Chapter 46
Bidur looked at the woman again. Jet-black short hair, a beautiful face, and terrifyingly sharp purple eyes. Only then did Bidur realize who stood before him.
One of the monstrous twins of the Helderios Duke family—Davien Helderios.
Since Bidur had grown up in the capital, he had heard plenty about them. Children who became Sword Masters at a young age, could freely wield magic, and even cleared dangerous dungeons—those were the Helderios monsters.
But every time the Helderios siblings were mentioned in social circles, Bidur never fully believed the stories. Surely, they were exaggerated. Right?
Especially when it came to Davien Helderios, the empire’s first daughter. A girl becoming a Sword Master and an 8th Circle mage? Ridiculous.
However, after feeling her power firsthand today, Bidur realized the rumors were not exaggerated at all.
Crack!
Just from Davien grabbing his wrist lightly, the bones in Bidur’s hand shattered.
“Ugh!”
He screamed in pain as his bones broke.
“Ah, so noisy.”
When Davien released his wrist, Bidur writhed on the floor, screaming in agony. Hearing his cries, healers came out of the building and carried him inside.
In the commotion, Santom, the head of the Empire Healer Headquarters, appeared. Seeing the youngest son of a marquis being carried off by stretchers, he trembled with anger and wanted to throw the person who had done it into the imperial prison—but when he realized it was Davien Helderios, the daughter of the Helderios Duke family, he stopped.
“Are you really going to work here?”
Davien whispered to Kae, unable to hold back after listening to the meaningless chatter of the head of the Healer Headquarters.
“No matter how I look at it, this place isn’t normal.”
First, the senior who had appeared didn’t appeal to her. His gaze alone made her want to vomit. He had stared at Kae like a predator, questioned her as a newcomer, and even tried to pull her hair—completely unacceptable. On a battlefield or in a dungeon, he would have been dead by Davien’s hand long ago.
Then there was the head of this place. Even though his subordinate’s wrist bones were completely broken, he didn’t care and just sat there sucking up to the higher-ups.
“They say the law changed, and now to get a senior healer license, you need to train at headquarters for a year!”
Kae quietly whispered this to Davien.
Damn senior healer license.
‘Hah, we don’t even need that license.’
All this was because Lloyd had skipped today’s schedule at the request of their aunt. Watching Kae listen to the head’s words with sparkling eyes, Davien massaged her throbbing temples, lost in thought.
Since meeting Kae, nothing but trouble seemed to follow her. From Zeronia to now, even Utiath, who normally had no interest in women, had started causing problems because of Kae.
Davien already knew that the reason Utiath had pressured the noble children during the healer exam was related to Kae—no need to gather extra information.
‘Can’t you just stay still, Kae?’
She wanted to lock Kae deep in the duke’s mansion. At least then, there would be fewer headaches.
Davien sighed at all the constant flattery around her.
‘Bugs will start crawling before even leaving for work. And it will only get worse.’
Glancing at Kae, Davien shook her head.
Lloyd would have a hard life if he married her. Imagining Lloyd sweating to handle Kae’s mess made Davien feel slightly better.
But that foolish relative would never do it properly. In the end, the one who would clean up the final mess would be Davien herself. Her headache grew again.
Ugh, what kind of life has this girl lived?
The more she thought, the more Davien realized that Kae, despite being raised as a commoner, had no sense of basic safety. Some noble girls were more cautious than her.
Even wandering outside alone at midnight was one example. Davien had left the library, her head throbbing from arguing with the mage tower guys, only to find Kae walking under the moonlight with Rova. She was shocked.
Even in the secure Helderios estate, it was unusual for a commoner woman to wander outside at night. Without Davien’s strength, even in the capital, a woman alone at midnight was rare. Slavery and monsters were still threats in distant lands.
Ordinary women did not step outside after dark unless they were noble women with secure estates.
When Davien asked Kae if she had often gone out at night in Zeronia, Kae smiled.
“Oh, walking is my hobby. Zeronia has nice paths for it.”
Walking at night with no trouble? Could drunken people or slave traders really have missed her? Davien found it unbelievable.
Kae’s appearance drew attention. Her beauty as a commoner was definitely a problem.
Even at the imperial exam, many had taken notice of her. Some wanted to abduct her despite the guards and mages being nearby. Of course, one slave trader disappeared quickly under Lloyd’s magic before Kae even noticed.
The mage tower researchers watching Kae also had strange looks in their eyes. Without Utiath, Kae could have already gotten into serious trouble multiple times.
Davien had quietly solved more than ten such situations herself. How had Kae survived in unsafe regions until now?
Davien wondered—was someone protecting her? A guardian spirit from legends, perhaps? Otherwise, Kae couldn’t have lived so innocently and unaware.
“Davien! Davien!”
Kae’s bright voice broke Davien’s thoughts.
Kae looked surprised at the Healer Headquarters office she had been shown.
“Davien! This is so high! I’ve never been this high before.”
Kae pressed her face against the glass of the 30-meter-high office, eyes sparkling. Cute as she looked, the mountain of tasks Davien would have to handle for this naive girl made her headache worse. In that moment, she missed Ibeliana’s brilliant efficiency.
“Oh, aren’t you the Duke’s daughter?”
An unpleasant voice hit Davien’s ears.
Great, one more task added. She glared at Utiath, who had appeared beside her.
When did you show up again?
Davien’s eyes sparked with deadly intent at him, but Utiath just smiled and ignored her.
Kae’s face stiffened.
“I came for technical support for the healer exam, but I heard a familiar sound, so I came here,” Utiath lied smoothly.
If it was for technical support, he should have gone to the top office, not loitered in the healer office. Davien clenched her fists.
Utiath smiled at Kae. Davien’s head throbbed.
After eight years knowing him, Davien knew what kind of man Utiath was. Outwardly charming, he enjoyed tormenting others for his amusement, especially frightened people.
Look at him—so pleased seeing scared Kae.
‘Crazy man.’
This is why she wanted to lock Kae in the mansion.
Everyone around Kae seemed insane.
“By the way, has everyone had lunch?”
Kae eagerly responded to Utiath.
“We’re going to eat back at Davien’s mansion,” she said.
Good, Kae. I’ll handle him.
Just as Davien opened her mouth to tell Utiath to leave…
“Ah! Then it’s before lunch! Let’s eat together.”
Before she could react, Utiath picked up Kae and teleported away.
It happened so fast Davien couldn’t prepare.
“…?”
What? He just grabbed her with those filthy hands?
Rage boiled like lava deep inside Davien.
“U… Utiath… you crazy bastard!”
Her roar shook the Healer Headquarters building.
The perverted crazy man had suddenly kidnapped Kae, even with Davien nearby.
He put her down in a beautifully decorated room with a long dining table full of delicious food.
“Davien will join soon, so sit first,” Utiath said, offering a chair.
“No, I want to go back.”
What if the food was poisoned?
I shook my head and refused.
“Hahaha, what a pity. The chef at the mage tower worked so hard…”
The moment he smiled sadly at me…
“Ah—ah!”
My legs moved on their own toward the chair Utiath offered, like a puppet.
“What is this!”
“I told you once before, that’s why. Otherwise, you’d have to use mana unnecessarily.”
My legs ended up sitting in the chair with a thump, ignoring my will.
“Ugh…”
The sudden fall hurt my hips.
“Now, try the soup in front of you. If you don’t eat, sadly, I’ll have to feed it to you myself. With my hands or my mouth?”
Still a perverted crazy man. I tremblingly took a spoonful of soup.
“…?”
“Delicious, isn’t it?”
Utiath smiled, looking at my face.
