EBTR 02

Chapter 02 …

Nabel came out of the bathroom.

Though someone raised as a slave might feel uneasy about bathing, there was no trace of that in him.

“……?”

He had clearly been blond just a moment ago.

Rone thought as she watched Nabel step out of the bathroom. Nabel now had jet-black hair like polished ebony.

And a necklace that gave off a peculiar aura sparkled around his neck. She hadn’t noticed it earlier.

The reason she saw it now was that the clothes Nabel was wearing were too large for his frame. It was a new bathrobe prepared by the maid Lin for Rone.

“Nabel……”

Rone muttered his name in a very small voice. After his bath, his appearance was fully revealed.

Free from dust and bloodstains, Nabel looked less like a slave and more like a young nobleman.

The cuts on his wrists and neck were clearly fresh. The skin beneath was pale and smooth, as if he had never suffered.

It was no commoner’s skin.

“…….”

He seemed to notice her soft voice and looked up at her quietly.

“I’m Rone de Rida.”

The cursed seventeen-year-old daughter of the Rida Count family.

Someone waiting in the temple for an oracle.

Or more precisely, someone waiting to be judged.

Reported to the temple by her stepmother, she was immune to holy magic.

And someday, the temple would reveal what kind of unnatural being she was, one whose prayers for divine power were ignored.

“De Rida……”

Nabel murmured. A surname marking her nobility.

He seemed to know even at a young age. Rone studied him. He definitely seemed younger than her.

“……It’s a meaningless name. You saw it earlier outside.”

Rone pointed to the door, referring to the abuse she had endured from those claiming to be her parents. Nabel glanced at the door, then looked back at her.

“…….”

His silence didn’t seem childish.

Rone knew well how it was to try not to appear childish. Her parents would never forgive her if she threw tantrums or cried like a child.

Waiting for the temple’s judgment while enduring life in the mansion, she had to grow up quickly.

“How old are you, by the way?”

“I’m twelve this year.”

Would a twelve-year-old normally speak like that? Rone tilted her head slightly.

“I’m seventeen.”

Though even at seventeen, she likely didn’t seem her age. Their gazes, both unchildlike, met.

“Five years apart. You’re my elder, then.”

Lin, standing beside them, gasped at Nabel’s words.

“You—then that won’t do!”

She immediately covered Nabel’s mouth and rattled off a stream of words.

“It’s only because the lady is merciful that a slave can—”

“It’s fine, Lin.”

Rone stopped her. Everyone knew she was the nominal Rida heiress. Even the nobles in society who didn’t know her face.

“…….”

Nabel looked at her with bewildered eyes.

“You don’t ask anything?”

His voice was sharp. Rone tilted her head.

“Hm?”

“How I became a slave.”

Rone shook her head at his question.

It seemed unnecessary to ask. Her parents were likely the ones who caused her to be a slave. She hadn’t committed a crime at such a young age.

“There’s no need to ask about a painful past.”

And it likely hadn’t been a happy life. Nabel widened his eyes slightly at her words.

“—Then, you do trust me?”

His tone softened a little. Rone was about to answer when he continued.

“What the slave master said is true. I attacked people. Those who tried to capture me.”

Still… you trust me?

On what basis do you trust me, and let me into your sanctuary?

Nabel’s eyes asked that.

Rone’s sanctuary was just a small room in this vast count’s mansion. The door creaked because it hadn’t been oiled. Bringing danger here would destroy her refuge.

Even though it was his first time here, Nabel realized it immediately. It wasn’t just his intuition.

With his unusually mature gaze, he was already accustomed to dealing with enemies.

“…….”

Nabel quietly looked up at Rone.

She had shown kindness without hesitation. Whether it was due to her youth or another reason, he didn’t know.

But she didn’t seem to have any malice. Pure kindness. Strange and fascinating.

She was a new type of person Nabel had never seen before.

“—I’m dangerous, elder sister.”

He spoke in a low voice, like a small animal growling.

Rone suddenly thought of the look in his eyes when he faced the knights earlier. He had looked like a wounded young beast.

Hiding his injuries, bristling with fur.

A young beast warning not to come closer.

“Real dangerous people don’t announce it.”

Rone knew this because a truly dangerous person lived in the mansion.

Her smiling stepmother, the countess, had turned hostile the moment she realized Rone’s divine magic immunity, when Rone was six.

It was then.

“Rone-!”

A cracked, shouting voice echoed sharply through the hallway. Rone flinched and turned toward the door.

Her stepmother was calling.

Rone couldn’t ignore the countess’s summons. If she didn’t go, knights would be sent to drag her along.

Rone knew why she was being called. It happened often.

The only difference was that Nabel had followed her. Despite being told not to, he wouldn’t budge.

“…….”

On the way to the countess, Nabel handed her a handkerchief.

It had been in her room.

Or rather, he held her hand wrapped in the handkerchief. Rone realized she was trembling.

“……Thank you.”

She said softly.

Though she always avoided him, the stepmother was terrifying. She had enough power to harm Rone. Fear was natural.

Yet today, she felt strangely less afraid. Perhaps because Nabel held her hand, or because he was behind her and she wasn’t alone.

Even knowing nothing would truly change.

“Again! It’s all because of you!”

Before reaching the countess’s room, a hysterical voice rained down on Rone. Three bracelets on the countess’s sleeves shook in unison.

It signified the third step of a mage.

The third of nine steps toward the divine. A relatively low rank, but she was definitely a mage.

A mage performing deeds by borrowing divine power. An absolute devotee of the gods.

“Cursed thing! Every time I talk to you! I can’t reach the gods!”

In short, her magic didn’t activate. Her voice reverberated down the hall, prompting servants to scurry from every corner.

They whispered among themselves.

“She’s at it again.”

“Indeed, how insensitive to act in front of the lady with that cursed body……”

Every complaint was aimed at Rone. Nabel scanned them with his eyes.

“But who is that kid?”

“Don’t know.”

“You know?”

“Me neither.”

The servants continued chattering, regardless of whether Nabel or Rone heard. Rone’s steps quickened.

“Don’t come closer!”

At that moment, the countess rose abruptly and shouted. Rone flinched.

A magic circle appeared, flashing in front of them. Though her magic had said it wouldn’t work, it seemed to have recovered.

Whoosh!

A fireball surged toward Rone. Startled, she instinctively shielded Nabel.

Nabel, held in her arms, opened his eyes wide.

Bang!

The fireball collided with Rone.

The intense heat was real. Rone shut her eyes tightly, enduring it.

It would be brief. This moment would pass soon.

“…….”

The handkerchief between their hands slipped to the floor. As their hands touched, a faint white light flowed out.

It was visible only to Nabel, of course.

Rone shut her eyes tightly, trembling as she held Nabel close.

“Sis.”

Startled, Nabel tried to pull away. But Rone didn’t let him go. Fire slowly spread around them.

Whoosh!

The Rida family’s servants and maids, accustomed to this, brought buckets of water and poured them around the two.

In the shockingly cold water, Rone’s deep pink hair clung to her. Shivering from the cold, she finally let go of Nabel.

She had known the maids would pour water.

“Miss!”

Even after the fire went out, the water kept coming. As if to wash away the filth.

Lin, dragged away earlier by knights, ran toward them.

“You okay?”

Rone asked. Nabel wanted to ask, as he had been hit by magic.

He studied her. Wet, but fine.

“Magic doesn’t work on me.”

Rone smiled. Water dripped from her chin.

Nabel looked at her eyes. Though not red, water trickled down her cheeks like tears.

“Now you look a bit clean.”

The countess’s shrill voice echoed. She seemed amused.

“Tch… Let’s go. I need something sweet in the garden.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The maids quickly followed the countess, glancing at Rone as they did.

‘Humiliation is only temporary.’

Nabel recalled what Rone had said when he saved her. Those words were for him, but perhaps also for herself.

Humiliation is only temporary.

Nabel thought he would never forget her soaked face.

“…….”

His gaze fell on Rone’s deep shadow. He widened his eyes.

He saw her shadow rapidly transforming.

Pointed ears perked up, a tail swaying. The tail even looked soft.

‘A fox…?’

The moment he thought that, Rone’s shadow faded again.