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“I told you never to use alchemy without my permission! How dare you ignore my order? Your ability, the clothes you wear, the food you eat, even your body, all belong to me.”
‘If they’re all yours, then does your body belong to the previous Count?’
Valletta gazed up at Count Delight, trying to swallow the words that were stuck in her throat.
“I’m sorry. I had a feeling that the slave was going to die yesterday, so I used alchemy on him. It was a birthday present my father brought me, and I couldn’t leave him to die.”
“…”
Valletta deliberately chose words that would make Count Delight happy.
He frowned, his eyes narrowing, but for a moment he was silent as if he were satisfied with Valletta’s false answer.
“Even so, it’s a sin to use your ability without permission.”
‘Then everything in the world will be sinful.’
While grunting inside, Valletta bowed her head pretending to feel sorry.
“Yes, I’m sorry…”
Valletta thought that the idea that a child was a parent’s property because they had given birth to them was abhorrent.
“You’re forbidden to leave the room today. There will be no meals, so reflect on yourself.”
“Yes, father.”
Valletta nodded obediently, and Count Delight turned away, appearing more relaxed than when he first came in.
The curtains were drawn and the door closed. The room was dark in the blink of an eye, with only the sound of the door being locked.
“I wish I had a day.”
She couldn’t even use the ability she was born with. Valletta swallowed a sigh.The boy must be feeling better today. He had to take the potion tomorrow, then she would tell him to run away the next day. If she returned the bead and made an escape route, he would be able to run away.
While thinking of the plan, she lay back on the bed again. There was nothing she could do today anyway. Even in the room where darkness fell, she couldn’t open the curtains without permission. Valletta curled up like a shrimp and hugged the pillow quietly.
***
“Master, it’s morning.”
“Yes… 5 more minutes…”
“The master’s five minutes seem to last an hour. Let’s not forget how the poor slave feels when he has to listen to another ‘five minutes’ twenty times.”
Valletta’s face puckered up at the sound of a petulant voice ringing in her ears.
“Ugh.”
Slowly, Valletta woke up to find Reinhardt was very close to her face.
“You’re here again today…”
“I’m hurt when you say it so bluntly, Master.”
Valletta pushed Reinhardt out of the way, his face up to her nose. He didn’t seem to know that his eyes weren’t smiling at all, even though he sounded so gentle and kind. Besides, every time he tried to seduce her, he would often sneak up on her. Even when he dared to wake her up, he would put his face close to hers like this.
‘I think he’s trying to seduce me because I’m going to get rid of him. If you like him, you’ll die, Valletta.’
She swore out of habit before turning to face him firmly.
It had already been five years since Reinhardt started living here as a slave, and Valletta was already fourteen. Despite the many times she had told him to live free, returning the bead necklace, he had not left.
‘He must have made this place his nest.’
Valletta thought, burying her face in her pillow. He seemed to have decided to stay here until he grew up. He must have thought it was better to stay here than wandering the outside world.
“Why wouldn’t you leave when I said I’d give you everything?”
“Where would a slave go, Master?”
Reinhardt replied in an associative voice as light as a song. Then what was she to do about those cold, unsmiling eyes! Apparently he thought that as long as his voice was kind, he was convincing.
‘Wherever you go, I’m sure you will be able to make a living with that face…’
The day when Valletta healed Reinhardt with the potion, Count Delight was angry and took his room away. After that, he had to shuffle from one stable to another, or to the basement, and sometimes slept soundly in the kitchen. Valletta requested that he be allowed to sleep in her room, but Count Delight roughly scolded her. In the end, he seemed to be taking on all sorts of tasks, being patronized by the servants. Valletta told them not to do it, but the harassment seemed to continue unseen.
‘If this was a game, the hate index would certainly overflow.’
There was no hope in this family.
Valletta sighed deeply. It would be nice if she could talk to Count Delight about it.
‘Why doesn’t he know I’m trying to save his life?’
Reinhardt was a dangerous child, who was probably meeting secretly with the minions of the Demon Tower somewhere, and would scorch their house on the day he came of age!
Valletta rolled on the bed, scratching her head. Reinhardt, who was still staring at her, tilted his head slightly.
“… I don’t know why Master keeps trying to send me away.”
“I don’t need a slave.”
“Do I bother you?”
“I don’t like slaves.”
She couldn’t bear to say that he was going to kill everyone in her family later.
Valletta wobbled out of her bed.
That beautiful face she saw every morning was deadly. Her head hurts. She was having a hard time getting up this morning.
Valletta suddenly stumbled, and Reinhardt grabbed her waist, supporting her. His hand wrapped tightly around her waist, making Valletta’s brows narrow. Then Reinhardt raised his other hand and placed it on Valletta’s forehead.
“Are you alright?”
“I just got a little dizzy. I’m fine now.”
Valletta understood why the original Valletta in the novel was so obsessed with this child that she acted as if she could sacrifice her life for him at any moment.
Moreover, if he tempted the original Valletta like this, she would have felt like the most loved person in the world.
“Whenever you feel like leaving, tell me.”
“I like Master, so I’ll stay by your side.”
As he knelt down and looked up from the floor, he was as obsequious as the tongue in his mouth, raising his opponent’s authority indefinitely.
As far as Valletta could tell, Reinhardt was being bullied by the servants, but somehow they were discreet about it. Still, there were many servants who didn’t like him.
“I won’t be deceived by your lies. I’m going to wash up, so please go outside and finish your business, and get me a maid.”
“Yes, Master…”
Reinhardt glanced at Valletta, who already turned away. Then he bowed and left the room.
After Reinhardt left the room, Valletta slumped on the bed.
‘Oh, there’s not much time left,” she groaned, clutching her head. ‘I’m fourteen now and five years have passed… I have six years left. I never thought I would endure until now.’
Despite her pleas for him to go away, Reinhardt wouldn’t give in and woke Valletta up every morning. He knelt down and looked up at her with a pitying look in his eyes, keeping them gently folded as if he were trying to seduce her.
‘Why on earth would he not leave?’
Of course, in the novel, Rainhardt never left because Valletta in the novel was obsessed with him, even though the relationship was one sided. Perhaps because the bead necklace was in Count Delight’s hands.
But now, she was not attached to him. She also intended to return the bead necklace. In fact, Reinhardt held it several times. But each time he just smiled and put it back on her neck.
“Don’t let go of your lifeline, Master.”
That was what he whispered.
However, when she thought about it calmly, Reinhardt’s choice was right. It would be safer for him to live as a slave doing the nobleman’s chores until he grew up than to roam around outside in a child’s body. Above all, with his looks, the chances of being sold into slavery were also high. In fact, Count Delight seemed to be thinking of using him for such a purpose. Once he became an adult, he wouldn’t die easily and have many uses.
‘But isn’t it okay for him to leave now? He’s already 16 years old. At that age he could go and live alone. What on earth is he doing here?’
In addition, Reinhardt knew some practical magic. Valletta didn’t actually know that until she happened to see it. He used it for some complicated cleaning.
‘I don’t know…’
Valletta sounded like she was dying. She had six years left.
It was six more years until Reinhardt would become an adult. His awakening time would be when Valletta came of age. Once his magic power awakened, there would be no more options.
Valletta plunged her face into the pillow, feeling frustrated.
***