Chapter 26
At that same hour, at the Marquisate of Lillis.
“Duke Calips has no eye for people. Of all the children he could adopt, he picks an orphan brat who’s clearly a lost cause?!”
Fuming with rage, Marquis Lillis slammed his glass down with a heavy thud.
“When there are so many talented individuals in the collateral branches! Don’t you agree?”
The man listening to him chimed in immediately.
“You are absolutely right. But it truly is strange. If he wanted to adopt a child, he should have brought Tex in long ago…”
“Hmph, honestly. Ahem!”
At those words, someone else cleared their throat, signaling for him to read the room.
Viscount Ringston blinked stupidly before realizing his blunder a moment too late.
“A-Ah, well, he must have been too embarrassed to officially present an orphan to the public.”
“Exactly. Since young master Tex will surely achieve great results during the upcoming successor trials, he must be looking forward to that. Hahaha!”
Only after hearing the sycophantic words of the other lords did Marquis Lillis withdraw his venomous glare.
He had become increasingly sensitive lately.
As planned, Tex was the only one left as a viable successor for the Crost Duchy, and he had confirmed that the adoptee—Duke Calips’s final act of desperation—was a non-ability user.
‘But why do I feel so uneasy?’
Something felt off. As he tapped his fingers restlessly, an image flashed through his mind.
A dainty frame.
Cheeks as soft as freshly baked bread.
Uncannily large blue eyes.
And twin pigtails that stuck out as if they had arrowheads attached to the ends.
‘Aisha, was it?’
Indeed.
The Marquis had been in a foul mood ever since he met that brat at the Duke’s Castle, where he had gone out of curiosity.
At first, he thought it was simply because Duke Calips had ignored Tex and adopted someone else.
But even after confirming she was a non-ability user and feeling a brief moment of relief…
‘He’s recognized because he protects people with his Ice Ability.’
‘But you used yours to threaten someone. That’s why you aren’t qualified to be the successor.’
That child was different.
A five-year-old orphan should have known to be afraid in front of a nobleman like himself; she should have had a bit of a foolish streak.
She shouldn’t have been spitting out remarks so clever that, for a split second, he had almost mistaken her for a true blue-blooded aristocrat—no, a direct descendant of the House of Crost.
‘Did he bring her in because she’s unusual?’
Furthermore, he couldn’t forget the humiliation he had suffered last time.
‘While the Duke is out subjugating monsters, the Marquis is just sitting in the Duke’s castle drinking tea. I’m sure the Duke would love to hear that.’
Those blue eyes peeking out from beside Knox’s leg.
He had glared at the child in shock, but the image of her speaking clearly without even flinching was still vivid in his mind.
‘I can’t even touch her recklessly… That wicked little thing.’
The Marquis ground his teeth as the memory resurfaced.
The timing of the Crost Duchy’s monster subjugation?
Of course he knew.
It was precisely because he knew that he had visited the castle to avoid that terrifying Duke.
But that brat Aisha had bluntly pointed out the very thing everyone knew but didn’t dare say.
A mere brat who just happened to get lucky and climb the social ladder!
‘Could it be he adopted her because she has a silver tongue?’
That likely wasn’t the reason, but Aisha kept weighing on his mind.
So much so that he eventually brought her up himself.
“Aisha, was it? If Tex enters the Duchy as the successor, that girl will surely try to bully him to mark her territory.”
“What kind of bullying can a five-year-old do? She’s just a lowly orphan with nothing to her name.”
“She should be bowing and scraping, and even that wouldn’t be enough.”
Flattery flew back and forth from all sides, but he didn’t hear it.
“The problem is that she didn’t. Do you know what that brat said to me?”
“……”
“That damn brat! Right in front of me…”
The people who had already heard exactly what Aisha had done to the Marquis at least ten times closed their eyes tightly.
Then, Viscount Ringston, seeking an opportunity to make up for his earlier mistake, poked his head forward.
“Marquis. No matter what that brat said, isn’t young master Tex the one with the Ice Ability?”
He pumped a fist into the air.
“The first to emerge from the collateral branches—the hope of the collateral lines! The pride of the collateral lines! The strength of the collateral lines!”
“That’s right, Your Excellency. He is the hope of the collateral branches.”
“Indeed. Honestly, I thought Duke Calips was being quite dramatic over just acting as a gatekeeper for the Ice Wall and killing a few monsters. The collateral branches are also families that rightfully hold territory in the North.”
Others followed Viscount Ringston’s lead, adding their own comments.
The remarks were heavily laced with flattery, but in that moment, the lords were sincere.
An ability user had appeared in the collateral line. It meant the massive wall separating the direct line from the collateral line had crumbled.
A wall that had once felt as vast as the distance between heaven and earth.
“Since things have come to this, why not show off young master Tex’s ability?”
As Viscount Ringston rubbed his hands together like a fly and sucked up to him, the Marquis put on a feigned reluctant smile and commanded a servant.
“Bring Tex.”
Lately, the Marquis’s only pride and joy was showing off Tex’s ability in front of others.
A short while later.
“Yawn. Why did you call me, F-Father?”
Tex, walking in arrogantly with his hair a messy bird’s nest, flinched.
“Greetings, young master Tex.”
“Ah… yes. Hello.”
Tex, who hadn’t expected so many lords to be in his father’s office, tried his best to hide his flustered state.
He had thought he was just in for another lecture.
“Tex. Show them your ability.”
“What?”
The Marquis, wearing a smile, nodded toward his son.
“Go on. Our guests are looking forward to it.”
Only then did the boy realize his father’s intention, and he furrowed his brows in discomfort.
His face practically screamed, I don’t want to.
However, he knew from experience that it was better to just show it once and get it over with than to rebel.
“Hyah!”
With a shout, Tex stamped his foot and imagined a giant icicle surging up before him.
But.
“…?”
“Hyah!”
Surprisingly, nothing happened.
Tex’s face turned bright red as he realized he had just shouted and blinked like an idiot.
“No, this is…”
He tried stamping his foot again, but the result was the same.
Flailing as if he were in a dream, he thought he should at least try to make an ice cube like the ones used in drinks.
Just as he was about to slam his hand on the desk—
“Wait a moment. Son. Are you playing a prank again? Hahahahahaha!”
Marquis Lillis jumped to his feet and quickly grabbed his son’s shoulders.
‘Did you forget?’
He whispered at a volume only Tex could hear, his face still maintaining a smile.
“…Oh, right.”
At the stupid mumble that made it clear he had only just realized, the Marquis clicked his tongue.
Then, brightening his expression once more, he turned to the guests.
“It seems my son is going through a severe bout of puberty lately. I’m not sure what to do with him. I’m worried he’ll act like this during the successor trials as well. Anyway, I’m sorry, but everyone should head home for today.”
The lords watched the Marquis shake his head with a bit of exaggeration and glanced at each other.
Then, they began to speak up one by one.
“Ah, haha. He’s at that age.”
“We understand. Then, we shall see you at the successor trials.”
Fortunately, they didn’t seem to pay it much mind.
In fact, the Marquis had bragged about Tex’s ability so much every time they met that some of them had already seen it several times.
Once the lords had departed.
“I’m sorry. I forgot because I was sleeping… A-Ah, Dad!”
Thump. Thump.
With a stern expression, Marquis Lillis grabbed Tex by the wrist and practically marched him down the hallway into the boy’s bedroom.
Then, he slammed the door shut so no one else could hear.
“The medicine!”
“I told you I forgot! I can forget things! I’ll just take it now!”
“You can forget?! You don’t have an ability if you don’t take the medicine, so how can you forget, you wicked boy! From now on, you and that medicine are one and the same!”
The enraged Marquis swatted his son’s backside.
“Ow!”
Tex, startled, scurried a few steps away and grumbled under his breath.
“I said I’d take it…”
“Take it right now, hurry!”
“…Fine.”
“Here, I’ll get the medicine out for you…”
However, as the Marquis opened the nightstand drawer, his eyes widened and he went silent.
“……”
His face turned pale in an instant.
There was hardly any medicine left.
‘There’s only enough for a week. He’ll have to drink even more than usual to get through the successor trials.’
Ah.
Only then did the Marquis realize the source of the anxiety he had been feeling.
He had to go get more of the potion.
“I’ll have to buy quite a lot this time, even if it’s a stretch. I can’t believe I have to go see those bastards again so soon.”
