The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 320
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Special Side Story, Chapter 4
‘That bastard Kalid.’
I was suddenly irritated.
Making our house fairy so gloomy?
I should drag him here right now, tie him to a chair, and teach him the bitter lessons of life….
“No, wait.”
Liam shook his head.
‘If that fool keeps bungling like this and our tipsy fairy ends up dumping him, wouldn’t that actually be a decent scenario?’
No matter how much he thought about it, Liam couldn’t understand the utility of marriage.
Marriage was nothing but shackles. If you liked someone, you could simply date them.
Building a new nest only meant taking on new roles and responsibilities.
Well, as the next head of the Zebert Duchy, he had the obligation to continue the lineage, so eventually he’d seek out a noblewoman similar to himself and enter into a political marriage.
But his youngest fairy had no such obligation, did she?
‘I just wish she could stay in a familiar, comfortable place… without bearing any responsibility or pressure.’
She’d been solving too many things since she was very young. Liam had always hoped his sister could live as freely as a bird.
“Hmm, come to think of it… it might not be bad if Kalid did something significant for her at this point.”
“Yes? What is it? Oh, that’s right. By the way, Young Master, has the performance of the new Demon Beast trap that Kalid brought been confirmed?”
‘But actually….’
Liam clicked his tongue sharply. The Attendant seemed to have said something, but he hadn’t heard it.
‘There’s a high probability they’ll reconcile on their own.’
Thinking about it inductively, that was the case.
That bastard Kalid had never once disappointed Rubian, after all.
“The Imperial Palace Research Institute had high expectations. They said it’s the first time they’ve seen a type that reduces the attack power of mental-type Demon Beasts… Young Master? Young Mas—— ah, you’ve wandered off to another world again.”
Without a doubt, once Kalid saw Rubian wilting like that, he’d fidget around and eventually spill his guts completely.
Then they’d make up.
‘I can already see it without looking.’
Tch.
Still, since some harsh mental discipline was necessary, he’d started looking for a suitable chair to tickle his nerves with, then stopped.
But then.
What in the world was this?
“Young Master Liam! We have a crisis! The Demon Beast trap that Kalid had is causing problems…!”
“What?”
I never dreamed that her mind would actually be shaken like this…?
* * *
I ran frantically.
“Kalid!”
Where did things go wrong?
Was it drinking recklessly with my brothers and causing trouble?
Or falling into the lake and catching a terrible cold?
Or could it be that I’d been neglecting contact with Kalid while I was bedridden like a sick chicken?
‘It’s all a problem!’
If even one of these incidents hadn’t occurred….
If Kalid had simply heard that I was bedridden and rushed back without getting into an accident, none of this would have happened.
“Kalid!”
I burst through the door.
“Are you alright?!”
The man sitting on the bed receiving treatment turned his head. His appearance…
was perfectly fine!
Relief flooded through me in a rush.
“Good grief, falling into the very Demon Beast trap he set himself—what kind of thing is this, like something Void would do….”
“Rubian, calm down. Kalid is fine. His… body is.”
Mother patted me gently.
The entire family had gathered in the bedroom.
Father let out a deep sigh, while Void and Grandfather seemed somewhat dazed.
Liam Zebert was… hm?
‘Why is he staring at the wall?’
In any case, I hurried to examine Kalid’s complexion.
In fact, Kalid had been watching me intently since the moment I entered the room.
‘Why does he have that expression? Is he angry with me?’
Still, it was a relief that he didn’t appear to be injured, just as Mother said.
“You really scared me….”
Just as I was about to reach out my hand to Kalid.
“Oh my, our dear princess!”
“Allen…?”
“Your face is half-swollen! Is your body alright, miss?”
Allen, who had been standing nearby, suddenly interjected.
“Yes. I’m fine. Rather, I need to talk to Kalid….”
“Ah! Don’t worry, miss. This brat—I mean, our Marquis is perfectly fine! Do you know how difficult it is to wound that steel-like body of his? Ahahahahaha!”
At that moment, it seemed Kalid muttered something like ‘…Marquis?’ but I wasn’t certain.
“Ah, yes yes. But could you move aside a bit? I need to talk to Kalid….”
“By the way, how is your cold?”
Allen, you’re annoying!
“I’m fine. I took my medicine just a moment ago.”
‘Huh?’
Now that I think about it.
The medicine I took just now did taste slightly different from usual.
Allen scratched the back of his head with an ambiguous expression.
“Well, that foolish fellow would have danced with joy if he knew about this.”
“…That fellow?”
Then… who is ‘this’ fellow here?
It was an extremely subtle nuance.
‘Come to think of it, Mother did say something about Kalid’s body being fine earlier, didn’t she?’
Surely not…?
I was suddenly seized by an intense premonition.
Kalid’s body was perfectly intact.
Liam sitting in a chair, lost in thought.
Ahem! Cough! Cough cough! My family members, who had been making every conceivable type of fake cough since earlier, staring only at distant mountains….
I slowly pushed Allen aside and approached Kalid. His deep grayish-blue eyes followed me persistently.
“…K-Kalid? Why are your eyes open like that?”
As if entranced, I grabbed his arm.
In that instant, smack!
My hand was roughly brushed away.
“…!”
“Oh my.”
“My goodness.”
“Sigh….”
“Well done.”
Various reactions burst forth.
Kalid spoke to me in a cold voice I’d never heard before.
“I’d prefer if you didn’t touch someone else’s body so carelessly.”
Wow, this is.
“You.”
“….”
“Do you know what you did?”
So that’s what happened!
“How would I have rushed in calling your name if I didn’t know?! Liam, you older brother!”
“I’m already being punished for it, fairy.”
“Did you feed Kalid something strange?!”
“Surely not. It was him who asked for every demon beast trap available. He said that once we’re married, he’d eliminate the very root of the need to hunt demon beasts….”
Ha! That was quite sweet!
But… the result is anything but sweet!
Kalid’s beautiful eyes, as he looked at me, were deeply furrowed. He had the expression of someone facing something truly unpleasant.
“Rubian, what are you looking for?”
“A memory hammer!”
The universal rule for amnesia!
Wouldn’t a good hit to the head fix it?
* * *
Kalid found the current situation difficult to comprehend.
‘I was clearly in the middle of chopping firewood….’
How had I ended up opening my eyes in such a grand noble residence?
Moreover, someone had called him a “Marquis.” He assumed it was a mistake.
‘I have no idea what’s going on.’
Was that all?
His body was larger and more robust than he remembered.
The throbbing pain from daily beatings by those mercenaries was gone. Instead, vitality surged through him, and his blood ran hot…
“Wow, this situation is really a mess…”
“…”
Especially when looking at that silver-haired woman.
“So Kalid… the moment he heard I’d fallen into the Ice Lake, he rushed off to gather Flame Grass?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
The man called Allen answered casually, crunching ice between his teeth.
“Wait… you can obtain it that easily?”
“They say you can find it in Ahela? He apparently discovered it by chance while reading some documents…”
“That’s a volcanic region filled with nothing but Demon Beasts! It’s ridiculously far away, and you’re telling me… he went again?”
“Well, he’s a guy with nothing but mana to spare, so that’s what happened.”
The silver-haired woman let out a groan and finally buried her face in the cushion she’d been tearing apart this whole time.
Her small face was completely hidden.
“Idiot. Just because of a cold…”
Was she crying?
Kalid felt his heart drop. He couldn’t tear his eyes away.
“So the Demon Beast trap malfunctioned.”
“Ah, to be precise, the trap he was carrying exploded?”
“…?”
“A prototype? Something like that? Hahahaha!”
At Allen’s words, the bespectacled man sitting far away flinched. He muttered dejectedly.
“…At least we obtained data that the new trap is weak to extreme heat.”
“Liam~?”
Kalid was startled.
The moment the pink-haired woman called his name, everyone in the room tensed up.
He hadn’t noticed because she’d been smiling gently the whole time.
“Mother always said… untested toys shouldn’t be entrusted to others, didn’t she?”
“But Kalid was the one who took it first, and it was that bastard who added lava topping to my Demon Beast trap without consulting me…”
“Liam Zebert~?”
It’s cold.
Isn’t it summer? Why is it so cold?
‘…Is she the strongest here?’
Apparently so.
“So what’s the treatment method?”
Then, the black-haired man who had remained silent the entire time uncrossed his legs and asked. Despite being the strongest’s husband, his posture was remarkably casual.
“Actually, that’s a bit of a complicated issue.”
Liam adjusted his glasses.
“From the outset, this trap was designed to dominate a Demon Beast’s mind, distort its memories, and diminish its combat prowess. When I conducted direct experiments, there was only one species of Demon Beast that overcame this trap….”
“What is it?!”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————