Chapter 98 — The Story She Couldn't Tell
Chapter 98 — The Story She Couldn't Tell
Translation: Godtl
At those words, Lelia's expression grew heavy.
"I didn't want to tell you such cruel stories... Of course, after the Mad Dragon died, all the monsters lost their lives anyway... but this is still different from mere slaughter."
In short, this meant that Oscar had massacred all monsters that had no intention of attacking or were fleeing, including young monsters.
"Moreover, that guy... his own father..."
"...."
"No, never mind. Anyway, why on earth did you become friends with someone like him? The way he looks at you is positively lecherous!"
"...."
"Instead of that... I met a guy on the battlefield. Let me introduce you to him! He's a really good guy. He'll suit you well!"
Karius explained about him enthusiastically, like someone arranging a matchmaking setup.
He listed every possible compliment—tall, handsome, kind, and good-natured.
Lelia listened to everything her uncle said, though she smiled awkwardly.
Perhaps because she met her uncle, the fact that she had returned to the territory felt real.
Within a few days, she would be able to meet her grandmother, aunt, and great-uncle. Lelia vowed inwardly that she would definitely protect this happiness.
* * *
After dinner, Lelia decided to take a walk for a while.
Throughout the meal, her grandfather and uncle sat on both sides and took care of her, so she ate too much.
Oscar, who sat across from her, just looked at Lelia with a blank face.
"… Phew."
When she thought of Oscar, she felt heavy.
In her head, she remembered Oscar slaughtering the mercenaries who were trying to take her.
It was natural to imagine Oscar slaughtering the demons.
Her uncle tried to tell her what Oscar had done to his father, but… Lelia already knew.
Frankly, Lelia couldn't blame Oscar for that.
[Cause I know exactly how evil Oscar's biological father is.]
When she thought of Oscar's poor childhood, she wanted to pat him on the shoulder because he did good.
Lelia was sorry and heartbroken that Oscar was being criticized for being cruel.
She couldn't say he had no effect on what happened.
[You must have been devastated by the fact that I was dead, and even more shocked by the fact that I lied to you.]
She was walking in a quiet corridor, so she could calm herself down.
She happened to see Oscar leaning against a pillar in the distance.
Come to think of it, it was near the room where the guests stayed.
Lelia went straight up to him.
"Sir Oscar."
"……"
Oscar lifted his lowered gaze and looked at her.
Lelia was surprised to notice that his pupils were infuriated.
[Why are you angry again?]
When he came to her room earlier, he looked very gentle.
Lelia was afraid of Oscar, who changed his mood regardless of time and place.
"……"
Oscar looked at her face carefully.
Pretty eyebrows, round eyes, pretty nose, red lips, slender neck, thin shoulders.
He was exhausted from trying to suppress his impulse throughout dinner.
He wanted to twist the necks of those who looked at Lelia as if she was precious.
When he saw Lelia, his heart ached with unknown emotions.
'You've been the only one for me since I reached out to you when I was a child… Why aren't you like that? Why do other important things exist?'
He wanted to destroy what Lelia cherished like breaking a doll as if he was a child who was looking for attention and wanted to be mean.
Lelia was flustered by his blatant dark desire.
Oscar's cold hand grabbed her by the wrist as she was about to leave in horror.
She heard a low voice from behind.
"… I told you for sure. I'll have you instead of Leo."
"……"
"You said it yourself. You'll be mine. When you're done with your work, follow me and stay with me for the rest of your life."
* * *
Lelia turned around and looked at him.
Oscar seemed to be urging her for an answer, but he had a nervous look in his eyes.
He looked like he wanted to hear the answer but didn't want to.
In fact, Oscar knew the answer she would give.
She'd say no.
And he didn't want to hear it.
He was about to tell her not to answer since he didn't want to hear the expected response, but Lelia's lips opened first.
"It's…"
Lelia agonized over Oscar's gaze.
Frankly speaking, she couldn't do what Oscar said.
Because this was her home. But she would remain friends with Oscar for the rest of her life. That was what Lelia wanted, too.
However… Lelia can't keep up with Oscar.
Oscar won't be able to stay here because of who he was, either. He's one who will be crowned emperor.
Lelia hesisted to answer trying to hide her thoughts.
If she speaks out straight away, Oscar won't sit still. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn't know where to go.
"Before I'm done with my work, I'll answer you when you behave."
"……"
The strange answer, neither rejection nor permission, caused a sound like the wind to leak out from Oscar's mouth.
Like a fox… he responded, "The answer depends on how well I behave?"
"Maybe…?"
"… Okay, I'll take it."
Oscar simply handed his leash over to her.
Lelia's eyes opened wide at the unexpected response. She thought he would ask her to answer right away…
Oscar raised his eyebrows as if what he said was wrong.
Lelia shook her head saying it was nothing and ran away back to her room.
Behind her, Oscar looked after her for a long time.
'Yeah, as much as you want. Leo, only for you.'
* * *
The first night back at the territory was passing by. She had returned to the home where she felt more at ease than anywhere else, so she should have been sleeping soundly, but sleep wouldn't come.
Perhaps it was because of the conversation she had with Oscar.
Lelia tossed and turned for a while before getting up from bed.
Since a large-scale update for 'Alchemy Lottery' was scheduled in two days, and she couldn't sleep anyway, she thought she might as well organize her items in advance.
After all, she wouldn't be able to use the system during maintenance.
'I should make grandmother's medicine in advance too.'
Lelia went straight to the crafting screen and checked the recipe for the medicine that would treat her grandmother's illness.
[Alzheimer's Treatment]
- Required Materials List
∙ Beautiful Grass 99 (887209/99)
∙ Memory Fragments 10 pieces (10/10)
∙ Old Fabric Fragment (1/1)
∙ Crystal of Memories (1/1)
∙ Ash of Flames 9999 (9872238/9999)
All the materials were fully gathered.
The Beautiful Grass and Ash of Flames, which the Dragon brought randomly at certain intervals, had accumulated enormously.
The warehouse was about to burst because of those materials.
'I hope the warehouse limit increases with this update...'
Lelia thought as she pressed the craft button.
[Completed crafting 99 'Alzheimer's Treatments'! ٩(๑•̀o•́๑)و Recipe added to the collection!]
Wait. What did it say?
Lelia blinked at the message window that had just appeared and disappeared before her eyes.
Did she see that wrong? 99 units?
She hurriedly opened her inventory and saw an item with 'new' floating above it. It was the treatment she had just crafted.
And indeed, the quantity was 99.
It seemed to be an item that produced 99 units per craft instead of just 1.
Just in case, she pressed the item to check the description.
[A revolutionary treatment that can cure Alzheimer's disease!
※The medicinal effect appears somewhat slowly. Taking more than 1 bottle may cause stomach upset, so please be careful!(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧₊˚]
So even the dosage is just 1 bottle? That meant 98 bottles would remain even after treating grandmother.
Lelia went back to check the crafting screen.
[Alzheimer's Treatment]
- Required Materials List
∙ Beautiful Grass 99 (887110/99)
∙ Memory Fragments 10 pieces (10/10)
∙ Old Fabric Fragment (1/1)
∙ Crystal of Memories (1/1)
∙ Ash of Flames 9999 (9872139/9999)
"......!!"
She couldn't just sit there and shot up from her seat.
There were occasionally items like this.
Materials that, once obtained, didn't disappear permanently and could be used continuously.
The Memory Fragments, Old Fabric Fragment, and Crystal of Memories in this recipe seemed to be such materials.
While the Beautiful Grass and Ash of Flames decreased in quantity, the rest remained the same.
Fireworks went off in Lelia's head.
'If I do well, I might reach 100 billion shillings soon?!'
Of course, money was money... but more important than that was the significance this treatment held.
With this treatment, countless patients could be saved.
Grandmother's illness was called' divine illness' in this world, but in the modern world, it was called Alzheimer's.
Even in the modern world it was so, but here, there was even less of a treatment available.
The Temple dismissed all old diseases and mental illnesses that couldn't be cured with divine power as' divine illness.'
It meant an inevitable disease given by God... but many people held negative perceptions of it.
They avoided it as if the disease would spread just by being near it, and even pointed fingers at the patient's family.
They created reasons to hate and ostracize them, saying they committed sins against God and contracted the disease.
But with this treatment...
'The Temple won't just stand by.'
But that could be handled by finding a way.
Lelia lay down on the bed excitedly. A tune naturally hummed from her lips and her heart pounded wildly.
The Creek family mansion in the Superion territory.
The news that Lelia had returned to the territory quickly spread to the vassal families of Superion as well.
The vassals believed that Lelia had been away on merchant guild business, not in the capital.
Because of this, whispers circulated among the vassals.
"Surely Duke Superion isn't planning to bequeath the title to that girl who isn't even his biological granddaughter?"
"Nonsense! That's absurd!"
"Exactly. No matter how old Duke Superion has become, he wouldn't have lost his judgment to that extent."
Everyone dismissed it as idle talk, but since Lelia's appearance was identical to the deceased Elizabeth, they couldn't help feeling uneasy.
Meanwhile, the Creek family, who had viewed Lelia's existence favorably from the beginning, was extremely busy.
The Baroness was preparing to host a tea party as soon as possible to invite Lelia.
'Before Duke Superion holds a coming-of-age banquet for that child, I need to lay the groundwork first.'
If Lelia accepted another man's proposal at the coming-of-age banquet, it would be over.
The Baroness wanted her son to become Lelia's partner.
While other vassals wanted to drive Lelia out by any means, the Creek family did not.
The moment the Baroness saw her, who looked exactly like Elizabeth, she had a premonition.
'That girl will captivate everyone in the Superion family. Definitely.'
If that were the case, it was better to quickly align themselves with her rather than try to drive her out.
Her premonition was accurate.
'If only that Verbos fellow hadn't been so arrogant toward Lelia when they were young, things would have been easier...'
She resented her son for that, but there was still a chance.
As it happened, her son, who had returned from studying in the capital, had seen Lelia in the bustling district and fallen in love at first sight.
The Baroness had intended to advance their relationship at that opportunity, but unfortunately, Lelia had left the territory on merchant guild business.
Now that she had returned, they needed to proceed quickly.
Meanwhile, Verbos Creek, the man in question, stared at the mirror with a grave expression.
When he heard the news that Lelia had returned to the territory this morning, he had been greatly overjoyed.
But the servant had conveyed additional strange words.
"She brought a man?"
Moreover, they said that man was incredibly beautiful and handsome, like a statue in a temple.
Verbos scoffed.
He himself didn't have such a bad face either. Hadn't he been quite popular even in the capital?
'Just what kind of guy did she bring.'
Verbos gnawed at his lips repeatedly. Though anxious, it didn't matter who the man was.
There is no such thing as love without trials.
He confidently left the mansion and headed for Superion Castle. He planned to officially pay her a visit.
He would apologize for his childhood rudeness and show her his finest self.
After lunch, Lelia headed to the first-floor reception room upon hearing that a guest had suddenly arrived.
Her grandfather and uncle had gone out briefly for territory matters, and she had been enjoying tea alone with Oscar.
'A guest? Who would come to see me...?'
If it had been her grandmother or aunt, they wouldn't have been described as"guests."
Puzzled, Lelia followed the servant's guidance down the stairs. Oscar was following behind her.
Just then, a low curse came from behind.
"Damn it, they came faster than I thought."
Startled by the rough tone, Lelia turned her head to look at Oscar.
"...It's nothing."
Oscar, with blazing eyes, forced out an answer in a gentle tone.
After promising yesterday to "behave himself," Oscar had truly become calm.
As a result, there were no more sudden embraces or demands for answers.
His gaze was still fierce enough to devour her... but at least it was within controllable range.
Lelia tilted her head in confusion and turned back toward the reception room.
The servant opened the door for her, and as Lelia stepped inside the reception room, she froze.
"......!"
The spacious reception room sofa was fully occupied.
Three men sat askew, turning their gazes toward her.
The guests who had come to see her were Kalix, Griffith, and Romeo.
Among them, one person's face was particularly contorted. It was Kalix.
"Hey!!! Are you seriously living here in full drag?! What the hell is that dress getup?"
So surprised that she stood with her mouth agape, unable to say anything.