Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.
(First of all, today I can only post 3 chapters instead the promised 5 chapters. Iāll post 2 chapters now, then after Iām done with my work, Iāll post 1 more in 10 hours I think? And the rest 2 chapters will come out on Sunday. Welp, RL got me for good so yeah.. in addition, the chapters are hard to translate because they have more idioms than usual *fml, I feel like dying already)\n
The mansion Iāve left for a day still remains as usual. Well, I know that I only left for very a short time that nothing could have changed drastically to the mansion within the time frame. Any drastic changes in a short timespan can only emerged if suddenly thereāre any natural disasters or a war breakout. The gatekeeper raised his head once to see whoās coming and saw me who was returning home by riding a horse and then he immediately opened the gate. He still had that insolent attitude to the young miss of this mansion, but itās not like he did it just for a day or two.\n\n(T/N: ķė£Ø ģ“ķ ģ¼ė ģėź³ literal translation is not a day or two. Basically heās been doing it for a long time already so itās nothing new.)\n\nAfter this day, itās unlikely for me to meet him anymore. Iāve also promised Ortzen that Iāll just fetch Sofia and bring out my hidden jewelries, then return back to Special Task Squadās headquarters right away.\n\nā¦, actually I feel that itās such a pity if I only take a handful of jewelries. Should I make some preparations to raid this mansion tomorrow night? In fact, all of those wealth are mine to begin with, so it shouldnāt be considered as a crime. Iām confident I can do it well without getting caught.\n\nāOr maybe I should meet up with the Count and Countess to have a negotiation and ask them to divide the wealth with me giving up my rights to inherit the title in return?ā\n\nNo matter what, Iāll leave that household in the end, so it should be fine if I threaten them a little. If they donāt give me a satisfying amount of money, hmmā¦ I donāt know what to say because I rarely have any chance to threatened others. Itās too early to talk about the Demon King with them, and I can neither threaten to kill them nor hit them because they are still my parents.\n\nI was thinking about an intimidating phrase that was both efficient and not overly intimidating when suddenly I noticed the strange atmosphere as soon as I stepped inside the pavilion. What is this?ā¦\n\nāI donāt sense any signs of human presence here.ā\n\nOriginally, thereāre only two persons live inside this pavilion, but still, the atmosphere was different with or without any people living in it. Besides, Iāve gone for a day but Sofia didnāt welcome me, and I didnāt even see her anywhere. Oh, she might have been waiting for my return and ends up stayed up all night that she became really exhausted and have fallen asleep somewhere, but I feel like something isnāt right.\n\nāSofia! Iām back!ā\n\nMy voice resounded throughout the long corridor but there wasnāt any single respond. Well, itās also possible that she was going out for a while. Afterall, she wasnāt abide in any rules that required her to stay in this pavilion and I didnāt tell her when I would be coming back. But, I felt like thereās one thing Iāve overlooked that prevent me from feeling at ease. It was Ortzenās long unnecessary warnings.\n\nāHe wouldnāt be talking about unnecessary things for no apparent reasonā¦right?ā\n\nItās still too early to jump into assumptions, but I feel like that certain someone probably might have already known about this situation. At a certain point, he knew about the situation right now and what have happened to Sofia. Honestly, it canāt be that simple for him to be very much worried about my safety. Anyway, while I was thinking that searching for Sofia was my foremost priority, suddenly I faintly heard the main entrance door of the pavilion was being closed. I took the long sword from the bedroom and ran down to the first floor.\n\nāWhat are you here for?ā\n\nIāve guessed it before and I was right that it wasnāt Sofia who entered the pavilion. The butler who I had seen before, came and accompanied by some servants. He looked up at me who was standing at the third steps of the stairs.\n\nāThe Countess is looking for you, Miss.ā\n\nāIs Sofia also there?ā\n\nāI donāt know about any servant who works inside the pavilion.ā\n
I wonder if you really donāt know or pretend not to know. Even though I want to grab him by the collar and press him for the answer, it will be much faster to directly ask the Countess than doing this. I went down the stairs and stopped midways, maintaining some distance from the butler and his servants, then said in a slightly dull tone.\n\nāLead the way.ā\n\nāYes.ā\n\nThe butler turned around without saying anything more and went out from the pavilion.\n\nIt was only slightly past noon, so the sun was still scorching down. It was as if the sunlight was telling us that weāre already in the midsummer. After most of the problems have been taken care of, should I invite Captain Jullius to swim together? Iām not that good at swimming but Iām good at catching fish with a harpoon. 3 years ago, when I went out to fight some beasts at White Willow Lake, I ended up catching twenty three fishes. Of course, I caught the beasts too.\n\nThe butler guided me to the central flower garden where I could see some roses started to withered. The Countess wanted to have a chat outdoor instead of indoor. Did she think that she can win and catch me by outnumbering me? If she had a few skilled people to deal with me then it would be more advantageous for her to stay inside a closed room because thereās not much space to move around. Unless it was an open hall, a closed room is mostly cramped and has many obstacles but itās easier to escape through the windows or doors. On the other hands, this central flower garden was a good place for a siege. The plants that were being planted inside the flower garden are mostly short flower trees and the flower garden is surrounded by other buildings. If I were her, I would blocked every gates and windows of the buildings and placed some archers in the third floor or upper floor, and at least also had two layers of defending squads armed with shields and spears at the entrance. But seems like the Countess didnāt take it that far. Or perhaps thatās because she wasnāt capable to do so. Besides, this family didnāt have any military background, so for a mere Count family resided in the Capital to mobilize many troops at once could be accused for rebellion.\n\nāItāll be easy to run away.ā\n\nThere wasnāt any archers inside the buildings, the entrance wasnāt blocked, and the windows and doors were still open. At least I can keep my promise to Ortzen. By the way, they didnāt even try to take the long sword I was holding, I started to doubt there would be any reasons for me to run away. If she had a hidden scheme towards me, no matter even if I was still part of the family, she should have took my weapon awayā¦ No matter how smart she is, sheās still just any normal noble wife who grew up in good environtment all her life, so she might not know how some things work. Even Ortzen were sometimes still surprised with how I handled some matters.\n\nI walked along the withered rose fence before finally arrived at a place build upon white bricks. The Countess stood there with a gentle smile on her face as usual, and surrounded by some guards. Sheās really a beautiful and gentle noble lady just based on her outward appearance. Itās such a waste that she was born as a beauty but have a vile heart.\n\nāHold on.ā\n\nThe man who seemed to be the captain of the guards, saw the long sword in my hand then he stepped forward. His name is Draneā¦ I think? Heās the one who fainted at the hands of Captain Jullius. I think I can do it too. For now, I stopped my steps and left some distances between me and the Countess then I looked at her. She returned my gaze with her pretty purple eyes. No matter how you look at it, sheās far too good to become a second wife of a countryside noble.\n\nāWhy did you call for me?ā\n\nFor now Iāll just ask her politely. My question made her slightly frowned.\n\nāI just want to get along with you. I mean it.ā\n
She said she wants to get along with me, so she drove me out to a secluded pavilion; only gave me a single maid to serve me; did nothing when her own daughter snatched my dresses, jewelries, and even the keepsakes from my birth mother; got me a bastard fiancee that wanted to rape me; fed me with sleeping pills to kidnap meā hmm, what else was there? In conclusion, her means to get along with me was very unusual. They were way too unusual that I came to have misunderstood her. I initially thought weāre enemies.\n\nāIs that so? Then, to get along with stepmother, how about if I start it by kidnapping you? Or, should I take everything you have and send you to live at the secluded pavilion?ā\n\nIām not into the type of schemes where I need to lock her up with some rapists. Oh! I forgot that I was also judged by the court after being accused of committing murder, not to forget I had to jumped out from the second floor to escape and was locked in the prison. I felt bitter whenever I think about it. Did I miss anything else? Too many things had happened in a short time that I couldnāt remember everything at once.\n\nThe Countess looked really heartbroken by my words.\n