Chapter 307
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 307
Chapter Title: Lesson 60. Master of the Family - 2
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She thought it was love.
A singular treasure she had to obtain, even if it meant burning everything else away.
But it wasn't.
The moment she realized he had deceived her, she felt that treasure blazing fiercely.
How could she?
Everything else but it had already turned to ashes and vanished.
'Why.'
When the family head discovered she had secretly slipped an invitation to Ban Yu-won, her heart sank less from fear than from rage at him suspecting his own daughter.
When he permanently expended even the power of a constellation to corrupt her invitation authority, she felt like vomiting.
But before she could vent her fury at the family head for ignoring her, the rightful heir, and summoning the invitation's owner on his own whim, another woman arrived... a woman bearing the "inextinguishable flame."
Ullike Prominence lost her target for her emotions and collapsed in hesitation.
'Father was right. That man intended to seize Prominence from the start...!'
But why? She was Prominence's legitimate successor. If he took her, he could have everything he wanted without treading a difficult path.
He didn't know yet... but she had even planned to make him her spouse.
Yet why.
She was confused, hateful, and sad.
It was unbearably shameful that she alone had fallen into delusion and floundered.
If only the family head had told her sooner, she could have strictly reined in that fool dreaming foolish dreams and drawn him into her arms.
She could have held him tight so he couldn't think of anything else and bent him to her will...!
'The inextinguishable flame... what makes it so special.'
She watched the woman, surrounded by Prominence's sorcerers, grit her teeth in tense resolve and raise her sword.
The woman was beautiful, as Prominence blood ran through her veins――she even strangely resembled Ullike herself――but she was never prettier than Ullike.
'He's a fool too. What does he see in a woman like that.'
It was unfair.
He harbored other thoughts, and the family head had deceived him, even deceiving his precious heir and daughter in the process.
What had they thought, watching her dance like an idiot on stage, oblivious to everything?
'Bad man. He deserves punishment. So he'll never dare deceive me again... but.'
Still, she didn't want him to die.
Even if his priority fell short compared to the inextinguishable flame.
The family head showed no intention of abandoning the "dimensional ascension" plan Prominence had pursued for generations.
Apparently, he had made many preparations to confront Prominence――but whatever he knew, Prominence's true power was at least tenfold that.
As long as he sided with that damned elf bitch, the family head would never forgive him.
Once he secured the inextinguishable flame, he'd burn everything blocking Prominence's path, and that would surely include him.
She didn't want that.
Everything around her had already turned to ash, but her love for him remained――still lingered.
Because it was too vast.
Too big and hot to fully burn away.
―You're Level Force, right?
Startled by the voice in her ear amid those thoughts, Ullike flinched.
Though shocked, she had enough sense not to do something stupid like look around.
Prominence's blood warriors still encircled the intruders without blinking, while the family head toyed lightly with the enemy to confirm the inextinguishable flame.
The fire orbs he shot seemed poised to pierce that detestable woman's chest at any moment.
She didn't want him to die, but she'd gladly see that woman perish. She loathed and hated the family head, but right now she wished he'd hurry and kill her――.
The constellation's avatar blocked him, but she hated that constellation even more now, to the point of wishing the family head would slay it too.
Then again.
―The owner of the inextinguishable flame is Yu-won-nim's older sister. It's not a romantic relationship.
The voice came again.
―She's family, more precious than any lover. That's why I'm by her side, as a Platinum member of Level Force. What do you think? If you just watch him die like this――how will Yu-won-nim see you?
Was this a threat?
It was absurd, but more than that, chills ran down her spine.
Here gathered a fifth of Prominence's elite forces, with the family head himself wielding power, and even someone desperately checking the family head to claim the inextinguishable flame.
No one could fool their eyes and move in this situation.
So who was this voice's owner?
―We have to move fast. Ironically, while our two enemies check each other, we need to turn this around somehow.
'Us? How can you lump me with them?'
―Because we both like Yu-won-nim, don't we? You can tell. You don't want to be abandoned by him, right?
She flinched again.
Whoever it was, reading her innermost thoughts meant no ordinary foe.
―I'm not reading your mind. I just analyzed your personality and guessed how you'd react to my words. True mind-reading takes someone on Yu-won-nim's level.
'I must tell Father. There's a more immediate threat than the inextinguishable flame's owner...!'
But for some reason, she couldn't open her mouth and shout.
The voice's owner hadn't imposed any restraint.
Merely revealing her presence, and if the family head truly subdued her afterward, killing the woman with the inextinguishable flame――.
She feared how Ban Yu-won would view her upon learning that later.
Thinking she was dancing to that woman's tune, yet she couldn't shake the thought.
Does this make sense? He betrayed me!
He toyed with my pure heart and trampled my goodwill!
―If Yu-mi dies now... you'll never be loved by Yu-won-nim. But what if you help us here? Would he still see you as an enemy then?
'Foolish nonsense, utter bullshit!'
―The family head betrayed you too, using his daughter lost in innocent first love to trap Yu-won-nim. Oh, and the constellation's worse. It toyed with you, the rightful heir to Prominence, using its authority like a pawn. Right?
'I'm Prominence. I'm still recognized as the heir! Even if... even if my evaluation toughened because of a small mistake, falling for his sweet talk... still...'
If she helped everything proceed as the family head wished now, he'd gladly hand the inextinguishable flame to his daughter.
He'd tested and deceived her harshly, yet he still saw her as the next family head.
But then Ban Yu-won would die.
And until his death, she wouldn't win his heart.
That fact made her seethe with frustration.
―Does this happen once or twice? Yu-won-nim never deceives or uses his allies.
'I was deceived! Used!'
―If you were on our side, this wouldn't have happened.
'Because of him, I'm in this mess!'
―You could live happily, basking in his love...'
'Wrong. I'm the one who loves him, and he'll find happiness in my arms. That's how it should be. Should have been.'
She could bear this humiliation no longer.
She wanted to grab the one spewing venomous words like a snake and rip their mouth apart.
But more than that.
She feared a future without him.
Hearing "first love" struck a pitiful chord of empathy.
Yes, this was first love.
One she'd never experienced before.
One she might never experience again.
She closed her eyes briefly and opened them.
The constellation tempted the woman, promising survival if she submitted; the family head sneered; the woman gritted her teeth, igniting brilliant flames.
She seemed to manifest power beyond her limits, but regrettably, it wouldn't last.
Compared to the overly grand authority, the absolute amount of "crimson flame" she wielded was too small.
If only that power were hers――shaking off the thought, she lifted her head.
She felt a soft touch at her fingertips.
A person's palm.
―Tell me the way. Before it's too late.
She had to admit it.
This woman was a stealthy thief who moved unseen by anyone in the universe, a magician who exposed her inner thoughts and forced her to acknowledge her desires.
Ullike Prominence hated the whole world, loathed Ban Yu-won madly, but if asked who she'd prefer to survive between her father and him...
It was Ban Yu-won.
'If I kill that traitor, he'll see me differently.'
It was inevitable.
She'd lived more honestly with her desires than anyone, and Prominence's flames burned on desire as fuel.
How immense the desire must have been――her love for him still burned vast as the sun.
It would never be exhausted.
[Mansion basement level 3, secret passage opened only by crimson flame. Artifact symbolizing the contract between Prominence and the constellation's followers. Get the key from that woman yourself.]
The contract between Prominence and the constellation, strengthened by mutual bondage, making each other stronger.
The contract that allowed Prominence to stand tall as one of the top ten families, crushing other prominent houses in S-7 dimension, and above all, their fatal weakness.
Not just a secret passage opened by crimson flame.
A secret passage opened only by the authority of the Prominence family head and their successor.
The current family head couldn't open it.
Because he wasn't the true successor who inherited the inextinguishable flame.
That was also why he wouldn't simply hand over the woman despite the constellation's demands.
The constellation might keep her alive and make her the Prominence head.
―Ah, it opens with Yu-mi's blood. No wonder there was that weird structure...
The presence faded away.
She saw the woman facing the family head flinch momentarily.
The oblivious family head took it for tension or fear, but Ullike, who provided the info, knew the woman had borrowed part of Ban Yu-mi's created flames.
Even flames from authority would be hard to use without the person's direct touch, but for someone who fooled the family head and constellation in this deadly space, that was no issue.
"No, wait. This is... what?!"
―Kuaaaaaagh?!
See? Just as expected.
Not even a minute after sharing the info, the contract's mark shattered.
The family head's flames, once seeming capable of incinerating the world, dwindled to less than half, and the constellation writhed in agony, barely maintaining its avatar.
Other direct and collateral Prominence members with weaker authority suffered less...
But Ullike, with her strong authority as vice head, couldn't escape the pain.
"Heh, haha..."
Yet now, she welcomed even this pain.
Thus, she became a traitor too.
The family head, who might discard her if things went awry, couldn't blame her without pricking his own conscience.
'Ah. This way, surely he'll...
The woman who sold out her father and family for one man shed tears――from pain, ecstasy, or guilt, she didn't know――and closed her eyes.
The completion of a world where all were betrayed.