CH 22

The theme that Cain had embroidered had been regaled and greatly complimented by all of the participating housewives and ladies. 

Cain himself thought that his piece was done quite well, and he had considerable confidence in his creation. However, when he saw the pieces that the rest of the people were presenting to the group, he realized that all of those compliments towards him were nice ways of saying that he did “quite well for a beginner”. 

The detail of their pieces was on another level. They were doing things like using color-changing chain-stitches to show movement, and layering their stitching to show three-dimensionality, and even using beads to show the glimmer in an eye. 

Not only that, many of the women at this meeting had presented their own experimental works to be discussed. 

He knew that he was an underdog in this setting, but he looked at everyone and swore that he would do everything in his power to improve his craft. He was reflecting on his level of skill in a moment of hubris. 

The woman sitting nearby mother in the circle was the wife of the Marquis of Swantill. She said that she was currently working on her daughter’s wedding veil. 

This was a point of conversation that Cain was interested in, as it was his ultimate goal to embroider Diana’s wedding clothes. The conversation became lively as she talked about what kinds of flowers and animals were often depicted in wedding clothes. She talked knowledgeably about how it was good to use colors that would bring out the colors in the groom’s eyes, and other helpful things. 

Cain started imagining how he might prepare Diana’s wedding dress and was taking great interest in the Marquess’s teachings about how to manipulate stitches for the best effects. Then, it happened.

There was a loud crashing noise from the glass-walled terrace where the younger children were playing. 

A bunch of building blocks had been broken down, and the sound had come from them crashing onto the hard floor beside the rug. 

As soon as everyone heard the noise and looked over at the scene, they could see the cylindrical and spherical blocks still rolling about.

In front of the fallen blocks stood Diana, and a boy standing next to her was pulling forcefully on her arm. 

Cain watched the entire thing unfold from the beginning, and the boy threw Diana to the ground. 

“Cain!” said Mother Elise, trying to grab onto him, but not in time. Cain was too quick. 

He leaped down from his chair and ran over to where Diana was and crouched down next to her. He looked at her face, and asked, “Are you okay?”

Diana had fallen on her bottom and was in a state of shock. She said, “Yes,” but Cain took her hand, and when he opened her palm up, he saw that it was scraped and bleeding.

Elise, who had arrived at Diana’s side a bit later, could have sworn she heard a sharp snapping sound. 

Cain stood up and walked over to where a boy was standing completely still, clearly in a panic. Cain’s eyes had taken on a sharp look, and he glared at the boy. 

The boy said nervously, “W-What do you want?” He looked up at Cain and tried his best to intimidate him. 

“Cain,” said Elise, “Di’s injury is just a little scrape. There are medical magicians on standby in the anteroom, and they’ll be able to heal her up right away. Please, calm down.”

Cain ignored his mother’s words, took a step towards the boy, and suddenly gripped the boy’s face with both hands. He actually wanted to use just one hand to grip him like an iron claw and lift him up, but that wasn’t possible with his seven-year-old arms. [Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

Cain held the boy’s head tightly at his temples so that he wouldn’t get away. Cain’s hair began to rise up, and his eyes were wavering, changing from blue to purple. The boy saw this, and his entire body began trembling in fear. 

“If we can overlook injuries because the medical magicians on standby will take care of them, that means we can overlook any injuries I inflict on him, right?!” said Cain, snapping his eyes wide. Just as a shimmer of heat began rising from his hands, he was pulled backward forcefully and raised up. 

Cain didn’t have the grip strength to hold onto the boy’s head as he was pulled away, and so his hands slipped free as he was lifted up in the air. 

At that moment, a mass of flames burst into the air before Cain. The flames had appeared out of Cain’s two hands, and everyone nearby felt a hot wind blow by them, and the fire disappeared. 

Mother Elise had grabbed Cain by his collar, and he was now dangling in midair. He should have been struggling to breathe, but through pure rage, he grits his teeth and remained glaring at the boy. 

“Cain, you stupid boy! What are you doing?! You could have seriously injured someone!” said Elise. 

“He started it by injuring Diana, first. That’s unforgivable,” said Cain. 

“I’m saying you took it too far! What kind of an idiot are you, using magic like that?!”

“Unforgivable! Unforgivable! He has committed an unforgivably horrid act!”

Cain thrashed his arms and legs about as he dangled from Elise’s grip. When she released him, he landed cleanly and looked up to glare at her. 

“A girl was uncomfortable, so he yanked on her arm, and then threw her aside because she wouldn’t do as he pleased! This kind of violent act is unforgivable!” Cain yelled in frustration. 

He continued on, screaming, with tears in his eyes, “Boys must be honorable towards girls. They must treat them as precious! Women are the ones who can raise our children and feed them! If they didn’t exist, humanity wouldn’t be able to create descendants or leave anything behind. What if this boy threw Diana down on her bottom and she received internal injuries? What if she couldn’t have children anymore? Women are sacred in their existence. They are the goddesses that can bear children, and raise them, and guide humanity on a path that allows it to thrive. That is who he threw to the ground! His act is an act of war against goddesses! It is an act of heresy! It is blasphemy!” 

Cain looked down and muttered, “If this injury is something that can be overlooked and forgiven as something that can be healed by the medical magicians, the same should be said of any injuries he may bear. Just because he is physically small, doesn’t mean that what he has done isn’t a grievous crime…”

Elise sighed deeply and said, “Even so, you are not to hurt anyone in such a way. You need to apologize.”

“He should apologize to Diana first,” said Cain. 

“He will not bow his head to anyone,” said Elise. 

Her words confirmed what he had already suspected. If this boy was someone who couldn’t bow his head to anyone in public, it could only mean that he was of the royal family. The boy who had thrown Diana to the ground was the crown prince. 

Cain had committed a serious crime by using magic with intent to injure a member of the royal house. 

The sound of two claps in a row echoed throughout the room. 

“We shall now conclude today’s session. Embroidery is an art that is meant to be performed with a calm soul. Today, our souls are in a clamor, and regretfully, there is naught we can do about it,” declared the Queen, looking over the room. 

“As compensation for today’s unfortunate events, I would like to formally invite you all to join me for a tea party, tomorrow. I am terribly sorry to cut this session short, as many of you have just arrived.”

Mother Elise bowed deeply towards the Queen. 

“I should have never brought him. He put your son in danger and could have gravely injured him. I am deeply sorry. I ask you for your verdict in how I shall deal with him,” she said. 

Cain stood beside her and bowed his head, as well.

“I am sorry for ruining the embroidery meeting,” said Cain, but he had no intentions whatsoever of apologizing for putting the crown prince in danger.