Chapter 70
-You’ve never been without one, so you can say that.
Teiti recalled Daphne’s words while messing up his bangs.
-You’re right. I didn’t confess my identity.
What was Daphne’s expression like when she said that? Tety held onto the fading memory and brought it to mind.
-The worry itself was just my greed.
She looked sad.
And she looked like she had resigned.
“The dragon of the world making such a face.”
Tety clicked his tongue and held his forehead.
“No, but I didn’t say anything wrong. What would revealing it do? Become human? I said that because it was nonsense.”
He muttered like that, but Tety knew very well that he had said something presumptuous.
But instead of punishing him, Daphne replied with a resigned face that she would do so. That came as an even bigger shock to Teiti.
“There’s nothing I can help with either.”
He bit his lower lip and let out a sigh.
He was just a runaway elf who escaped from the mountain. A so-so elf with a bit of talent in healing arts.
What help could such a self give to the great dragon Daphne? Just thinking this felt blasphemous.
But…….
“I feel like I can’t just leave it like that.”
Teiti recalled all of Daphne’s soft temperament shown so far, her heart for the weak, and even the parts where she didn’t take good care of herself, and let out another sigh.
It was then.
“What do you mean by that?”
A black hair that suddenly appeared covered Teiti’s view. Tety pushed away Shio’s hair that came down like a curtain.
“Don’t appear so suddenly. I’m an unexpectedly sensitive elf.”
Originally, Teiti treated Sio like a worthless human, but since he was a great sage transcending humanity and Daphne personally made him Slave No. 2, he tried to respect him a bit.
“It’s not unexpected……. Yes, okay. So? What were you muttering about?”
Teiti blankly stared at Shio who naturally sat beside him.
Great Sage, Shiosen.
He was a guy full of all sorts of suspicions, but still, he had parts better than himself in terms of knowledge. It didn’t seem bad to consult with this guy.
“It’s about Daphne-nim.”
In the end, Tety, having finished his worries, roughly explained the situation.
“She seems to be worrying about whether to reveal her identity or not. I opposed it, but it’s bothering me a bit.”
“……Ah.”
Shio’s face darkened slightly but soon returned. He pressed his lips into a straight line, creating dimples, and let out a hum.
“Hmm.”
After humming for a while, he soon clapped his hands and opened his mouth.
“First, wouldn’t it be good to find out why lady Daphne entered that body?”
“Why specifically the hero’s daughter’s body?”
“Yes.”
Teiti blinked his large eyes.
“Can we find that out……?”
“Why not. There’s a being that knows everything in the world.”
“……You’re not talking about yourself, right?”
“I’m not that great.”
Shio chuckled and raised his index finger to point at the center of Teiti’s chest. Tety, moving his gaze along his finger, looked down at his own chest, and soon asked back with a face turned pale white.
“……You don’t mean the World Tree, do you?”
“Yes. Correct!”
Tety gaped his mouth.
“Ah, no!”
And he abruptly stood up.
“To contact the World Tree, I have to go back to that damned home! I hate that! I don’t have that much loyalty to consider it! I’m not going! Absolutely no!”
Just from seeing him scream in disgust, it seemed that home was a horrific place for Teiti.
But for Shio, it was none of his concern.
He smiled brightly and pulled his chin.
“Okay. Don’t go.”
“……Huh?”
“Instead, we have to tell lady Daphne. That Teiti didn’t do what he could.”
“You, you……! Hey!”
“It’s Shio.”
Towards Tety who was dumbfounded and despairing at the same time, Sio smiled widely.
“We’re going together, right?”
***
Rattle, rattle.
Three wagons carrying 10 children each pass through the mountain path one after another.
Thanks to the bumpy slope, the wagons shook wildly, and the children, already exhausted from repeated tests, staggered unable to keep their balance.
They were all proud children who passed the entrance exam for the ‘Hero Academy’.
But somehow, the children’s expressions were not good.
“Ha…… A wagon…… Me…… Me as cargo…….”
“This is a dream…… Dream…….”
The noble children were in denial as if they couldn’t believe the current situation,
“At least I thought they’d prepare a regular carriage…….”
“Me too…… I thought they’d provide something more…….”
The other children were greatly shocked that the ‘Hero Academy’ trainees created by the imperial family were treated like this.
Thud! The wagon shook once more.
“Eek!”
One of the children who couldn’t keep balance and staggered almost touched something on the floor and screamed.
The something on the floor was none other than Daphne Akion.
The infamous ‘that’ scoundrel even to street kids. A scoundrel with a vicious nature that if a demon saw, it would say ‘Ew, this is worse than me.’ and run away.
The child who almost bumped into Daphne swallowed dryly and sat back down.
“Hey, but you know.”
One of the children whispered to the one sitting next to them.
“That, that scoun… no, the lady is sleeping, right?”
“Yeah…… Yeah. She’s sleeping.”
“She’s sleeping so soundly.”
“Right. Like it’s her bedroom.”
As said, as soon as Daphne got on the wagon, she lay down on the floor and fell fast asleep.
It was because her body at its limit fell asleep right before throwing another fit, but the children who didn’t know the circumstances thought Daphne’s boldness was no joke.
“In this situation…… She can sleep.”
“Right…… I’m super tired right now but I can’t sleep.”
“As expected of the scoun… no, the lady who doesn’t care about others’ eyes.”
Originally, the best way to increase internal intimacy in a group is gossiping about others. Especially if it’s a topic everyone can agree on.
The children started chattering this and that about Daphne, who was famous for her notoriety.
“Did you see earlier? She completely kicked the second son of Viscount Hans.”
“Yeah. Honestly, I could barely see the movement. She was super fast.”
“I heard her body is weak…… Is she all better? No, even if she’s better, can she move that fast?”
“She’s the hero’s bloodline, so maybe different from us?”
But since it’s ‘that’ Daphne, they don’t curse. In case Daphne hears, it’s obvious chaos would ensue.
“That, the article from before, you know. That the lady stopped a black magic terror.”
“Right. Is that real?”
“I don’t know, but adults say it’s all lies.”
“My dad said that too. What was it, ah, black? Black propaganda? Something like that.”
“But today the lady was amazing. She seems to have skills.”
“That’s true. Maybe the lady will get 1st place?”
At that time, a girl child who had been quietly listening to the children’s conversation suddenly frowned fiercely.
The child had light brown hair braided and pinned up, but due to rolling until the 3rd test, she couldn’t tidy it properly, so stray hairs stuck out messily. Her face was all covered in dirt.
But even with such a disheveled appearance, the material of the clothes she wore and the shoes she had on looked obviously expensive.
The youngest daughter of the Amon Marquis family, who made big money through trade by opening maritime trade routes, Rachel.
She didn’t like the reputation of Daphne flowing favorably right now.
“Even so, she’s a scoundrel with trash reputation.”
So she deliberately threw out a sharp remark. As soon as she did, all the children’s gazes in the wagon gathered on Rachel. Rachel felt joy from the attention focused on her and tidied her twitching mouth corners.
“I went to the same ball as the lady before. Do you know what happened there?”
The children’s eyes widened.
“She bumped into someone and then cut off all the maid’s hair just for standing there.”
“Goodness……!”
“Is that all? She said the canape was sour and called the chef to slap him. And spat at the adults who tried to stop her.”
“Sp, spit too?”
“Honestly, because she has the grand ducal family backing her, people just call her a scoundrel, but without backing, the lady is really…….”
Rachel looked down at the sleeping Daphne with contempt and said.
“Trash.”
“…….”
The children kept their mouths shut and glanced around.
Rachel looked like a noble child no matter how you saw it. Being able to say this openly in front of ‘that’ lady meant her family was no pushover.
The noble children in the wagon exchanged glances. Having learned lineup from power struggles since young, they were gauging how to act in this situation.
“Better not go near her if possible. You might get beaten to disability.”
At Rachel’s decisive words, one of the children slightly bowed their head towards Rachel.
“Thank you. I’m William Cather. And you are……?”
“Rachel Amon.”
“Ah! The young lady of Marquis Amon. Nice to meet you.”
The Amon Marquis family is one known for great funding along with the Finch Marquis family. Even the grand ducal family couldn’t completely ignore the youngest daughter of Marquis Amon. The children’s eyes sparkled.
Suffering next to a scoundrel with insane personality vs comfortably living next to a marquis child who seems smart’ obviously the latter.
“I, I’m Nicole Sanchez!”
“I’m Thomas Breed. Nice to meet you!”
“I’m……!”
So the noble children started greeting Rachel one after another.
Rachel fidgeted her lips seeing the children flocking to her. It was an attempt to hold back laughter, but she couldn’t stop her nostrils from flaring.
Rachel was a child always hungry for such attention!
The past days overshadowed by the capable eldest sister and second brother! She would resolve that sorrow here. Because she is Rachel Amon!
So naturally, Rachel’s group formed. Among those in it, there were commoner children, but they were children of those with money or honorary knights.
Commoner children with no backing like Bunny had no choice but to shrink and stay still. Because if they get marked wrong here, it’s obvious they’d suffer for weeks.
‘But is this person really that bad?’
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By Anna 💓
Greetings, I hope you’re doing okay. I’d like to propose some novels that I’ve translated that may interest you:
The goal is five divorces.
The Ruffian and the Mad Warrior Get Married.
