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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Don't Go Out
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“Hurry!”
“……”
It seemed like the kid had grown up a bit odd, perhaps because my sister was always too busy to catch her breath.
I’d purposefully ignored her after hearing that this little peanut of a thing had spent two months at the ducal estate doing nothing but crying herself to sleep.
But then, a few days ago, she’d suddenly shown up here, right in front of me, and had been getting on my last nerve ever since.
“Uncle, quickly.”
And I couldn’t bring myself to hit this little pup.
It was a relief, yet also baffling, that she was no longer the girl from my sister’s funeral who had sobbed until she was breathless, her eyes swollen shut, refusing to let go of my arm.
Even the servants avoided my gaze, but she stared right at me, her eyes, so much like my sister’s, wide and defiant. It was absurd.
“Uncle, I told you to press your finger down hard right here.”
Unable to withstand his niece’s nagging, Cassel had no choice but to call a servant and stamp the ridiculous document.
He even had to stain his finger with red ink because she insisted on a fingerprint.
*Just how on earth did she raise this child?*
Six years ago, my sister had vanished without a word, driving me mad. Then, two years later, she’d suddenly returned with a child.
The baby I’d thought was a newborn was already a year old.
My sister refused to say who the father was, even on her deathbed.
Still, she’d said she wanted to be a mother her child wouldn’t be ashamed of, and she seemed to be doing well, even sacrificing sleep…
*How could you leave this little one all alone?*
Acting like she was the smartest person in the world.
“Uncle!”
“……”
“Uncle Cassel!”
This child, not even half my size, called for me so damn often.
“Don’t call me for no reason.”
It’s grating on my ears.
“Huh? Why?”
Her eyes, round as kumquats, looked up at me, brimming with curiosity.
They were so clear, so untainted, that I felt I could see my own reflection in them.
And that just grated on my nerves even more.
“Just don’t call me more than once a day. And don’t come looking for me.”
Her round eyes wavered as if in shock.
But it was only for a moment.
“Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle! Hehe.”
The child called out my name in rapid succession, then, despite being out of breath, she giggled as if nothing had happened.
“Cassel, look. Isn’t my daughter just lovely?”
“Little brother, could there possibly be a more adorable creature in this world than my daughter?”
“You’ll understand when you have a child of your own. You won’t be the center of your own life anymore. And yet, you’ll want to give them everything.”
“No, you’ll start thinking that way after just one day with Aika.”
“My poor little brother, do you even have a girlfriend?”
This is so… damn irritating.
Unable to contain the surge of emotion, Cassel shot up from his seat.
He left his startled niece, who was scrambling to her feet, and stormed out of the room.
* * *
“Ugh, Uncle is so mean.”
I sat blankly on the bed, stunned that my uncle had suddenly left.
Unlike before, he had been radiating such a menacing aura that I hadn’t dared to follow.
But he won’t actually leave, right? He promised.
I hopped off the bed, not doubting for a second that my uncle would stay.
“...Hah!”
But I had to stop after only a few steps toward the door.
My vision flashed, and the world began to shift.
It was only the second time I’d seen the future while awake, rather than through a dream, and I held my breath without thinking.
“No…”
The scene changed rapidly, as if an artist were dabbing a paint-soaked brush to create a picture.
And in the middle of it all was my uncle.
With an irritated look on his face, he was leading a massive black horse out of the stable, preparing to mount it.
Then, the vision showed the horse suddenly collapsing as it galloped, sending my uncle crashing to the ground.
I already stopped it once, and now he’s in danger again?
“No!”
It seemed my uncle absolutely could not leave the house today.
There was no other reason he would be in such constant danger.
At least, that’s what I thought.
Ignoring my uncle’s threat to not call or look for him more than once a day, I immediately set off to find him.
* * *
“Uncle, where are you?”
“Uncle, where are you?”
I asked every servant I passed until I found out where my uncle was.
They said he was already at the stable.
The stable already? That was too fast.
What I had just seen was the very near future.
Fearing I’d be too late, I sprinted toward the stable like a lightning bolt.
Why is Uncle’s place so big?
Grandfather’s estate had three huge buildings, but you could get everything done just by staying inside the central manor.
This place was completely different.
To get from my room—well, the guest room—to my uncle’s room, you had to pass through an outdoor corridor.
“Have you seen my uncle?”
I asked everyone I saw.
My uncle’s estate was enormous, with smaller buildings scattered about like points on a star, so it was a long way to the stable.
I was completely out of breath, but I didn’t stop, running until I finally reached it.
“Uncle… where is he?”
The stable was vast, spacious enough for five horses to rest comfortably.
More than ten pillars, each as thick as a person’s torso, supported the roof, and hay was piled high both inside and outside, reaching up to the ceiling.
The long stable had doors open at both ends, so it didn’t smell bad.
I found my uncle faster than I expected.
In the distance, I spotted a stable hand bringing a horse over and placing a saddle on it.
Thankfully, my uncle hadn’t mounted the horse yet.
“Hah, Uncle!”
I skidded to a halt, barely keeping my balance, and called out to him loudly.
My uncle, who spotted me at the stable entrance, scowled just as he had before.
“You, I told you not to look for me…”
I breathlessly ran over and threw myself around his long legs.
I was so hot from running that beads of sweat formed on my forehead, but I had to hold on, or he’d just stride away on those long legs of his.
“Uncle, you promised you wouldn’t go out. You’re a liar!”
My uncle looked at me, dumbfounded.
“I didn’t go out. What’s the lie in me wanting to ride a horse on my own property?”
“But…”
“But what? Let go.”
“Nuh-uhhh.”
I shook my head, catching my breath while clinging tightly to his leg.
Suddenly, the horse let out a loud *neigh!*
Startled, I turned my head.
My gaze fell upon a horse, far larger than my uncle, looking down at me.
*Gasp.*
It’s… huge.
It looked just like it did in my vision, but up close, it seemed even blacker and was so big it was majestic.
Still, I stubbornly held on to his leg and shuffled slightly behind him.
But why did the horse just sort of slump down?
Come to think of it, in my vision, the horse had been in terrible pain for some reason.
*Was it hurting?*
Clinging to my uncle’s leg, I carefully scanned the horse from its tail to its legs and then up to its head.
Thankfully, my uncle didn’t try to pry me off or throw me aside.
He seemed to be preparing to mount the horse again, paying me no mind.
He clearly hadn’t heard a word I said.
“Huh?”
As I continued to watch, I noticed something was a little off with the horse.
“What is it now?”
“Uncle, are horses supposed to keep one foot lifted all the time?”
“What are you talking about?”
The horse’s right hind leg, which it had lifted slightly, was trembling.
But it was so close to the ground that you wouldn’t notice unless you were looking closely; it just seemed to be standing still.
Perhaps it was because of its muscular, unmoving body.
Was it because it was in pain?
“Hey, horsey, does your foot hurt?”
I let go of my uncle’s leg, cautiously stepped forward, and reached a hand toward the horse’s hoof.
But before I could touch it, the horse neighed loudly again and reared up on its hind legs.
It was so big it felt like a giant statue of a horse was about to fall on me.
It happened in an instant.
“Miss, look out!”
At the same time as the stable hand’s shout, my body was seized by an incredible force.
