Chapter 164

Chapter 164 – Eleanor de Rivalin [2]

“Hah, no matter how much of a disgrace you are to our family, you wouldn’t stoop to hanging out with commoners.”

“Right. If you ever did that, both you and that girl would end up with your heads hung up in the imperial palace!”

“Haha, that sounds great!”

Even as I watched Allen and Hats exchange such words, I remained silent. I felt disillusioned as I saw Nox laugh quietly.

How can someone have the heart of a human and just toy with others like this? It was painful.

My face flushed, and I could feel all eyes on me. One by one, people’s gazes locked onto me, like they were watching an amusing spectacle. The nobles’ eyes seemed to assess me, making me tense. Naturally, this didn’t feel good, and for the first time in my life, I felt humiliated like that. There’s no need to explain what happened later. I had no choice but to leave the party with a rushed expression. I still remember how my father interrogated me, giving me a hard time. it’s a memory deeply etched in my heart.

But... Even then, was the mischievous Nox trying to torment me more?

At the end, as I was leaving in my carriage, Nox called my name.

Eleanor——

But his words were left unfinished. And that’s how the worst social event of my life ended.

Later, I used a persona.

It wasn’t difficult. Just like my father did, I donned a false mask and deceived people with sweet words. It wasn’t hard for me at all.

And so, a few more years passed.

My mother and father passed away not long after that. At a young age, I became the head of the Rivalin merchant group. Peoples said

— No matter how smart she is, she’s just a child. What could she possibly do right?

— Yeah... Clarkson, that guy, even though he was born a commoner, managed to do things properly.

— Well, We should look into other trading companies

Someone had died. People gathered at the funeral in the rain, mocking my family’s death. That as commoners, they lived an undeserving life. And it’s good that they died. They talked about recovering their investments if the company collapsed.

They couldn’t trust me.

Right.

They never trusted my father from the beginning. They were like moths drawn to the glitter of gold. In the end, all I had left was my father’s inheritance and the filthy name of Rivalin. But why... why? Why couldn’t I abandon this name?

After that, I decided to trust nothing. Gold. I believed even trust could be bought with it. And in fact, I became a wealthy person.

But for some reason, the more success I achieved, the more this unknown thirst continued to gnaw at me. I still don’t know what this feeling is.

I just...

Sometimes, when I suffer from insomnia, I think to myself. It seems like I’m no longer myself. I think I’ve forgotten what I truly want.

———————————————————

“Nox! Wake up! Hurry!”

Eleanor shook Nox by the collar. This was something she would never normally do. A calm fox, who never rattled, and always calm in any negotiation. But now was different.

Tears were faintly welling up in her eyes.

“Haa...”

A faint breath escaped. Nox’s heartbeat began to throb slowly. Eleanor, quickly checking his pulse, wiped her tears and took action to save him. She secured his airway and did everything she could to help him breathe easily. She even channeled the small remaining amount of her magical power into him.

But it wasn’t easy.

I haven’t said anything yet. Not to Nox, not to Shane who saved me. I wanted to thank them.

The kindness I received without expecting anything in return flashed like a revolving lantern [Note: 走馬灯 if you know Japanese]. Eleanor thought the day she talked with Nox. When they opened the Rivalin family’s secret library and had a brief conversation. In fact, she could have asked him. Nox, why did you save me? She could have asked him straightly, and a bit more firmly

But now she thought she knew why she didn’t ask.

The fact that someone had saved her without anything in return. She didn’t want to shatter that illusion.

If she found out Nox saved her only because of money?

She felt like she would be completely broken. It would have been dangerous for her.

That’s why she didn’t ask why he saved her or if he wanted something in return. She was afraid she was going to expose her most vulnerable self, the part of her that couldn’t trust herself.

‘I’m such a coward.’

In a situation where it was hard to make a normal decision, Eleanor finally lost her way completely, not knowing what should she do

But...

Something called threats usually, came overlapping dozens of times in a single day. For example, now. The bone-chilling cold surrounding Eleanor was proof of that.

“What... is this? This mana?”

It was a massive amount of mana she had never felt before. Eleanor moved instinctively. She quickly used the mysterious veil Nox had given her to cover both herself and Nox. But it didn’t fit. The artifact was only meant for one person, so it was a useless action. A foolish act Eleanor would never have done.

It was a mistake.

‘I should have just used the artifact on him.’

But she had already done it without even realizing it. A fear that was difficult to bear started to consume her entire body. It soon became a massive whirlwind, wiping out the outside in a blinding white.

What is this?

Before she could even process the thought, a tremor ran through the cave with a faint rumble. As the sound of the earth-shaking grew louder.

Eleanor saw it.

A giant eye. An eye. The slit, reptilian eye stretched vertically, exuding an overwhelming terror.

And unfortunately, that eye didn’t belong to Astrid.

[Are you the one who awakened me with your mana, girl?]

A dragon. A giant ice dragon rose up and spoke to Eleanor.

At that moment, she instinctively knew. That dragon was not going to be friendly to her and Nox.

———————————————————

Whooosh!

Astrid, who had been gliding through the air, suddenly accelerated, picking up tremendous speed. Noah frowned, trying to fix her now messy hair.

She asked.

“What’s going on? Astrid, is it fine to fly like this? aren’t you dislike going fast since it’s troublesome?”

[It stopped.]

“What?”

As Noah asked with surprised eyes, Astrid’s usual lazy expression was gone, replaced by a raw, unfiltered rage. Mana surged between her eyes, brimming with anger.

[Nox von Reinhaver’s heart. It stopped.]