Lotto, the guard in charge of Sephiel.
Lotto was, after all, a knight who had been officially appointed.
‘But didn’t he get demoted here because he was addicted to gambling and his wife left him due to his bad behavior?’
Sephiel, with the background of being a cursed child, had no powerful relatives to slip bribes on her behalf.
There was no way that someone as ill-tempered as Lotto would have treated Sephiel well.
“You idiot! Why don’t you just behave and come here already?”
—Bang bang!
At the sound of a sword striking against the iron bars, Sephiel’s body instinctively flinched
‘Before I turned ten, this was the scariest sound in the world to me.’
For a child barely four or five years old, loud noises were terrifying.
Lotto enjoyed startling Sephiel like that and made her cry.
And on top of that…
“Do you want to eat late again?”
The most infuriating thing was that Lotto deliberately delayed Sephiel’s meals just for fun.
Even though it was called a meal, it was just unnutritious food.
Even that, Lotto would deliberately give it late and make Sephiel cry.
How many days have there been when she held her hungry stomach and begged for Lotto, who kept giving her meals late?
‘Luckily, people avoided me because I was known as a cursed child, so I wasn’t beaten often. But…’
There were times when Lotto pretended to hit her, making Sephiel flinch and fall hard on the floor.
She fell so hard at that time that her vision went dark for a while.
‘It happened years later, but still… That was terrifying.’
As she thought about it, anger welled up in her.
“Do you think I became a knight to take care of trash like you? A useless brat like you being born is a damn nuisance. You should just die!”
Lotto started spitting out insults as usual.
‘Thanks to that bastard, I grew up thinking my name was ‘moron,’ ‘idiot,’ or ‘useless.’
Lotto was, without a doubt, a solid second place on Sephiel’s death note.
‘You’re dead.’
Sephiel quietly assessed the situation and mentally reviewed what she knew.
‘Stupid Lotto. He has many worries at home, blindly believes in fortune-telling, is addicted to gambling, and always fails at investments. Eventually, he falls into a shady cult.”
Perhaps because of his negative attitude towards life, Lotto has experienced a series of unfortunate events, such as his mother died unexpectedly, he got caught in a fire, and in the end…
He left his hometown because he was infatuated with a cult that worships the devil.
After recalling all that she needed to know, Sephiel just looked at Lotto.
“What? Why are you staring at me?!”
The timing was everything.
Sephiel stayed quiet, making Lotto even more uncomfortable.
And…..she threw out the decisive words.
“Ywou…. govt a bawd thwing at howme, wight?” ( you got a bad thing at home, right?)
It didn’t sound as charismatic as she had hoped.
‘Ugh, why does my speech have to be like this?’
Her short tongue was one problem, but her habitual speech pattern was worse.
Children learn polite speech when others speak to them respectfully.
But Sephiel had only ever heard harsh words from adults who treated her cruelly.
‘Even though I was grown up, I never learned proper speech.’
It wasn’t until she was around twenty in her previous life—after plenty of beatings—that she finally managed to stammer out proper speech.
‘Ugh, whatever. I’ll just speak comfortably for now.’
Even with memories from her previous life, there were limits to how fluently she could talk.
Besides, even if it were possible to suddenly speak like an adult, it would arouse even more suspicion.
‘I guess there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ll get used to it as I keep talking.’
At the very least, she needed to focus on pronouncing important words clearly.
‘If I do that, my tongue will catch up with my knowledge.’
Anyway, Lotto was startled when he heard Sephiel’s words.
“What? Since when could you even talk properly?”
“I knvow everywthinwg. Ywour mom’s sick, wight?” (I know everything. Your mom’s sick, right?)
“…….”
“Her shwolders hurt hwere. Twere’s a bit of bwue, wight?” (Her shoulders hurt here. There’s a bit of blue, right?)
“H-How do you know that….”
Lotto was terrified.
It was all true.
Sephiel smirked inwardly.
When Sephiel was five years old, Loto’s mother died from mercury poisoning after accidentally taking a fake nutritional supplement sold on the market.
‘You got caught.’
Thinking that, Sephiel threw another word.
“Do ywou have a beewch twree in ywour houwse? The twree ywou plvanwted when ywou wev ten.” (Do you have a beech tree in your house? The tree you planted when you were ten.)
“How do you know that!”
‘How would I know? You idiot.’
Sephiel thought.
For so many years, Lotto treated Sephiel like an emotional trash can.
That guy even drank during work hours and complained to Sephiel.
Sephiel said.
“Tsk tsk….Thewre’s somevthing ywou down’t know abvout!” (Tsk tsk….There’s something you don’t know about!)
Sephiel clicked her tongue and shut her mouth.
And Sephiel watched as the blood magically drained from Lotto’s face.
“You’re finally crazy! Hah, as expected of a cursed child. You must really be possessed!”
Lotto, as usual, scared Sephiel by banging on the iron bars.
But that time she wasn’t scared at all.
“Beliveve it owr nowt.” (Believe it or not)
And then…..
“A-Actually… my mother’s gotten worse. How… do you really know that?”
A few days later, Lotto asked Sephiel, trembling.
Sephiel ignored the words, scribbling absentmindedly in her old notebook.
“Hey, hey, are you ignoring me?”
“This….”
“Uh….Princess? Are you listening?”
It didn’t take long for Lotto’s tone to grow desperate.
Only then did Sephiel lift her head and shrug her small shoulders.
“Changwe dowctovrs. Thvat owne’s a quwack. Take heyr to the tewmple.” (Change doctors. That one’s a quack. Take her to the temple.)
Sephiel answered.
During that time, Lotto’s mother was prescribed the wrong medicine.
Because she was prescribed it as a simple stomach ailment, she only received a bunch of digestive medicine.
Eventually, her minor illness worsened significantly and she died.
That day, Lotto went home half-believing Sephiel’s words.
But he followed the advice, took his mother to the temple, and got her treated.
After that, things went smoothly. Sephiel began to brainwash Lotto.
It took about a month to get where they were.
“Bwuy thvat stwock!” (Buy that stock!)
“If ywou go to the rawcetravck, ywou’re doowmed!” (If you go to the racetrack, you’re doomed!)
“Huft… I knvow evverytwhing, ywou see.” (I know everything, you see.)
Giving financial tips to Death Note’s second-place candidate, Lotto.
“Princess! What should I do next? Hehe. Are you cold? I haven’t said a word about you to anyone, as you commanded. Please, could you give me another tip? Hehehe. The last one went up thirtyfold.”
Fear and devotion were two sides of the same coin.
Somehow, that idiot Lotto had become Sephiel’s devoted follower.
After that, things were pretty good.
After that, life got a bit easier.
The second prince, Heron, who Sephiel had stabbed on the back of the hand, wisely kept his mouth shut.
Instead, he gave Lotto money to harass Sephiel, but Lotto did not follow.
He even secretly brought an old blanket and occasionally sneaked an extra loaf.
“Princess… Hehehe. When will you give me the next piece of information?”
“Downt twalk to me uwntil I tevll ywou to.” (Don’t talk to me until I tell you to.)
“Alright princess.”
‘Well, brainwashing is complete.’
‘Wow… he’s even more stupid than I remembered.’
Sephiel thought.
‘So, shall we get to the main point of the plan now?’
* * *
The next day, Sephiel began sighing dramatically.
“Heuuugh… so pitiful…”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Ywou avre so pitiful…” (You are so pitiful…)
Lotto’s face turned pale.
“W-What do you mean by that…..”
Sephiel was silent for a while and then spoke quietly.
“Nwot muwch time left now…” (Not much time left now….)
Against the eerie background of the prison, Sephiel’s pale figure looked almost like a ghost.
Moreover, Sephiel’s pronunciation, spoken with all her might, was much clearer than usual.
“Princess, what did you say?”
Naturally, Lotto’s face turned pale.
Sephiel just shook her head.
“Newver mwind. No powint in sayving it.” (Never mind. No point in saying it.)
“Please tell me! I’m dying of frustration.”
Sephiel looked at Lotto and casually dropped the bomb.
“Ywou’re gowing to die soon.” (You’re going to die soon)
“What…?”
“Ywou’re gowing to die soon.” (You’re going to die soon)
Lotto froze.
As planned.
The next day, Lotto started to feel anxious and asked Sephiel.
“Princess! What do you mean I’m going to die? How can I avoid it?”
“Hmm… Thwere is a wayy, but…nah.” (Hmm…There is a way, but no.)
“Please, tell me.”
After a few days of exhausting himself with worry, Lotto eventually fell to his knees, begging.
Only then did Sephiel smile brightly.
“Okay! Just dwo exwacvtly as I sway.” (Okay! Just do exactly as I say.)
“Yes! I will do anything. Please, just save me, like you saved my mother!”
“Fivrst thvings fivrst.” (first things first)
Sephiel said.
“Ywou need to chvange ywour navme.” (You need to change your name)
“Change….. My name? To what?”
The name Sephiel recommended to Lotto was ‘Bob’.
‘Yeah. You are Bob.’
In ancient language, Bob meant a single meal, referring to bread—and it also meant a fool.
And the next plan was obvious.
A political marriage candidate for the young master of Remdragon.
The banquet for that event was taking place at none other than Grand Duke Remdragon’s castle.
Sephiel knew it wasn’t too far.
A single night’s carriage ride would be enough to reach it.
‘Good. At least I won’t have to suffer too much on the way.’
It was within the same kingdom alliance, and the proximity of the castles of two of the monarchs’ families was an incredible stroke of luck for Sephiel.
“Thwere’s ownly one way to svave ywou.” (There’s only one way to save you.)
And Sephiel’s lie was obvious.
The Remdragon estate was home to half-dragons and dragons.
And near there, there was a rare flower that grew…
“That’s cavlled a dragwon flovwer. I have to pwick thvat flovwer mysevlf and feed it to ywou.” (That’s called a dragon flower. I have to pick that flower myself and feed it to you.)
“But Princess, that’s impossible! If anyone finds out you’ve left the castle, I will be dead.”
“Ywou rewally down’t get it, huh? Tsk. Fivne. Levt’s juwst sawy gwoodbye then. Thivs is the end.” (You really don’t get it, huh? Tsk. Fine. Let’s just say goodbye then. This is the end)
Lotto turned pale…
And for the next few days, he agonized over it.
Even Sephiel felt a little nervous at that point.
‘As long as I fool this idiot, getting out won’t be hard.’
Sephiel knew what would happen years later.
Lotto, who would become obsessed with a cult, would eventually sell Sephiel to the cult.
That would be when Sephiel was around thirteen.
Using the excuse that they needed to offer Sephiel as a “special” blood sacrifice, the cultists stormed in…
‘Yeah, this prison got wiped out in seconds.’
‘Bob wasn’t just Lotto’s new name— it was also a perfect descriptor of this prison’s security level.’
‘I heard my father, who had practically forgotten about me, only remembered I existed after that incident!’
Fifty cultists had barged in.
‘The fact that their abduction attempt almost succeeded is ridiculous.’
Excited cultists celebrated what they thought was a successful mission…
‘They were so loud that the guards finally noticed and caught them near the back gate!’
Anyway, thanks to those idiots, Sephiel realized that she wasn’t being properly monitored.
‘Besides, you wouldn’t think that a five-year-old would make a plan to run away in the first place.’
So, if Lotto wanted, he could smuggle Sefiel out for days without anyone noticing.
Lotto thought about it for a few days and then said.
“Princess… will it really take just one night?”
“Yup! Of couwrse. Ywou dwon’t truvst me?” (Yup! Of course. You don’t trust me)
“I understand! Princess, I, Lotto, will risk my life to make this happen.”
Sephiel nodded with satisfaction.
‘Good. Transport secured.’
And as a final touch, Sephiel decided to give soon-to-be Bob one last stock tip.
Lotto’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
Of course…
It was a stock destined to crash in three months.
‘Yeah, now I don’t care anymore.’
* * *
