Chapter 6
Before he even had time to be surprised, the girl slew the monster.
“……!”
At that moment, Kain took a deep breath.
But the breath he had taken in wouldn’t come back out properly, as if it were stuck in his throat.
His hands trembled violently, and a chill ran through his entire body.
Only when death loomed right before him did he realize it.
‘Did I… not want to die?’
Had he simply wanted to escape this situation so badly that he felt like dying?
But someone like me—what’s the point of living anyway…….
He was confused. His thoughts refused to sort themselves out clearly.
Then the girl said something to him and suddenly collapsed.
“……!”
Kain’s heart dropped.
‘Don’t tell me…….’
Had he once again brought misfortune and gotten this child hurt?
Overwhelmed by reflexive self-blame, Kain couldn’t even bring himself to touch her and instead called for help.
“Save her. No matter what.”
His heart felt heavy. Watching the girl who had saved him collapse was unbearable.
Still, thankfully, her life wasn’t in danger, and two days later she regained consciousness.
“Lady Winiel wishes to see you.”
The girl asked for Kain the moment she woke up.
“Tell her to say what she wants and leave.”
But Kain had no intention of meeting her.
Even though he had realized he wanted to live, the guilt remained.
He didn’t want to meet people. He didn’t want to spread his misfortune to them.
No matter how much a life-saving benefactor wanted to see him, that wouldn’t change.
For the sake of the family’s honor, he would repay the debt of saving House Argent’s heir—but that was all.
“Um, I don’t know what kind of misfortune you think you carry… but I think meeting you was good fortune.”
…That was all.
“Looks like I’ll have to change my plan. I’ll put the matter of the reward on hold.”
I ripped the paper to shreds and threw it into the trash.
After talking with Kain yesterday, I realized several things.
‘The moment I ask him to capture the villain organization, I’ll be kicked out of this estate.’
Kain clearly wanted me gone as soon as possible.
To be honest, that would have been fine.
My original goal was to ask Kain to deal with the villain organization.
Being chased out afterward—if I could just make the request, I could accept it, even if it was disappointing.
‘But… is that really okay?’
Given Kain’s current state, it didn’t feel reliable to just ask and leave.
Kain’s cooperation was extremely important.
‘Because I need Kain’s help to deal with the villain organization.’
More precisely, to destroy the villain organization, Kain’s power was necessary.
The reason was simple.
‘They said Kain’s awakened aura has the power to stop the villain organization.’
A common trope in fantasy novels.
Only the protagonist can stand against the villains.
So even if Kain tried to push me away, I had no choice but to ask him for help.
‘If I can capture my brother without completely destroying the villain organization, that’d be great—but I have to prepare for the possibility that I can’t.’
To be absolutely sure of saving my brother, I even had to consider wiping out the villain organization entirely.
‘Even if I beg him earnestly and leave, I’ll still be uneasy.’
Right now, Kain didn’t seem particularly interested in anything I said.
He must have heard that I was a Saintess candidate and that I came to the estate with something important to say, yet he showed no curiosity at all.
‘Compared to that, the emotional wounds must be so deep that my mere presence makes him uncomfortable.’
I’d known his backstory was dark, but seeing it in person, his condition was far worse than I’d expected.
‘I can’t just leave him like this. If his heart is wounded, he won’t awaken.’
Of course, in the original story, Kain eventually overcomes this trauma.
But that happens in the future.
If I wait for that, my brother will die according to the original plot.
‘That can’t happen! He needs to overcome it faster than in the original story!’
It looked like I’d have to step in myself.
‘I’ll stick close to Kain and help him overcome his trauma sooner!’
There was a way. I just had to bring forward the method by which Kain overcomes his wounds in the future.
‘Make him meet the Duchess of Argent and have an honest conversation.’
Among the people Kain kept emotional distance from were his own parents.
He believed his misfortune had caused his father’s illness and felt deep guilt over it.
So when he speaks with the Duchess of Argent and that belief is shattered, that’s when his recovery begins.
‘But it won’t be easy.’
It sounded simple, but at this point in time, it was difficult.
‘Because the Duchess frequently leaves the estate to go north.’
They didn’t have enough time together to mend such a deep rift.
And Kain certainly wouldn’t be the one to initiate that conversation.
‘But with a helper, things could be different.’
If I intervened, helped the two meet sooner, and created an atmosphere for a serious conversation—
‘He could overcome it much faster than in the original story.’
Alright. Let’s do that.
As soon as I made my decision, I left the room to find the maid.
Fortunately, unlike yesterday, I found her quickly in the kitchen. She looked extremely busy.
“Do you need something, Lady Winiel?”
“No, I just wanted to ask something. When will the Duchess of Argent return?”
“The Duchess…… we don’t know when she’ll return.”
The same answer as yesterday.
But this time, I couldn’t let it slide.
“Why? Is something going on? The young master was almost hurt.”
The maid set down the dish she had been wiping and spoke.
“…The young master asked that the incident not be reported.”
“!”
Kain did?
‘Just how deep is that rift?’
I really did need to intervene.
“But a dark magic attack is a serious matter.”
“He said he didn’t want to worry the busy Duchess…….”
“But she’ll find out eventually. Wouldn’t she worry even more then?”
“That… is true.”
The maid agreed in a small voice.
‘Got her—she’s being persuaded!’
Seeing her hesitate, I quickly pressed on.
“I think the Duchess should be informed. And as a Saintess candidate, I also have something urgent to tell her……”
“Stop.”
A firm voice came from behind.
“Young master?”
Startled, I turned around to see Kain standing at the kitchen entrance.
He seemed to be on his way to sword training, as a sword was in his hand.
“Good afternoon, Young Master.”
“I told you to say what you want and leave.”
Ignoring my greeting entirely, Kain glared at me coldly.
The atmosphere felt like I might be thrown out at any moment.
But times like this were when I had to be confident!
“Yes! But I haven’t said it yet, so I can’t leave!”
“…….”
“You’re not going to suddenly change your mind and say you won’t repay me if I don’t say it, right? You are the heir of House Argent.”
Kain frowned as if he found me ridiculous.
“…I’ll grant the reward. But even if you’re a Saintess candidate, you have no right to interfere in the affairs of this family. If you want something, tell me—not the Duchess.”
He tossed out those words and walked away.
‘He hated even coming close, but still stepped in just to say that?’
Just to stop me from contacting the Duchess?
I let out a frustrated sigh.
“Haah.”
“Haah.”
Huh?
Hearing another sigh at the same time, I turned my head. It was the maid.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing…….”
She shook her head and resumed washing dishes.
But her face was full of worry, as if it were written all over her.
‘Something’s going on.’
I quickly spoke in a gentle voice.
“It’s clearly not nothing. If there’s something troubling you, you can tell me.”
“That’s not something to say to a child…….”
“I may be eleven, but I’m a Saintess candidate. I’m not an ordinary child. There’s probably no priest who’s spent more time in the temple library than I have.”
“But…….”
The maid still hesitated.
I had no choice.
“This is a secret.”
I glanced around and whispered.
“Actually, I came here to deliver knowledge of House Argent’s future.”
“The… future?”
“Shh!”
I looked around once more and nodded.
“Yes. That’s right. So if something has happened, I’d like to hear it. If it’s related to the future I saw, I might be able to help.”
“…….”
My words seemed to work. The maid looked deep in thought.
Soon, as if she’d made up her mind, she slowly closed and opened her eyes and set the dish down.
“…Please just listen lightly and don’t take it too seriously.”
“Of course! I will!”
I giggled and sat on a chair in the corner of the kitchen.
“To begin with, the young master wasn’t always so adamant about keeping the estate’s situation from the Duchess. Although she often left for unavoidable reasons, she did keep in contact from time to time using a magical device.”
“A magical device? You mean a communication device?”
“Yes.”
Wow. I’d heard those were incredibly expensive.
They were large, not portable, and could only contact other linked devices—so they were basically luxury items.
‘The ducal house really is on another level.’
I’d imagined how nice it would be to contact my brother with one.
But leaving aside the cost, holy power and mana were extremely incompatible, so I couldn’t use magical devices in the temple anyway.
“However, last year, when the young master was targeted in an assassination attempt, we contacted the Duchess using the device—but received no reply.”
“What? Wasn’t it broken?”
“That’s what we thought as well, but after inspection, we were told it wasn’t malfunctioning.”
“Then maybe it was a mistake……?”
As the atmosphere grew heavy and I trailed off cautiously, the maid took out the cookies she had been baking and placed them in front of me.
“It would be hard to call it a mistake, since the same thing happened several times afterward. Eventually, the young master came to believe that it wasn’t anything important and should simply be overlooked.”
“But still…….”
“Then, when the Duchess visited the estate and the matter of communication was brought up—”
“Stop saying pointless things.”
“…After that, the young master no longer sends messages.”
