CHAPTER 57

Indeed, if it seems like you can’t win, isn’t running away one way to go? Even if they criticize me for fleeing while clinging to my pride as Duke Panteur’s daughter, there is no other choice. We must first survive and endure because history is written by the survivors.

“Ugh, ugh.”

Some time ago, my grandfather gave me the reward he had wrested from Count Monaco. He gave me a bundle of scrolls filled with sparkling jelly-like substances when he roasted ham. 

He’d slipped me a stack of scrolls worth an entire manor to make up for everything he’d failed to do for my mother.

‘You should prepare for whatever might happen in the future. This is a Warp Scroll, so if something dangerous happens, don’t think you have to take responsibility for everything like your mother. Just use it to escape.’

Thanks to my grandfather’s foresight, I managed to escape from the hands of the masked one. However, there was very little mana stored in my body, and in this world, not everyone could use magic scrolls as they pleased. It required having mana in the body, and my weak, untrained body had almost none. 

So, I ripped the Warp Scroll with one hand as I had been instructed, but I couldn’t return home because I didn’t have enough mana to reach the coordinates set on the scroll. Therefore, the only thing we could see from where we landed was a distant mountain from the carriage. And next to it, my brother was sticking to a tree, gasping for breath, seemingly dying. His face was extremely pale, and he was covered in cold sweat.

Is this what they call magic sickness? My brother, with his highly unusual constitution, was having a tough time.

“Brother, are you okay?”

“Hufgh…”

It seems he’s not okay. I realized that I could send my brother away with magic sickness, but my heart overcame my intentions, and I gently patted his back with my small hand.

My brother, whose stomach had been completely turned upside down, continued to vomit rainbow-colored vomit several times and almost fainted. He had an extreme aversion to magic, and his expression was agonizing. 

“What on earth have you done?”

“Brother, let’s go somewhere else if you don’t want to eat these rainbow rice cakes.”

The ground was covered in rainbow rice cakes vomited up by my brother. Since I didn’t want to have a conversation there, I quickly covered them with leaves. Although it was my first time in these mountains, I first moved my brother, who seemed like he was about to lose consciousness due to his weakened condition.

“Hey!”

“This is peppermint candy. Eat it.”

Knowing that mint had a calming effect, I didn’t even ask for my brother’s permission and immediately put it in his mouth. As the peppermint candy entered his mouth, my brother was about to say something but sighed deeply and closed his mouth for a moment.

With the candy in his mouth, my brother’s complexion seemed much more relaxed than before. After some calming down, my brother exhaled the scent of peppermint and said, 

“You know I have magic sickness, right?”

“Yeah, you’ve experienced it before, haven’t you?”

“Huh? Are you trying to assassinate me or something? Otherwise…”

“I almost got killed earlier.”

My brother understood my words, realizing that it was better to endure severe magic sickness than to die. He grumbled reluctantly but showed some spirit.

“Father might kill me if he finds out.”

“Heh, don’t be dramatic. Should I pat you on the back for doing well?” 

“That would only apply to you.”

“Brother, haven’t you heard the saying ‘take one step back to advance ten steps’? You should know how to retreat when necessary. Even if you step back one step, it will be easier to leap forward since you’ve already taken a step forward.”

Upon hearing my words, my brother looked puzzled for a moment and then let out a deep sigh. He then removed the mask covering his face. At that moment, a strange nostalgia overcame me, and I stared blankly at my brother’s face. I wondered if he deliberately wore the mask to hide his face as if he was afraid that I might recognize him if he revealed it.

“Wow, you’re handsome.”

Was this how our father looked in his younger days? He was so handsome that my young mother seemed to have fallen for him in an instant.

“You have no filter as a kid.” 

“I’m not wrong…”

It was a familiar sight. My father’s appearance wasn’t strange to me, but my brother’s current appearance stirred a strange sense of nostalgia within me. After staring at my brother for a while with widened eyes, I forcibly extracted a blurred memory from my mind.

“Eh? Ma… My! Oh, it’s my brother! My brother!”

“Why is the kid acting like this all of a sudden?” 

“Brother, I missed you!”

My brother was unmistakable. I had extracted and superimposed the image of my brother Lancelot’s young self, who was a prince of the Benedict Empire and the only one to save me and recognize me as his sister.

When I was in a desperate situation, my brother had done everything to save me from my fiancé. His actions then reminded me of my father’s struggle, and without realizing it, I embraced him tightly, tears welling up in my eyes.

“Brother, I won’t let them hurt you!”

“I’m not weak enough to rely on your help. So, back off!” 

He told me to step back, but he couldn’t push me away as I clung to him, crying. My brother reluctantly embraced me, patting my back.

After a while of crying while being embraced by my brother, I regained my composure and put on a composed expression. Of all things, why did Lancelot’s face in his younger years look exactly like that?

Lancelot, who had adopted me and hugged me first when my mother died in the hands of the emperor and I became a nameless princess, had a face that was deeply etched into my memory. When I saw his face, I momentarily lost control of my emotions and laughed awkwardly.

“I thought Father had adopted a general when he brought you here… but you’re just an ordinary kid.”

Seeming somewhat disappointed, my brother scrutinized my face, examining every detail. Then, he took out a handkerchief and gently wiped my disheveled face.

“Don’t cry. Damn it, you look so much like her. Our mother never cried no matter what happened.”

Furrowing his brow, my brother seemed displeased with my face itself and spoke bluntly.

Meow.

Ciel, who had momentarily forgotten, approached and leaned his head against my leg, crying. It was only then that I confirmed his presence and began to stroke Ciel’s black fur.

To ease the awkward atmosphere that had suddenly arisen, I lifted Ciel and brought him closer to my brother. 

“I’m sharing Ciel with you.”

“Just because he has black fur and yellow eyes doesn’t mean you should dump him on me.”

Looking at my sister, it seemed like she took after Father, who only cared about work. But when I looked at my brother, thankfully, Mother must have contributed a bit of her genes, as his eyes were yellow.

“Speaking of which, what should we do now…?” 

While my brother was talking, he frowned and looked around. 

“Is it true that the kid fell here?”

“The magician said the mana leads to this mountain, so it’s likely.”

“Well, maybe she’s not the Child of Destruction but rather the real daughter of Duke Panteur? If a child can tear up a magic scroll and run away, it means she has at least some mana.”

“True, if she’s Duke Panteur’s daughter, then being a granddaughter of Duke Tigris, a renowned mage family, means she should have mana…”

“But what can we do about it? If we can’t find her, we’ll have to confront them.”

Someone muttered something softly. Hearing that, I froze instantly. The torn magic scroll was all we had. Moreover, my pitiful body had just a tiny amount of mana, barely enough to be considered, but not enough to use the magic scroll. 

Now, just when I thought I was going to be captured and killed, I felt something on my wrist. Instinctively, I turned my head towards it. My brother held my wrist and placed his index finger on his lips, indicating that I should remain silent. I quickly covered my mouth and nose with one hand and nodded.

My brother gently lowered my hand, and we moved cautiously. They were highly trained, and so we’re doing our best to make minimal noise. Ciel had given up trying to walk silently and clung to my brother’s shoulder.

We had to stifle even our breathing. However, my young and frail body was exhausted. Besides, I wasn’t some aspiring magician with endless energy. I was different from most kids my age who could play without resting. I gasped for air like an old man with missing teeth and a hunched back, making rough breathing sounds between my lips.

Even if I covered my mouth, it wouldn’t be perfect. It was only a matter of time before they caught us. As we continued, I suddenly stopped.

“Why?”

I swallowed dry saliva when I heard a faint voice carried by the wind. 

“Brother, go ahead.”

“What?”

“Go ahead. I’ll follow later.”

After all, their goal was not my brother but me. If I surrendered willingly, they wouldn’t pay him any attention. I couldn’t allow the Duke Panteur’s heir to be lost because of me.

I smiled faintly at the thought of repaying my father for taking me in and raising me as his daughter, even if only for a short time.

“Huh? What’s this little brat saying now? Do you think I’ll let you go just because you want to get caught? I might as well kill you as a gag.”

“Ah…”

Failing to appear impressive before even attempting, I wore a crestfallen expression. Then, under my brother’s gaze, which urged me not to make unnecessary noise, I shifted awkwardly while forcing a smile.

Walking silently was more difficult than I had imagined. My legs felt strained and sore as they tensed up. If I continued like this, I feared I would get caught soon.

“Our father should be coming soon.”

“Father is coming too?”

“We haven’t had any contact since we met. He’ll probably try to reach us. If not, one of our knights will break away and contact him.”

“But, knights don’t just break away, do they?”

Sweat poured like rain, stinging my eyes. It was so painful and irritating that I couldn’t even open my eyes properly. I couldn’t make a sound of pain. I wiped away the sweat with my federal sleeve, but it kept flowing.

Moreover, it felt like I couldn’t breathe anymore. Just when I thought I couldn’t walk any further, my brother suddenly stopped.

Turning back to look at me after a moment, my brother’s eye level had suddenly dropped. I had momentarily closed my eyes tightly due to the sweat that dripped down like droplets, but when I opened them again, my legs no longer hurt. Instead, I felt a rush of warmth in my chest.

“Brother?”

I called out, startled to find myself on his back.

“Our household’s knights have a rule to ensure at least one survives instead of all dying together in battle.”

“Why?”

“Because of Mother… because there was no one to properly relay news about Mother. So, that’s why.”

“I see…”

“Rather than total annihilation, there’s a higher chance of surviving at least a bit… Ah!”

While we were gasping for breath and walking, my brother suddenly shouted in a hushed voice as if his scream had condensed. Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, I couldn’t react properly, and my body felt like it was being sucked into a vortex. I shut my eyes tightly in response to the sensation.

“K-kkuuu, what’s happening?”