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Hello, my dear readers. Firstly, I would like to thank all of you who have been patiently waiting for me to return. I have been translating like crazy for the last two weeks to give you a mass release for the novels “The Sickly Youngest Member of the Villainous Family” and “The Time-limited Extra Is Disguised as a Tutor in a Villain’s House”.
It will, however, undergo some changes going forward. As I am moving all my novels to https://duskblossoms.com for the time being, I will only upload one chapter per novel here on Moonlight. Hopefully, this will help me spread the word so you will know where you can find my future chapters. In addition to the new chapters, the rest will be uploaded on the Dusk Blossoms website as well.
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The servant opened the door, and I carefully entered his office.
The office at midnight was dark enough to feel a bit scary.
And in the office chair sat Recardo, dressed in a shirt.
His eyes, having just returned, were filled with the cold chill from outside.
“I’m glad you returned safely.”
Standing in front of Recardo, I spoke while watching his expression.
“Paramena must have been very cold……”
I fidgeted with my hands.
Although my condition had improved, I couldn’t help feeling intimidated in front of Recardo.
After a moment of silence, he moved his lips in a low voice.
“I heard about what happened in the evening. Moreover……”
My anxious face, with hands clasped, was reflected in Recardo’s green eyes.
“I didn’t expect a divine tree to grow in my house.”
“……I’m sorry.”
The divine tree that grew when the Cup of Darkness was destroyed filled the entire assembly hall.
Probably, it can no longer be used for the same purpose as before.
“Everything is a matter of merits and demerits.”
Recardo’s soft voice seeped into my ears.
I couldn’t read his expression to tell if Recardo was praising or scolding me.
It was too expressionless to think he was praising.
“But you should know when to lower yourself. Isn’t that right, Sasha.”
Recardo didn’t like me being in the spotlight.
“Nothing matters after death.”
I remembered the image of Kather that Recardo had shown me during the Dark Feast when I was three years old.
He seemed to have the same expression then.
“……I.”
I understand why Recardo tries not to expose me unnecessarily.
When the attention of the bloodline focuses on me, all sorts of rumors start circulating, and it becomes tiresome.
Maya’s guess is that he’s trying to prevent me from becoming endangered, but well, it’s hard to imagine if that’s really the intention of the iron-blooded Recardo.
“Even if I go back to that moment, I would use my ability.”
Although I was always intimidated by Recardo, there were words I didn’t want to hide.
Recardo twitched his eyebrow.
“Even if you die?”
His question was in a flat tone, but the cold glint in his eyes made my body hair stand on end.
After looking at him for a moment, I opened my mouth.
“……I used it to survive.”
Recardo stared at me for a long time.
What I just said was sincere.
“I’m living to survive.”
At my words, Recardo’s eyebrow twitched.
And if Jin had died, I would have been wiped out along with the people there.
A moment later, Recardo moved his lips.
“Just because the result was good doesn’t mean everything is good.”
Recardo is right. It was a situation that was only fortunate because of luck.
I slightly bowed my head.
Soon, Recardo’s continuing voice seeped into my ears.
“But you’re chattering in front of me now.”
I raised my gaze again to look at Recardo.
“It seems to prove that your judgment wasn’t wrong.”
After going round and round, it seems the destination is ultimately praise.
“Well done, Sasha.”
I smiled brightly towards Recardo.
Recardo twisted his lips slightly, showing a cool smile.
“……”
If he smiled just a bit more, he would be the world’s most handsome, but given Recardo’s personality, I won’t see his lips curl up more unless I’m reborn.
Anyway, he opened his mouth in a less pressuring voice than before.
“I heard the divine tree’s flower heals you.”
That the essence of the divine tree, which appears once in a thousand years, or rather only in legends, has tremendous medicinal effects was known to everyone in the world.
I nodded.
“Yes. When I use my ability, my body weakens to the point of coughing up blood, but after drinking the divine tree’s essence, my body recovered even more than it had suffered.”
After a moment, Recardo muttered.
“No need to take the long way around, it turned out well.”
“……Pardon?”
And he made a surprising proposal in a calm tone.
“I’ll give you the ownership of the assembly hall.”
“……Pardon?”
The place where the Dark Feast was held was located in quite a good spot among the Winchester mansion buildings.
“Then the Dark Feast……”
“Since the cup is broken, it can’t be held anymore.”
“Ah……”
From the perspective of Winchester’s collateral bloodlines, I must seem like a disaster.
Because of me, the Affinity Ceremony can no longer be held, and even the Dark Feast has been abolished.
“……I feel like I’m causing too much damage to the family.”
“If anyone says such things, let me know.”
I flinched at Recardo’s sharp gaze.
“I have the leisure to correct who saved whom. Or I could let them experience what would have happened if Leviathan were still alive.”
The black flame behind him was a pitch-black flicker, noticeable even in the darkness.
“Yes……”
I slightly bowed my head.
Then Recardo turned his chair a little to look out the pitch-black window.
His back looked heavier than when we had dinner last time.
As I was preparing to leave, I heard Recardo’s voice.
“Sasha.”
I looked at Recardo with a start.
I couldn’t see his face.
“Don’t get hurt.”
I heard his commanding voice.
Outside the window, white snowflakes were scattering with the intensifying wind.
***
Signals rang out simultaneously that enemies had been caught in traps equipped with magic stones.
Rowen immediately mounted his horse and drew his sword.
The elite soldiers who were already prepared followed him to raid the village.
Those who entered the empty village were wearing black robes.
Although they thought Duke Recardo had left, when his knights appeared again, those in black robes became confused.
“Capture them alive if possible……”
Rowen ordered his subordinates.
“If they don’t comply, kill them.”
Cheng― The sharp sound of swords clashing was heard.
The robed figures, apparently not ordinary people, took out weapons from their robes and resisted.
Their numbers were quite large, but Rowen was confident that Winchester’s soldiers wouldn’t be pushed back.
There were also hidden traps, after all.
Soon, leaving the battlefield to his subordinates, he headed towards the central warehouse.
If his lord’s prediction was correct, there would undoubtedly be enemies there too.
His horse’s head entered the shadow of the largest building in the village.
And there, Rowen encountered someone in a robe.
The man was very tall and held a staff.
“Who are you?”
Despite Rowen’s cold question, the man didn’t answer.
Rowen approached the man with his sword drawn.
“I said, reveal your identity.”
And just as he was about to point his sword at the man, he hesitated and twisted his body.
A sharp dagger grazed Rowen’s side.
If he hadn’t sensed the killing intent, his body would have been pierced through.
The startled horse raised its front legs and threw Rowen off.
Rowen rolled once on the dirt ground.
The tall robed man was no longer in his place.
The man who had been standing right in front of him until just now had stepped back and attacked.
‘An incredibly skilled person.’
Judging by the aura emitted, there was a 70 percent chance he was stronger than himself.
At the very least, a noble-level person with supernatural abilities. He didn’t know why such a person was cooperating with an unknown prophet, but……
“……”
Rowen readjusted his sword.
He had a duty to return and report this to his lord.
But before he could take a step, the man’s body moved like lightning.
When that flashing sword appeared before his eyes, all Rowen could do was defend.
Cheng―
The man’s pitch-black eyes were looking at Rowen.
Rowen sensed that he wouldn’t be able to survive this encounter.
‘Somehow, a weakness……’
Just as Rowen was about to swing his sword again, matching the man’s movements.
“……!”
The robed man’s eyes widened.
Rowen also hesitated when the man, who had been moving at a speed he couldn’t keep up with, stopped.
“Keurgh.”
Black blood flowed from the man’s open mouth.
Rowen, who had been blankly staring at the man, saw the clear blue sword extending behind the man.
And in the distance, a black-haired boy standing with a sword.
White snow had accumulated on the boy’s shoulders.
“……”
Those with supernatural abilities are subdued by supernatural abilities.
A child with an aura as strong as Jin Winchester.
Evan Taylors stood there with a cold look in his eyes.
