CHAPTER 56

The boy who spoke ambiguously looked at Max standing behind me. 

“Long time no see. I had only dreamed that Lord Max Warren would come out to greet me.”

“Hahaha, Lord Eugene, you never lack words. Ah! This is Miss Rafi. Miss, he is Lord Eugene, who happens to be your elder brother. You should greet each other.” 

Seeing the plump older brother as he was introduced by Max, I reluctantly pinched the edge of my skirt and bowed my head.

“Hello, brother! I’m Rafi. And this is Ciel.”

With a simple and clear introduction, when Ciel was brought forward, my brother’s eyes narrowed. “Rafi?”

“Yes, Father made it up. And I made up Ciel.”

As I spoke with a bright smile, my brother visibly wrinkled his nose. It was a tone I didn’t like.

“By the way, I must inform you that all three dukes have approved of Miss Rafi.”

 Max stated the fact plainly, but my brother’s expression remained unchanged.

“Have all three families lost their minds at the same time?”

“It might seem strange now, but Lord Eugene will come to approve of Miss Rafi if he’s with her.”

“Enough, it seems we need to move quickly. We can’t stay here forever.”

Upon realizing that time was passing while they were only guarding against each other during their introductions, my brother’s words prompted me to move hurriedly. As a result, I was soon riding in the carriage with my brother.

The atmosphere was so stifling I felt like I might suffocate. I felt a slight resentment towards Max for intentionally leaving us alone to talk like siblings.

I absentmindedly stroked Ciel and clutched my bag. It was a crossbody bag I always carried with me when going out. My father had recently replaced it with a slightly bigger one, claiming the old one was too small. Various things were stuffed inside the bag.

“Uhm, brother!”

“Shut up. I’m not in the mood to talk to you right now.”

My brother’s yellow eyes, which still hadn’t removed the mask, shook with a significant intensity. Faced with his openly distant attitude, I couldn’t add any more words.

Even though I felt annoyed internally at having to be mindful of my brother’s mood at my age, I held my frustration in. What could I do? I had to endure it as the younger one in reality.

Thunk-

As the carriage slowly began to move, I frowned at the thumping sound and the jostling. Despite the plush cushioning, I could feel a shock in my hips every time the carriage bumped.

“You haven’t ridden carriages often, have you?” 

“Ugh, I only ride them when we go outing.”

“An outing? Huh, I can’t remember when there has been anything like that in this household.”

I shrugged at my brother’s words. At my age, there was no reason to lie and risk being found out quickly.

“Huung, we’ll reach home soon if we go by warp gate.” 

“I know that.”

“If you know, then it’s faster to go by warp gate.”

“Who wouldn’t know that? I dislike magic, after all.”

As the grandchild of a magical family known throughout the empire, he couldn’t even use a warp gate due to motion sickness. It felt like someone up there in the sky was having a good laugh at his expense.

“Both Father and I can teleport without a problem. We would’ve arrived in an instant.”

“……”

“So, you’re not a fan of teleporting either, huh? Well, can’t be helped.”

If not using warp gates spared him from physical discomfort, then I was fine with it. However, I had no idea why I was accompanying him on this troublesome journey.

When my brother comes home, it would be enough to greet him then. Yet, here I was, going to the border to meet him, taking a carriage instead of a warp gate. A sigh escaped me involuntarily.

It felt like the forgotten bond was scattering away like dust. How long had we been moving? A loud noise erupted from outside.

“Young master, miss! No matter what happens, please do not come outside.” 

Chaeng chaeng chaeng-

As the sound of clashing weapons reached my ears, my shoulders twitched. Holding Ciel close, I closed my eyes and bit my lip.

“We’ve never experienced anything like this before.”

At my brother’s whispered words, my eyes snapped open. Did that mean the ultimate goal of the unknown figure was me? If my brother had been the target, it would have certainly caused a commotion before we arrived here.

Trying to gather some insight, I cracked open the carriage window. I could see the silvery glint of sharp weapons clashing. Among the knights of Duke Panteur, one of the figures wearing a black mask turned their gaze in my direction.

Just as our eyes were about to meet, my brother shielded my view with his hand and closed the carriage window.

“Have you lost your mind? You mustn’t make eye contact with that person.”

My brother, who had pulled me closer to him, whispered in a hushed tone. Then he sighed. Even if a sixteen-year-old boy tried his best, he couldn’t possibly defeat an adult man wielding a sword.

“Those guys… our knights are evenly matched with them.”

They clashed swords on equal footing with a knight from Duke Panteur’s family who had completed training at the Knight Academy and passed exams to earn their position. This meant they were either a highly trained knight or an assassin.

“Daring to point a sword at a carriage bearing the Panteur’s bloodline, it seems like you’re the issue after all.”

“……”

“It’s you I’m talking about. There’s been a sinister rumor circulating about the Child of Destruction in the Empire. It seems like they might want to take you.”

Strange rumors seemed to have spread in my absence. The Child of Destruction, they called it. Even though I wasn’t yet powerful enough to bring about ruin.

“I’ve only got three copper coins, what’s with this Child of Destruction?”

“……”

I clasped my hands and bowed deeply. With my eyes shut in that state, I had to mentally ponder what to do next.

They were beings who fought on par with the knights of Duke Panteur. I wasn’t sure how many there were, but in case our knights lost and worst came to worst, I mentally devised various scenarios.

The conclusion was that there was nothing I could do in my current state. I had just started gathering mana. I looked at my brother, searching for answers.

My brother, who stared at the closed window, clenched his fist. Despite saying it seemed like this was happening because of me, he didn’t look at me with blaming eyes. He appeared to be pondering what to do next.

“Ugh.”

“Argh!”

Amidst the clashing of weapons, various screams echoed. At that moment, my body went limp, and I glanced at my brother.

“N-No, shouldn’t we go out?”

“What?”

“Can’t you fight off the knights?”

“What are you saying right now…?”

Roughly brushing his hair back, my brother exhaled as if in disbelief. 

“Should we go out…”

“Before they capture you and kill you, I’ll die first at Father’s hands. Got it? So, don’t talk nonsense. Act like a child, just stay still. I’m already on the edge of losing my mind.”

Glaring at me with disapproving amber eyes, my brother bit his lip. 

“But if this keeps happening, I might end up injuring myself just to protect you all.”

Even though people might adore me as the adopted child of the Panteurs, my brother was the heir of the family no matter what. If something happened to him, it would be a huge problem.

“Even if I go crazy, I won’t owe you anything. I have some pride, little one…”

Thunk-

Before my brother finished speaking, the carriage shook violently. It was as if someone was forcing open the locked carriage door.

“W-what to do, w-what to do!”

Despite fidgeting my feet, there was no resolution. Staying put like this, it felt like the masked man would catch me. Swallowing dryly, I gauged my brother’s expression. Glancing at the jolting carriage, my brother suddenly pushed me back.

“You, no matter what happens, stay still. If you move, I won’t be able to focus properly.”

“Huh?”

He looked at me with a displeased expression at times, but…

Perhaps he wasn’t acknowledging me as a sibling but simply acting as a knight would be out of duty.

In any case, as I looked at my brother’s small back, I took a deep breath and swallowed my dry throat. At this rate, it felt like I would truly die. In my previous life, I didn’t get to enjoy my youth, dying in my teens, and now I was on the verge of death at the age of three.

There were still many things I hadn’t done. I hadn’t become a proper magician, nor had I properly said “I love you” to my family.

I had to witness Aiden and Sabina’s marriage too. I needed to make sure Grandma was eating properly and take my work-burdened Father out for a walk. If I died like this, it would feel incredibly unfair. I tightened my grip on my brother’s clothes.

“Meow.”

Snapping back to reality at Ciel’s cry, I rummaged through my bag. Everything was haphazardly thrown in, so what I wanted wasn’t easy to find.

Before Ciel, who seemed determined, could step forward, the firmly locked carriage door suddenly burst open.

“I am Eugene Panteur, son of the Duke Panteur. Who dares to intrude upon the eastern territory ruled by the Duke Panteur?”

A voice that didn’t match his sixteen years resonated within the carriage. However, the blood-stained adult male showed no hesitation, extending his sword. Chaeng-

The shrill sound of metal striking metal echoed in the carriage as my brother’s sword, drawn out in who knows how short a time, clashed against it.

“You’re not needed, so hand over the girl behind you. If you do that, you and your knights will be safe.”

I never thought outsiders would act so recklessly within the territory my father governs. As I was hit heavily on the back of my head, I bit down hard in response.

Because my brother was simply returning home, he hadn’t brought many escort knights. Since I was there to greet him, other than Max, there were no companions with us. If I had known something like this would happen, I would have surely brought a string of knights from the Duke’s family.

Regret was now futile, and the situation in front of us had reached a critical point.

“Young master, miss! Take cover!”

At Max’s shout, I turned around. If I opened the opposite door, and if there were knights that were not from Duke Panteur, it would be another problem. With no way out, my brother didn’t even look at me.

He merely glared at the man in front of him.

“If I give her to you, I will die first. And you will have the honor of becoming the enemy of three noble families. But it doesn’t seem like the right time for that.”

My brother’s words didn’t seem to faze the masked man at all. Seeing that, my brother gave a wry smile.

“Are you from the royal family or maybe dispatched by the temple? Otherwise, you wouldn’t dare to brandish a sword at me here in the east.”

Someone who knew that my brother couldn’t use the Warp Gate had intervened. Moreover, it was clear that someone who knew I was going to greet my brother had mentioned it. I quickly lifted Ciel onto my shoulders, knowing there might be spies from Panteur’s estate.

With my eyes wide open, I moved my head aside from my brother’s side and faced the man with the mask. Our gazes met, and the masked man’s pupils twitched. Before he could reach out to me, my brother blocked his way.

“Don’t touch her. Let’s settle this between us first.”

No matter how skilled my brother was from his time at the academy, there was no way he could defeat an adult man with knight-level abilities.

So, with no other choice, tears welling up in my eyes, I reached into my bag and pulled out the most valuable item. Then, holding onto my brother with one hand, I tore it open without hesitation.

Sizzle-

At the eerie sound, my brother glanced back for a moment. Before he could utter a word, I poured out a meager amount of mana and shouted.

“Warp!”

And just like that, I took my brother and Ciel and disappeared.