Born as the Hidden Daughter of a Villainess and the Male Lead

<Episode 54>

 

***

“For what reason…?”

The maids, Meinhardt, and eventually even the grandfather.

Everyone said that the Kandel family was an ominous thing that should never be mentioned, but they did not tell me why they were so shunned, feared, and hated.

“…….”

If no one would tell me…

I stiffened my expression and called the maids.

I will just ask my teacher, Count Juppes, whom I distanced myself from before because I could no longer fully trust him, about the family’s past that was forbidden to be talked about by everyone.

 

***

 

I thought that if I couldn’t get an answer this time, I would just give up.

“The Kandel family….”

However, unexpectedly, Count Juppes’ calm expression slightly hardened at my question, and he began to speak slowly.

“The Kandel family,to be exact, it was the Duke of kandel’s family.”

“A Duke?”

I asked back, surprised by the fact that their title was higher than I expected.

Count Juppes nodded slightly.

“Yes, it was a family that enjoyed great power in the Roshan Empire at that time, along with Duke Bastevan.”

A voice filled with faint nostalgia detailed the story of decades before I was born.

“I didn’t tell you anything for a while because of the order of His Excellency the Heilian Grand Duke… (Hehe, it was something I couldn’t do anything about. Please don’t look at me like that.) When the ‘beginning of disaster’ has arrived in this land, it was a well-established, prestigious family that produced one of the seven heroes who saved the continent at that time.”

“……One of the seven heroes?”

Which of the Great Spirit masters are you referring to?

Among their names, there was no one with the last name Kandel…

Ah.

No way.

I slowly opened my mouth, thinking of just one person who could be that candidate.

“She had a very close relationship with the Grand Princess’s maternal grandfather since childhood. She was a noble princess of the Duke of Kandel’s family, and her name was Judith Sephemia…… Kandel.”

[Grand Spiritualist of Electricity, Judith Sephemia ka…]

Her last name, which had been blurred and unreadable, was revealed.

Kandel.

She was the princess of a family that disappeared from the Roshan Empire.

“The Grand Princess’ maternal grandfather, Judith, and Ezekiel were the most glorious children born to the Roshan Empire.”

The person who was said to be very close to my grandfather was the princess of the mysterious Kandel family.

But why…

‘Where did you hear such a name? Tell me the name of the person who leaked that story to you right now!‘

Why did my grandfather not only refrain from saying anything about this, but also showed a fierce hatred that seemed still vivid and could never be forgotten?

“…Count Juppes, I don’t understand…how is it that the family that produced such great heroes has now been exterminated and reduced to an ominous entity whose name cannot even be mentioned?”

Count Juppes was speechless at the carefully asked question and hesitated to answer for a while.

“I don’t think the current Grand Princess needs to know that story. But… I want you to remember this one thing.”

Behind the glasses, the silver eyes, which always had a gentle glow, sank deeply.

“The Duke of Kandel’s family disappeared from this Empire for breaking a taboo that should never be broken.”

“This family cannot be resurrected forever, regardless of whether there are descendants left or not.”

“………”

Although I didn’t hear about the story that I was truly curious about…

The conversation with Count Juppes has come to an end.

 

***

 

“……..”

Judith Sephemia Kandel.

A former great spirit master and a princess of the Kandel family, she is said to have had a special relationship with her grandfather since childhood.

“For breaking a taboo, they were punished by disappearing from existence in the Roshan Empire…?”

What kind of intolerable crime had they committed that resulted in such a heavy punishment?

“Oh, no. I don’t have the time to get hung up on useless things.”

I shook my head vigorously, trying to shake off the questions that had been plaguing me for the past few days.

I started researching for information to meet Meinhardt again, but instead, he turned out to be a pretty mysterious entity.

“Let’s find another way to contact Meinhardt. Who were the spirits that blessed Meinhardt….?”

I slowly entered the room, remembering the vague original novel in my mind.

“……Uh?”

Then I found a familiar object placed on the table and stared at it with goosebumps.

“Again…”

It was the disturbing invitation sent to me from the Kandel family.

“What, why is it here again?”

Apparently, Meinhardt, who had suddenly appeared the night before, had burned it to ashes by lightning.

However… It appeared in such good shape and was once again placed in my room.

“…That’s creepy.”

I looked down at it with a very uncomfortable feeling and thought.

… A cursed family. A family where people have committed sins that should not have been committed.

However, it is a famous family from the past that gave birth to great heroes.

It was very strange and eerie that invitations kept coming from families that had already disappeared…

“Perhaps.”

It may be a clue that can solve the questions about Meinhardt, Mariette, Grandpa, and the secrets of this world.

“It is said that with high risk… comes high return, right?”¹Yeah, and short life..

I sighed and made up my mind.

“You, children of indestructible life, answer the call of the one whom you have blessed with an immortal heart. [Oried]!”

Huuung–

I felt a gentle vibration at my feet, and then I felt like gravity was weighing down my entire body, it was so heavy that I couldn’t open my eyes.

[What business do you have here?]

The moment the familiar blunt voice spoke to me, the weight that had been weighing me down disappeared like an illusion.

“…There is something I would like to ask you for help with.”

I opened my eyes, exhaled slowly, looked up at Oried, and answered.

[Help?]

“Yes, that family…I plan to accept their suspicious invitation.”

I pointed to the invitation on the table.

Since I have decided to respond to this strange invitation, it is natural to prepare a defense plan against the danger awaiting there.

“Even if I burn it, I still keep getting invitations, so it’s really suspicious. Oried, please confirm the identity of that invitation.”

Since Oried is the Spirit King, nothing much will happen.

Since I didn’t want to touch that unpleasant object anymore, I asked Oried to check the invitation for me.

[… A lot has happened in the meantime. Can’t you just be quiet for a little while?]

Oried looked down at me with a somewhat complicated expression as he asked me a favor and spoke quietly.

“I want to do that too… but the troubles won’t leave me alone.”

Oried sighed deeply and placed his fingertips on the invitation.

[Ha….]

The moment he opened the invitation, frowning.

Woosh!

“!”

In the blink of an eye, a black gust of wind burst out and enveloped Oried’s body!

“Oh, Oried?! Are you okay?!”

I raised my arms to cover my face and shouted urgently.

Because it happened so suddenly, I was shocked and cried out.

“……Hmm?”

After a while, I was lost in doubt as I looked at the scene unfolding before my eyes.

[It’s nothing special, but….]

The black gust of wind rushed towards Oried with the momentum of doing something to him at any moment, but it soon changed into a strange texture that wrapped around his body and remained still.

What is that?

Oried and I looked at the black fog with puzzlement and a bit of discomfort.

At that moment, the black figure suddenly flew away from Oried, just as it had when rushing before.

That…

“……Did it spit you out after tasting you?”

The problem was that it writhed in disgust, as if it had been mumbling on something before and then spat it out because it was too disgusting to swallow.²Oh my god😂

[……..]

I accidentally mumbled and looked at Oried.

He was clearly annoyed and was glaring at the black thing which was moving away from him.

“…It would be better to just get rid of it away right away… Ugh?!”

The moment I continued speaking to ease his mood, the figure wandering far away seemed to have spotted me.

[-Edith!]

Just like the first time it struck, a black gust of wind came right in front of me without giving me any time to escape.

“-Oried!”

It swallowed me up like that.

Through my vision, which was being engulfed in darkness, I could see Oried stretching out his hand.

What immediately followed was complete silence.

 

***

 

Without a chance to catch it, the black gust of wind that enveloped Edith disappeared as if she had been sucked into the invitation.

Crunch–

Oried, who was left alone, gritted his teeth and looked down at the invitation that had swallowed up Edith with his ghastly eyes.

Even though the spiritist disappeared, the spirit summoned were not released.

What does this mean?

[This one thing is certain, it must be that guy who keeps pulling such mean pranks… ]

Who else could there be other than him?

Oried muttered softly, shaking with anger.

[Arkane.]

 

***

 

Count Juppes remained alone in the library and organized the books.

The library, which was usually lively with the young student’s questions and his responses, became extremely quiet when the little girl left.

“…Kandel.”

I never thought I would hear that name again.

Count Juppes muttered in vain, recalling a past that was so far away that he could no longer go back.

“My friends were indescribably dazzling… They were the future of the Roshan Empire.”

He alone recited the truth that he could not bear to say to his student.

“But Judith…That child’s family was so cruel to that child.”

The eyelids, which acquired a deep understanding over time, closed as if they were tired.

“They broke a taboo that they should never have broken considering the heroes their family produced.”

And the sentence that came out after was…

“Because they performed a human sacrifice to the Dark Spirit King Arkane.”

It contained the ugly truth that led to the untimely death of a supreme hero chosen by fate.

 

***

TL:

I have nothing much to say, I just want to greet you..

Hello everyone, I hope you are enjoying the novel so far~