Chapter 21
21
"Honestly, you didn't have to chase after me like that. I saved some, okay?"
Then, he strode into the study and brought out a chocolate cake topped with fluffy milk cream.
'Yay!'
I've been thinking like an adult a lot lately, so I was hungry all the time.
"It's not like I saved it for you. It's just, uh? It's just... I don't really like sweets, that's all."
"Ishak ate the bread with sugar on it just fine last time."
"...Oh, I decided to hate it starting today!"
Then he got angry and went into the study first. Henri just glanced at me and headed through the door without saying anything.
I went to the table in the study where they were and sat quietly, watching Henri.
'Looks like there are no aftereffects.'
Thinking that, I took a bite of the cake and was shocked.
What is this?
'It's so delicious!'
It was on a different level from any cake I'd ever eaten.
A refreshing cream that wasn't too rich, even when I put a lot in my mouth.
Moist and soft sponge.
Chocolate with a velvety texture embedded in it.
The cake, a perfect trinity, melted as soon as it touched my tongue.
'They say the patissier at the main building (where the Dubled direct line stays) has hands of God, and it's true.'
I had been staying in the east building where the VIPs stay, and this was the first time I tasted a cake from the main building, and I was moved.
Isaac chuckled when he saw me moaning, "Ooh..." with my cheeks cupped in my hands.
"Is it that good?"
To tell a little lie, it was a taste that would have given me a heart attack if I had eaten it when I was a beggar.
'When I was starving for more than five days when I was a beggar, I would have bitten my tongue off if someone offered me a chocolate cake.'
The taste was so touching, and the memories of suffering in my previous life came to mind, so I almost sobbed.
"Thank you, Isaac."
"No, you don't have to thank me that much..."
Isaac was rather flustered and rolled his eyes.
"Should I give you some tomorrow morning too?"
"Isaac, you're the best!"
"I'll give you some in the evening too."
"Isaac, you're so cool!"
"Oh, well, I can't help it. I'll give you some the day after tomorrow too."
"Isaac, you're dazzling!"
Isaac grinned, and I gave him sincere praise.
Henri looked at us like we were cockroaches.
Henri and Isaac concentrated on their homework, and I quietly drew pictures next to them.
Maids came to find me around sunset, but they smiled and went back after seeing me with the young masters.
They were trying to give the siblings time to bond.
And so, the night deepened.
'Sleepy...'
Isaac was also nodding off like a sick chicken.
I shook my head like a horse shaking off water and pinched my cheek hard.
"Go to sleep if you're sleepy."
Henri said, his eyes fixed on his book.
I want to go too, but I couldn't leave Henri alone in the castle with Teramore, who was furious about what happened today.
"I'm okay. I'm not sleepy."
"Your eyes are full of sleep."
"...I'll go wash my face."
I jumped off the chair.
And I shook Isaac, who was nodding off, and whispered.
"Isaac, stay here until I come back. And-"
Only after confirming that Isaac nodded with a sleepy face did I leave the study.
'I'm going to die.'
It felt like my child's body was screaming for rest.
I groaned and looked for the washroom. Just as I was about to go inside.
"Ah!"
Someone grabbed me and pulled me away.
'Teramore!'
I was dragged into a room near the washroom in an instant.
As soon as the door closed, Teramore smirked.
"Why? Did you think I'd only target Henri?"
"I'm different from Annie. I haven't been trained, so it'll be obvious right away if you touch me."
"You don't necessarily need hands to make someone suffer."
Teramore took something out of his pocket, and I froze in surprise when I saw it.
'Blue Spinelle!'
That's a special gem used to make Divine Tools with Divine Power.
The more vivid the color, the more Divine Power can be extracted.
Of course, vivid Spinelles are considered precious on the market, but that's not the case for the person having their Divine Power extracted.
If Divine Power is extracted to the limit, you go crazy, or in the worst case, you die.
And a Divine Power beggar like me would lose my mind just by being near any Spinelle.
'That can't happen. I'd rather die and regress!'
Teramore approached me and muttered coldly.
"Thirty years. Thirty years of hard work have collapsed. Because of you!"
He was completely out of his mind.
The retainers were moving strangely outside the study in the evening, so it seemed he had finally been kicked out of his position as a teacher.
"D-don't come closer. I'll scream."
"Go ahead. Let's see if someone comes faster or if you get injected with mana faster."
Just as he grabbed my collar.
The door opened and Henri ran in.
"Let that child go."
Teramore scoffed and looked at Henri.
"You have a pale face, but you're still talking nonsense. It seems yesterday's education was insufficient."
Henri closed his eyes tightly and rushed at Teramore.
But Teramore had a relaxed attitude, as if he found it ridiculous.
The fact that a genius who can use Aura charged in with his eyes closed meant that he hadn't completely overcome his trauma, so there was nothing to fear.
But Henri's purpose wasn't to attack.
He quickly snatched the Spinelle and threw it into a narrow gap in the display case.
"You damn bastard...!"
Teramore was furious at having his weapon taken away.
I now clung to Teramore's arm without hesitation.
"Don't touch me. Don't hit Annie!"
He threw me off roughly and raised his hand towards Henri.
At that moment.
Bang-!!
The door burst open, and a tremendous wave of mana rushed towards Teramore.
Teramore, who was hit by the terrifying mana head-on, screamed, "Aaaagh!" His arm was twisted grotesquely.
I quickly turned my head towards the door.
The person exuding a cold rage in front of the door was.
"Y-your Excellency."
It was the Duke.
His dry eyes scanned me, who was lying on the floor, and Henri, who was pale.
Teramore trembled and looked up at the Duke. He had no idea how he knew and came here.
'You fool. Did you think I'd wander around alone after provoking you so much yesterday?'
I expected you, out of your mind, to target me.
That's why I asked Isaac to call the Duke before leaving the study!
The reason I stubbornly stayed in the study until late at night wasn't just to protect Henri.
It was because Teramore would target me only at this late hour.
Isaac, Noth, and maids including Leah were with the Duke.
He called the Duke and came, but after a long time, I didn't return, so he seemed to have called the maids who were taking care of me.
"What is this... What an absurd...!"
Leah's face was stiff.
Judging by the fact that the words 'unbelievable' didn't come out first, it seemed she had seen the scene of me being pushed roughly.
'I'm glad I came at the right time.'
So Henri wouldn't get hurt anymore.
"Y-your Excellency, this is... that is, this is...! F-first, please listen to me."
Teramore begged, but the Duke's murderous intent didn't subside.
Noth frowned and rubbed his forehead. He seemed to be calculating the events that would unfold.
A minion of the Council of Elders abused a direct line young master. It's a major incident that will wipe out the Council of Elders.
'In the worst case, a civil war.'
The Council of Elders wouldn't just stand by and take it.
Leah, my maids, and Noth glared at Teramore with faces that looked like they wanted to tear him apart.
The Duke slowly moved towards Teramore.
Teramore hugged his grotesquely twisted arm and backed away. But he didn't get far before he groaned, "Cough...!" and collapsed.
And he covered his mouth with his still intact hand, but dark red blood was gushing out incessantly.
"Y-your... Your Excellency... Cough! I, I didn't mean to, it was just part of the education... Cough!"
When Teramore looked up with a pleading face, the Duke stepped on his hand.
"Henri."
"..."
"Tell me in your own words what has been happening."
He must have noticed that Teramore's violence wasn't a one-time thing, as he didn't hesitate to raise his hand to the child.
Henri, who was pale and clutching and twisting the hem of his pants with his white hand, swallowed hard.
A heavy silence followed for a while.
Only after the Duke called his name again, "Henri," did the child slowly open his mouth.
"It's nothing."
"That's for me to judge."
The Duke's gaze was deeply sunken. It was a chilling and ominous aura that made me flinch without realizing it.
If I, who was innocent, was this afraid, Teramore, who was guilty, was naturally terrified.
"Y-your Excellency, it's a misunderstanding. It's a misunderstanding. Let me explain. So this is... Keuak!"
With a piercing scream, Teramore's other wrist was twisted grotesquely.
'Wow...'
I almost opened my mouth without realizing it.
As someone who had only seen people with Divine Power from below the Temple, it was the first time I was seeing proper magic.
Mana activation without a Catalyst.
When I heard about it, I vaguely thought it was amazing, but seeing it in person was on a different level than I imagined.
It was a tremendous pressure that felt like my lungs were being squeezed.
'If I hadn't experienced the Pope's Divine Power in my previous life, I would have fainted.'
Henri, who was getting whiter and whiter, gritted his teeth. Then he said nonchalantly.
"It was just a trivial matter."
"Trivial? Violence, you mean."
"The violence of old Teramore was just ticklish. I was just going to watch how long he would do ridiculous things."
Henri forced a smile and continued.
"It's an opportunity to seize Teramore's weaknesses. I was planning to use it when he became an Elder."
"..."
"So it's nothing-"
At that moment, the Duke strode over and grabbed Henri's wrist.
"Ugh!"
A blue bruise under his sleeve was revealed along with Henri's scream.
