Chapter 119
Chapter 119
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This bastard dragged me all the way here.
My heart pounded like mad, as if I were facing a murderer.
He still had to stay in the Papal States for at least another eight months. His duties were only a third complete.
I smiled at him before shifting my gaze to his clothes.
My brother, dressed in patient garb, threw off the blanket and approached me.
"Patient clothes, huh."
Impressive.
Did he put on a self-harm show to get here?
The words rose to the tip of my throat, but I forcibly smiled to hold back the sarcasm.
"It's been a while. You look like you've grown even more, Luca. Your complexion has improved a lot too."
"......"
"Your Excellency, how could you come all this way in that condition? I was going to escort the young master to his room myself..."
The steward looked at Adrian with a worried face.
"No need. I just couldn't wait a moment longer to see my brother now that he's here."
He probably wanted to see as soon as possible just how much thicker his little brother's skull had gotten and what mischief he'd been up to.
Adrian stared at me intently, then placed a hand on my shoulder while scanning me with concerned eyes.
"Luca, you okay?"
"There's no reason I wouldn't be, brother."
Adrian's smiling face froze for a split second, his eyes widening slightly.
The steward might be too accustomed to it now to notice the difference, but it was only natural for me to sense the stark change from the Adrian Ascanien I'd last seen in September of last year.
Of course, that didn't mean I planned to grovel with a trembling voice and bowed head.
I already knew exactly how a man like him thought.
Staying subservient even after he'd noticed the change would just tell him I wouldn't complain even if he killed me.
After a long silence, Adrian Ascanien's eyes crinkled in laughter.
"Your voice has changed so much. If we met outside, I might not even recognize you as my brother."
"I see."
What more was there to say in front of this killer?
I gave a polite smile and said,
"I'll head to my room now. See you later."
As I turned to leave, my brother softly called my name.
"Luca."
"......"
"See you soon."
I glanced back, and Adrian's face was brighter than ever.
He wasn't fazed at all by my attitude.
My stomach twisted.
It wasn't frustration at his lack of reaction.
I hadn't shown him any of the preparations I'd made so far, so of course he wasn't shaken.
The reason my gut churned was that I could clearly see what would come after that smile.
I just flashed a smile and exited the hall.
The steward hurried after me with quick steps and guided me to my room.
It wasn't necessary. Luca had stayed here as a child too.
"You're remarkably composed, young master."
The steward's voice reached me.
When I raised one eyebrow as if demanding an explanation, he spoke with a face lost in memories.
"Just half a year ago, you couldn't say a word in front of the eldest young master. Who would've thought the day would come when you'd converse so leisurely with Adrian..."
I cut him off.
"I don't even remember that."
"That's understandable. Seeing you now reminds me of His Excellency Duke Georg when he was young. This must be your true self, with your potential finally unleashed, so it's only natural the past feels unfamiliar."
"......"
"'True' self, huh.
What a ridiculous thing to say.
Of course, I didn't laugh.
"Then, I'll inform you when dinner is ready. You'll see your father then."
"Understood."
The steward bowed politely at my response, greeted me courteously, and left. I waited until the door closed before stepping away.
"...!"
In that instant, my legs gave out.
I braced myself against the floor and sat up straight.
I hadn't realized it, but I'd been tense.
The fear imprinted on Luca was hard for me to overcome easily too.
"Composed, huh..."
That's how it must've looked to others.
I let out a light chuckle.
It's hard to stay calm in front of a future murderer with a messed-up brain structure. It was an unavoidable reaction. Panicking over my panic would just waste time.
I quickly wrapped up my thoughts and opened my bag.
When I was packing at the dormitory, Leo had come by with some leaflets as an excuse and given me sedatives.
I popped one into my mouth and lay down on the bed.
The sedative's mana seeped into my frantically hammering heart, gradually slowing my pulse.
"As expected of Wittelsbach medicine."
I'm no history expert, but even in real history, I'd never heard of the Bavarian royal family being particularly skilled in medicine—and that held true in this pre-magic world too. Thinking like this still felt a bit strange.
Shifting to other thoughts eased my mind a little, and I sat up.
Right in my line of sight was a mahogany door.
"...I want to lock it."
There was still plenty of time until dinner, so who knew when my brother might show up here.
"He'd probably just want to chat pointlessly."
Could I smash his head in while he was talking?
Even as I thought that, my pulse started racing again.
This wasn't that basement that day, yet all the sensations from there came flooding back vividly.
"My target is here."
The murderer who would soon kill me—the enemy I had to execute—was less than 500 meters away from where I stood.
The fortunate part was that Nikolaus was much more prepared now.
The unfortunate part was that if he hadn't pulled this self-harm stunt and returned 'normally' in August this year, I could've prepared even more perfectly.
By then, as a cardinal, I'd have built up my career actively, raised Nikolaus's favorability to 8 points—no, even higher—with time to spare.
I'd have had a solid foundation to easily fend off even the imperial family's schemes.
Lost in thought for a while, I curled my lips up. It was a leisure born from this not being the absolute worst scenario.
"Funny."
He'd failed at monitoring and testing me.
Locking me at home during break, instilling conditioned fear in Luca through newspaper interviews, extracting meaningful info from Professor Trout.
So he'd decided to come see me himself.
The transfer scheduled until August probably wasn't much of an obstacle for him.
"If he got seriously injured without blocking the enemy's attack, he could be repatriated for treatment."
An honor, in a way.
To force even that Adrian Ascanien to sacrifice his own safety to achieve his goal.
He'd come here to see and test my changes firsthand.
There was one most likely hypothesis for what Adrian Ascanien would do.
He'd throw me back in the basement and interrogate me again.
And the moment he detected signs of mana, he'd cut off every path for me to return to society.
I took off my school uniform and changed into the clothes here.
The steward had apparently taken my measurements and had new ones tailored, as they fit perfectly.
"No worries on this front."
Judging by the steward's preparedness, I wouldn't lose face over trivial details. While here, I could focus solely on Adrian Ascanien's plans without distractions.
I sat back on the bed and pondered my brother's movements.
The professor said 'a week,' but could I really return to school?
Probably not.
"In the novel, Luca didn't enter the 1st Education Center. He couldn't go to the 3rd either."
To these people, 'Luca' was someone they could lock away at home anytime.
The start was tough, but once they'd ignored compulsory education, they wouldn't hesitate to expel me.
"If I end up confined here forever... how do I buy time to integrate Nikolaus into myself in that case?"
Time to find a notebook.
Even if I burn it or soak it later to destroy evidence, I need to jot things down and organize first.
I pulled my briefcase closer and reached in.
A warm furry lump touched my fingertips.
"Hm?"
Fur...?
"...!"
In that moment, I reflexively jerked my arm back in a spasm.
Then a familiar lump poked its head out over the bag.
"Lucas!"
—"How did you...!"
I grabbed it by the scruff before I could finish, but Pie didn't care at all and leaped to the windowsill.
"Wow~ Lucas's house is like Narke's house!"
—"What are you doing coming all the way here?! You'll get caught!"
"Narke sent me! And I like being with Lucas~"
"......"
Whether this was okay or not aside, the breath I'd been holding whooshed out.
For some reason, the tension in my shoulders eased too.
—"...Pie."
"Yeah?"
I held out my hand, and Pie naturally jumped from the windowsill into it.
Fortunately, given its size, Pie's mana wasn't very detectable.
For some reason, it had a white ribbon tied around one front paw, and it felt even less magical than usual—was that an artifact?
"...This should be fine even if it stays here."
If Pie being here was a problem, Narke wouldn't have sent it. I faintly smiled and set Pie on the bed.
—"Thanks."
"For what?!"
—"You'll see."
I pulled out the notebook, lay on the bed, and wrote with one hand while holding Pie. It relaxed my rigid muscles as much as Leo's sedatives.
It provided stability, but there was another benefit too. With Narke sending Pie, it was strategically much easier to plan ahead.
The view outside the window grew darker.
After outlining actions for various scenarios, I checked the clock.
"Almost six."
I'd memorized it while writing, so no need to leave evidence.
I tossed the paper into the room's fireplace and waited until it turned to ash. Then I stirred the fire with a poker, mixing it with the wood ashes indistinguishably. A brief gust from the bellows revived the flames to their former size.
Dong—
As I finished and stood, the bell tolling six rang out. Right on cue, the steward knocked.
"Come in."
"Young master, it's time for dinner. His Excellency Duke Georg will arrive soon."
"Understood."
I nodded and followed him.
The conclusion was clear.
Whether he tortured me or cut me from school, from now on, I had one thing to do.
Acting like the old Luca would bring death faster.
Just look at how that 'old Luca' died right after becoming an adult—clinging to a weak attitude in front of my brother clearly offered zero survival benefit.
"So, the opposite it is."
Even if I didn't know how Adrian Ascanien would react to my change, I couldn't walk a path where death was certain.
* * *
From the moment Luca entered the dining hall, the servants' eyes never left him.
Even those without tasks lingered, offering to help with setup and cleaning, stealing glances at Luca before gossiping about him to colleagues outside. Talk of Ascanien's second son had already spread like wildfire through the castle.
It wasn't fundamentally different from the stares he'd felt on the day he cut his hair and went to school, so Luca sat calmly, waiting for the others who hadn't arrived yet.
"His Excellency Adrian Ascanien has arrived."
At the servant's calm announcement, Luca's eyes turned to the door.
Adrian, now in formal attire instead of patient clothes, spotted Luca and smiled brightly.
Luca spoke first.
"You've arrived, brother."
"......"
His voice was neither hurried nor tense.
It was everyday speech, as if he'd said it thousands of times since childhood, and the servants' movements froze.
If he were just bowing his head, they might not notice, but the second son of Ascanien they knew could never utter such casual greetings.
Adrian looked down at him silently before smiling softly.
"I never imagined I'd hear words like that from Luca."