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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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Nias’ disappearance was the biggest problem in my 8-year-old life.
It was as shocking as me getting into a traffic accident, even considering my previous life.
Of course, it also meant everything I had been planning was twisted. Moreover, if something were to go wrong with Nias… It would be even worse.
It was obvious that everything in this world would be distorted. Nias was the mastermind behind this novel. Only when she started causing incidents would everything flow in the right direction.
And I didn’t want anything wrong to happen to Nias either.
The garden was covered in a thick layer of snow. Even when I was wearing boots, my feet were almost completely buried.
Hans, the gardener, was tending to the snow-covered garden trees when he saw me trudging through the snow and widened his eyes.
All the estate’s employees knew that I rarely left my room due to my frail health.
“Ah, Hans. I have something to ask. Did you happen to see Nias going out?”
At my question, Hans seemed to remember something.
“I was working early in the morning when I saw Nias passing by. I thought she was going on an errand, so I just watched. She looked so anxious that I thought she got scolded again.”
From gardener Hans’s testimony, I learned that Nias had left the castle alone. But again, getting scolded huh? It seems there was a rumor that I was strict with Nias.
‘As I thought, rumors do spread.’
It was inevitable, but I needed to do some reputation management. I smiled and said,
“Thank you, Hans. Keep up the good work.”
“What…? Ah, yes! Thank you, Young Master!”
Hans seemed surprised for a moment at my smile but answered with enthusiasm. That brief pause was clearly a “Why is the Young Master acting like this?” so I sighed.
Damn it, people shouldn’t do things they don’t usually do.
Staying in a cold place would likely trigger continuous alarms, so I returned to my room for now.
Back in my room, I paced around anxiously.
Nias left on her own. It was fortunate that I at least knew that.
‘Did she leave because she hated me tormenting her?’
It was a possibility. She couldn’t accept her changing self, gave up on killing me, and ran away on her own.
But that was strange. Nias was deliberately leaving traces of herself. It wasn’t a coincidence that she showed herself to Hans; it was intentional.
‘Could it be…’
A thought flashed through my mind, and I opened the store to confirm it.
“Store.”
I scrolled through the menu and found what I needed to see. I immediately purchased Clairvoyance, targeting Nias.
Instantly, a pair of glasses fell from the sky.
‘This is Clairvoyance…’
I picked up the glasses and examined them slightly, but they were just frameless. Still, their performance would be reliable.
Then, I saw Nias walking through the snow-covered forest with the rag I had given her draped over her shoulders.
The only forest Nias could reach on foot within half a day from here was the Iserk Forest, attached to the castle.
‘As I thought.’
Nias was trying to lure me into the Iserk Forest. I didn’t know the reason, but she seemed to think I would definitely come looking for her.
And the reason she was luring me into the forest… Of course, it was to kill me.
And very definitively.
The Iserk Forest is where the protagonist’s party passes through in the early part of the novel when heading to the academy. And deep in that forest, a high-ranking magic beast was hiding.
Even if reincarnated, Nias was the demon king. The fact that their souls were the same meant she could subjugate the magical beasts. If I followed her into the forest, she planned to have the magical beasts kill me.
However, there was something Nias hadn’t realized.
When Nias temporarily stepped down from her position as the demon king and decided to reincarnate, some powerful magical beasts chose the path of independence.
The destruction-class magic beast ‘Cluak’ in that forest. Cluak was one of those magical beasts that had chosen the path of independence. This is why the protagonist and Nias are attacked by that beast and face a life-threatening situation on their way to the academy.
‘Damn it…’
I didn’t know under what circumstances Nias thought I would chase after her. But one thing was sure: Nias’ plan fit together perfectly.
‘Why did she think that way?’
I pondered Nias’ thought process for a moment… and reached one conclusion.
‘Could it be that she knows she’s tremendously important to me? To the point where I would definitely look for her?’
While I was thinking, a system window popped up.
*Ding!*
It seemed about 3 minutes had passed, and the glasses on my eyes disappeared like melting snow. I felt the duration was quite stingy.
I put on the thick coat I had worn when I went to the garden earlier, brushed the snow off my boots, and put them on again.
Outside, the snowfall that had subsided earlier was starting to drift down again. Judging by its momentum, the snowfall would soon become much fiercer.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
When I opened the door, I saw Yuria fidgeting anxiously, clasping her hands together.
I couldn’t understand why Yuria had bothered to come to my room. Could it be that she wanted revenge? I spoke with a slight wariness.
“What is it? Your magic should have returned, right?”
At my question, Yuria grabbed my shoulders without answering and pushed me into the room. Pushed inside, Yuria spoke to me with an anxious tone.
“You, you… tell me straight.”
“About what?”
I narrowed my eyes at Yuria.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know! That, that… You know! Do I have to say it myself?”
“No. I don’t know. Please tell me.”
“Ah, I don’t know! Am I, am I going to be unable to live without you for the rest of my life?!”
“…What?”
What a surprise… Ah.
“You mean magic, right?”
At my words, Yuria quickly nodded her head twice.
“Yes, that! If… if you don’t give me mana, I’ll… be finished. If I can’t use magic, it’s over.”
Then, with a face looking like she was about to burst into tears at any moment, she spoke.
Yuria’s position within the political forces was genuinely precarious. Her two older brothers already had firm political factions supporting them.
Still, Yuria, a child of a concubine, didn’t have any notable political backing. Only her talent was her way to survive. The moment it became known that she couldn’t use magic, she would become an ordinary woman and be used as a tool for political marriage.
It was related to her desperate struggle to become the student council president at the academy and her pursuit of her own interests. She, too, was desperate to survive.
Even so, I couldn’t believe she would trust my words so firmly. Was it because she was still young? There was this kind of solution, too.
“That’s right. But don’t worry. As long as Your Imperial Highness keeps the promises you made to me, I have no intention of taking it back.”
“Don’t lie! You’re holding the life of an imperial princess in your hands! There’s no way I can innocently believe you when you say yes, I understand, to such words!”
“Then what?”
“…Le- let’s make a deal.”
Still a forceful tone.
“An order…?”
When I frowned as if displeased, Yuria trembled.
Yuria’s blue eyes wavered and shook several times as if in turmoil. I had things to do and had no intention of waiting long, so when I tried to leave, Yuria hurriedly grabbed me again.
“Th… th… please.”
A flush of heat spread across Yuria’s face. Her eyes were also turning redder. She seemed to find it shameful to ask for such a deal. I answered indifferently.
“A deal, huh.”
“Yes. A deal! You’ll stay by my side for the rest of your life! As my close aide and my knight!”
My face naturally scowled. That’s it?
“And?”
“And… I might be able to grant a few of your requests occasionally? Is this… not enough?”
Truly arrogant demands for someone to make a request. Claiming to reflect but not actually reflecting was the epitome of a villain.
However, of course, it wasn’t insufficient. Whatever happened in the future, it was a massive gain for things to be resolved this way.
I knelt on one knee with a smile and held Yuria’s hand. I lightly kissed the back of Yuria’s hand, who was looking at me with a startled expression. As a knight, with complete courtesy.
“I’ll do that. As your knight, I will stay by your side. My lord. So first, don’t cry.”
It might have been my imagination, but Yuria’s face instantly flushed red.
“Ah, I’m not crying!”
I smiled faintly and handed a handkerchief to Yuria, who was wiping her eyes while vehemently denying it. Yuria snatched the handkerchief and pressed it hard against her eyes to wipe them.
Even though she was a villain, perhaps because she was still young, she had a surprisingly cute side to her.
But come to think of it, I was 8 years old. Hmm… Well, there were 8-year-olds like this in the world.
“Now, please grant me just one request right away.”
I waited for Yuria to finish wiping her tears and spoke immediately.
“A request…? Ri- right away?”
Yuria, startled by the swift request, tilted her head. She already had a displeased expression. But, of course, she had no right to refuse.
“Please come with me somewhere.”
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On the way to the Iserk Forest.
The snowfall was getting even fiercer. Even wearing a thick coat and casting cold-resistance magic, the chill penetrating the coat was quite harsh
Moreover, the snow quickly piled up, making it difficult for my small body to take even a single step forward. My frail body was already crying out in pain all over.
“Ugh… Why do I, this noble being, have to… be in this state on a day like this!”
Behind me, Yuria followed, her coat tightly wrapped around her and her body hunched over. It had been almost an hour since we started moving, and she had been grumbling nonstop.
“Is it very difficult for you?”
“Of course it’s difficult! Why for that damn maid…”
“I’m the type who doesn’t let go of what’s mine. I would do the same even if Your Highness Yuria went missing.”
Because I had to join the student council led by Yuria later. However, unexpectedly, Yuria went quiet right away. As expected, people disliked being discriminated against.
At that moment, through the view obscured by the snowfall, the entrance to the forest finally began to unfold.
*Ding!*
“Wait a moment. Stop.”
As I stopped, Yuria, following closely behind, hurriedly tried to stop and slipped backward, landing on her bottom.
“Kyaah!… Ugh… ugh… Why am I in this state? I, the noble one…”
It seemed there was no time to listen to Yuria’s whining anymore. I immediately grabbed Yuria’s hand and pulled her up, saying,
“Your Imperial Highness, I apologize, but please wait here for a moment until I return.”
Yuria wouldn’t be coming into the forest with me. I would have Yuria stand by here in case of an emergency.
“Wait…? Here? Here?!”
Yuria spread her arms wide to show the surroundings where snow fluttered.
“There’s no roof here! No warm fireplace! Instead, there’s only snow blowing! Are you telling me to die?!”
“Yes. Please wait.”
I spoke to Yuria and immediately turned around. Yuria moved her lips, showing her will to refuse, but she had no choice but to follow.
“Please.”
I smiled slightly at Yuria and turned towards the Iserk Forest, where a powerful magic beast awaited.
As I started walking away, leaving her behind, Yuria cried out from behind, filled with a sense of injustice, as if pleading.
“I’m a princess!”
Yuria’s voice gradually faded amidst the sound of the swirling snowfall.
“I shouldn’t be treated like this!! You should treat me more preciously! You’re horrible! You’re horrible, Leonhart Deinhart!!”
Yuria’s tearful voice completely faded with that outcry and was buried in the snowfall.
And now, only I remained in the white silver forest, covered in snow.
As I was walking towards imminent danger and maybe even death, I recollected that I was still 8 years old.
The world inside this novel was genuinely harsh.
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