Chapter 86
Episode 86
As I left the prison cell, the Chairman and my brothers began Baron Sugawe's interrogation, and desperate screams echoed underground.
While I was having dinner with Dad, Noth relayed the information the Baron had divulged.
"He tried to create Dubled's Young Lady himself to control the family, it seems."
"It seems Baron Sugawe didn't know someone used divine power to make Mireille younger."
"His brain must be made of cotton."
"His Excellency cherishes the Baby Bird so much, he must have been dreaming a foolish dream."
That foolish dream is the second one now.
The dead elder who tried to adopt Cattleya did foolish things for the same reason.
'But that can't be all.'
There's definitely someone who stirred up Baron Sugawe to get information. The man with the red dot that Mireille saw.
'Why would someone with a red dot use even divine power to create Dubled's Young Lady?'
I popped the meat into my mouth and thought.
'Well, whatever.'
Even if I don't deliberately go out to catch the red dot, if he really needs Dubled's Young Lady, he'll naturally appear before me someday.
'And if you get caught, you're dead.'
I sliced off the meat with a bit of blood pooled inside.
Just then, the butler came with the mail.
"A letter has arrived for the Baby Bird."
"From who?"
"The head of the Dubos family."
I jumped up and received the letter.
[A love letter for the Baby Bird's two hands. I was so happy to hear you've woken up. I was so sad to hear that the Baby Bird had collapsed, to kill the wicked child...]
I flipped through the previous twelve pages and found the last page.
[...so I'm happy to deliver good news. We have succeeded in Long-Distance Teleportation.]
'Hooray!'
I cheered inwardly.
A stack of cards was enclosed in the envelope. My beloved lottery, no, the Long-Distance Teleportation Array.
After finishing dinner, I went upstairs.
'Let's use one for confirmation first. It's a waste, but I need to check it myself.'
Thinking that, I walked down the dark hallway towards my room.
It was the employees' mealtime, so the hallway and rooms were as quiet as a mouse.
'Taking advantage of this gap to teleport... Huh?'
There were two familiar figures on the terrace.
It was Javelin and Leah.
The two were chatting.
"In the end, we couldn't find the Baby Bird this time either."
Leah replied without inflection to Javelin's words.
"Javelin. I am now going to let Lisette and the Young Lady go."
Her voice, which was always kind and gentle, was as rigid as that of a knight. I somehow felt that that was Leah's true self.
"Is it because of the Child of Destiny?"
When Javelin looked at Leah, Leah stared at the air and said.
"How pathetic I am. I always prioritize other values and miss the most important thing."
"..."
"Even on the day Lisette and the Young Lady passed away, if I hadn't tried to recover my dead sister's body, I might have been able to protect the Young Lady."
On the day the previous generation's soldier invaded, it was Leah, who was the escort knight, and Leah's sister, who was Lisette's exclusive maid, who evacuated Lisette out of the castle.
"In the end, I couldn't even reach my sister, and I foolishly missed the Young Lady."
"..."
"It's the same this time. If I had looked more closely, I might have noticed that Mireille was fake."
"..."
"I wouldn't have left the Baby Bird alone and lonely."
Leah lowered her head powerlessly.
"The Baby Bird doesn't try to call the employees by name except for me and the three maids. She has a lot of affection, but she's afraid of making connections because her wounds from being abandoned are deep."
"..."
"Even though I knew that, I only saw that child who I believed to be the Fourth Young Lady and tried to take away even the remaining maids. How hurt must she have been."
"Could it be as much as the wound I gave her?"
When Javelin let out a self-deprecating laugh, Leah's breath trembled slightly.
"I'm going to retire. I'm not qualified to serve the Baby Bird."
What?
I burst open the terrace door.
The two, who were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even know I was there, widened their eyes.
I glared at Leah.
"I'm not a glass craft!"
"...Yes?"
"I don't get such a huge wound from just taking a maid away for a while."
"But in this huge castle for weeks alone..."
"Everyone else is like that too. How many kids eat alone when their parents go to work!"
I shouted, patting Leah's apron hard.
"It's much, muuuuch scarier when Leah's not here. Sleeping alone, eating alone, it's nothing. What does Leah think I am, a baby?"
"Baby Bird..."
Leah's eyes became teary. I frowned and glared at her.
"Cancel what you said about retiring!"
"Yes..."
Soon she started to cry, so I sighed.
Even Leah, who I trusted, is making me feel like I'm raising a child.
Leah soon started shedding tears and snot, so I took out a handkerchief and wiped her face.
"Tsk, yuck."
"I'm sorry..."
"Hmph, do it."
Koo-eung-!
Leah blew her nose loudly and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Now go and work."
"Yes."
She answered obediently and stood up. Then she looked at me and smiled faintly.
"You don't know how much of an honor it is for me to be able to serve the Baby Bird."
I cocked my chin and answered arrogantly, "I know."
Leah smiled at me and kissed me on the cheek.
After she left, I went to Javelin, who was sitting on a chair at the terrace table.
"Thank you for counseling Leah."
"It's nothing to be thanked for."
"But Leah is my person."
"...You really remind me of Lisette."
I took a seat next to her. A strong smell of alcohol came from the bottle of liquor and the empty glass on the table.
'This is expensive liquor.'
Duke Valois cherishes this among his hidden liquors. He only takes out this liquor when a precious guest comes.
When I sniffed, Javelin lightly rubbed my nose with the back of her hand.
"You're still too young to covet alcohol."
Then she took out a new cup from the tray near the liquor bottle and put in the ice she had prepared to put in the liquor.
I held the cup she handed me with both hands and crunched on the ice.
"It's already spring."
"Yes. Violets have also bloomed below the mountain."
"Do you like violets?"
"Actually, I like something else more than violets."
"What is it?"
"Elza trees."
That's a money-making tree.
Other people only know to use the leaves, but if you dry and sell the leaves, you can make a good pocket money, the bark becomes a material for the Long-Distance Teleportation Array, and if it's living in a volcano, you can use the land as a Spinelle Mutation Zone.
The leaves can make very good ointment and tea with a delightful fragrance, so they are very expensive.
One Elza tree is worth about one local mansion.
'There are many Elza trees on my land, but they are diseased trees...'
They only barely meet the conditions for a Spinelle Mutation Zone.
That's why the original owner, Baron Roman, sold the land with the Elza trees at a low price.
Besides, it's not like anyone can buy it just because they have money. Since it's a tree that can't be cultivated by human hands anyway, the owners don't want to sell it.
"I see."
"What kind of plant does Javelin like the most?"
"I don't like plants."
"Why?"
"Because I receive them as gifts every day, so they're troublesome to deal with."
I recalled the rumor that the Young Ladies and Young Masters of The Capital piled up flowers like mountains every time it was Javelin's birthday and nodded, "Hmm."
'Being popular is tiring too.'
I chatted with Javelin while enjoying the night breeze.
As the night deepened, she said.
"You should go in and sleep now."
"Yes."
"Sleep well, LeBlaine."
I was so surprised that my eyes widened.
'Ja, Ja, Ja, Javelin called my name!'
She always called me Child of Destiny.
When I covered my mouth with both hands in surprise, she chuckled.
"I have to remember the name of my drinking buddy."
"Yes...!"
"Have a good dream."
I smiled brightly.
The next day, I was in a good mood.
It was because I got the Long-Distance Teleportation Array yesterday, Javelin called my name, and I decided which of Paimon's Familiars to make my Familiar.
I hummed and went down to the dining room to have breakfast.
Javelin, who doesn't usually attend family meals, was sitting at the table.
"Good morning."
When I said that, Javelin replied, "Good morning, LeBlaine."
My brothers looked at me with a 'what's going on' face.
"What, when did you two get so close?"
"I know, I'm getting jealous."
I sat down in my chair and answered.
"Javelin and I are drinking buddies."
Then, clang-! The sound of silverware falling was heard.
"A, a, the Baby Bird has become a delinquent..."
"D, delinquent Baby Bird..."
When the servants muttered, trembling, Isaac shouted.
"Aunt, are you crazy?! How can you give alcohol to a baby!"
Isaac, who is a real delinquent, said something surprisingly sensible, so I admired him inwardly.
"Nine years old isn't a baby."
Javelin said, wiping her mouth with a napkin. Henri frowned.
"Alcohol is not good for a child's body."
"That's not something you guys can say to me, who was called in for drinking alcohol in the Young Talent Academy dormitory."
I looked at Henri and Isaac with cloudy eyes. The two flinched. Yohan's lips twitched.
Then, Javelin said.
"I bought you a present, so check it out, LeBlaine."
"A present?"
"It's outside the window."
"Can I see it now?"
"Yes."
I wondered what it was and opened the window connected to the dining room. And what I saw was a pile of Elza trees.
Dozens of huge Elza trees were piled up from the garden to the castle gate.
'No, how many Long-Distance Teleportation Arrays is this...'
The calculator in my head went 'ddirong, ddirong, ddirong,' and then 'click!' and endless '0's came to mind.
"You said you liked it the most."
I covered my mouth and looked at Javelin with a blissful face.
I quickly ran and hugged Javelin.
"Aunt!"
-While shouting.
She chuckled and said.
"It was worth spending the money."
A rich aunt is the best!