Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Hydra (2)
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If one had to describe the relationship between Gray and Panhima, probably only one word would come to mind.
Indifference.
There had been some initial squabbles when they first met, but now they were simply indifferent to each other.
“⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯.”
So.
Even if Gray, who wanted to do some sword training in the back mountains that day, happened to run into Panhima there, it meant neither had anything particular to say to the other.
‘What’s she doing?’
Gray tilted her head, looking at Panhima with her ear pressed to the ground.
She’d heard that Panhima came up to the back mountains every dawn for this bizarre ritual, but Gray hadn’t expected her to be here at such an early hour.
Well, no need to poke at her.
As Gray circled around to avoid her, Panhima suddenly muttered.
“⋯⋯Your footsteps are so noisy. I can’t even hear the voice of the earth.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. What’s the big deal about just walking?”
“⋯⋯?”
Panhima looked at Gray with shocked eyes.
Had she just heard her words and responded?
“How can you speak the Divine Kingdom’s tongue, you beast?”
“I studied.”
“⋯⋯What?”
“You and my squire keep chattering in that weird language every day, so I just listened, memorized it, and read some books.”
“⋯⋯.”
“How closed-off is your homeland, anyway? There wasn’t a single book on it, so I had to go all the way to the secret archive to find one.”
Panhima’s gaze immediately went blank.
Was a foreign language something you could pick up that easily just from that?
A language she’d been completely illiterate in just a few months ago, no less.
But to such doubts, Gray tilted her head and replied instead.
“Anyone who can’t learn it after seeing that much must be an idiot.”
“I see. A beast backed by exceptional intellect, so it survives even with that stubborn temperament.”
A vein bulged on Gray’s forehead.
“Want to spar for morning training? You’ve been using that weapon a long time, right? Same as last time?”
⋯⋯A vein bulged on Panhima’s forehead too.
“Never beaten, so you go around barking at anyone? Time you learned some manners.”
If glares had physical force, sparks would have flown right there.
As Gray reached for her holy sword and Panhima for her own blade.
Suddenly, something tumbled out from Gray’s sleeve—tock—onto the ground.
A brooch.
A cute, pink, childish design.
“⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯.”
An awkward silence flowed in the tense atmosphere.
Gray’s face flushed slightly as she quickly picked it up and shoved it back into her pocket.
“What’s that?”
Panhima cleared her throat and asked.
“⋯⋯You don’t need to know.”
“It has a seal embedded. From your house?”
“Dad gave it to me as a gift. I never asked him to pick something like this.”
Gray grumbled in self-defense.
This was the worst.
Showing something like this to her, of all people.
She’d probably mock it as childish.
But.
“⋯⋯I understand.”
Panhima’s response was on a completely different track from what Gray expected.
Gray froze.
“What?”
“If it’s a gift, of course you treasure it.”
Panhima said calmly.
No scorn, no ridicule—just pure respect in her voice.
“No matter what it is, that’s no reason to mock it.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Family is precious, after all.”
It was a weighty statement.
Coming from someone who had crossed an entire continent for one family member.
Gray stared at her quietly.
At a loss for how to respond to the unexpected reaction.
“⋯⋯Yeah.”
After rolling her eyes awkwardly for a moment, she replied softly.
“It’s precious.”
It was a small mutter.
But undeniably sincere.
“⋯⋯I’d do anything to protect it.”
Lately, there was one man she’d started to care about.
But before that.
The one who had ensured she retained at least the bare minimum of humanity, so such a guy could stay by her side.
The one who had guarded her throughout her life was her father.
Even when pointed at as a monster, when everyone around feared her, when she kept causing endless incidents with her crooked attitude.
Silently, no matter what, he’d been on her side to the end.
Even at the very end, telling her he supported her.
Before meeting that guy, it had only been her father.
“Still, I see you anew. Even a thunderbolt beast like you has some human emotions.”
“Want to die?”
⋯⋯People don’t change that easily, after all.
Insolent bitch.
“But if it’s a gift, why hide it in your pocket instead of wearing it proudly?”
“⋯⋯.”
⋯⋯Embarrassing.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
“It’s not something you carry around normally. Only on specific days.”
“Specific days?”
“Just in case we end up in danger, we promised to wear them.”
To be precise, Gray had waved it off as unnecessary, but Lionel had forced it on her.
Pushing the excuse that it’d be helpful to each other.
Whether the Hero needed help.
Or Lionel did.
If ‘danger’ approached either, the red gem in the center would react.
“⋯⋯Never needed it once so far. Dad’s just overreacting.”
A Hero or Grand Duke Chasefield in real danger? They were among the safest people in the world.
Not to mention, Lionel was at the imperial palace banquet right now. What could go wrong there?
⋯⋯Well, the fact that she still carried it without forgetting showed how Gray felt about Lionel.
'No big deal.'
That was Gray’s entire perception of the current situation.
So.
“Hey.”
When Panhima cut in with a stiff voice after hearing the explanation.
An uneasy feeling struck Gray’s mind head-on.
“What.”
“Then shouldn’t you pay a bit more attention to it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Wasn’t that embedded gem originally supposed to be red?”
“⋯⋯.”
Gray’s expression went blank.
Realizing what Panhima meant, she yanked the brooch from her pocket like lightning.
“⋯⋯Huh?”
And the gem embedded in the center.
Was pitch black.
◆
Lionel was a renowned figure in the Empire.
With his round, polite personality, he had few enemies, a high position, and exceptional personal strength.
But even he had his uncomfortable situations.
“This is the friend you wanted to introduce me to? Grimbald Count.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Lionel quietly regarded the middle-aged man politely greeting him before his eyes.
⋯⋯Not someone he particularly liked.
Especially after the bad entanglement with Gray and Carlyle before.
One of his subordinates had tried something foolish with Carlyle, gotten thoroughly beaten by Gray, and Lionel had even threatened him to stay quiet or it’d escalate into inter-house strife.
No way the other side had good feelings toward him either.
Yet.
Running into him at the banquet hall, he’d approached first, saying he had someone to introduce.
“This is unexpected. For you to approach me first, Grimbald Count.”
Lionel pointed it out cautiously, but the man just smiled brightly.
“We had some past friction, but shouldn’t we bury that between us?”
“⋯⋯.”
Lionel nodded quietly.
‘Something⋯⋯feels dangerous.’
And it wasn’t unfounded.
Grimbald Count’s eyes were too clear—unnervingly so.
His house was known for boneheaded types: foul-tempered but poor actors, their intentions plain as day.
But this man’s eyes were utterly transparent.
As if he truly harbored no ulterior motives.
⋯⋯Like he’d been blindly ‘brainwashed’ by something.
Best not to get too involved. A bad premonition hung in the air.
“So, this girl⋯⋯?”
Lionel looked down at the small girl standing beside Grimbald Count.
Her innocent, blinking expression made him smile unwittingly.
Grimbald was ominous, but she gave no such vibe.
‘⋯⋯Ah, I see.’
And the Grand Duke quickly realized the source of that feeling.
This child.
She somehow resembled Gray.
“Hello, little lady. What brings you to see this uncle?”
“⋯⋯.”
As Lionel knelt and spoke kindly, the girl flinched and stepped back.
“⋯⋯Did this uncle scare you?”
Lionel gave a wry smile, and the girl’s gaze locked onto the gloves he wore.
Gloves⋯⋯barely fit the description; they were iron gauntlets, spiked menacingly.
Top-grade defensive gear inscribed with protective spells and holy chants.
Someone as important as Lionel had permission to wear them even at a banquet.
Well, if it scared her, he’d remove them. Smiling, Lionel unfastened the gauntlet tips.
“How about now? Better?”
“⋯⋯.”
The girl cautiously reached out, placing her hand against the exposed part of Lionel’s.
A warm hand.
Reminiscent of Gray as a child.
“⋯⋯Hello, Your Grace.”
The girl said in a small voice.
“Thank you. For kindly taking them off.”
“No trouble at all.”
“No, truly, thank you.”
And that was precisely why.
“I didn’t expect you to be this naive.”
⋯⋯The chilling line struck a moment too late.
“What?”
In that instant.
Green mist erupted from the girl’s body.
And like injecting deadly venom.
It climbed Lionel’s bare arm, surging straight into his body.
“⋯⋯!”
His whole body stiffened. As if paralyzed by toxin.
Then, like a fog clouding his mind, a daze overtook his consciousness.
“Seriously, though.”
The girl sneered in disbelief.
“Lowering your guard this easily just because she looks a bit like your daughter. What an idiot.”
As if her resemblance had been deliberate.
‘This is⋯⋯!’
He vaguely realized.
What wafted from this girl was some kind of ‘poison.’
“Just sleep now. When you open your eyes again, everything will be different.”
The whisper laced with malice burrowed into Lionel’s ear.
“Your memories erased, ego sunk, a faithful pet that obeys only me. Got it?”
“-”
And Lionel.
Even hearing that, recognition failed him as his consciousness flew far, far away.
"⋯⋯Hm? Grand Duke Chasefield looks unwell⋯⋯?"
"He seems a bit fatigued. I’ll escort him out."
Grimbald Count’s voice circled faintly in his ears.
⋯⋯This can’t go on.
Something irreversible is about to happen.
That anxiety battered the edges of Lionel’s fading mind.
But there was nothing he could do. His consciousness sank endlessly.
“Anyway.”
He would have lost consciousness just like that.
“Past or present, you never change—always scheming with underhanded tricks.”
⋯⋯Until someone’s voice intervened.
Then.
-!
A flash.
Exploded into the banquet hall.
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