Chapter 65
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 65
Normally, a mere glance or two would have sufficed, but right now, I was beyond exhausted.
Feeling like I might lose consciousness if I let my guard down for even a second, I gritted my teeth and withdrew my Deposit Coins.
In an instant, a brilliant light flashed before my eyes.
[SYSTEM] Withdrawing deposit from the ‘Lead Bank’!
[SYSTEM] Receiving 10% interest!
[SYSTEM] 100 Coins have been granted as interest!
[SYSTEM] Current Coins: 1,102
The number 100 filled me with a sense of pride.
But as my heart swelled with satisfaction, my eyes grew heavier.
‘Increase the Luck Stat. Max it out.’
I frantically dumped points into my Luck Stat.
Clink!
Clink!
Clink!
I did this because there was a high probability that while I was unconscious, Lilius would try to manipulate public opinion and insist on firing ‘just one more’ shot.
“There’s something wrong with the magic tool! I didn’t mean to fire that!”
Right now, he was screaming at the top of his lungs, caught in a state of severe panic.
[SYSTEM] The Luck Penalty has been removed.
Perhaps it was thanks to my speed, which bordered on rapid-fire clicking.
The notification that the Luck Penalty had been removed appeared in an instant. I had never been so glad to see a message in my life.
That magic tool bow was designed to fire three shots automatically. After the first shot hit the target, the remaining two were set to fire after a short interval.
My timing was quite precise.
Almost simultaneously with the removal of the penalty—
Thwack!
Thwack!
The two flying arrows struck the apple with pinpoint accuracy.
“…….”
Silence fell.
Lilius lapsed into a heavy silence, looking as crushed as the shattered apple.
‘That broken apple is going to be your future, you know?’
Tedric was a bonus. Aubrey was an extra.
The winged star circling above my head looked like an angel’s trumpet. Which is to say, it hurt so much I felt like I was about to die.
I could laugh on the inside, so why were tears falling on the outside?
It really, truly hurt like hell.
“My Lady!”
“You’re bleeding too much!”
“Tulia! Tulia!”
Lisian’s voice echoed in my ears, and without even knowing if I had managed to tell him I was okay...
I lost consciousness.
* * *
“An arrow?”
Tulia’s assistant butler, Grans, nodded with an anxious expression.
“Yes, Master Leon.”
“And?”
“Lady Tulia was hit. Again.”
Right in the thigh! Lady Tulia! By that massive arrow!
The low voice, suppressing all these internal shouts, flowed out like a formal report.
“The Lady is currently completely unconscious.”
“Is that so?”
“…….”
“I see.”
The response was half-hearted.
Rumor had it that Leon was bedridden after fainting, but that was only half true. It was true that Leon Frezier had fainted and been confined to his bed. However, his physician was exceptionally skilled, and the herbs Tulia had forced upon him were top-tier ingredients that even high-ranking nobles couldn't obtain for any amount of money.
Above all, Leon Frezier was a talent among talents, someone who always took an unrivaled first place in the Academy Swordsmanship Exams.
With such incredible fundamental physical strength, he had recovered and gotten out of bed in no time. Even the physician had marveled at Leon’s monstrous recovery rate.
‘Sigh.’
Only Grans, Tulia’s assistant butler, was burning with frustration.
This was his first time inside Leon Frezier’s bedroom. Although the twins rarely visited the Grand Duchy, even Aubrey didn't dare ignore them. As proof, the carpet on Leon Frezier’s floor alone was an incredibly expensive luxury item. Such a soft, plush carpet made of pure wool was one of the most coveted luxuries among the Empire's nobility.
And what was Leon Frezier doing, sitting casually on such a priceless carpet?
He was counting coins.
Cheap copper coins that commoner children might like. There were a few silver coins mixed in here and there, but it was a trivial amount that even the servants of the House of Frezier wouldn't blink an eye at.
Grans couldn't understand why Leon Frezier, of all people, was suddenly focusing on such a pathetic sum as if it were his entire life's fortune.
Grans sighed inwardly.
‘The Young Master is being too much.’
Of course, he knew. He knew the relationship between Tulia and Leon Frezier was the worst. Because of that, he had expected Leon to react passively even when informed of Tulia’s condition.
But wasn't this going too far?
His younger sister had been hit by a massive arrow again, yet he sat there listening with total indifference, huddled on the floor counting worthless coins. Even as a mere servant, Grans was appalled.
If Lady Tulia had come here herself and received such treatment from her own brother, how sorrowful and hurt would she have been?
‘She’s actually quite fragile inside.’
Grans, who had already grown fond of Tulia, glared at Leon Frezier with resentful eyes. He wondered if being handsome and popular in society was all that mattered when he acted like such a cold-blooded human toward his sister.
While he was busy badmouthing Leon in his head—
“But that’s not exactly a bow, is it?”
Leon Frezier suddenly spoke.
Startled, the assistant butler replied a beat late.
“Pardon? Ah, well, it is... a magic tool.”
“Right?”
Leon Frezier spoke with an indifferent, almost nonchalant face that made it impossible to read his thoughts.
“That magic tool is on the level of a small ballista. Its destructive power is much higher than a regular bow. Even if the ones sold at the Mage Tower Shop have significantly reduced lethality, they’re still a higher-grade weapon than a bow.”
His voice was flat, as if reciting memorized facts. As he spoke, Leon Frezier—unlike a noble son of a Marquis—finished carefully counting the dozen or so coins and stood up.
“That’s a relief.”
Was he saying it was a relief the Lady was hit by an arrow?
If so, that was truly cruel. No matter how bad their relationship was, they were siblings!
Grans couldn't bring himself to snap, but he was losing every ounce of respect for this man who was only handsome on the outside. It would be wiser to go back and attend to Lady Tulia right now, but...
“You have to bring Leon Frezier here. Okay? I’m counting on you. Got it? I trust you. Okay?”
He had received that semi-threatening... no, desperate request from the Lady. As one of the Three Musketeers... no, as a servant, he couldn't fail in his duty.
“This should cover a few days' worth of meals.”
“……?”
It happened in an instant.
Muttering incomprehensible words, Leon Frezier dashed out like the wind.
“M-Master?!”
A flustered Grans hurried after him. Leon Frezier was already running toward the far end of the hallway. Even then, his back vanished from sight in a flash.
He was heading exactly toward the forest where Lady Tulia, Master Lisian, and various nobles were in an uproar.
Grans snapped out of it a moment later. As he hurried his pace, the gold coin purse in his pocket jingled. Tulia had entrusted it to him.
“If Leon Frezier refuses to come, tell him I’ll return about thirty percent of the money from those herbs I forced on him last time. Use that to lure him. Got it?”
He was going to give him this...
‘It seems there’s no need for that, Lady Tulia…….’
Through the windows lining the hallway, he could see Leon Frezier, who had already left the castle, riding a horse toward the forest.
Grans thought to himself that siblings were siblings after all and felt relieved, but then he froze a beat later.
“Wait.”
Could it be?
Surely not.
‘He’s not trying to sneakily take back the money she took from him while Lady Tulia is unconscious, is he?’
“No, surely not…….”
He shook his head slightly, but doubt was inevitable. The pathetic way Leon had been gathering and counting coins earlier, combined with the intense distrust Tulia showed toward him, led Grans to a very disloyal deduction.
He felt he had to show Leon this golden purse immediately to ensure the Young Master acted according to the Lady’s wishes.
“Hyah!”
Grans also borrowed a horse and hurried after him.
* * *
Darkness.
Ever since I was hit by the arrow, everything had been pitch black. It was likely because I had fainted.
If I stayed unconscious like this, my faithful physician would do his best to treat me. He would pour in anesthetic powders and use his miraculous skills with the expensive herbs I got from Grandfather to make it as ‘painless’ as possible.
Adel would be by my side, busily helping. She would worry if I woke up late, but she’d surely prepare a feast of warm stew and porridge in the kitchen.
But.
I had to wake up now.
I hadn't dealt a big enough blow yet.
I had to get up.
I had to.
No matter how massive the injury or how close to death I was, I couldn't stay completely unconscious like this. I didn't even expect to faint in the first place. I didn't know it would hurt that much!
Wake up, Han Ina!
Open your eyes!
But no matter how much I shouted to myself, my body wouldn't budge, as if bound tight by iron chains.
Was I really that badly hurt? Even if it was a modified magic tool, it was still just one arrow.
The Tulia in The Milk Bread was incredibly tough. She was the kind of person who could drink poisoned wine containing pearls and smile brilliantly like a ghost at the blonde male lead while coughing up blood.
Weren't her lines back then something like this?
—You didn't kill me. I drank it myself.
—It’s your defeat.
—Now go back to your precious Corico and wag your tail like a dog in heat.
—My corpse? If you wrap it up nicely and give it to Corico, I’m sure she’ll love it.
Tulia had a mental fortitude that was out of this world. And now, Tulia’s body was mine.
Ah, is that it? Since this isn't Han Ina’s body, is that why I can't hear myself?
I shouted again with all my might in my mind.
Tulia!
Open your eyes!
You haven't finished your revenge yet!
Can someone as ill-tempered as you really be satisfied with just this?!
You’re the biggest piece of trash in this game!
Aren't you furious that you spent your whole life being deceived by those bastards?!
* * *
Snap.
“Good heavens!”
The physician, who had been moving frantically with medicine in hand, jumped in surprise.
“M-My Lady?”