Chapter 73
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Curse
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‘I have to do something.’
The thought that flashed through my mind was that if I wasn't careful, this could turn into a massive disaster.
- Rumble rumble…
And that made sense, because the massive ice spears that Lady Sigrinne had summoned were vibrating wildly in the sky.
I only had about three seconds to control them using Mother's power.
Of course, that was far too short to remove all those ice spears hovering high in the sky.
But if I let the power run out, those spears would come raining down on me.
So I had to do something in those remaining three seconds of control. Otherwise, the Fifth Knight Order might never even be established before I got skewered by them.
- Groooowl…
It had taken about a second to think this far, almost unconsciously. Time was still ticking away, so now I really had to act!
“Hyaaah!”
Desperate, I let out a shout as I made my choice: shatter the ice spears right there in midair.
The problem was, by the time I mustered my last bit of strength to move them, I only had two seconds left.
Mother could have crushed them in the blink of an eye with a mere clench of her fist. But right now, just maintaining Telekinesis was all I could manage.
The best I could do was move all the ice spears at once, just once.
“Wait…!”
“Ah…”
But honestly, that was enough.
Thinking it over again, gathering the force to move the ice spears all at once was enough to resolve the crisis.
- Screeech…
With my eyes dyed red, I tilted my hand to the side. The ice spears twitching in the air suddenly began spinning wildly in unison.
- Crackle…!
And that was it.
Propelled by that initial force, the spinning ice spears—packed so densely together—started smashing into each other and shattering.
“……”
By the time the remaining two seconds elapsed and Lady Sigrinne regained control, the shattered ice fragments were already plummeting to the duel arena floor.
“Kuh!”
“Waaah!”
Of course, those fragments were like massive hailstones and still dangerous, but they posed no threat to Lady Artel, who drew her sword and unleashed a slash, or Lady Ranya, who sniffled while spewing a huge flame.
“Eek.”
And to be honest, though a bit scary, they weren't much of a threat to me either—not with the superhuman senses and agility I'd gained after activating my crimson eyes.
“……”
But that's when the unexpected happened.
“Huh? Up there, it's dangerous!”
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“H-heeek.”
Lady Sigrinne wasn't moving an inch, even as a massive ice chunk fell right toward her.
“Ugh!”
“...Ah.”
Fortunately, before it became irreversible, Lady Artel threw herself over, scooped Lady Sigrinne up, and rolled across the ground, saving her from the crisis.
“……”
As the situation settled, an awkward silence began to fill the duel arena.
“What the—why is it so cold…? Wait, don't tell me.”
“……”
“Rest up. You've already lost anyway.”
In that silence, Lady Artel carefully laid Lady Sigrinne down on the ground, then walked toward me.
“I won't ask why you hid such a power until now.”
“I didn't really hide it…”
“But I do have to ask this.”
I leaned in to hear her, only to widen my eyes at her sharp question.
“Why did you choose to shatter the ice spears in midair?”
“Pardon?”
“It would've been easier and more efficient to just alter their trajectory and let them fall.”
Oh, right? Strategically, that might have been more efficient.
“Then Lady Sigrinne would get hurt.”
Even if I'd thought of it first, I wouldn't have done it—since what I wanted wasn't a fight to the death, but to recruit her into the knight order.
“She was your duel opponent. Don't you know what duels mean in the Empire?”
“Still…”
But as I stammered, unsure how to convince Lady Artel—
“Our little brother hates seeing people get hurt the most.”
“...He's a real good boy, isn't he?”
My sisters approached quietly, shooting Lady Artel a glare while subtly defending me.
“Ha…”
I was just smiling, touched by their support—
“...Hypocrite.”
When Lady Artel's mutter reached my ears, still sharpened by the crimson eyes.
“The type I hate most…”
Fortunately, my sisters—standing a bit farther away—didn't hear. But when Lady Artel turned back, her eyes were filled with clear hostility.
“Now, I'll deliver my strike.”
She gripped her sword properly and addressed me, startling me into nodding.
“You don't mind, right?”
“Ah, sure…”
“Brace yourself.”
I'd just barely survived one crisis, only to face another huge one. But I wasn't worried.
Because I had a new power—short duration, but enough to turn the tables…
Body is in overload state due to excessive skill use!
Absolute Telekinesis (EX) usage is temporarily restricted.
All skill usage times are fixed at 1 second.
…Wait, what?
“Cough… *gasp*.”
I blinked, not grasping it at first, then—like on my birthday—suppressed a cough tasting of blood, as per the system message, and quickly sorted my thoughts.
‘If things are like this, it's going to get really dangerous.’
Mother's Absolute Telekinesis, which offered the most explosive power in a short time, was sealed. My sisters' powers or Fluff's abilities couldn't do much in just one second.
That left Imperial Princess Lia's power, but I had no idea what "Dawn of the Imperial Family" even did…
- Groooowl…
As I frantically brainstormed, a chilling sword aura emanated from ahead.
“W-wait a sec…”
My hair stood on end. Swallowing my pride, I tried to call for a pause—
“Wait a moment!”
But someone beat me to stopping the duel.
“What? Why interfere…”
“L-Lady Sigrinne is acting strange!”
It was Lady Ranya, tending to Lady Sigrinne on the arena floor.
“Haa, haa…”
And as I spotted Lady Sigrinne lying there, breathing raggedly with her face growing paler—my jaw dropped in shock.
“This is…”
Lady Artel's mutter from ahead.
“It's finally started.”
I could hardly believe my ears.
“The curse of the First Demon King.”
I hadn't expected an ancestor's mention at this point.
“Th-the First Demon King's curse?”
“Oh, you didn't know?”
Kairen gaped blankly before urgently asking. Lady Artel responded with a cold smile.
“P-please explain.”
She eyed him warily but began explaining anyway.
“All the old hero party's members—except Belverk—received curses toward the end of the Founding War.”
“……”
“From the First Demon King, right before defeat by the hero.”
At that point, Kairen began tilting his head in confusion.
“Wait, that's…”
Her explanation clashed directly with the truth of Belverk he'd heard from Mother.
“...Shh.”
“……”
But as he moved to point it out, Lilien and Uriel shook their heads from behind, fingers to their lips.
“Something wrong with what I said?”
“...No.”p>
Seeing their meaningful expressions, Kairen swallowed his words with a sullen look.
“The curse on House Harkfriedt is ‘Freezing.’ Without strong control, it freezes everything around—and any lapse freezes their own heart.”
She narrowed her eyes at Kairen briefly before continuing.
“Then Lady Sigrinne right now…”
“She overdid it. Her heart's already badly frozen.”
She sighed, eyeing the ice crystals forming on Lady Sigrinne's chest.
“Must be nice, Belverk having no such curse.”
“……”
“Even I right now… Haa, never mind.”
She glared at Kairen as if to say more, but held back.
“Ah, ah… Hic.”
“H-hang in there…!”
“It h-hurts… Ahh…”
Lady Sigrinne lay trembling on the ground, pale and stripped of her usual icy nobility, sobbing.
“Urk…”
Suddenly retching, she vomited countless ice crystals onto the floor.
“No point continuing the duel like this.”
Lady Artel squeezed her eyes shut at the sight, then sheathed her sword and shook her head.
“I never intended to serve under Belverk anyway…”
She muttered coldly, turning to walk away—but
“...You, what are you doing?”
She stopped, spotting Kairen rushing to Lady Sigrinne and bowing his head over her.
“I can't believe the First Demon King—er, Demon King—did this, but…”
“So what are you…”
“It's a curse, right?”
With an innocent expression, Kairen placed his hand on Lady Sigrinne's heart.
“Then I can heal it!”
“Pardon?”
“Not completely, but I can definitely ease it.”
As he finished, his eyes turned red.
“Here we go again…”
“Kairen!”
“...Eek, you scared me.”
Uriel paled and shouted his name hoarsely, lunging forward. Lilien, muttering irritably beside her, jumped in surprise.
“What do you think you're…!”
But ignoring them, Kairen kept his hand on Lady Sigrinne's chest.
- Groooowl…
Before they could stop him, red light flooded the arena as his unique ability activated.
“……”
A brief silence followed.
“Haa, haa…”
Panting heavily in the quiet, Kairen exhaled coldly, forcing a pale smile.
“I-I'm fine.”
“……”
“I'll just sleep it off for a day anyway…”
But before finishing, his eyes widened and he bowed his head.
“...Urk.”
Unlike Lady Sigrinne's, the ice crystals he vomited were stained red with blood.
“Right… I overdid it…”
Staring blankly at them, he muttered softly and collapsed face-first.
- Thud…
‘At least I created a debt, so I can recruit her into the knight order now… good…’
With that cheeky thought—unbefitting his usual image—he lost consciousness.
About three minutes later.
“Boo-hoo, Young Master…”
“He collapsed again…”
“Young Master is too kind for his own good!”
The maids hoisted the now-routinely fainted Kairen and dashed toward the mansion, faces tear-streaked.
“...I never asked for his kindness.”
Lady Sigrinne stared dazedly at his retreating figure, caressing her now slightly warmer heart, murmuring softly.
“Nor his pity…”
She bowed her head, gritting her teeth with a complicated expression. Lady Artel, watching her coolly, spoke coldly.
“Well, good for you.”
All eyes turned to her.
“A house without curses but piled with privileges.”
“……”
“Right? Sometimes you have to help out like this…”
She continued brazenly with a icy expression—but
“...Hey, shut your mouth.”
Lilien's eyes rolled back as she drew a knife from her bosom, growling lowly. Lady Artel clamped her mouth shut.
“Guess no one warned you to watch your neck trying to crawl into Belverk?”
“……”
“Yeah, keep quiet. Because tonight, I'm gonna…”
But as Lady Artel's eyes narrowed coldly, Lilien ground her teeth and stepped toward her—
“Excuse me.”
“Ah.”
Uriel blocked her path.
“...You all.”
She emanated a chilling aura toward the public service house heirs. The three ladies, now meek, listened.
“Follow me.”
Finishing quietly, Uriel turned, her persistently pale face biting her lips raw.
“I have explanations to give.”
Resolving something, she added softly.
‘Acting all high and mighty out of nowhere…’
Artel stepped forward first, still icy-faced.
‘Belverk has no generational curse, long lifespans from it—whatever they say is just self-justification.’
Unless it was all a misunderstanding, her mind wouldn't change.
‘What could it be anyway?’
With that thought, she followed Uriel obediently.