“Viola!”
The hallway roared.
Thud! Thud!
Someone came running with heavy footsteps. Almost the only human in the winter Castle who could act and roam freely, it was Hickson, the Duke’s comrade-in-arms and close friend.
“You son of a bitch!”
Hickson was furious.
“Lord Hickson, long time no see.”
“What, what’s wrong with this mute beast!”
Hickson loved animals. It was known that he liked animals more than people.
“Do you want to go behind?”
Among them, he especially loved dogs and cats, and was called Cat-lover because he always gave food to stray cats roaming the streets. Kundo looked at Hickson with a slightly confused expression.
“Lord Hickson?”
“Follow me.”
No one could use violence in the winter castle. But at the gymnasium, it’s a different story.
“Why? Are you scared?”
“You’re insulting Bellato.”
Kundo nodded his head, unfazed. Hickson knew he was much stronger than Kundo, but he couldn’t refuse. If it was Bellato, it should have been. Even if he was stronger than Kundo, he couldn’t avoid the oncoming fight.
“Let’s go to the gymnasium.”
He arrived at the gymnasium, and there Kundo was beaten by Hickson.
“A weapon is a waste for a guy like you.”
He did not use any weapon, but only hit with his bare fists. Kundo suffered a sagging cheekbone and fractured two of his finger bones. Kundo was sprawled on the floor, breathing heavily. In contrast, Hickson seemed unconcerned.
“This guy. Pick it up and take it.”
Kundo’s butler slightly frowned.
“You will have to take responsibility for this situation.”
“Heng! What is the responsibility?”
Hickson pinched his nostrils with his index finger.
“What’s your responsibility for hitting me because he’s weak?”
“…Prince Kundo is only nineteen years old.”
“However?”
“The potential for growth is endless.”
As time went by, Kundo would become stronger and Hickson would become weaker. So the butler pointed out that.
“A guy like that should have grown up a lot before beating me.”
“I hope you will not regret what happened today.”
Kundo’s butler wrapped himself around Kundo. If he was healed by the priest, he would be cured without aftereffects, but what to do with his shattered pride?
Kundo’s gaze reached Viola.
“Cowardly.”
Viola shrugged her shoulders.
“Thanks for the compliments.”
White Bellato used resourcefulness, it was okay to use other powers besides their own.
“It would have been better if it was described as a mercenary technique.”
In the end, Kundo lost consciousness, and Hickson came closer.
“Are you okay, Viola?”
“I’m fine.”
“I was really surprised.”
“What?”
Hickson raised her wrist. A magic calling bracelet hung on his wrist. It was a bracelet that formed a set with the bracelet on Viola’s wrist. It looked like an ordinary silver bracelet, but it was an artifact enchanted with a warning. An artifact that sounded an alarm from the bracelet on Hickson’s arm when Viola injected mana into it.
“You mean the call was really big?”
The strength of the call varied according to the concentration of mana injected. However, the call’s strength exceeded the maximum volume and almost exploded.
“It almost broke my bracelet.”
“Hmm. Is it because it is old?”
Hickson laughed at Viola, who tilted her head.
‘It’s probably not because she really doesn’t know.’ In fact, Viola really didn’t know. She knew that the purity and amount of mana she possessed far exceeded the universal level. So, even though she didn’t use much force, she almost broke the bracelet.
“Anyway. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Really?”
“Huh. Tundra, come and bury this child well.”
Viola gave the dead cat to Tundra.
“…yes.”
Tundra embraced the cat. However, the shape of Tundra was a bit strange. His eyes were red.
“Why are you like this?”
“It’s nothing.”
Tundra took the cat and walked away.
In an empty lot far away from the gymnasium, Tundra dug a hole by hand. Tears dripped down the back of Tundra’s hand.
‘I couldn’t do anything.’
If only he was really strong. If only he had been strong enough that it wouldn’t matter how high or low he was.
‘The master wouldn’t have to go through such humiliation.’
Cats have a special meaning. For some people in The Shadow of Bellatu, the cat meant the devil or a fallen person. The act of throwing a dying cat. This was also an act of mocking and criticizing the unclean. It made him so angry and upset.
‘If only I had been really strong.’
Just then it started to rain. The rain in the winter castle was cold.
Tundra, who had buried the cat well, lay face down in the rain for a long time.
‘I have to be strong.’
He didn’t know exactly what the master meant. But what was clear was that the master decided to become a white Bellato. If so, he should be the one who supported her and fighted for her.
‘This is how… It’s useless.’
3 years ago.
Viola held out his hand. Having lost his father and sister, she offered to stay by his side.
‘I have to become strong for the princess…’
But suddenly, he didn’t feel the rain.
‘Tuduk’ sounded in the land around him!
Tuduk!
It’s raining. But it didn’t rain on him. He turned his head and looked up at him. And he saw an umbrella. Then he saw Viola’s face.
“I knew you would be like this.”
She seemed to know what Tundra was thinking and why he was lying down. Viola held out her hand.
“Stand up.”
“But…”
“It’s an order.”
Tundra hesitated for a long time before grabbing Viola’s hand. Her hands were still small and warm.
“You did your job well.”
Viola stroked Tundra’s hair.
“You held up well. It was Hickson I called, not you.”
No more rain fell on Tundra’s face. However, thick raindrops fell down his chin.
“I will become stronger.”
Tundra made a firm commitment.
“I will become strong enough to not even dare to look at trash like the 3th prince.”
Tundra’s eyes burned red.
“So I will take away everything that insults you. Certainly.”
The water, whether it was tears or rain, was mixed and flowed down the face of Tundra in a dizzying way.
* * *
Hickson sat with his legs crossed and glanced at Viola.
“Monstrous girl.”
“How can a girl be a princess without dignity?”
“How did you know that the Third Prince would come?”
“Is the 3th Prince an idiot who desperately wants me to become the black Bellato?”
So she was prepared in advance. It was also the reason why she gave the magic bracelet to Hickson.
“And my father knows that too well.”
“So you and Heron, both predicted this situation?”
“Huh.”
Viola drank banana milk instead of black tea. Maybe it was because she was ten years old, she preferred sweet milk to tea.
“My father would have liked to see my response.”
“Response as white Bellato?”
“Huh. I had to show mercenary skills, not brute force. So I called uncle, and uncle got angry with the 3th prince. He also had a good cause.”
“There was a reason?”
“He made Cat´lover angry.”
Viola shrugged her shoulders.
“My father wouldn’t even take issue with it.”
“Why?”
That’s it. Her father was also a hedgehog butler.
“My father likes animals too.”
“…Eh? what?”
“He hates people who persecute animals.”
“It’s the first time I hear that.”
That’s natural, because it only exists in the set book.
Hickson trembled once.
“Anyway, you expected the third prince to come, and you’re saying that you set the stage.”
“Huh. Perhaps the report went up by now?”
* * *
Viola’s prediction was correct.
She expected the report to go up immediately. However, she did not expect that this story would be shared with Medea, the first princess.
Her first princess, Medea. As the most likely successor candidate as the next Duke, she opened her mouth.
“It really happened as you said.”
“Yes.”
As the Duke said, the 3th prince came back covered in blood. Viola did not use her own power, but used an outside person named Hickson to bring down the 3th prince. It was an unsuitable behavior for black Bellato, but it was an acceptable behavior for white Bellato.
“I met Kundo.”
“How was he?”
“He is recovering through the priest’s recovery prayer, but I think it will take a few days.”
“Right.”
There was silence for a while. Heron and Medea were not such a friendly father and daughter.
Medea opened her mouth again.
“But there is something strange about it.”
“Strange?”
“Lord Hickson said he only used his fists, but there was a wound on Kundo’s chest.”
Medea did not express it as a wound to the extent of a slight scratch.
“Probably the inside of his skin was bruised first, and during a sparring with Lord Hickson the skin broke open.”
It was much more difficult to cut the inside of the skin than it is to cut the outside. It needed a sharper and stronger aura, and they must know how to handle their mana extremely well. It was an advanced upward swordsmanship that destroyed the body from the inside.
“There was no sign of Lord Hickson’s doing.”
“Then?”
“I think it was Viola.”
“Right.”
A faint smile crept across Heron’s lips. Of course, Viola herself was completely unaware of this.
“Father.”
“I have often been told that I am the first on the continent, the first in history, and the first in the world.”
“It did.”
An inaction comparable to that of Duke Heron in his childhood. Based on her overwhelming talent and her steady efforts, Medea rose to that position. She was also called by the nickname of ‘White Sakpung’. Sakpung means a cold wind blowing from the north. The white wind, among the winds, meant a huge snow storm that only comes once in ten thousand years. According to imperial records, when the white wind blew, it was recorded that as many as 100,000 people died.
“I couldn’t do that when I was ten.”
Her smile deepened.
“Even against someone stronger than me. Even Kundo has learned the Bellato swordsmanship. I didn’t expect to hurt Kundo. It must have been intentional to prove her ability as a white Bellato and at the same time to let him know that her qualities as a black Bellato are not lacking.”
“Are you a little interested?”
“Yes.”
Medea asked.
“Would it be all right if I met the child?”
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. Thank you very much for reading.
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