Chapter 42 — The Superion Succession
Chapter 42 — The Superion Succession
Translation: Godtl
In the original story as well, after the Mad Dragon died, the Temple began to involve itself more deeply in the Five Empires.
The conclusion was 'I'm an alchemist, so what about it?'
In any empire, high-ranking nobles secretly employed alchemists.
Wherever people lived, there were bound to be those who dabbled in such things.
Moreover, the Duke had said so too.
He said he had met many alchemists to cure his wife.
She understood Karius's intention to try to threaten her, but Lelia had no intention of meekly going along with it.
"......"
Karius was exasperated seeing Lelia's attitude, which was brazen to boot.
On one hand, he was seized by a strange thought.
'...Could it be. Is she really my sister's daughter.'
The deceased Elizabeth was a mage, but strangely, she had a lot of interest in alchemy.
Karius had been very displeased with that fact. He had been constantly worried that his precious sister might be caught by the Temple and meet some harm.
'No, that can't be.'
Honestly speaking, he had come now to warn her.
That she had deceived Father quite well with her scamming, but he would absolutely not be fooled.
But upon discovering an unexpected commonality with his sister, he was left speechless.
"And don't call me a swindler. I'm not a swindler."
"...What, what?"
"You don't have to believe me. Grandfather believes in me anyway."
"......"
Seeing Lelia speak so clearly, Karius was even more at a loss for words.
In the end, with a sour expression, he left the room without having gained anything.
Karius narrowed his eyes and glared at the closed door. Somehow, he felt frustrated.
After Karius left, a little while passed.
Gentle-looking maids came to Lelia's room. The maid who appeared to be of the highest rank introduced herself as Becky.
The maids explained that if she needed anything, she should ring the bell on the table or pull the cord next to her bed.
And they brought very sweet treats, which Lelia liked so much she almost screamed.
The maids smiled at Lelia's reaction and left the room.
"It's delicious…."
Lelia began to eat the cookies excitedly. She could taste the sweet butter flavor. Suddenly, the desserts she had eaten at the temple came to mind.
'I miss the kids.'
She missed her friends who came to mind along with the memory.
Lelia thought of her most precious treasures, the fountain pen and letters, still kept in her bag, as she crunched the cookies.
'Where should I hide those?'
Since they were her most treasured possessions, she wanted to hide them in a very safe and secret place.
'Maybe, like at the cottage, Mom might have created a secret space here too.'
Lelia thought she would search slowly as she finished eating the cookies.
'But then again….'
Swallowing the drink the maids had brought with the cookies, Lelia pondered.
Recently, her memories of the original work were fading little by little.
So Lelia decided to write down a few things she absolutely had to remember before she forgot everything.
Lelia brought paper and a pen from the study beyond the archway next to the living area.
"Hmm…."
With a serious expression, she began writing down the most important things first.
It was the reason why the Superion family fell apart.
'Of course, they don't fall completely.'
The Superion family was a great noble family that had been with the empire since its founding. As such, it wasn't a family that would easily fall.
However, after Julianna became an adult according to the original work.
Misfortune began to befall the Superion family members.
In the original work, there were scenes where Cedric and Damian seriously agonized over this matter.
'So Julianna comforted them.'
To put it simply, the Superion family's head would change.
The next head was not the grandfather's children, meaning not Mom's siblings.
'The one who took over the family was the young son of the Duke's eldest son, Zenon Superion….'
There was a reason why the grandfather's perfectly healthy children couldn't inherit the succession.
First, the eldest son Zenon lost his life on the battlefield.
'It was a battle that occurred after the Mad Dragon died.'
In the original work, after the Mad Dragon died, peace seemed to come to the continent, but it didn't last long.
People appeared from nowhere, becoming heretics who worshipped the Mad Dragon like a god, and began to grow their power.
And the second son, Karius, directly participated in the battle against the Mad Dragon and returned safely, but one day after that, he suddenly went missing.
'In the original work, Cedric and Damian were sad that they couldn't even find Uncle Karius's body.'
Finally, the third child, Atias. She was a strong candidate mentioned as the next head.
However, it was revealed that she had privately created an enormous amount of promissory notes.
'Moreover, it became known that the place where those promissory notes were used was a gambling house.'
Because of that, the Council of Elders 'opposition was enormous, and in the end, she couldn't become the head.
When the Duke was in a critical situation where he couldn't lead the family, the most powerful force besides the Duchess was the Council of Elders.
The elders could decide family matters through fair voting.
Thus, the elders chose Zenon's son as the next head, and after that, the result was obvious.
'The elders started manipulating the young head to their liking, under the pretext of protecting the family that had fallen apart.'
In the original work, Cedric and Damian were greatly heartbroken and saddened by the news of their grandfather's death.
This was about all Lelia knew.
'Nothing was mentioned about Grandmother, so I only assumed she had already passed away….'
Moreover….
'I don't know why Grandfather passes away.'
However, one thing was certain: it was a sudden death of unknown cause.
Lelia bit her lip tightly.
After actually seeing her grandfather and grandmother, she felt a desire to protect them.
Also, she wanted to cure Grandmother's dementia. If it was medicine made with' Alchemy Lottery,' it would surely be effective.
'I must protect them in Mom's place.'
First, her immediate goal was to grow up safely here until she became an adult.
'And before becoming an adult, I need to unlock as many 'Alchemy Lottery' recipes as possible.'
Especially, gathering ingredients that could treat Grandmother's dementia was important.
Lelia moved her pen again.
'After becoming an adult, I will achieve two goals.'
First, steal the holy relic from the male protagonist Lute and complete the holy relic. After breaking the golden tongue's curse, find her friends.
'The timing to steal the holy relic is….'
Lelia narrowed her eyes.
The male protagonist Lute was of commoner origin.
When Julianna was young, she had run away from her drunk biological father and wandered the streets.
It was Lute who saved Julianna when she was almost caught by bad men who kidnapped children and sold them as slaves.
After that, Lute was adopted into a noble family, and Julianna became a princess.