Chapter 71. I Wish I Had A Family, Too
I couldn’t be certain if it was really Estelle or not, but I needed to confirm it. I still didn’t have a clear plan for what to do after I found her, but…….
“But I still have to do something.”
In the original story, Estelle was adopted about three years later.
But with so much having changed from the original, there was no guarantee that Estelle would be adopted by Perdia.
‘Hmm, based on the current situation, it doesn’t seem likely that she will be adopted as the Crown Prince’s fiancée.’
Unlike the original, the engagement proposal had been smoothly resolved. The fundamental reason for me to die had been eliminated.
But what would happen to Estelle’s future if it turned out that way?
I changed the original story to survive, but I didn’t want to deprive Estelle of her possibilities. After all, I was the one who would leave Perdia, and whether or not Estelle was loved as a sunshine heroine after that was none of my business.
“I cannot deprive the First Prince of his destined mate.”
If I introduce Estelle to the Crown Prince, wouldn’t he fall for her at first sight, just like in the original story? There are no separate protagonists and heroines.
Suddenly, the image of the Crown Prince chasing after me, who was desperately running away, came to mind.
“Who said that? That I hate the Lady.”
For some reason, the first prince, who I thought hated me, said he didn’t hate me.
‘No, I think I know the reason.’
The Crown Prince was an incredibly filial son. That’s probably why he felt a great sense of gratitude towards me for helping to cure the emperor.
“Well, he’s a decent guy.”
Thanks to unintentionally helping to cure the Emperor, I was able to become friends with the male protagonist in the original story.
Indeed, I should live a good and worthy life.
***
I hadn’t sought out Raeyan since I signed the contract with Hicklemeyer as the wizard Elby.
So much has happened since then.
I had a falling out with the Crown Prince, was invited by Felix to the Severes mansion, met my biological father, and unexpectedly saw my parents’ past. It’s been a wild ride.
Normally, I would have gone with Raeyan, but this time I had no choice but to go with Carlot, who threatened to tell the Duke of Perdia if I didn’t take him with me.
By the way, why does Raeyan seem to be in a bad mood?
“I had been hanging out with my little brother, so Carl has been escorting me,” I answered, turning my head slightly to observe Raeyan’s face as he stared at the table.
“I see you two are getting along.”
“Is that so?”
Certainly, Carlot would cling to me, calling me “Sister” and occasionally coming to bother me to have tea.
It was a significant change from just recently when he treated me poorly, calling me “hey, you” and all.
It’s better than the way we used to be, but I don’t know if that could be considered as us ‘getting along’.
‘It’s easy for Carlot, but not for me…….’
Acting like family now doesn’t make us family; we’re not even biologically related.
Shaking off the unnecessary thoughts, I looked at Raeyan, who was sitting across from me with his arms crossed.
“By the way, Raeyan. Why aren’t you making eye contact?”
“…….”
“What. Are you pouting because I didn’t call you?”
I said it as a joke, teasing him, but Raeyan furrowed his brows even more and tilted his head slightly.
‘Eh? You’re actually pouting?’
My goodness. How intriguing.
Raeyan, who always remained calm and expressionless, was sulking. I couldn’t help but be surprised.
Raeyan still averted his gaze from me and spoke in a low voice, as if murmuring.
“Because I can only see Elodie when I’m escorting her.”
“Huh?”
“If you don’t seek me out, I have no reason to meet you, do I?”
Does that mean he wants to meet me even outside of the escorting duties?
It could be an excessive self-consciousness on my part. Maybe I’ve been mistakenly deluding myself because Carlot and Jansi have been bothering me so much lately.
But his next words drove a wedge into my cautious assumptions.
“I have been waiting all this time for you to call me.”
“Were you?” I replied nonchalantly, but my face burned unnecessarily.
Maybe Raeyan had been waiting for me to call him because he was addicted to being an escort, but why did I feel so weird?
It was then that Greed, who was curled up into a ball on my lap, spoke up cynically.
[Good luck.]
‘Don’t butt in.’
I pressed one hand firmly on his head and he fell silent.
The atmosphere was strange. I deliberately chuckled and cheerfully responded, “We can meet even without the escort duty. We’re comrades, after all.”
“Comrades…”
“Alright, alright. Let’s talk about the request now. I’ve been really curious about this one.”
Raeyan, who had silently gazed at my face, nodded slightly and placed some documents on the table.
‘Phew. It should be less awkward now.’
I inwardly sighed with relief and unfolded the documents Raeyan handed me. He briefly explained.
“These are the reports submitted by my subordinates. The name is Estelle, and the impression matches what you mentioned before.”
I recalled the impression I’d requested of Estelle.
“Appearance-wise, she has brown hair and is slightly shorter than me. She’s probably one or two years older.”
(E/N: in previous chapters, we translated this as Estelle being younger than Elodie because that made the most sense for the ‘adopted orphan’ plotline, but it seems like the author truly means that Estelle is older. We will go with ‘older’ from now on.)
With just that amount of information, being able to narrow down a person, the mercenaries’ abilities are truly remarkable.
“Alright. Let’s go confirm it right away.”
[Grr!!]
With the thought of dealing with it quickly, I pushed Greed aside and stood up from my seat, but Raeyan didn’t get up.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“There’s a problem.”
“What problem?”
“The place where this Estelle was found is the Hebote Territory.”
“Oh no, the Hebote Territory…”
In an instant, my legs weakened, and I sat back down on the couch. The Hebote Territory was a distance that required a full day’s ride from the capital city, Somnia.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t that far. One could say it was relatively close.
But the problem was–
“Don’t we have to stay overnight?”
I had never stayed overnight outside!
Except for the time I fell off a cliff and went missing, and the time I broke through the Ishtar Temple’s barrier on the day of the meeting.
The problem was whether Duke Perdia would actually allow me to stay overnight. Another issue was that I had no friends, so I didn’t have a plausible excuse.
However, I couldn’t just leave it unchecked.
If not even I could be sure that the person on the other end was the original Estelle by looking at her face, how could anyone else know?
As I became more serious, Raeyan pondered for a moment and then said, “Maybe we can just bring her over here.”
“That’s difficult. The paperwork says the target’s residence is the lord’s castle.”
Of all places, the person suspected to be Estelle happened to be a maid working at a lord’s castle. Just my luck.
If we get involved with the lord of another territory, it could lead to a troublesome situation.
“I’ll have to ask permission to stay overnight.”
As difficult as it might be, it would be best to ask the Duke of Perdia for permission to stay overnight and go directly to see her in person, as nothing is more certain than that.
There might be other clues to be found after that, so I went through all the reports from Raeyan’s subordinates, but there wasn’t much.
“Let me know when you decide on a departure date.”
“Understood.”
The matter of the request, including confirming the contents, had been concluded with the mercenary group.
However, I had another matter remaining.
“Raeyan, I have something I’m curious about.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve told me before; you’ve made a deal with the sin of pride.”
Instead of answering, Raeyan slowly raised his head and looked at me quietly.
“The Seal Stone of Pride, do you know where it is?” I asked him.
“Why are you looking for it?”
“Because there’s someone I need to wake up.”
I deliberately didn’t elaborate, and Raeyan didn’t ask more questions. Instead, he gave me a different response.
“Pride is the most difficult sin to handle. If one gets entangled in the power of pride, their life will be at risk.”
“That’s okay, that’s something I can handle.”
“Even if it means being trapped in the rift of spacetime forever?”
“Mmh.”
The power of pride is the ability to transcend time and space.
It’s the most ferocious and powerful of sins, and even if I possessed the Seal Stone, it would be difficult to control it.
Nevertheless, I had to get my hands on the Seal Stone of that Sin.
‘I wish I had a family, too.’
I always wished I had a family that could accept me as I am.
But Duke Perdia, whom I only knew as my biological father, had only raised me in material abundance.
To someone like me, who now had a father who sacrificed himself for me, there was no choice. I had to save him.
Seeing my resolute expression, Raeyan narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t know where the Pride Seal Stone is either.”
“……Huh? I thought you made a deal?”
“After I made the deal, it ended up in someone else’s hands, and I don’t know what happened to it after that.”
“No, that can’t be…!”
I shook Greed vigorously in despair.
[Why are you taking it out on me?!]
Why not? Solidarity for the sins in common!
***
Although I confidently said I would obtain permission to stay out overnight, there was one overlooked fact.
Is this what they mean by a thorny seat?
‘I don’t know where to put myself…….’
In a negative way, of course.
Today was the family meal, a monthly event in Perdia, and the only thing unusual about it was that Carlot was absent for some reason.
It was already uncomfortable, but today it was even more so.
Amidst it all, I silently hoped that no one would pay any attention to me as I discreetly ate the delicious food.
My goal was to be excused by the Duke of Perdia at the end of the meal and return quietly to the annex.
However, my wish did not come true.
Duke Perdia, who was calmly dining, called me.
“Elodie.”
“Yes?”
“Your monthly allowance is still the same. Is there a problem?”
Heuk.
‘The 100,000 lalit assignment!’
I had forgotten about it.
With so much on my plate and considering that the family’s money wasn’t really mine, I hadn’t paid much attention to it.
I quickly mustered up a momentary cleverness and responded, “I’m saving it to use a lot next month!”
I thought I had given a brilliant response, but Duke Perdia’s reaction was unexpected.
“…Saving?”
“Yes.”
“Why would you save money?”
“……Huh?”
“Who dared to fill your head with such nonsense?”
I was dumbfounded by the astonishing statement of why I would save money.
‘It’s part two of Perdia’s financial education.’
I couldn’t understand what he was talking about because I had a completely different sense of money than the average person because of my past life.
The duchess, who had been listening to our conversation, interrupted.
“How much money was allocated to her for her to talk about saving?”
In response to the duchess’s question, the duke furrowed his brow and replied, “100,000 lalit.”
“Well, it is quite a small amount.”
“…”
Terrifying Perdia.