, the wind brushed against the exposed flesh. A nearby Maid gasped and wrapped bandages around his hand.
“Haah….”
Leviathan dragged his uninjured hand across his face.
Through the gaps between his fingers, Rubian was now spinning round and round with Liam and Void.
I should have just ignored it. Should have pretended not to know.
‘Damn it. Of all days, why today?’
But if it involved dark magic, I could not simply stand by and watch from across the river.
Protecting the fence where Rubian dwelled was my duty.
“Where is the messenger now?”
A firm hand grasped the sword. Leviathan took reluctant steps away, imprinting the image of his daughter’s bright smile once more into his eyes.
* * *
‘The atmosphere feels a bit unsettled somehow.’
The family ball had ended, and a brief respite arrived.
‘I have no idea what I was thinking while dancing.’
Or perhaps the unease was merely in my own heart.
Ever since hearing about the potion from the Princess, I could hardly focus on the ball.
“Sigh….”
A heavy sigh escaped unbidden.
Just as I was considering skipping the second ball entirely, a familiar sky-blue hair appeared before my eyes.
“Rubian!”
“Titi.”
Sortie beamed with a radiant smile, praised the dance from moments before, glanced around cautiously, and then extended something to me.
“Here. What you asked for.”
On the white handkerchief lay several strands of sky-blue hair—some long, some short.
I folded the handkerchief carefully and gripped it tightly.
“Thank you.”
“But why did you suddenly need my hair and Father’s hair…?”
Sortie asked with a puzzled expression.
Before the ball began, I had asked Sortie for a few strands of hair from both Camelan Count and herself.
“Oh, Asha said she needed materials to make a magical artifact!”
“…A magical artifact, with my hair?”
“It’s apparently needed for making magical artifacts for our theatrical stage props! Probably?”
I laughed while reciting the excuse I’d prepared in advance.
“Asha’s creations are pretty unique, you know.”
“Huh?”
Sortie tilted her head.
“But why Father’s hair too…. Rubian?”
I felt Jerdin approaching behind me as I hurried away, pretending not to hear.
“Titi! There you are. Will you dance with me in the second act?”
“Oh, Jerdin. I’ll say it again—you look really handsome today. Will you marry me?”
“We’re not even engaged?”
“Then should we get engaged?”
“We’re not even dating?”
“Then should we start dating?”
They really haven’t changed at all.
With that thought, I climbed to the Second Floor Lounge.
“…They’re mixing.”
A small whirlwind formed in the dish filled with shimmering liquid.
The vortex soon twisted tightly like a solid knot, merging into a single column.
I bit my lip while holding the potion Sebelena had given me in one hand.
‘The new potion Sebelena gave me is definitely authentic.’
The hair from Camelan Count and Sortie had mixed without a doubt.
I also tried mixing my own hair with Camelan Count’s hair.
It didn’t mix.
“….”
What am I missing?
My heart pounded with unease.
Sebelena’s voice kept scratching at my ears.
“It won’t mix between real parent and child.”
‘I should probably test it again with Father….’
In truth, I had wanted to suggest it to Father while we were dancing earlier, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
‘What if they somehow mixed?’
How was I supposed to interpret that meaning?
In that moment, the black tombstone of the sleeping infant at the Zebert Memorial came to mind. Along with the original work’s dream I’d had this morning.
‘If there’s another story I never knew about, like that one….’
All manner of imaginings spiraled through my mind.
The most terrifying thought was: what if I had somehow harmed Father?
What if I, who had been the Mage King’s puppet, had taken something from the baby, and in doing so inflicted irreparable wounds upon my family?
The thought seized me with dread. If that were the case, which would Father’s heart truly lean toward—me or the child?
My thoughts raced without end.
Even knowing the carriage accident that took the baby had occurred before my birth, such delusions came unbidden—I was that confused.
‘If it’s not all of this….’
Of course.
I hadn’t failed to consider other possibilities.
There remained a scenario I had never once contemplated in all my life.
The possibility that I….
‘…might be that child.’
My body collapsed onto the sofa.
“Ah, I feel dizzy.”
Vertigo washed over me.
I hadn’t slept last night, and with my attention scattered everywhere, my condition had deteriorated steadily.
A metallic taste bloomed in my mouth. I wiped beneath my nose just in case, but there was no nosebleed.
‘Just one more thing….’
Just one more thing to confirm.
I would draw my conclusions only after I had gathered every piece of information available to me.
It was then.
Knock, knock, knock.
The sudden rap at the door jolted my body upright.
“Young Lady? Are you here?”
It was the Maid’s voice from the Banquet Hall.
“What is it?”
“Someone has come from the Zebert Mansion.”
I quickly opened the door. The Maid stood holding a letter on a silver tray.
After tipping her and sending her away with instructions to keep quiet, I hastily tore open the letter.
【 Young Lady, it’s Hazel. I’ve experimented with the potion you mentioned, the one left at the Mansion. 】
I had sent Hazel back to the Zebert Mansion long ago.
Just as Sebelena had said, the potion left in the Bedroom was truly—
‘A medicine with the opposite effect.’
I needed to confirm it.
“Hazel, test the potion I left in the Bedroom on the servants I mentioned and let me know the results.”
“Hm? Miss. These people are….”
“Yes. They’re biological parent and child.”
At the Duke’s Residence, it was common for servants to marry and settle down together. There would be sufficient samples.
I read through the text line by line, my eyes trembling.
【 All the people Miss mentioned…. 】
It felt as though someone were scrubbing my brain with ice-cold frost. Goosebumps erupted across my entire body, and my mind went numb.
【 They didn’t mix? 】
In that moment, something inside me crumbled and shattered. Perhaps everything I had believed to be truth until now.
【 Something’s strange. The kitchen maid Adel and the gardener Hugo are definitely biological parent and child. But their hair and blood didn’t mix at all? Is there a problem with this potion? Should I dispose of it? 】
Crash! I shot up from my seat, pushing back violently.
After that, well.
I couldn’t remember if I crawled, walked, or ran.
“Rubian?”
As I tumbled down the stairs, I encountered Licht, who had been searching for me.
“Why do you look so pale?”
“Father….”
Wizeria.
Answer me.
“Where is our father?”
What in the world was happening?
‘Answer me, Wizeria! You know, don’t you?’
“Rubian!”
Licht startled and brought a handkerchief to my face. The moment I saw the crimson stains, my vision flooded entirely red.
The truth is in your hands.
I stared down at the potion I clung to like a lifeline. Blood dripped, drop by drop, onto the transparent vial.
‘What am I, exactly?’
I am the Mage King’s seventh child, a weapon, a fugitive mage, and an adopted daughter of the Zebert Family….
Reincarnated into this novel and changing the original story….
Really?
A tidal wave crashed down.
Rubian, the truth was always within you.
Always.
Always.

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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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