CH 32

It was none other than Permetis.

Dressed in a navy-blue hunting outfit, she came to me as I sat by the stream and watched her.

A bow was slung over her shoulder.

“…….”

It had been a while since the landslide, so all the knights were probably looking for me.

Jin and Othello would also be looking.

So why was Permetis the first to show up? Unless she was desperately looking for me?

She opened her mouth with a grim expression.

“You’re still alive, huh?”

This would be a difficult sentence for a typical three-year-old child to understand. But I understood the malice in her words very well.

“Life is tough.”

So, the sudden landslide had been planned.

She took a step closer to me.

“Your brothers will be late, as they are busy dealing with the wolves coming this way. I don’t know what to do with you in the meantime.”

There was a reason why Jin and Othello, who would also have reacted to my squeaky shoes, were late.

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

Releasing the wolves ahead of time to deal with the corpses that fell was also a scenario that could be easily predicted.

While Jin and Othello were distracting the wolf pack from coming towards me, Permetis, who was moving with them, arrived one step ahead of them.

“If you beg for mercy right now, I might spare your life. What do you think?”

But that meant…… that they would arrive soon.

I didn’t back down and looked up at her, who was much taller than me.

“Ha, little one, you have no cute side, nor noble qualities, and I get irritated when I see you. It would be so refreshing if you just died.”

She smiled softly in the presence of Jin and Othello, but when she was alone with me, a dark shadow fell across her face, revealing her true colors.

Yes, this is the real Permetis. 

“Nyou…… you…….” I pointed my finger at Permetis and spoke firmly. “Stink!”

As a three-year-old facing a seven-year-old who was much taller, I had to raise my hand high.

“I’m the superior! You get to choose!” I shouted in my puny voice. But even so, I was a three-year-old who could express myself pretty well.

Permetis looked perplexed at my insults and stretched out a hand. Her fingers began to press against my forehead.

“You little brat, should I really kill you with my own hands?”

In front of Jin and Othello, she must have looked terribly worried about me.

Saying “Peri, Peri”. And now she’s trying to figure out how to deal with me.

Things were getting a little too ambiguous to feed me to the wolves.

“You think you’re the same as your brothers because you’re related to them. You think adults care about you……….”

Perhaps a typical toddler would not understand such difficult words, making them pointless, but Permetis was pissed enough that I was so brazenly staring at her and started throwing out a bunch of insults.

I’m sure there’s some inferiority complex at play, but the main emotion was jealousy. She didn’t like the fact that the eyes of the adults were on me, whether it was in a positive or negative sense.

She pushed my forehead with her hand.

“You’re nothing to the Winchesters. Even if you die here, you’ll be forgotten in a moment. You’re just a bastard child with no backing.”

Thump.

As I stepped back, tears quickly welled up in my eyes. I clenched my fists and took a deep breath.

And when a crooked smile tugged at Permetis’s mouth.

I seized the moment and began to wail.

“Wuuuaaahh!!!”

Permetis twisted her mouth and looked at me.

” You can cry all you want, but your brothers are busy slaying wolves…….”

“……enough.”

Permetis’s expression hardened abruptly.

It was because of the voice that was coming from behind.

In fact, I was aware of the presence of that pink hair that was approaching in the distance.

Preoccupied with me, she looked startled.

“Agh! Peri’s on me, ouch! Ouch!” I cried, pointing very dramatically to my forehead where Permetis had been tapping. “Peri wants Sasha gone!”

I didn’t like the idea of making a fool of myself in front of Othello, but I had to get Permetis off my back first.

In truth, I was a little uneasy.

No matter how obviously guilty Permetis was, Othello might end up liking her afterwards…….

“Oh…… Brother…….,” she stammered. The embarrassment on her face was palpable.

He paused, then slowly began to take one step, then another.

“……Peri is…….”

I could feel the tremor in her voice. She was so confident in front of me earlier. Like a puppy in trouble, she reached for Othello, unsure of what to do.

“Peri…… just scolded Sasha,” she continued, making excuses pathetically, “scolded her for acting dangerously…. Aah!”

At that moment, black serpents emanated from Othello and threatened Permetis.

She lost her balance and fell backwards, landing on her butt, and looked up at Othello with a look of utter shock and disbelief.

I was stunned, too.

I hadn’t expected that black flames would be used to attack Permetis until this moment……..

“…….”

Without so much as a glance at her, Othello stood before me.

His complexion was shaded, his brow furrowed.

I stopped crying and looked at him.

His gaze was so terrifying that I even wondered if he was going to punish me, too.

When his eyebrows twitched, I flinched. But then he reached out and wiped my tears away from my eyes.

After a moment, he pursed his lips.

“…….You’re not hurt.”

The sound of his voice made my heart skip a beat. It sounded like he was glad I wasn’t hurt.

“I was wondering why the snake guy was so eager for me to get here. But there was a reason.”

He must have been referring to the snake from earlier. It turns out that his black flame takes the shape of a snake, and he has the ability to communicate with them.

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

After a pause, he withdrew his hand and turned to face Permetis.

She was frozen, staring at him. Her hands were bleeding from the sudden fall.

“I’ve wanted to say this for a while, but I held back because of Jin….. “

Othello’s words made Permetis flinch. Whether he wanted to hear an apology or not was unclear. But a harsh voice escaped from between his lips.

“You’re unlucky, Permetis.”

Her eyes widened at the words.

“And Trisha was at least a noblewoman, but you…” Othello closed his mouth, as if saying anything more would be a waste of time.

Her eyes shook again.

Permetis was Zestia’s daughter, but Zestia had received Permetis from a bedroom slave. 

That was why Permetis kept her maiden name.

“Now even that will be difficult. Your mother and you will be held accountable for this.”

Othello warned of future events and grabbed my wrist.

I started walking with Othello, leaving the frozen Permetis standing there. The tap, tap, tap of my shoes sounded cheerful.

My head was spinning a bit. Would Othello and Permetis become enemies?

I didn’t intend to stay true to the original, but it was strange to think that the existing relationships are being altered.

“Are you angry?” I asked Othello, who still wore a stern expression.

It was getting dark, and I could see a light in the distance. If it had been evening, I would have been scared.

In front of a boulder larger than my height, I spread my arms when Othello turned towards me.

Within Othello’s pupils, a slightly distorted reflection of myself could be seen.

“…….”

I looked at him and let out a small sigh. If I climbed up the boulder by myself, my skirt would be in even more disarray.

It couldn’t be helped.

In the same manner in which Jin had helped me out of the carriage, Othello lifted me up in his arms.

Thump-

As we stepped onto the boulder, a low voice could be heard.

“……Only I can bully you, little one.”