~Chapter 33~
“I heard you’re a saint. Oh, I also work at the temple.”
…Not interested.
“I also received a divine power when I was young. I was supposed to be kicked out of my family, but thanks to that, I was adopted as the Duke’s son.”
Esther blinked.
So… what am I supposed to do with that?
He seemed to think they had something in common, but unfortunately, Esther didn’t feel anything at all.
From the start, she didn’t think their situations were similar.
“Oh, my real father caused a huge scandal and was kicked out of the family. That was when my mother was still young. My father was unfaithful, so besides me, I have many other siblings. Except for me, they were all thrown out.”
Esther nodded awkwardly at his curling gaze.
If she thought about it, that was also information she didn’t really care about…
“You look very bored.”
“Uum… no…”
Esther rolled her eyes and gave a forced smile.
“I’m just talking. I don’t want you to go through hardships like I did. And I wanted to talk to you.”
“With me?”
“Yes, and if you ever need help, I hope you contact me anytime.”
At Kardem Egbert’s words, Esther blinked slowly.
“I’m fine.”
Kardem’s eyes widened. He scratched his cheek with his index finger in slight embarrassment and gave a small smile.
“Really? That’s good to hear.”
“Mm.”
“But just in case. Your father doesn’t help you much, does he? So if anything happens, contact me.”
“Mm, but Father is a stranger, so it’s fine.”
“…What?”
Kardem Egbert’s pupils shook hard at her words, his shock obvious.
“Father is a stranger. Um, he just plays the role of a guardian?”
“…Why do you think that?”
“He’s a stranger, so I call him a stranger. Do I need another reason? He’s not really my father… Uncle, is the father who was kicked out your real father?”
Kardem Egbert froze. He couldn’t respond, as if he had heard a question he had never considered before.
He had never once thought about deciding whether to acknowledge someone as a father or not. That was never his choice—it was just something decided.
“…I see, my niece is a very strong person.”
Kardem reached out and lightly ruffled Esther’s hair.
“Anyway, I have the divine power of healing. Simply put, I’m a healer. So if you ever get hurt, call me.”
“Healing?”
“Yes.”
Esther rubbed her chin. Healing power was rare even among divine powers—it was fascinating.
“Can you also purify?”
“Purify? I can do it a little, but my brother is probably better at that.”
“Hmm, if I need it soon, I’ll contact you!”
Maybe she could use him to treat Banshee’s father.
‘The problem is… would it be fine if the helper wasn’t me…?’
If Banshee felt grateful to Kardem instead of her, or if all the credit went to Kardem despite Esther doing the thinking, that would be a big problem.
Her days of hard work in the library would go to waste!
‘And it’s a red exclamation mark…’
Maybe it was better not to create any unnecessary risks.
“Niece, can I ask you one thing?”
“Mm?”
“I heard you once discovered when Nigel was about to be scammed. How did you find out?”
Esther blinked. Back then, she had brushed it off by saying she read it in a book, but now she had a convenient shield…
“Someone went ‘woooong!’ in my head and told me!”
She waved both arms like a child while explaining vaguely.
Honestly, she didn’t even know what “woooong” was herself.
“Ah… so there were signs of divine power manifestation even back then.”
But Kardem Egbert seemed convinced and nodded.
“I was really curious. Your achievement was so great that even the temple heard about it.”
Esther nodded. Humans were easy—they could misunderstand things on their own.
“To be acknowledged by the Duke is amazing. I was so surprised when I heard you became the successor.”
“…”
“My healing power doesn’t work on Mother.”
Of course—it was the dragon’s pact, so it couldn’t.
If God himself came down and used divine power, it might work, but just a bit of power given to a human would never break it.
“I’m glad to meet you. Here, a gift—do you like it?”
He held out a glass jar full of colorful candies.
“These are limited edition candies from the most famous bakery in the capital.”
Esther’s eyes sparkled for the first time in the whole conversation.
“The craftsman doesn’t even make them if the weather’s bad, so even if you line up from dawn, there are days you can’t buy them!”
“Gasp!”
Esther’s mouth opened slightly, her throat moving.
Just hearing about them made her want to eat one immediately.
“I tried for a whole month just to get these for my niece!”
“Uncleee!”
Esther quickly clung to his arm.
Limited edition candy? She couldn’t resist.
Kardem chuckled mischievously, then willingly handed her the jar.
“Did your improved speech also come from divine power? Last time I saw you, you couldn’t talk well.”
“I dunno!”
Esther opened the jar, popped a candy into her mouth, and answered.
‘Mmm, people who give me food are good people.’
The vivid, unique fruit flavor filled her mouth, and her eyes curved happily.
“I’m glad it suits your taste.”
Kardem patted her head and stood up.
“I should go now. If I get caught, Mother won’t say anything nice…”
He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
“I won’t see you for a while, niece. I think I’ll be sent to a war zone soon.”
“War?”
She thought this was a peaceful country, but apparently, wars still happened.
Esther tilted her head while chewing candy.
Maybe finding her cute, Kardem shivered slightly, squatted down again, and ruffled her hair with both hands.
“Yes, since I have healing power, I’m usually sent to the front lines. Even if the country’s peaceful, there are frequent conflicts in the border areas.”
His expression darkened.
“Hmm…”
“It’s not a war between people. This time, there was a report of many monsters appearing near the border. Your father might go too.”
“Aha, mm. Travel safely!”
Esther replied half-heartedly while picking her next candy.
Seeing her casual attitude, Kardem seemed to brush it off as childishness and just smiled.
“Alright, I’ll be careful.”
“Mm.”
Just as Esther thought their conversation was over and started heading back to the annex—
“…I thought there was a bad smell in the house. Turns out something filthy had crawled in.”
“…Nigel.”
Kardem’s expression stiffened slightly, but soon his usual smile returned.
“Long time no see.”
“Long time? I wasn’t eager to see you anyway, so what are you doing here?”
“I was just about to leave…”
“Hah? Now you’re hanging around with that idiot? Guess trash really does stick together.”
Nigel Egbert had also spotted Esther and let out a mocking laugh.
He also had silver hair.
But unlike Kaelos’s long hair or Kardem’s wavy hair, his was short and straight.
‘You can tell them apart just by their hair.’
Well, their faces were also quite different.
Nigel’s sharp eyes and smug, greedy face stood out.
“What does ‘stick together’ mean?”
Esther tilted her head, blinking.
To someone who knew her, it was obviously a fake, annoying expression.
Ever since finding out his son had been humiliated by Esther, Nigel had become even nastier.
“It means people of the same low level hang out together. Like you, a stupid illegitimate child, and him, a filthy prostitute’s illegitimate child.”
Kardem clenched his fist, lowering his head, his face shadowed.
Esther could roughly guess his position in the family—and why he felt they had something in common.
But still, she didn’t feel any connection.
‘I always pay back at least tenfold if someone wrongs me.’
Esther grinned brightly.
“Wow, so that’s what it means! Then Uncle meeting a scammer is also ‘sticking together,’ right? Esther’s a genius, so I know it!”
“…What?”
“Gasp, then since it’s ‘sticking together,’ that means old Uncle is also a scammer?! My book says never to play with scammers… scammers should go to jail!”
“Why would I be a scammer?!”
“But you said ‘sticking together’ means hanging out with people of the same level, right? Then old Uncle hung out with a scammer, so you’re on the same level, right?”
Right?!
When Esther asked with a big smile, Nigel’s lips pressed tightly together.
He couldn’t find a way to refute her—because those were his own words!
He trembled with rage.
“Esther’s a genius—she learns one thing and knows ten! Oh, I should go tell Grandpa to put old Uncle in jail right away.”
Ignoring him, Esther teased him once more, then quickly turned as if to run away.
At that moment—
