Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Translator: void

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The smile on her uncle’s face was quite good. He looked fine and was not drunk at all. And Lestia, who had grown up looking out for the smell of alcohol on her uncle’s body and the annoyed expression on his face, unknowingly stepped back.

“Lestia, looking at you like this, you really do look like a child raised by the duchy. You’ve gotten very pretty. I can’t believe I let a child with precious and noble blood like you suffer…”

A child with precious and noble blood.

Her uncle had always criticized Lestia for being the daughter of a prostitute. He was obviously Lestia’s mother’s younger brother but he was free from that criticism. But she was now someone with precious and noble blood.

The gap between her situation then and now was so great that Lestia felt a bit dizzy.

“I’m sorry. I was poor. I really couldn’t help it.”

His expression was apologetic as he made an excuse that there was nothing that could be done back then.

There were also his hands that were opened for a hug. Those big hands used to hit Lestia hard.

I made a mistake, uncle.

Please forgive me, uncle.

There were days when she prayed that his mood would not be worse or begged for her uncle’s forgiveness without knowing what she had done wrong.

So, how can you pretend like nothing had happened and try to hug me?

Lestia stepped back even further and kept away from her uncle’s reach. The thought ‘No, I would get hit harder if I avoided him like this.’ flashed through her head.

She thought that she could overcome anything but when she faced her uncle, she remembered the fear and terror that had been honed and embedded deep in her bones.

Whether his uncle knew her struggles or not, he came closer as he spoke in a gentle and charming voice.

“What’s this? Are you shy after not being able to see me for a long time? You don’t know how much I missed you. The house feels empty without you. Forgive me. Didn’t you miss this uncle of yours too?”

Lysian looked incredulously at his shameless behavior. Strangely enough, he looked like he did not care about anything else except for Lestia. Obviously, he should have paid attention to Lysian since he was standing next to Lestia but he looked like he was approaching Lestia as if he had some sort of purpose.

“Stop right there.”

Lysian moved in front of Lestia and blocked her uncle. Although he had said that he would interfere, he felt that it was too disgusting to see the trash pretending to be close after subjecting her under a long time of abuse.

“Brother Lysian. It’s fine.”

However, Lestia dissuaded Lysian as she bit her lips hard as she took a step closer to her uncle. It was as if she was strengthening her resolve to face him on her own.

“…Fine. I understand.”

Lysian eventually followed Lestia’s will and gave way.

“Thank you, brother Lysian.”

In the first place, it was Lestia who agreed to meet with her uncle. It was so she could ensure that there would be nothing left between them and there wouldn’t be any untidy debris that would drag her down in the future. If she ran away right now or left it to Lysian to clean up, she might never be able to get out of her uncle’s shadow in the future.

It was time to clean things up. For the people here in Verchester Duchy who cared about Lestia and for herself.

Lestia bravely looked straight at her uncle.

“Stop lying, uncle.”

Her voice was firm and blunt.

Lestia’s confident attitude brought surprise to her uncle.

It was no wonder. After all, for him, Lestia was a child who always trembled in front of him with her head held down. He raised her like that on purpose so she would not rebel and just follow him blindly.

But she rebelled.

The smile on his face cracked when he became flustered from this unexpected situation. However, her uncle’s voice did not change as he continued with his charade.

“What are you saying? Lestia, you’re just disappointed. I came because I wanted to apologize to you. Look, I even brought your mother’s memento.”

His hands scrambled around in his pockets before pulling out a small wooden box.

“This is the memento that your mother left behind. This is what I wanted to give you.”

“I know that it’s a lie too.”

Despite his fake amiability, Lestia remained as cold as ice in the middle of winter.

“If there’s something like that, uncle would have sold it already. Or probably threw it away.”

Lestia was sure. There were no mementos left by her mother. After all, her uncle was someone who sold anything and everything for the sake of money. Anything that did not make money was thrown away without any hesitation. Just like that small stone that Lestia had picked up when she picked flowers out in the field.

“You…!”

His uncle’s eyes widened when he heard Lestia’s accurate judgement. However, he quickly fixed his face and smiled with an expression that looked like he was wondering if he had made a mistake.

“No, not at all! I was going to give it to you when you grew up. But I decided to give it to you now. Accept this and let’s get along well with each other.

However, his jaw was already ticking in anger. It seemed like his lies were truly caught.

“I don’t need it. Take it back with you.”

“Le, Lestia. Aren’t you being too cold-hearted? I recently started working and I am thinking of building a new house. You should come visit to play.”

“No. Don’t show up in front of me ever again. Did you forget that you have received money to give up my custody?”

Lestia spoke bluntly without losing her momentum.

“I found out that getting hit and hurt by you, uncle, is a bad thing. So, even if they say that I’m not a real Verchester, I would not go and become a family with you, uncle. After all, uncle had sold me that day.”

The fact that her uncle sold her to pay for his debts on the day that she came to Verchester Duchy was engraved in her heart.

No matter how much her uncle hit and hurt her, Lestia thought of him as her family. Since she did not have any parents, she thought that he was her only family. That was why she stepped in front of her uncle to protect him when the gangsters put a knife to his neck. However, her uncle sold her instead.

Now, she knew that it was not a family if the people of your family only saw you as some sort of measure.

It was not the uncle, who she lived with all her life, that informed her of this but the people of the Verchester Duchy. The very same people who she had only met just recently.

“You can go now.”

Her eyes were a bit teary but her tone was still firm and calm. Lysian somehow felt that Lestia’s words were mournful. However, she also looked like she had won after overcoming the endless harassment that she had experienced under him.

“Ugh… You.”

Her uncle seemed to have realized that she could not move Lestia to his will anymore. However, strangely enough, he began to beg her with the box of memento.

“Then Lestia, please, just accept this. I’ll get going now and I won’t come to you again.”

Even if it was really a memento, Lestia did not want to receive it. In the first place, she did not have any memories about her mother. There was also no portrait of her so whether it was affection or regret, she did not feel anything at all. This was also the reason why she could turn around calmly.

“Uncle should keep it. I’m sure you have more memories of my mother than I do.”

Then, her uncle’s expression, which was smiling sadly, distorted. He pulled the box and quickly ran towards Lestia. He took off the mask that he was wearing and went back to the usual uncle that Lestia knew as he raised his big fist in the air.

“You bXtch! You don’t even listen to me?! Where did you learn to be like that? Huh?! Did I teach you to be like that?!”

Lestia squeezed her eyes shut.

However, her uncle couldn’t even touch Lestia’s body. The three knights escorting Lestia jumped out and stopped her uncle.

“Keuaaack!”

Her uncle rolled around the floor as he felt the stabbing pain of cold iron on his arms and legs.

The escort knights pulled out their swords without any hesitation. To them, any enemy that threatened Lestia deserved to be cut off.

“…Eee… Eeek!”

However, even though he was rolling around in pain, her uncle still clenched his teeth as he threw the box of Lestia’s memento towards her. It was as if he was desperately trying to do something.

The box rolled and opened up by Lestia’s ankle. Black smoke suddenly rose from the opened box.

“Lestia!”

Lysian, who was standing next to her, immediately pushed Lestia towards the knights as he shouted.

“Now! Take Lestia outside!”

Lysian felt a very sticky and unpleasant magic from the black smoke. Lysian immediately let out a bright red flame to burn the black smoke.

“Lysian-nim!”

Lestia hurriedly called out to Lysian. Lysian’s appearance was slowly being captured in Lestia’s eyes. It was as if time was moving by slowly. Only then did Lestia realize that Lysian was wearing a ring inlaid with a blue neutral mana stone in his left index finger. And the mana stone turned gray and crumbled as soon as Lestia escaped from the guest parlor with the help of the escort knights.

Bang!

A loud explosion resounded from the parlor where she left. Even though they were still running, they could still feel the flame spreading in the mansion.

“No! No! I can’t go like this. Brother Lysian! Brother Lysian is still there!”

Lestia cried as she banged on Franker’s back with both of her hands but Franker just continued to focus on moving her away from the mansion. He was not even fazed at all.

“Don’t worry, my lady. Young master Lysian is a strong person. Isn’t he a good fire-attributed mage?”

“That’s right. He will be out in a moment.”

Elliot and Uiel confidently spoke and tried to calm Lestia down. However, Lestia clearly witnessed the scene of Lysian’s mana stone breaking down. And Joel had obviously told her that he would be torn by the wind that he had made if he did not have any mana stone with him.

If that was the case, then is Lysian going to burn in flames?

Just the thought was enough to make her tremble in horror and fear.

Just like she had expected, her uncle was a liar.

The identity of the box that he said to be Lestia’s mother’s memento and the reason why he wanted to deliver it to Lestia no matter what. These were all unknown. However, she was certain that Lysian was in danger just because he protected her.

The acrid smoke stung her nose as the heat of the burning flames wafted to her making her feel like her flesh was melting away.

Lysian was left alone in the place where these flames started.

And…

Crack, crack, crack―

The sound of the building collapsing rang loudly in the area.

This was the moment when Lestia first realized that the fire that Lysian could create was not just for beauty and warmth.

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