Chapter 43
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Ruelverta's Curse
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I froze in place.
If not for "Pride," she might have noticed my agitation.
Bella was looking at me with a gaze that left no openings.
"I saw it, Count. The mana rippling when you fired that gun."
Only then did I guess why Bella had figured it out.
I had loaded the bullet with the mana I had gathered.
As no expert marksman, my goal was to alter the bullet's trajectory and improve accuracy.
Even so, the mana used was faint at best.
'No way she sensed the mana in that brief moment...'
Perhaps I had underestimated Bella.
The Izarkhel family, inheritors of light mana.
Their daughter Bella was also blessed with exceptional mana detection ability.
"Why did you hide it until now?"
I deliberately didn't avoid her face.
I didn't want to arouse suspicion.
"Count, why hide that you can use magic?"
"......"
I quietly approached Bella.
Then I used my dagger to cut the ropes binding her.
"Count... answer me."
"Shouldn't thanks come first?"
Only then did Bella make an "oh" face and bow her head.
"Thank you for saving me, Count. But how did you know I was kidnapped and come here?"
"I had business nearby and overheard some thugs talking. Their description matched you, so I came to check."
"...I see."
"Yeah, that's right."
I didn't know there was one more girl, though.
I reached out to untie the ropes on the other girl's wrists too.
"Don't come closer! Bad man!"
The little girl suddenly shrieked.
Bella startled and scooped her up in a hug.
"Alice! You can't say that. This man... "
"I don't know! Don't come near Fairy Sister! You devil!"
The girl called Alice glared at me.
It wasn't hatred from the original storyit was pure fear.
Alice must have seen what I did earlier.
I glanced at the thugs passed out in the room.
Definitely... not a sight for kids.
She's even younger than Wendy.
It might leave her traumatized.
"Alice... this man risked his life to come save us. Saying that to him is rude. Understand?"
Bella gently scolded her.
Reprimanded for rudeness, Alice wilted.
"But... Fairy Sister."
"Doesn't matter."
"...?"
Bella and Alice looked up at me.
"It's fine if you hate me. I'm the bad guy just like you think."
..
"See!"
"Count...!? What are you... "
No point dressing up as the good guy to a kid who's seen the villain from the start.
Better to embrace being the villain than pathetically play hero.
"Bad uncle! Let us go now!"
"Yeah. Then I'll go call for help. Wait here."
As I subtly tried to leave, Bella's voice caught me.
"Don't sneak off, Count."
"...Why not?"
"You don't know? We still have things to talk about."
"I don't."
"I do."
Bella boldly grabbed my arm.
For such a slender arm, her grip was strong.
"...Persistent woman."
"Since when? When did you become able to use magic?"
"I'm cursed and can't use magic. You know that, right?"
"True. But..."
Bella's voice trembled slightly.
"If you... no, if you've been freed from the Ruelverta family curse passed down through generations..."
I shook my head.
"Bella. Enough."
"You wouldn't have to bear the stigma of being a cursed family anymore. Why live with that misunderstanding?"
Yeah... stigma, huh.
In Bella's mind, it seemed the Ruelverta family bore an undeserved stigma.
Many nobles feared the Ruelverta family while despising them.
They whispered that we had committed great sins against the gods and were punished by being unable to use magic for generations.
In other words, a blasphemous family.
Bella must have wanted to restore the Ruelverta honor.
To her, it was undeservedbut it wasn't a stigma.
It was fact.
The Ruelverta had no honor from the start.
I sighed and said,
"Stop with the misconceptions."
"...Pardon?"
I pulled the revolver from my pocket.
I removed a bullet from it and showed it to Bella.
"This is...?"
"A magic bullet."
I placed the golden-glowing bullet in her hand.
"Touch it. You can tell it's infused with mana."
Bella sharply inhaled.
Just as I said, she must have sensed the mana.
It was simply mana gathered around and pre-loaded into the bullet.
"I used mana-infused bullets to improve accuracy."
"So... I really was mistaken?"
"Yeah."
To the dazed Bella, I added,
"The Ruelverta are cursed."
I told her the truth.
"And those who inherit Ruelverta blood can never escape that curse. So..."
I slowly pried off her hand gripping my arm.
"I plan to end this curse in my generation."
Bella fell silent for a moment.
Her expression looked more complex than ever.
"What if..."
"...?"
"Just hypothetically... if I got engaged to you... and, uh, m-married... our child would be cursed too, right?"
Quick on the uptake.
The example was a bit odd... but correct.
"Yeah.
No way you thought that because of..."
As she was about to ask what I meant, Bella spotted something and shouted.
"...Count?! Your stomach!"
Bella's gaze was on my abdomen.
The shirt was stained redwound must have reopened.
"Don't panic. Not from this time, from before."
"You... the wound hasn't even healed yet!"
"Don't worry."
This much I can endure with "Patience."
No, maybe I already was.
I hadn't noticed until she pointed it out.
"It's an injury unrelated to you."
"It is related!"
Bella yelled so loudly I couldn't help but be startled.
And the surprises didn't end there.
"If you're injured, stay home and rest... why push yourself like this to save me...!"
Bella was on the verge of tears.
Glittering tears clung to her eyes like frost.
Even crying, she's beautiful... a sight that left me speechless.
"Why! Why do you...! Me...!"
Overwhelmed by emotion, she couldn't continue.
To her, I calmly said,
"As long as you're safe, that's enough."
Bella is a key named character among named characters.
She also survived to the end, resisting.
The moment the world lost her, the game ended.
I resented my powerlessness for not saving her then.
Now, I'll never lose her.
Vowing that, I turned to leavethen someone hugged me from behind.
It was Bella.
"...Let go. Can't move."
"Don't go."
Apparently, I wasn't the only one caught off guard.
Alice nearby was gaping at us, mouth agape.
"...What are you doing?"
"Don't go."
I couldn't see Bella's face, but her voice held a captivating power.
"Stay here with me."
"Why should I?"
"I'll heal you."
Bella's arms tightened.
I could shake her off easily if I wanted.
But.
"I'll heal you... so stay by my side until then."
I couldn't.
This fragile shadow seemed ready to collapse any moment.
"...Fine, let go first."
"......"
She seemed ready to cling stubbornly, but Bella obediently relaxed her arms at my words.
Turning around, her face was right there.
First thing I noticed were Bella's eyes.
Blue pupils straight through silver lashes stared at me.
Like a lake in a snowy forest.
"Um... Count. Staring like that is a bit..."
Maybe I stared too intently.
Bella looked away first.
Then, I spotted something in the corner.
A familiar item.
As if entranced, I picked it up.
"You still have this..."
A worn bear doll.
Far more ragged than in the memories of Tristan's past.
Ten years had passedtime enough to forgetyet Bella still kept it.
"...You remember? You even named it, Count."
"Yeah. Dimitri."
Ten years ago, a birthday gift for Bella.
Well, precisely, Bella had assumed it was a birthday gift on her own...
"But the seam on the belly's all torn."
"Hehe..."
Something in my words amused her; Bella covered her mouth and laughed.
When she lowered her hand, her lips bloomed with a full smile.
"Really... don't go getting hurt so carelessly, both of you."
It was a radiant smile the original Tristan never saw.
"Because I'll worry."