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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: A Crack in the Window
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With a faint crackle, the windowpane fractured slightly.
After confirming I still had ten fingers, I picked up the rod I had set down.
When I tapped the cracked area with the rod, the fracture spread like a spiderweb. Soon, it shattered completely.
That was a bit loud…
My desire to become the capable and useful Cheria made me anxious.
I gathered the glass shards scattered by the window with my hands.
“Ouch.”
A shard pierced through my glove. But I still had much to do.
The wind that rushed in from outside felt like a positive sign.
After destroying the evidence, I looked down.
The terrace directly below felt so far away.
“Still, you have to do it, Cheria. I can’t raise a child in a place like this.”
Staying trapped here wouldn’t help me or Kivrin in the slightest.
I encouraged myself and stepped out of the window.
I-I can do it!
…Actually, I really don’t want to!
With a loud thud, I hit the terrace floor.
“Ugh, ugh…”
I’m not dead, am I?
I was so tense I could barely feel the pain.
My purple hair caught on my hand.
I grabbed a chair to pull myself up and checked the door.
The terrace was locked with a simple latch. As I undid it, my hand finally began to sting.
It would be nice if I could open the main gate this easily.
“Ha. No, this is a time to celebrate success.”
I immediately ran to Kivrin.
I thought Kivrin would be happy to see the terrace wide open.
But his expression was dark.
“I-I’m not happy.”
“…”
“Cheria… y-you’re hurt.”
I looked at him, bewildered.
It seemed Kivrin didn’t understand that my injury was a trivial matter compared to being able to breathe fresh air.
“I’m fine. It doesn’t even hurt that much.”
Kivrin stared at my gloved hand.
I was wearing layers of colorful mesh gloves, so even I didn’t know how badly I was hurt.
Still, I instinctively tried to hide my hand behind my back, but Kivrin was faster to grab it.
“M-May I see?”
“I can treat it myse—”
“…”
Tears welled up in Kivrin’s eyes.
For some reason, I felt like I had done something wrong and muttered.
“…You can see.”
Kivrin removed the gloves one by one.
I tried to bear it as the glass shards embedded in the gloves poked my fingers, but Kivrin somehow managed to do it without causing me any pain.
When the gloves hit the floor, they made a squelching sound as if they were soaked.
“…”
My fingers twitched.
I was hurt more than I thought, and I was about to pull my hand away so Kivrin wouldn’t see, but he acted first.
At first, I thought the sudden easing of the pain was my imagination.
But the wound actually began to heal rapidly.
At the same time, another scale appeared near Kivrin’s eye.
I don’t know what it means, but it feels like a very bad omen!
“Young Lord, that’s enough—”
“I-It’s okay.”
“…”
Kivrin didn’t let go of my hand until every last tiny scratch had disappeared.
Then, he looked at me with eyes heavy with sleepiness.
“I’m going to… s-sleep a little more…”
Lacking the energy to even go to the bedroom, Kivrin crouched by the terrace railing.
Within seconds, he was fast asleep.
Watching him, I went and sat down beside him.
Kivrin’s hand, which had been holding mine, remained where it was.
He hadn’t taken my injuries upon himself.
He had actually healed them.
But in , there was no mention of Kivrin having such a supernatural ability.
In the first place, that was something difficult to achieve even with magic.
That was why the Saintess was considered so great.
…What in the world is this?
Could this be a sign from whatever god or author exists that my investment hasn’t failed?
A sign that they won’t reverse my transmigration, but they will guarantee my investment’s success?
“Hmm.”
When I read the novel, I never imagined the Nectarian family, which I’d thought of as just a train wreck, would have so many secrets.
Kivrin, a villain with healing powers, and the Duchess, being tormented by people from the Temple.
I let Kivrin lean against my shoulder.
Listening to his soft, even breathing, I wiggled my perfectly healed fingers.
“Thank you. Um, no.”
“…”
“Thank you, Kivrin.”
He can’t hear me anyway, so it should be fine to use his name, right?
I don’t want any more scales appearing on Kivrin’s face, so I’ll have to try not to get hurt from now on.
I watched the sky to my heart’s content until Kivrin woke up.
* * *
Early in the morning, the items I had requested were delivered to the hall.
Everything from large items like a ladder to small ones like an ink bottle.
I remembered the rookie knight who had hesitantly taken the paper I gave him.
It seemed he hadn’t just thrown it away.
To be able to decipher my awful handwriting, he must be destined for great things.
But given my circumstances, I’ll only accept half of his kindness.
“I didn’t hear the main gate open.”
I let out a sigh.
I should be careful not to sleep too deeply when there are no guards outside.
Whoever opened the gate and came in, there was no guarantee they would be as friendly to us as that knight.
First, Kivrin and I shared the ladder and went to the food pantry.
Using the ladder to get all the food down from the top shelves made me sweat buckets, but I felt a sense of relief.
We ate a filling, properly seasoned meal, and the time we spent in the study was also productive.
It turned out that Kivrin not only knew how to read and write but was also very knowledgeable.
The reason he hadn’t frequented the study was that he had already read most of the books and lost interest.
This would be normal for a child of a noble family, but it was surprising considering Kivrin’s situation.
“Did you have a private tutor?”
“Mother t-taught me most things… h-herself.”
Kivrin smiled slightly as he said this.
It seemed his lessons with the Duchess hadn’t been unpleasant.
In , the Duke and Duchess were merely supporting characters who raised Kivrin into an irredeemable villain.
The Duchess, Winter Nectarian, had earned the readers’ ire many times before her death.
This was because she openly disregarded the female lead, especially at the imperial ball.
—Your younger sister came dressed in rags, yet you have a greasy sheen on your face. Does the food at the Temple suit your palate?
For Cheria, it had been a refreshing comeback.
I recalled the events of a few days ago.
When I came to this mansion, I was wearing a hand-me-down dress from my sister.
It didn’t even fit me, so to the Duchess, it must have truly looked like rags.
I asked Kivrin a question I knew I had to ask at least once.
“The Duke and Duchess locked you up in here. Don’t you resent them?”
“They said it was f-for my own good. Because I get hurt…”
The same line appeared in .
The Duke and Duchess had deceived Kivrin with those words and locked him in the empty mansion.
The truth was, they weren’t worried he would get hurt, but that he would hurt others.
However, it was difficult to blindly trust .
Not only did it fail to mention Kivrin’s supernatural ability, but right now, Kivrin seemed to resent the Temple more than the Duke and Duchess.
I fidgeted with my clean, uninjured hand.
I suppose I should be grateful for this gentle lesson that blindly trusting the information from the novel could lead to disaster.
Perhaps there was another story hidden within the Nectarian family, which I had only thought of as a train wreck.
Kivrin wouldn’t have mentioned that the people from the Temple deliberately caused problems to torment the Duchess for no reason.
The time Kivrin and I spent alone in the mansion passed slowly.
When we stopped our quiet conversations, the mansion became so still it was as if time itself had stopped.
While Kivrin dozed off, I looked out the window.
The view was magnificent. I could see trees and a lake, with no other mansions in sight.
But this was the outskirts of the capital.
This mansion, with its beautiful scenery, must have been several times more expensive than the Mayol County estate.
And the dress the Duchess had prepared for me was certainly not cheap.
Deciding I needed to observe the Duchess carefully the next time she visited, I placed my hand over Kivrin’s burned one.
Kivrin flinched as if sleep had instantly fled from him.
“Can’t you heal your own hand with the power you used to heal me?”
“I-I don’t really kn-know how I did it.”
Kivrin shook his head from side to side.
