Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: An Uncle's Gift
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The Iselode family of the west.
A single letter, enclosed in a luxurious envelope, arrived at that peaceful domain.
The sender was the Astrofel family.
Dante smoothly slit open the envelope, its edge embossed with a golden crest, and read the contents with a grave expression, only to let out a chuckle at the final line.
[P.S. – Aileen misses you.]
"My niece wants to see her uncle. Of course, I have to go."
His voice was brimming with delight.
Dante shot up from his chair, looking as if he would leave that very instant.
His aide, Yones, looked at Dante with tearful eyes that belied his massive frame, a sense of dread washing over him.
If Dante left now, he would be stuck handling all the work by himself.
Hoping his premonition was wrong, Yones opened his mouth.
"…Surely you're not planning to go south right now?"
"But I am."
"Then…, what about all this?"
Yones pointed to a towering stack of documents, a significant number of which were important papers requiring Dante's approval.
"I trust you, Yones."
Dante replied shamelessly with a bright smile.
Feeling his mind go numb, Yones burst out.
"Don't trust me, my lord. Absolutely do not trust me!"
As Yones slammed his hand on the desk and stood up, the stack of documents swayed and came crashing down.
It made quite a racket. Everything used in the Iselode family was custom-made to suit their large frames.
Seeing the piles of papers scattered across the floor, Yones felt his vision go dark.
Right now, it was just the documents that had collapsed. If Dante left, he'd be the one buried under them.
Yones tried desperately to stop him.
"Since when did you have a niece? You're an only child!"
"An uncle and a niece don't have to be related by blood."
"Then why don't you just say you and Lord Kaide are brothers?!"
"Don't say such horrible things."
"Lord Dante!"
Dante ignored the desperate plea and began to burn the letter.
Yones asked, puzzled.
"Why are you burning that? You never do."
"Because I need to."
"…Is something wrong with the Astrofel family?"
A look of concern crossed Yones's face.
The flame caught the edge of the letter, which curled inward and burned away cleanly, leaving no trace of its form.
Instead of answering Yones's question, Dante brought up something else.
"More importantly, where was the Cold Poison Herb being stored?"
"Why are you looking for a poison herb classified for careful handling?"
"I'm taking it as a gift."
Dante smiled sweetly. Yones, who was squatting on the floor organizing the papers, looked up at him as if to ask if he was serious.
"…Who gives something like that as a gift? No matter how close you two are, Lord Kaide is your only friend."
"Yones, are you done with your last words?"
"…I misspoke."
Yones politely clasped his hands in front of him, his demeanor changing instantly.
"But are you really taking the Cold Poison Herb as a gift?"
The Cold Poison Herb was famous for containing a fatal toxin.
The slightest taste would instantly drain one's body heat, putting their life in peril.
Although it was a rare poison herb, it was found quite often in the west, so the Iselode family managed it under strict control.
For the past several years, the drawer where the herb was stored had not been opened even once.
If even one went missing, the entire family would be in an uproar.
"Kaide asked for it."
"He can just use his own poison, why would he ask for that?"
"I'll go ask and let you know."
Yones's blood pressure spiked. It meant Dante was going south after all. Yones clutched his throbbing forehead.
As he left the office, Dante gave a vexing wave.
"Look after the house while I'm gone, Yones."
* * *
A week had passed since the day I'd suffered from the high fever.
A lot had happened in that time.
First, Set and Arban had to leave the estate for a while for their second growth phase.
"You have to come back safe, big brothers."
"We will, Aileen. Don't you forget to take your medicine, either."
"Okay. You have to succeed and come back!"
"Hey, you think we're going to fail our shedding? I get it, now go inside already. Anyone would think we were going off to do something dangerous."
Arban said grudgingly under the blazing sun.
And for good reason—we had been standing at the main gate for over thirty minutes, repeating the same goodbyes.
My feet felt rooted to the spot, so I squeezed Kaide's hand tightly.
"It's not that, but…, you still have to come back safe."
It wasn't common, but I'd heard that if the shedding went wrong, you could die.
Of course, that wouldn't happen to them, but I couldn't help the worry growing in a corner of my heart.
In the end, my whimpers turned into full-blown sobs.
"Brotheeers, waaaah, don't go…!"
"…It's best we get going now. Be safe, Set, Arban."
"Yes."
"Yes, we'll be on our way."
Arban and Set replied.
"We will see you upon our return."
Durias and Orca, their assigned escorts, left with the two of them.
Their destination was a closely guarded secret.
During the shedding, they would be defenseless, so only their chosen escorts and Kaide knew the location.
As for me, I was growing at a rate that surprised everyone around me.
How fast? To exaggerate a little, you could say I was different in the morning than I was in the evening.
The people in the family were startled every time they saw me.
Was that why?
"…Did I get the date wrong? It feels like months have passed, not ten days…"
Aser, whom I was seeing for the first time in ten days, muttered in disbelief.
He couldn't take his eyes off me, amazed that in just a few days, I had grown to the height of his waist.
"Aser!"
I was on my way back from special training with Kasana.
I ran into Aser in the garden and waved a friendly greeting.
"Young Lady, who is this man?"
But my path was immediately blocked.
At the appearance of a stranger, Mesis had revealed himself, on guard.
Mesis's eyes were sharp.
In a way, it was a natural reaction.
This was the first time the two of them had met.
"It's Aser."
"Do you know him?"
"Mm, not really. We're just on a first-name basis."
I decided to stay behind Mesis, just as he wanted.
Although Aser had accepted Kaide's offer to become an informant between the Artban and Astrofel families…
…that didn't mean I trusted him. He was still a member of the Roisar family.
I figured he could turn his back on us at any moment for the benefit of his own family.
"…I understand the guard's caution, but if you continue like this, I'm not sure how I should proceed."
"Did you come to see Dad?"
"I did."
Aser seemed displeased by Mesis's attitude, but he knew his place and didn't pick a fight.
But if this kept up, the atmosphere was bound to turn hostile.
I quickly grabbed Mesis's arm and said.
"It's okay. He's here to see Dad."
"The Lord?"
"Yep. And he's going to teach me how to fly from now on. He'll be coming every week, right?"
Aser replied reluctantly.
"…That is correct. I am scheduled to give flying lessons every week."
He looked conflicted, as if he hadn't actually expected to be giving flying lessons.
Mesis bowed his head slightly as a gesture of apology.
"I see. My apologies."
However, Mesis didn't move more than a certain distance away from my side.
Aser nodded calmly in response.
"It's quite all right. …But what happened in the last ten days?"
"I'm not gonna tell you."
"…"
Aser fell silent. He seemed taken aback by my firm reply.
To be honest, I still wasn't sure how much I could say to Aser.
I thought it was better to be cautious and avoid making any mistakes.
After all, I was told it was best to reveal as little as possible about myself.
As we walked toward the mansion side by side, I felt a furtive gaze on me.
Aser muttered in wonder.
"…Are you about six years old?"
But my hearing had improved too, and I caught his words immediately.
I retorted with a pout.
"I'm seven."
"You don't look it."
"I am too seven."
How could this body not be seven?
According to the Su-in age chart, I clearly had the characteristics of a seven-year-old.
I could now pronounce words clearly that I couldn't before, and my torso, which had been indistinct, was starting to take shape.
It meant I had finally outgrown my baby body.
So at this point, I was a proper seven-year-old.
Aser said, dumbfounded.
"Age isn't important for Su-in. It's merely an indicator."
"Really?"
"Indeed."
"Okay, then I'll be seven."
Then I can go around calling myself seven with an even clearer conscience.
Since it's not important.
Mesis let out a small laugh.
He knew why I was being like this. It was because…
"The Lord must have been teasing you quite a bit."
"Hmph. Dad always says I'm small. Even though I keep growing."
This was a recent worry of mine. Kaide acted as if he couldn't see me growing at all.
It seemed Kaide didn't like how fast I was growing.
Everyone else was happy for me, saying I seemed to have grown again every time they saw me.
Only one person, Kaide, didn't.
Every time Kaide saw me, he would press a finger to my forehead and say, 'Still small.'
At first, I thought he was just worried about the aftereffects of my intermediate growth, but my intuition was screaming.
That wasn't the reason.
At my disgruntled grumbling, a strange light flickered in Mesis's purple eyes.
His lips curved into a meaningful smile.
Mesis glanced around, then leaned down and whispered a secret in my ear.
"This is a real secret, one I'm only telling you, Young Lady."
"A secret? What is it?"
I lowered my voice to match his.
Aser, who had been walking beside us, also stopped, apparently curious.
"The reason the Lord says that might be because you don't speak to him formally, like everyone else."