Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Is This the Power of the Blessing I Knew?
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Is this the power of the blessing I knew?
Such an ominous power?
"I'll kill you."
A dark blue light swelled even larger, enveloping half of Dietrich's body as water dripped from it in heavy drops.
With the unstable flickering of the light, water surged up from the pond and rushed toward Hans.
Swoooosh—!
It was nothing like when Dad used his blessing.
When Dad activated his blessing, it carried a sacred energy that felt cold yet refreshing enough to wash away the throbbing headache caused by demon poison.
But all I could sense from Dietrich's blessing was vague terror.
The dark blue flickering light didn't look like a divine blessing at all—it resembled the poisonous mist of a demon beast.
"Ditri! No!"
Anyone could see it was a ferocious glow. If he kept unleashing such unstable power recklessly...!
"I'll handle it somehow."
Florian must have felt the same, as he gritted his teeth and extended his hand.
The red power of his blessing didn't even climb halfway up his arm before fizzling out.
His body had already overused the blessing.
Even so, Florian glanced at me once before straining to squeeze out the power of fire one more time.
The moment a faint trace of blood appeared between his lips, he finally succeeded in igniting a poisonous-looking blaze.
"What?"
Flames and water collided with a sizzling hiss, steam scattering everywhere.
Dietrich slowly turned toward us.
He seemed to have realized Florian was blocking his blessing, his face more aggressive than ever.
"You wanna go at it, huh?"
"Get a grip."
"You wanna go?!"
Dietrich's lips twisted.
As he summoned even darker water with completely bloodshot eyes, Florian let out a small cough.
Florian had no room to spare while protecting me in his arms and the fallen Hans.
'And being right by the pond puts Florian at too much of a disadvantage.'
Dietrich didn't even need to create water.
How long could Florian hold out, conjuring fire purely from his blessing in empty air, against Dietrich who freely whipped the pond's water into a frenzy?
At that moment, the pond water Dietrich had summoned hissed like a snake and split into nine streams.
Then, the sound of galloping hooves miraculously filled the air first.
"Enough."
The nine streams charging toward us snapped unnaturally like broken branches, and Dad appeared amid the dense trees.
"Dad!"
"It's okay. Daddy's here now."
Dad dismounted and gave a chin flick. The water streams still hovering in the air began slinking back to the pond.
Dad's blessing swiftly enveloped the dark blue light surging around Dietrich.
Swoooosh—!
The two forces clashed, producing sounds like crashing waves, but Dietrich's power still hadn't surpassed Dad's.
I could see the transparent blue light gaining the upper hand, devouring Dietrich's blessing.
Then, as the dark blue glow dispersed like steam, Dietrich's body crumpled like a puppet with cut strings.
Thankfully, Dad caught him safely.
"Ditri!"
I barely managed to push myself up.
I saw Florian frown as he reached to support me, but I groaned while clutching my shoulder.
"Ditri okay?"
My whole body felt like it was shattering, but checking on Dietrich came first.
Dad frowned briefly at the sight of me dragging myself over, then relaxed.
"He's fine. It ran wild because it was his first time using the blessing, so a few days' rest will do. Ella, what about you?"
"I'm okay."
"Is Your Highness alright?"
"I'm fine. But the baby..."
This much was nothing.
Based on my experience with minor injuries from workouts, it didn't feel like a fracture.
I'd been lucky.
"Waaah!"
"Wah! Mommy! Daddy!"
From beyond the bushes, the vassals' children who'd been fleeing every which way started getting rounded up by knights, returning with wails.
Maybe they were scared of Dad?
Earlier they'd been all hyped up attacking us...
Hans lay sprawled unconscious on the ground. Fortunately, his belly rose and fell lightly—he was breathing.
'Uncle sending such a hulking brute ended up backfiring.'
If Hans hadn't been over two meters tall, no amount of flailing could've shattered the glass case with the Araneo perched high in the tree.
Exactly. Why send a grizzly bear like that to a friendly match with kids?
Dad slowly scanned the surroundings, his gaze landing on Marc, who was being dragged over by a knight, pale and terrified.
"Dominik will have to take responsibility for today's incident one way or another."
Marc's face drained of color at Dad's low declaration.
Dad said nothing more to him.
Instead, he directed the knights who'd followed to gather the crying, chaotic children and load them into carriages.
Me, Dietrich, and Florian boarded a belatedly arriving carriage.
Dietrich lay there breathing steadily.
Still, I pressed my ear to his chest several times to confirm his heartbeat and that he was alive.
"At this rate, we can't do the victory ceremony. Let's head straight home."
"No."
Dad looked down at me with slight surprise after I spoke.
"If Ditri doesn't wake up, I'll take it for him."
"Ella, your condition..."
"Still. Gotta get it from Uncle."
Dad gazed down at my unyielding stubbornness, then knocked twice on the carriage wall.
The coachman opened the small rear window.
"Change course to the spectator stands."
"Yes, sir."
I beamed and tried to hug Dad's neck, but the sharp pain in my shoulder as I lifted my arm made me drop it quickly.
'Only my dad would listen so carefully to a four-year-old.'
My shoulder throbbed, but my mood soared.
Noticing, Dad gave a wry smile and stroked my head.
"This stubbornness should've come from me, not Lucy."
Sympathy, pride, and longing rippled through Dad's eyes like waves.
I couldn't hug him with my injured shoulder, but his two arms were strong and whole.
With them, Dad pulled me close and stroked my head.
The carriage soon arrived where all the northern nobles had gathered.
All eyes turned to me as I disembarked.
Murmurs gradually grew louder, and a guard who'd caught Dad's gaze startled and raised his voice.
"The red team victorious in the friendly match has returned!"
A beat late, drums began to pound. Boom, boom. The pulse-like beat thrummed through veins, naturally boiling the blood.
The one meant to step forward and receive the award before Grandfather was originally Dietrich.
But he was still unconscious.
I took one step forward.
As I advanced one step, Florian stepped back.
Like someone who thought this wasn't his place.
'Who do you think fought so desperately to win for?'
I took another step back to follow him, then grabbed Florian's hand firmly.
Watching his eyes widen round, I tugged and stepped forward.
The moment Florian meekly followed me and we stood before Grandfather together...
I saw Grandfather squint at my disheveled state. A scolding laced with deep worry followed.
"A little kid recklessly throwing herself into danger..."
"But Mariella won!"
Where were Uncle and Aunt? I had to rub this good news right in their faces.
Scanning the stands, I spotted the two standing behind Grandfather among the vassals.
Uncle's face, buried among them, was eerily pale.
Because Marc lost?
Or because Hans nearly killed direct lineage?
Honestly, either way didn't matter.
Grandfather had already schooled his worried expression into one befitting the ruler of the North, looking down at me.
"This year's friendly match goes to the red team."
Amid the cheers filling the stands, I looked straight up only at Grandfather.