The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 228

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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 228
The Duke’s daughter laughed awkwardly, a nervous sound escaping her lips.
“I, I apologize again. I know it must seem excessive, but we’ve just overcome a family crisis, you see.”
“….”
“For the time being, we’ll need to stay close together. The separation anxiety is acting up something fierce….”
“Ah.”
Mariel’s eyes went completely hollow.
So a terrible plague had swept through the Duke’s household.
It wasn’t particularly surprising.
After all…. they were simply that sort of people.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me, Marquis.”
Mariel shook her head in resignation.
She had no idea what family crisis they’d endured.
But watching them roll toward the mansion entrance like a tangled ball, clinging to one another so desperately,
“Rubian, Father’s back feels cold. Stick closer, quickly.”
“Sticking.”
‘…They really are something else.’
She couldn’t help but think it.
* * *
“We’ll discuss what comes next once Liam arrives. For now, you should rest.”
Father said this, then finally peeled me away from his back.
I received treatment from the Physician that Marquis Weber had arranged, and found myself alone in a spacious bedroom.
Every time I came on holiday to the Southern Region, I’d visit this place as though stopping by grandmother’s house (though the Marquis was far too young to be called grandmother). It felt deeply familiar.
“The Duke’s daughter is a patient! If you keep bothering her like that, wounds that would heal today will still be open tomorrow…. Ballock! Did you really think that massive body of yours could fit under the bed?!”
Mariel gracefully and elegantly drove out my troublesome family. Before leaving, she asked me a question.
“Duke’s daughter, is there anything else you need?”
“Oh, I’m already sorry for imposing so suddenly. To ask for more….”
“You’ve been my companion every summer since childhood. This is nothing. Don’t be shy—just tell me.”
“Well then, without reservation…. Clean bathwater and a meal, a Physician specializing in scar treatment, the herbs listed on this paper, fresh clothes to change into, undergarments, and perhaps a soft bed with a matching cozy bedding set?”
“…You wrote down scar treatment Physician, but what comes next?”
I smiled mischievously and whispered near the Marquis’s ear.
“Actually, I was joking. I’m curious about the whereabouts of the Southern Region’s Outpost Mage.”
The Marquis, who had been watching me with narrowed eyes, said “I’ll look into it” and then disappeared.
I lay quietly, counting the patterns on the ceiling.
But I couldn’t hold back any longer and turned my head sharply.
My eyes met directly with the man sitting like a stone statue, staring at me.
“When exactly are you going to say something to me?”
“Now.”
Kalid, who had been in a foul mood since earlier, answered with a furrowed brow.
That was right. I wasn’t alone after all.
Kalid had always filled the void left by my family, just as he always did.
‘Looking at it, he really does excel at exploiting gaps in defense.’
I stretched my aching body with a long groan, only to feel a sharp pain shoot through my calf, causing me to curl up like a chrysalis with a whimper.
Kalid let out a low sigh and approached, taking my fingertips in his hand.
“I’m sorry, but I’m still coming to terms with it. The fact that you were the daughter of Zebert Duke, who died in that carriage accident.”
Mana gently began to flow into me.
As I rode on Father’s back all the way here, I explained to Kalid everything that had happened. Naturally, he couldn’t hide his shock.
Suddenly, his grip on my hand tightened.
“That insane bastard who desecrated your grave and stole your body—I will absolutely….”
“Ow, ow.”
“Kill him.”
As my eyes narrowed at the heavy mana that made my veins ache, Kalid briefly released his grip before taking hold again.
“Sorry. For hurting you.”
“It’s fine. But I’m curious about something.”
“Yeah?”
“Where are the young mages?”
Kalid paused in thought before adding.
“They’re hiding nearby, and Leon is supposedly bringing them here.”
“Ah. So they stay here for a while before being sent to the Orphanage?”
“Right. But those children are still confused, so no one’s really bringing up the subject easily. It seems the Mage King frightens them.”
Being sent to the Orphanage was essentially the same as being told to flee from the Mage Kingdom.
‘I see. That makes sense.’
I absently touched my lower back.
I should probably meet with the children as soon as they arrive.
Before that, though….
“Is Liam Zebert on his way?”
Liam, who had discovered a new talent in thoroughly fleecing the nobility, was scheduled to finish his business and arrive in the Southern Region through the Gate Portal.
“I think it would be best to go meet him at the Gate. Otherwise, we won’t see each other until next year.”
Right now, Mother and Grandfather had gone to explain everything to Marquis Weber, Father was at the Harbor, and Void was elsewhere finishing up around the Cave, so….
I looked around and suddenly reached out my hand.
“Carry me, would you?”
His large frame visibly stiffened.
“…Huh?”
“No, well, you’re the only one here right now…. The Physician said I shouldn’t walk for a while, and—yikes!”
Startled by the sudden elevation of my perspective, I grabbed his collar, and Kalid’s arm tightened around me.
“Like this?”
“That seems…about right.”
Wait, isn’t this too close?
I tried to pull away slightly, but his firm forearm wrapped around me like a vine, pulling me snugly against his torso.
“Would you just carry me on your back instead?”
“I don’t know who to give myself to.”
How could a person be like this?
‘Anyway.’
Perhaps it was because the clothes were thin.
The undulating contours of chest muscles rippling with movement felt far too vivid against my skin, and I froze in alarm at the realization.
‘What? What contours?’
What exactly was I sensing?
I tried desperately not to heighten my sense of touch.
Of all things, Kalid had bathed thoroughly and dressed in a light indoor tunic provided by the Marquis’s residence. Given the mild weather of the Southern Region, the black tunic he wore had a deeply plunging neckline.
‘But why did he tie the ribbon so loosely?’
Through the slightly parted fabric, his flat chest came in and out of view. The muscles, taut from days of battle, radiated an angry presence that wavered before my eyes….
‘Oh my! Rubian! You’re a pervert?’
I must be losing my mind!
I simply decided to block out my vision.
“Why did you suddenly close your eyes? Is it… uncomfortable for me to hold you?”
But the tender voice reaching my ears was one thing.
“Rubian?”
And the fresh scent touching the tip of my nose was another.
‘All five senses satisfied.’
No! I really was going mad!
‘My senses are being overwhelmed too intensely!’
“Hey. Just bring me a wheeled chair or something….”
“What? I can’t hear you.”
Ah, the life of a pervert.
Truly agonizing!
* * *
Following the pervert’s national code, after singing the national anthem five times through, Kalid and I arrived at the Southern Gate.
Kalid said he would go to greet us alone out of concern for my physical condition, but I simply pretended not to hear.
After all, with Kalid attending to me with such devotion, there was no strain on my body.
“Hold on carefully.”
“Mm….”
As he helped me down from the horse and I felt the warmth of his natural embrace, I could no longer contain my wildly racing heart.
‘Yes, I suppose I really do….’
I swallowed a dizzying breath and shook my head vigorously. The tender sprout growing slowly in my heart was becoming impossible to ignore any longer.
‘How on earth did I end up like this.’
My chest tingled terribly, yet there was something melancholy about an emotion I absolutely could not reveal.
In any case.
As the great arched gate shone brightly once, Liam Zebert emerged through the blue curtain.
“Big brother!”
“My youngest treasure!”
We achieved a tearful reunion.
After picking up Liam and returning to the mansion, the Physician brought the wound salve that Marquis Weber had prepared.
As I unwrapped the bandages to apply it, Liam trembled violently at the sight of my flesh torn open in long gashes.
“What kind of insane bastard did this to your legs? Fighting against the tentacles of a giant spider beast, you couldn’t dodge a sudden attack and got torn up like this?”
“You’re really accurate.”
Had he been watching from somewhere?
That evening.
After each family member finished their brief tasks, we gathered together again in a circle.
With Liam safely arriving in the Southern Region, the House Zebert emergency contingency meeting commenced.
We sat in a circle in the conference hall that Marquis Weber had arranged for us.
“Then let’s begin our family meeting.”
Since it was Friday, Father presided as chairman.
“Me! I’d like to speak.”
“Go ahead. Rubian.”
I rose from my seat on one leg and cleared my throat.
“Well, while defeating the Mage King is important, I think it’s equally important to understand how I, the real daughter of Mother and Father, came back to life.”
“Haaaaah.”
“Damn it.”
Sighs filled with frustration escaped.
I deliberately smiled calmly and kindled my resolve.
“To do that, the method I’ve devised to reach the Mage Kingdom is…”
At that moment, Grandfather scratched his chin and spoke casually.
“Nah, I’m against it.”
“Wait, I haven’t even finished what I was saying yet?”

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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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