The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 21

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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 21
“Void!”
I burst straight into Void’s room.
“Ack! You startled me!”
Void was sitting at his desk, scribbling away at something.
“Huh? What?”
Void hastily covered his notebook. A diary…perhaps? Though something felt off.
“Do you have a map here?”
“A map?”
“Yeah!”
“Well, I do have one….”
Void rummaged through his bookshelf and produced a territorial map without much difficulty. It was marked with countless shops, convenience facilities, and lodgings.
“Wow, thanks!”
“But why do you need a map?”
“Oh, Grandfather asked me to go out with him tomorrow. I wanted to study it in advance.”
“Your…Father? You’ve met Grandfather?”
Void’s head turned like a rusty, broken machine.
“Your face is pale. What’s wrong?”
“Grandfather is… well, he’s… complicated….”
“What do you mean? He seemed rather strict. No wait, I mean he seemed like a refined person.”
“…He said he’d train me and Liam, then dragged us to the Northern Mountains in the middle of the night….”
Void collapsed onto his desk like someone haunted by nightmares, trembling pitifully.
What on earth happened in the Northern Mountains?
Curious as I was, this felt like a box best left unopened. I wouldn’t ask.
“Anyway, be careful.”
Void offered the advice with an unusually serious expression.
Then he opened the books on his desk once more.
“If you’re going to look at the map, sit over there and read it. I still haven’t finished studying….”
“But what were you writing so intently just now?”
“Just now? Oh, a diary.”
Void answered earnestly.
I burst out laughing. A diary! I’d always thought he spent all his time scheming about card games!
“A diary? So you’re actually quite diligent, aren’t you?”
“…Don’t even think about peeking.”
The more someone tells you not to do something, the more tempted you become—it’s only human nature.
As I inched forward with a sly grin, Void clutched his diary to his chest with both arms.
“But I think I saw the name Rubian written in there. What did you write?”
“No, don’t look!”
“Just tell me what you wrote!”
“I’m not telling you!”
“You cursed!”
“No! I didn’t!”
“You did!”
“I didn’t…. Fine, I did!”
“I’m definitely going to catch you next time.”
We bickered back and forth.
The evening deepened.
* * *
In the end, I never did get to peek at that diary.
I’d have to try again next time….
“Ahhh, so fluffy.”
Late at night.
After washing up thoroughly, I dove onto the bed. A clean body, fresh bedding. Nothing better!
Hazel chuckled softly as she drew the curtains closed.
“You shouldn’t sleep too late, should you?”
“Got it!”
“If you need anything, just ring the bell anytime.”
“Thanks! Sleep well, Hazel.”
“Mmm.”
Unable to resist, Hazel pulled me into a tight embrace. Hehe. A bit awkward, but warm.
“You’re going out tomorrow, aren’t you? I should prepare some snacks for you.”
“Thank you!”
Hazel smiled as she left the bedroom.
I lay back on the blanket that smelled of sunlight and studied the map.
For quite some time.
The firmly closed door quietly creaked open.
“…What’s this? Why aren’t you asleep?”
The man froze mid-step, his movements suddenly halting. He straightened his hunched posture.
He carried the scent of spices that had lingered in Void’s room. It seemed he’d visited there first.
A father returning at dawn to check on his children’s rooms. Quite something.
“You said your stomach hurt?”
“Huh?”
“You were cooped up in your room all day.”
The man shut the door with a sharp click and walked straight over.
Ah, right. That’s true.
“But your expression says otherwise.”
One side of the bed sank heavily under his weight.
“So you’re sulking, then.”
The man brushed my forehead and chuckled.
His loosely unbuttoned shirt carried the cool night air clinging to it from outside.
“Who was bothering you? Tell me.”
“No one was bothering me…. Oh.”
Gasp.
I belatedly recalled what had happened with Grandfather. Now that I thought about it… I’d just rushed out and that was the end of it, wasn’t it?
The truth was, what really troubled me was the news about the Mage Kingdom that Kalid had brought, but there was no way I could tell him that.
Instead, I pulled out a smokescreen worry.
“Does Grandfather dislike me?”
“Ah. So it was Father after all.”
“What if he keeps objecting to me being here? Will he throw me out?”
“I suppose I’ll have to seal off the passage connecting to the Northern Annex.”
“Stop joking around.”
I smacked the man’s forearm.
He brushed the hair clinging to his forehead aside. His hand, calloused and rough, felt exactly as it always did.
“I told you? No one can force you to do anything you dislike.”
“….”
“Do as you wish. If you want to stay, then stay.”
It was strange. Whenever he spoke like this, my words would catch in my throat.
My toes kept twitching…. My chest tickled so much I felt like I might sneeze.
I loved it whenever he said things like this.
Gruff and rough as he was, his manner toward me felt like he was treasuring something precious, and my heart swelled with warmth.
But on the other hand….
‘Somehow it stung.’
I was a liar.
I had never told him the truth about anything.
If my secrets were exposed… would he still be able to say such things to me then?
The ticklish feeling in my chest had turned into a sharp ache.
* * *
Leviathan returned from the Northern Outpost and immediately received reports from his servants.
Most of them concerned Void and Rubian.
He glanced once at Void’s sleeping face, then headed straight for Rubian’s bedroom. He’d been uneasy about leaving the castle with only that eccentric old man and Rubian alone.
Of course, Rubian was protected by the formidable Mercenary Maids, and Morris Knight, Grandfather’s adjutant, was no easy opponent either.
In any case.
“What’s this? Why aren’t you asleep?”
I’d naturally expected her to be sleeping, but Rubian was rolling around on the bed.
Her clear eyes turned toward me.
Soon a delighted expression bloomed across her face.
‘She seems fine.’
I’d been worried since she’d suddenly rushed into her room during the day and hadn’t come out for a while.
But I couldn’t let my guard down. Rubian was skilled at hiding her emotions.
“Does Grandfather dislike me? What if he keeps objecting to me being here? Will he throw me out?”
It had to be that old man.
Leviathan clenched his fist so tightly his knuckles turned white.
From what I’d glimpsed this afternoon, he was already completely smitten with Rubian. Yet he insisted on being so stubborn about it.
That iron-willed obstinacy of his had left such a poor first impression on Void and Liam that their relationship remained strained even now….
‘Not that I have any room to talk.’
Damn it. This is precisely why proper upbringing matters.
Leviathan brushed his hand across Rubian’s forehead as she gazed up at him with those uncertain eyes. The warmth of her skin was palpable against his palm.
Her blue eyes trembled with instability. For reasons he couldn’t explain, his chest tightened.
“I told you, didn’t I? No one can force you to do anything you despise. Do as you wish. If you want to stay, then stay. If you want to leave….”
He stopped there, his lips sealing shut. Words that had nearly escaped without his consent.
If she wanted to leave?
Then it would be acceptable for her to go?
…That’s how it should be.
If that’s what Rubian truly desired.
“….”
Yet somehow, the words wouldn’t come.
If those silken silver strands brushing against my fingertips were to vanish from before my eyes….
It felt as though my heart would plummet all the way to my feet.
Whenever I looked at Rubian, I grew restless.
It was like gazing upon a mirage.
As though she might suddenly abandon me and disappear somewhere.
It was strange. This child had insisted on clinging to me, even following me reluctantly to the Northern Region.
“Uncle?”
Her clear voice pulled me back to reality.
“Are you alright?”
The child had half-risen, her worried eyes searching his face.

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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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