Chapter 199
Thud.
“This whole thing was something I’d been preparing for a long time… it’s truly unfortunate.”
“…….”
Prince Alex was following Vaelks, who was walking ahead, heading into a space he had never seen before.
He never imagined that beneath the garden where they usually met, there would be another hidden underground space.
“Did I choose someone far too foolish?”
Vaelks clicked his tongue repeatedly, recalling the recent failure involving the Saintess with a hint of regret.
“I thought her ambition alone would be enough to achieve it. Did I underestimate this world too much? Or maybe…”
Vaelks abruptly stopped walking. Turning around, he gave Prince Alex a faint smile and locked eyes with him.
“Perhaps there was a variable I hadn’t accounted for.”
“…If there’s a variable, it would be her. The one who figured this out was Ceres, wasn’t it?”
Prince Alex stifled a groan that almost slipped out. Could it be that Jutel had noticed what had been done this time?
Wasn’t it Jutel who had informed Ceres about the bracelet the Saintess used? By turning it into a book and giving it to her.
“That’s right. She… she was the variable.”
Vaelks nodded and slowly resumed walking. Prince Alex quietly followed behind, letting out a silent sigh.
“How far are we going?”
After descending for a while with no end in sight, Alex finally voiced his frustration. His energy was starting to wane.
“We’ve arrived.”
At last, the end of the dark staircase appeared. Standing before a massive door, Vaelks turned to Prince Alex with a grin.
“You will be very pleased as well, Alex.”
“……?”
What could be in there? Prince Alex furrowed his brows slightly at Vaelks’ unusually expressive look.
Pleased, he said? What kind of scheme is he hatching now?
Creeeak.
The heavy iron door groaned as it opened.
“These are the children I’ve been preparing for a long time.”
“…….”
Prince Alex followed Vaelks inside, his mouth gradually falling open.
“These are the ones that will soon be revealed to the world.”
“Mi…”
…Insane!
Prince Alex could only choke back the rough words that wanted to escape and let out shallow groans as he stared at the horrifying creatures before him.
“Yulia, you said you don’t have parents?”
“That’s true, but….”
“And your family’s really poor, right?”
“Not that poor, I guess?”
In the classroom where Yulia was attending her lesson, a new male student, Tooz, who had transferred just a few days ago, glanced at her while chatting with the other kids.
‘…Annoying.’
Even though Yulia likely heard everything he said, she sat there with a calm, indifferent expression. Tooz pouted in frustration.
What bothered him most since arriving at the academy was this girl. She had nothing, didn’t seem special at all, yet all the classmates fussed over her!
‘Even though her family’s lame.’
The previous academy wasn’t like this, but this class was strange. Why did everyone like a girl like that?
Smack!
“Ah!”
Tooz suddenly felt pain as something struck his head. He turned around.
“Do you have an older sister?”
“W-what?”
“I said, do you have a brother?”
It was Christine.
Smack!
“Ah! Ouch! Why do you keep hitting me!”
“You don’t even have a proper family.”
“Wh-what? What’s that supposed to mean!”
“Just because you only have parents doesn’t mean you can insult Yulia.”
“Damn it…”
Tooz pouted, glaring at Christine, but she just snorted and turned back to Yulia.
“Christine.”
“What? Should I hit him one more time?”
“No. Two times is enough. As always, you really suit being a mischievous little wolf.”
“I think so too.”
“Should we use this color for it?”
“No, that one’s red.”
The two girls quietly returned to their drawing activity.
“Ugh… dammit…”
Tooz, still fuming, watched them but didn’t dare speak again, clearly intimidated by Christine.
Tch!
He pouted again, only to notice another student entering the classroom.
“Jairo.”
“Huh, huh?”
“You’re from the orphanage, right? I heard you were admitted through sponsorship. So after class, do you go back to the orphanage? You don’t have parents, brothers, or sisters either, huh?”
Tooz’s words came out nastier than usual, thinking he’d found someone to vent the frustration he couldn’t take out on Yulia.
“…Yeah.”
Jairo, whose expression had briefly brightened when Tooz initially spoke, now hung his head at the continued words.
Tooz’s shoulders straightened even more. That’s exactly the reaction he wanted from Yulia.
“They say even the clothes there are all provided by sponsorship. The ones you’re wearing now aren’t even yours…!”
Smack!
“Ah!”
Watching Jairo’s head sink lower and lower, Tooz grimaced as another strike landed on his head.
“Ugh!”
Convinced it was Christine hitting him again, Tooz spun around.
“Tooz, that’s mean.”
But behind him, Christine wasn’t there. Yulia was holding a shoe, glaring at him as if scolding him. She just used that to hit him?
“You’re not supposed to say things like that.”
“Damn… what business is it of yours!”
“Hit him with this, hit him with this.”
Tooz flinched as Christine, standing beside Yulia, removed one of her sharp shoes. If he got hit with that, it would hurt badly!
Tch!
Seeing Yulia grab the shoe, Tooz finally took a step back and left the area.
Seeing all the children staring at him as if scolding him, Tooz’s face flushed slightly as he hurried out of the classroom.
Whoosh!
“Ugh!”
But as Tooz headed outside, he tripped and fell. Landing on his backside, he looked around with tears in his eyes.
“What the…?”
It felt like something had grabbed his foot, yet there was nothing there. The floor wasn’t slippery either.
“Ugh… Waaah!”
Eventually, Tooz broke into tears and ran straight out of the classroom. Both in pain and embarrassment.
“Pathetic. Beee~”
Christine stuck her tongue out at him, while Yulia returned the shoe to Christine’s foot.
“Oh?”
At that moment, Yulia saw someone familiar at the doorway and beamed.
“It’s Zien oppa!”
Zien was standing at the classroom entrance.
“…….”
At Yulia’s call, Zien glanced at Tooz but quickly turned away silently and left the area quietly.
“Again… again.”
Yulia crossed her arms, displeased at Zien leaving without a word.
“Who’s that?”
“Zien oppa.”
“Do you already have an older brother?”
“Yep!”
Yulia nodded brightly to Christine’s question, smiling.
“Just recently.”
“What?”
Just recently? An older brother? Christine didn’t immediately understand Yulia’s words.
“Let’s finish this drawing. Jairo, do you want to join too?”
“M-me too?”
“Yeah!”
And so, Yulia started drawing together with Jairo.
“This is the profit report for this month’s Ether minerals. Ochelt also wants to trade Pet minerals—what should we do?”
Hearing his aide Del’s words, Kainel carefully reviewed the documents.
“I’d prefer to trade Pet minerals with a party not affiliated with the Ellescia family.”
“I agree. The Zorojou Count recently requested a trade with our principality and promised to provide exclusive local specialty goods.”
Many attendants of the Persha family were already present in the office.
As Kainel recently expressed the intention to stay longer in the capital rather than the principality, the attendants were slowly moving their residences closer to the capital as well. They could no longer remain confined solely to the principality.
Once the long-sealed doors of the principality opened, many were eager to knock at those doors.
