Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Dizzying Meal
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Left alone were Duke Delbar and Amelia.
They faced each other, and a moment of silence passed between them.
And... the one to break that silence first was Amelia.
“Kaider! What do you think you're doing to the boy our daughter brought home... her friend!”
It was an angry voice.
With her arms crossed and one eyebrow arched, Amelia looked ready to charge at the duke at any moment.
The duke clamped his mouth shut at her words, then finally managed to squeeze out a single sentence.
“Amelia... what are you doing here.”
“Hmph, that's the first thing you say when you see me?”
This time, the duke fell completely silent.
To be precise... he was utterly cowed by his wife's glare.
Amelia didn't miss that silence and pressed her waist firmly with both hands as she spoke again.
“You lock up a quiet, well-behaved kid and beat him! You hurl sharp thorns at him! Is that any way to treat a person?”
“...It was a test.”
“Oh? A test, was it? Well, I'm testing you right now too. Testing you as a husband.”
Amelia spun her hand around with a twirling whoosh-whoosh-whoosh sound, then jabbed at the air with her fingertip.
“Zero points~”
The duke's lip twitched ever so slightly.
“...It wasn't that bad.”
“Oh, it was. Total zero. I'm even considering going into the negatives!”
Amelia waved her hands wildly, raising her voice even higher, but...
At that moment, the crisp sound of polished shoes approached from the direction of the door.
“Oh? Nemesis?”
“Madam, I've come to escort you.”
A maid of the duke's household.
It was Nemesis, the head maid, her eyes radiating unyielding resolve.
“It's fine, Nemesis!”
“It is not, Madam.”
Three or four more maids followed behind her, surrounding Amelia on both sides.
“Eek...! Let go! I said let go!”
“Madam, you must return.”
“Madam...”
Amelia's protests grew quieter and quieter, until she was eventually dragged away between the maids and vanished beyond the door.
There was a brief silence.
The duke slowly raised his head, gazing at the now-empty doorway as he let out a sigh.
“...Not easy.”
Drained by Amelia, the duke quietly raised his hand.
Crack.
The ice gathered at his fingertips shattered, revealing dark cracks spreading beneath it.
“Are you all right, my lord?”
Nemesis, who had been watching from the side, asked cautiously.
The duke stared at his frozen hand for a long while before speaking.
“...Carnel?”
“Lady Carnel has returned to the mansion with Lady Violet and the boy in the mask.”
Crack. Crackle...
The cracks spread from his fingertips to the back of his hand, and the ice crumbled away like frost.
“...My lord.”
“......An unique spell, perhaps.”
The duke clenched and unclenched his fist, lost in thought.
The lingering pain in his hand and the remnants of the singularity told him the truth of that magic.
A singularity where space expanded infinitely, as if to devour everything.
The space Adel had been on the verge of creating just moments ago was undoubtedly...
An unique spell.
“My lord... you let it pass.”
“......”
At Nemesis's words, the duke lowered his gaze without a reply.
If he had fought in earnest in that situation...
That singularity would have frozen solid in an instant.
But what if...
That spell had fully manifested?
“...Nemesis.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Attend to him with utmost care for the next month.”
The duke shook off his hand and walked out the door.
Nemesis silently followed behind.
“Are you sure it's wise... He's an outsider.”
The duke answered without breaking stride.
“He is the one Carnel brought home.”
“...”
“There is no room for doubt.”
***
“You'll stay here.”
[Thank you]
Thanatos bowed his head as he showed me to the room.
“Do you have any luggage to bring in separately?”
[No]
“If you need anything, call for me at any time.”
[Yes]
With that short exchange, Thanatos quietly closed the door and left.
I looked around the room.
Nothing... particularly special about it.
It was on par with the dorms at the cradle.
If anything, the familiar layout put my mind somewhat at ease.
The bed was spacious, and the view out the window serene.
Perfect for sitting around in a daze.
One problem, though...
“Hey.”
On the bed, smack in the center of the pillow, lay some unidentified squishy lump.
Big round eyes, damp body, loach-shaped thing.
It was the Loach.
“So this is the mansion.”
[Why'd you come out]
“Why'd I come out? Human.”
It slapped its fins down on the pillow.
Then it opened and closed its mouth...
“......”
...but just kept flapping without saying a word.
[Move]
“This pillow is quite plush.”
[I said move]
“I'll be using this one.”
I set down the whiteboard and picked up the pillow.
The Loach flopped away in a panic... but slunk back up after three seconds.
“This place suits the name 'Leviathan's Nest.'”
I sat silently on the opposite side of the bed.
It waddled over to me and tossed out another remark.
“Or how about 'Leviathan Manor,' human?”
[Both suck]
This was the Delbar estate to begin with.
Why are you naming it?
“Hmm... Humans truly lack any sense of poetry.”
The Loach made a sullen face, wriggling its body as it burrowed into the covers.
Only its pouty face poked out from the gap, glaring at my mask.
“So, what's next.”
[Rest]
I planned to do absolutely nothing over the break.
Breaks are for relaxing, and this wasn't my home or dorm anyway.
Wandering around would just cause trouble, so I'd hole up quietly in the room.
“Boring.”
[You stay out of trouble too]
“I've never caused trouble, human.”
It ducked back under the covers.
A moment of silence passed.
...Five seconds later, the covers twitched, and the loach peeked out, flapping its mouth again.
“How about 'Leviathan's Palace' then?”
[Shut up]
It sulkily burrowed back into the covers.
Knock knock.
...Someone knocked on the door.
Without waiting, it swung open, and Violet and Carnel poked their heads in.
“Hey, little bro.”
Violet's gaze landed on me sitting on the bed... then shifted straight to the damp bedsheet.
“Little bro... did you wet the bed?”
[The loach did]
“Ahh... I see.”
“Peeing everywhere like that—how vulgar.”
The covers rustled and shook as something tried to burst out.
I pressed down hard on them.
“......!”
...This thing's stronger than me.
A human barely holding down a fish—must be my strength of 4... reality was grim.
“Anyway, little bro.”
[Yes]
My hands were busy calming the loach under the covers, so my writing came out a bit crooked.
“Mom says come eat.”
Thud.
The movement under the covers stopped.
I froze too.
“......”
...Come eat?
...Why?
...Me too?
[Huh?]
“Mom says you should come, little bro.”
[I don't have to—]
“Come.”
Carnel just whipped her head around, not even reading my whiteboard, and said it.
Twitch.
The loach cautiously poked its head out from under the covers.
Its eyes sparkled.
‘A feast fit for kings.’
That was written all over its face.
‘You’re not going.’
Boom!
It was as if thunder crashed somewhere, and all the anticipation drained from loach's face.
***
“Oh my, come on in! You must be Carnel's handsome young friend~?”
The long dining table was lined with meticulously prepared dishes.
Amelia welcomed me with arms spread wide and a smile bright as a flower.
[I'm Adel]
Still, it'd be nice if she used my name.
‘Handsome young friend’ was too long and awkward.
“Yes yes, got it, handsome young friend Adel!”
...It got longer.
[Just Adel is fine]
“Adel...-ssi?”
[No need for the honorific either]
“Then, handsome young friend Adel!”
[Sorry, just plain Adel—]
“Oh no~ Calling you just by name feels too intimate! Carnel would get jealous~?”
Carnel, sitting next to Amelia, hung her head low.
I could see her ears flushed bright red.
“Mom...”
- Crackle...
...Was that just me who heard it?
A faint sound accompanied by a familiar chill.
I turned to trace the source.
There sat Duke Delbar, silently continuing his meal.
His head slightly bowed, holding his utensils quietly, but...
The air around him seemed subtly colder.
...Looking closer, his soup looked frozen too.
Pat pat.
Something was tapping my leg.
The loach.
‘Why.’
It was chomping away on fruit atop my leg.
‘This fruit is excellent for one's health.’
That was its expression.
‘Get down and eat.’
The loach crossed its fins and glared at me.
‘I’m a guest and thus deserve respect.’
An utterly obnoxious look.
‘I’m a guest too.’
It folded its fins like fingers and wagged them side to side.
‘That’s prejudice, human.’
...That was its expression.
It’s rare to have such absurd conversations even with actual words...
As I listlessly stirred my spoon amid the mental drain, Amelia asked me.
“Does Adel-ssi not speak at all?”
I paused stirring my soup and lifted the whiteboard.
[I can]
“You can?”
[But then]
[Big trouble]
“Big trouble?”
Violet, beside her, leaned in and whispered to Amelia.
“He can speak... but if he does, he explodes and dies.”
“Ahh... that's the backstory?”
Of course... I heard all that.
“And what's with the mask concept?”
Amelia's eyes sparkled toward my face this time.
...I wished this mask was just a concept.
“He can't take it off either, Mom...”
Violet whispered again from the side.
“Hmm...! So many afflictions!”
Afflictions, huh.
It stung a little... but I couldn't deny it.
Amelia scanned me up and down with her blue eyes.
“Come to think of it...”
Amelia glanced at Carnel sitting beside her.
“...?”
Carnel, nibbling on grapes, tilted her head.
Then Amelia's gaze shifted back to me.
“Your hair and eye colors match perfectly!”
Amelia clapped her hands once, then added in a voice brimming with excitement.
“Could it be... fate?”
At those words, Carnel's hand, toying with a grape, froze solid.
“M-Mom... that's a bit...”
“What else could it be but a match made by the gods?”
Carnel's hand began to tremble.
“Mom... please, quietly...”
I could tell why Carnel was reacting so strongly.
...She was getting drained.
I felt my own sanity wearing thin bit by bit.
This mansion... it exhausts people... drives them mad.
“Hmm... but you know.”
Amelia tilted her head, staring piercingly at my mask.
“White hair and golden eyes... that's rare.”
I averted my gaze from those eyes.
...Too intense.
But at that moment...
“Could Adel-ssi be my son?”
The words hit like a bolt from the blue.
Violet froze with her spoon midair, and Carnel’s mouth hung half-open in shock.
“......”
Duke Delbar silently kept slicing his meat, head bowed.
His movements were perfectly calm, but... was it my imagination that the knife tip gouged deep into the plate?
“Hmm... or would you rather be my son?”
“......”
Crack.
Somewhere, it sounded like a plate shattered...
But when I glanced over, the duke was wordlessly clearing away the plate that had held his meat.
At the same time...
“Pfft...”
From under my leg... somewhere, came the sound of stifled laughter.
But I didn't look down.
...I had a pretty good idea who it was.