Please Save My Child

Eleanor was calm about the results, but now she looked at Reina in despair. She knew that no words could comfort her at times like this.

The moment she was about to tell her to calm down and go back into the room, that tag shook violently.

“W-what’s going on?”

“Aaaah!”

“Everyone be careful!”

The mansion shook violently with a crunching sound, and the windows shattered.

That wasn’t all.

All the lights that were powered by magic stones turned off in order, and darkness came.

“Everyone evacuate the mansion!”

Damian opened the door roughly, holding the two children in his arms.

“Hurry!”

“All right!”

Dean ran out to inform everyone of Damian’s orders.

Everyone left the mansion and chatted for a while. They thought it was an earthquake, but the only thing that shook was the mansion. Everyone nodded among themselves at the strange phenomenon. Most of the windows of the majestic ducal castle were broken miserably.

“What on earth is going on?”

“Could it be the work of a wizard?”

“But for what?”

“An imperial wizard?”

“Most wizards do not like the imperial family and are hostile to it, so there is no one with this level of skill.”

While listening to various conversations, Reina looked blankly at the ruined exterior of the mansion.

“Is this a runaway of magic stones?”

It was a question asked to Eleanor next to her.

“If you think about it, magic stones are a mass of magical power. When they explode all at once, this is what it feels like.”

“It’s quite dangerous…”

“Still, I can’t help it because using magic tools improves the quality of life. That’s why noble families regularly call in magic surveyors. However, it hasn’t been long since the workability was measured, so it’s strange…”

Reina looked toward the dukedom while listening to Eleanor’s explanation.

‘A lump of magical power explodes.’

Something occurred to Reina’s mind.

“No way.”

There was no way the problem could be solved so simply and easily. What she came up with was like an empty dream.

‘If I came up with it, there’s no way no one else could have thought of it.’

Reina judged herself to be ordinary, and perhaps she was even worse than that. So she didn’t think her thoughts were special or that they would be of much help. Meanwhile, she also hoped that it would be okay to tell Peter or Damian what she just thought of at least once.

‘If this succeeds, it will be quite helpful to the empire.’

If this almost illusory idea were to become reality, Reina could have received the title for a just cause.

‘Wouldn’t it be okay to tell Peter or the owner at least once?’

And Reina had faith that Peter and Damian would not laugh at anything she said at any moment.

* * *

“Bonnie, are you okay?”

“…huh.”

Fortunately, the windows in all the rooms were not broken, and the room where Reina and Bonita were staying was one of them. In general, it only affected the room where the magic tool was operating.

“There will be knights patrolling the hallways tonight. So, take it easy and sleep well.”

“Knights…”

Bonita climbed into bed and then stopped.

“Mom, I can’t be a knight, right?”

“Why do you think so?”

“Well, I don’t have much magic power. I don’t have any Aura…”

“Even Uncle Dean can’t use Aura.”

“That’s not true…”

“But?”

“I want to become a great knight who can protect both my mother and the young lady.”

Reina sat down next to Bonita and laid her down on the bed. 

According to Eleanor, Bonita had no talent as a knight. Saying that now could really be the way forward for the child. But was she really doing it for the child’s benefit by forcing her to face cruel reality? She was unsure. She felt like she would regret it no matter which path she chose. But she wanted to let Bonnie choose.

She wanted to let people make their own choices, not make them give up.

Reina covered her child tightly with her blanket and kissed her forehead.

“Mommy will support Bonnie no matter what happens. Whether she becomes a knight or something else.”

“Really?”

“Really, mommy always wants Bonnie to be happy.”

Even as she said that, there was a sad look in Reina’s eyes.

If Bonita didn’t look like Reina…

They said that if Reina had more magic power, she might have been able to have a better appraisal.

She must have been tired as she was comforting the child, so Bonita fell asleep right away.

Reina carefully inspected Bonita’s bed and left the room.

“Ah.”

“You’re out.”

Damian was standing outside her door. It seemed like he had been waiting for a long time.

“If His Highness was outside, he shouldn’t have called.”

“You must have been putting the child to sleep, so if I knocked, I could have woken her up.”

“I might not come out, right?”

“I thought you would come see me.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s what your daughter did.”

There was a moment of silence between the two.

“…That’s why I thought you would come to see me.”

“Master has been reluctant to see me lately.”

“I was thinking about your request.”

“Were you worried?”

“There were many people who asked me to save their lives, but this was the first time someone asked me to kill them. So I was worried.”

“Are you finished worrying?”

“It’s almost over.”

Reina blinked her eyes and looked at Damian.

“If you ask me to kill you, I will kill you then.”

“When that moment comes, I might not ask you to kill me because I don’t want to die, right?”

“Well, then it can’t be helped.”

Reina realized that Damian didn’t want to do her favor and he talked about it in a roundaway manner. But she knew that the request was quite rude, so she didn’t complain much.

“Then can you talk about something else with me for a moment?”

“Is this about your daughter?”

“No.”

Reina usually only actively asked Damian about Bonita and Estelle. That’s why he was secretly surprised by Reina’s answer, which this time she firmly denied. It’s because he couldn’t really imagine anything else.

“Then?”

“It’s a story that could be helpful to the empire.”

Reina turned her eyes elsewhere and raised the corners of her mouth and smiled.

“Well, I only have a theory. It might fail, it might be a strange story, and no one else knows. Maybe someone has already thought about it.”

“It doesn’t matter if you have a theory to put it into practice. Even in seemingly strange words, there is truth, and maybe it’s something that no one has ever thought of.”

Damian turned and took the lead.

“I don’t think what you want to talk about is something worth sharing in the hallway. We’ll continue the rest in the office.”

* * *

Eleanor once dreamed of becoming a great wizard.

When she was very young, she dreamed of becoming a magic tower lord, but as she grew up, she wanted to become a wizard that everyone would know by name, even if she wasn’t the magic tower lord.

‘Well, I’ve given up on everything now.’

The job of a horse-tailor was not a bad thing. Because it was rewarding and helped people. However, she could not give up magic completely, so it was quite painful to watch the magicians after choosing a magic agent.

‘If you’re going to beat them up, it’s better to just throw them all away.’

The adorable pink-haired kid appeared in Eleanor’s mind.

“That’s right…”

Inside the carriage, which was barely shaking, Eleanor closed her eyes tightly. She also felt like she had left it to Reina to tell her directly. Wouldn’t it have been better for someone else, herself, to say it in person, she thought, recalling Reina’s face that day.

She was a dim-looking person who left no impression, but at that moment, she could feel the terrible despair from Reina.

‘I’ll have to check if there are any other cases when I visit the Magic Tower.’

Although she thought it was right to give up, Eleanor wondered if there was another way.

Shake!

At that time, the carriage hit a rock and shook violently.

“S-sorry! Are you okay, Eleanor?”

“Ah, I’m fine.”

Eleanor responded to the coachman’s panicked voice by saying that she was fine. Then she looked at the luggage bag across from her.

‘Am I okay…?

Even though they knew that the measuring tool would not be damaged by just this much shaking, all the massagers took great care of the measuring tool.

Eleanor’s teacher was like that too. Eleanor did not and would never understand her teacher’s unusual concerns, but what she had learned from him did not go anywhere. It was a worry he had been brainwashed into for years, so she grumbled and opened her luggage.

“Damn old man, the measuring sphere doesn’t break that easily… Ah?”

And, there was incontinence in the measuring instrument.

“This…”

Eleanor was embarrassed. In fact, even though she had dropped the measuring sphere fifty times during her apprenticeship, it had never broken. It was only until she put it in the bag that she realized something.

“…?”

Due to the magic tool explosion incident at his mansion last night, she took the measuring sphere without properly checking it. And the person who touched it before…

“Oh no way…”

It was Bonita.

 

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Translator Note: