Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: The Heir and the Bullies
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Lucillea pushed herself off the pillar and glanced around.
“Didn't you hear me? I told you to stop right there.”
It sounded like a fight had broken out somewhere...
One of Lucillea's eyebrows rose slightly.
‘Ahem. It's not like I enjoy watching these things.’
Although, I'll admit I'm curious...
As if reading her mind, Cookie began to shake with excitement.
[Go on, Lucy! Hurry! Hurry!]
‘Alright, fine. I'm only going because you told me to. Absolutely not because I want to. It just looks like it'll take Mei a while to come back down, so I'm just taking a quick look in the meantime.’
[...]
Lucillea tiptoed toward the sound of the voices, careful not to make a sound.
After a few steps, two boys came into view through the window of an outer corridor.
They both looked to be between thirteen and fifteen years old.
One was neatly dressed in what looked like expensive fabric, while the other stood in filth-caked armor, as if he'd just returned from a battlefield.
The well-dressed boy appeared to be a year or two older.
Still.
‘He went to war at that age?’
Lucillea's brow furrowed as she looked at the boy in armor.
She thought she knew all there was to know about Elbadin, but she'd never heard rumors of him sending children to the battlefield.
‘Does he send the children chosen for the Elite Corps to war like that...?’
Suddenly, Elbadin's cold, detached face flashed through her mind.
‘Maybe he really would...’
After all, it was unlikely the boy had put on armor and gone off to war by himself.
Then, a thought struck her.
‘Wait, then what's going to happen to me?!’
Lucillea grew anxious.
Her original plan was to receive the Grand Duke's support, save money, develop her abilities, and then leave the ducal estate after coming of age.
‘But if my abilities become useful enough, won't I be dragged off to a battlefield just like that boy?!’
If that happened, there was no guarantee she would survive until adulthood.
Reading her anxious mind, Cookie asked quietly.
[Lucy... is our plan to turn our lives around ruined now?]
Maybe this isn't a turnaround, but us crawling into our own graves?! Cookie's anxious voice echoed in her head.
‘...’
Lucillea couldn't bring herself to say that wasn't the case.
New details she didn't know kept popping up, so it wouldn't be strange at all if it turned out that Grand Duke Elbadin was the kind of man who sent even children to war.
But.
Lucillea clenched her fists and whispered softly.
‘It's okay, Cookie! At least we found out now!’
[It's a good thing we found out now?]
‘Of course! Now we can prepare!’
[...Huh?]
Right, I just have to be careful. I'll work hard, but only enough not to stand out.
That must be why the boy in armor is in this situation.
‘He was dragged to the battlefield at his age because he was exceptional.’
So I'll just be average. Perfectly average.
Not too bad, but not too outstanding either.
‘If I fall too far behind, I could get kicked out.’
Let's be just incompetent enough not to get kicked out. That's the plan!
[Ooh!]
Cookie exclaimed in understanding.
[Lucy, you're a genius! Let's be incompetent! Let's be dumb!]
‘Dumb...?’
It was then.
The well-dressed boy, who had lips so thin they looked somewhat vile, twisted the corner of his mouth.
“How's living in the East Annex? Is it nice? You must be bored now that I'm not around to play with you, right?”
“...”
“Keep it clean. I'll be using it soon enough. Got it?”
He lightly kicked out, tapping the armored boy's shin.
But the boy in armor remained silent.
“...”
“Why aren't you answering?! Did moving into the East Annex make you think you're better than me?! How dare someone like you?!”
The boy, who had been ranting and raging all by himself, suddenly broke into a grin.
“Ah, have you gone mute like your mother, who died in a brothel?”
“...”
Wow, he crossed the line there.
Lucillea inwardly clicked her tongue at the vile-looking boy's words and actions.
[Right?! He looks vile, and every single word he says is just as vile! He's like a miniature version of my adoptive father, Shured!]
It takes real effort to look that cheap while wearing such expensive clothes! Cookie's sharp critique continued.
Yet the boy on the receiving end of the insults simply kept his gaze fixed forward, his expression blank.
As if he couldn't hear the vicious words being hurled at him.
Or as if he had grown completely used to them.
Watching this, Lucillea's brow creased slightly.
‘...That's just going to get him hit more.’
Lucillea knew from personal experience that such a reaction only fueled the other person's anger.
And sure enough.
“You bastard!”
Smack—! The vile-looking boy slapped the armored boy across the cheek.
‘That...!’
Startled, Lucillea flinched in her hiding spot.
The despicable boy yelled.
“You may be the heir in name, but do you really think you're the true heir?!”
What?
Lucillea's eyes widened even more.
‘Heir...?’
Only then did she realize.
The boy in the filth-caked armor was none other than the male lead of this novel, Serdian.
‘Oh, my god...’
No wonder he had such a powerful presence, even covered in filth and armor.
Of course, because he was covered in grime, his face was still hard to see clearly.
But perhaps it was because she now knew he was the male lead.
The fight, which had been a distant spectacle, suddenly felt much more real.
‘So that's the male lead who's going to kill me...’
A chill ran down the back of her neck.
The despicable boy's words continued.
“No one acknowledges you as the heir! Even His Highness the Grand Duke is delaying the final registration process! That's the proof! In the end, you're nothing but kindling to fuel the competitive spirit of the children with Powers!”
The despicable boy, who had been spewing his tirade, panted heavily.
Then, at last, Serdian's lips slowly parted.
“I see. Understood. If you're done talking, may I go? I have to report to His Highness.”
“...What?”
Whoa!
Lucillea clenched both her fists.
‘That kid! He knows how to piss someone off to death, doesn't he?!’
As expected, the despicable boy grew even angrier and threw a punch.
“You son of a bitch!”
This time, however, Serdian didn't just take it.
He dodged the punch with ease, as if to mock, *That slow-ass punch? I can dodge those all day long,* then calmly walked away toward the Grand Duke's main residence.
“Hey! Get back here!”
The despicable boy didn't dare follow, instead standing in place, panting.
‘Hmph, would you stop if you were him? Idiot.’
Hiding behind a pillar in the corridor, hugging it as she watched the whole scene unfold, Lucillea clicked her tongue.
‘What an unexpected discovery.’
To think I'd get to see the male lead, Serdian, as soon as I arrived at the estate.
‘And I also saw how Serdian is treated here...’
It was something she already knew from reading the original novel.
‘It did say there were many others who tormented Serdian besides me.’
Aside from the vile-looking boy she had just seen, the collateral branches of the ducal family and their vassal families had joined forces to torment Serdian.
‘I didn't think much of it when I was just reading it in text...’
But seeing it with her own eyes felt strange.
‘If even the children are that malicious, how vicious must the collateral branches and vassals have been?’
That was why he destroyed the entire ducal house even after beheading Lucillea.
‘Because he was left alone to face such neglect and contempt from such a young age...’
Because he endured threats to his life all alone, and his resentment and fury couldn't be quelled by taking Lucillea's head alone.
He had been named the heir but wasn't given the corresponding power or authority, making him the perfect prey for those consumed by envy and jealousy.
Lucillea watched Serdian's back until he was out of sight.
Somehow, she found herself lost in thought.
‘Not that I'm in any position to be worrying about someone else right now.’
Lucillea realized something.
‘Until I come of age and leave the estate, Serdian can't be kicked out, can he?!’
What if Serdian is driven out of the ducal house, just like in the original story, only to return with a blade sharpened by rage?
‘Even if I hide my connection to the ducal bloodline, my life will still be in danger when he destroys the house.’
That meant, at least while Lucillea was at the estate, Serdian couldn't be falsely accused and unjustly driven out.
But how?
‘To be safe from the threats of the collateral and vassal families, he needs to be properly acknowledged as the Grand Duke's heir...’
Hmm, the best-case scenario would be for the Grand Duke and Serdian to form a strong bond...
‘What's their relationship like right now? It can't be so broken that it's beyond repair...’
After a moment of thought, Lucillea shrugged.
‘I have no idea.’
I'm having a hard enough time just trying to save my own neck!
If anything, her resolve to not stand out only grew stronger.
‘If they treat the heir, Serdian, like that, they'll be even worse to me.’
On the surface, Lucillea was an orphan with no family or relatives to back her up.
Serdian has a strong aura and the buff of being the male lead, but I don't.
‘So I have to be even more careful to make sure my turn never comes—.’
But in that moment.
Thump—.
“Ah!”
A sudden push from behind made Lucillea lose her balance, and she fell onto the corridor floor.
Fwip-fwip-fwip, a startled Cookie quickly flew up and took refuge on the railing next to the pillar.
“Ouch...”
Lucillea winced, looking down at her scraped palm.
[Lucy! Are you okay?!]
‘Yeah, I'm fine.’
But...
‘What is this situation now?’
Sitting on the floor, she looked up and met the eyes of three boys.
They looked to be about ten years old.
One of them, a boy with red hair, asked Lucillea.
“Who are you?”
“...”