Chapter 13 …
Angelica was startled by the gentle voice of her grandmother calling her.
“Gasp.”
The child had forgotten her grandmother’s presence for a moment while harvesting the Cellts that had grown abundantly overnight.
The two had woken up early at dawn, eaten some fragrant boiled potatoes and appleberries together, and then left the cabin.
Olivier had said earlier that he wanted to watch Angelica farming.
“Ah, Grandmother… are you okay moving around? Aren’t you overexerting yourself?”
As Olivier tried to get off the bed, the child fussed, repeatedly asking in concern.
Angelica didn’t know how to react.
Thanks to the herbs, her grandmother’s condition had improved a lot, but just a few days ago she had collapsed, coughing up blood.
She worried that if her grandmother overexerted herself, she might collapse again.
However, Olivier smiled faintly at the child’s fussing and said:
“You need to move a little. Moderate exercise is good for your health.”
Angelica thought her grandmother had a point and didn’t try to stop her further.
In truth, Olivier had come along because he wanted to see the adorable Angelica farming up close.
But Angelica, upon noticing the Cellts hanging heavily from the vines, completely forgot Olivier’s presence for a moment.
She worked frantically to harvest the Cellts.
“Rika.”
Then, finally hearing her grandmother’s call, she remembered him.
Angelica, busy filling her basket with Cellts, froze in place.
“Oh no.”
Her grandmother must have been utterly surprised. After all, the Cellts that hadn’t been there yesterday had grown in abundance.
“What should I do?! Should I tell her the truth?”
But telling the truth wasn’t a good option.
“If I say this is a game world… or that I have game abilities… who would believe me?”
Angelica wracked her brain and came up with a hasty excuse.
“Actually, I have the hands of a god.”
But even she knew that was too ridiculous. The safest choice was the simplest one:
“Should I just say I’m a mage?”
Yet, as far as common knowledge went, no mage had such powers. So there was no way anyone would believe that.
“You’re an Earth Mage, aren’t you?”
Before she could respond, Olivier’s kind voice approached.
He gently held the child’s stiff shoulders.
“You seem startled because of me. I’m sorry.”
At her grandmother’s apology, Angelica cautiously lifted her head.
“Oh, n-no. It’s okay!”
The grandmother’s words, coming at just the right moment when Angelica was wondering how to explain herself, made her sincerely relieved.
However…
“But I’m not a mage.”
Although she had just thought about saying she was a mage, the idea of lying made her unable to speak.
“Um… Grandmother.”
Angelica struggled to open her mouth.
“I’m not a mage.”
This was the truth. She wasn’t a mage—her powers came from the game system. Even her little spirit, her ‘master,’ was part of the game system.
Yet Olivier didn’t lose his smile at her answer.
He assumed the child didn’t realize she was using magic herself.
So he decided to explain her powers directly.
“Rika, the power you have is called ‘magic.’ And it’s very rare magic.”
Angelica stared at Olivier blankly.
“Now that I think about it… maybe this really is magic?”
She even had a fleeting thought like that.
As she just looked up at Olivier in silence, he added:
“And you are a very kind and gentle child. Your heart has a power even stronger than magic.”
Olivier gently stroked her hair.
The sudden warmth of the touch and his gentle voice made Angelica’s eyes well up.
This was only the second time someone had said such words to her, after her master.
But today felt different. Memories of her grandmother from her past life came flooding back, making her nose tingle.
The emotion she felt now wasn’t just because she was a child again.
It felt like her past life was being comforted all at once, and she felt a lump in her throat.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Angelica hurriedly wiped away the tears starting to fall and bowed her head to apologize.
She didn’t want to cry, but the tears came anyway.
“I mustn’t cry… I might get scolded.”
Memories from the previous chapter flashed through her mind—times when she had been blamed and even hit for crying.
“Rika, it’s okay. It’s really okay.”
But Olivier didn’t scold her. He warmly embraced the crying child.
“It’s okay to cry.”
“Huh… sniffle… sob…”
As if his words were a signal, the child burst into tears.
‘She’s apologizing just for showing her tears… what could have happened to this child?’
Olivier’s heart ached. Children had the right to laugh and cry freely.
‘At this age, she should be able to enjoy everything…’
He held her gently in his arms, comforting her until her crying subsided.
After Angelica stopped crying, she resumed farming. She harvested about half the Cellts and diligently pulled weeds for the quest.
Thanks to the quest, the weeds were easy to identify—they were small but sturdy.
Angelica worked diligently, uprooting them all.
‘If I just put the Cellts in my pocket, I can get that shabby shirt!’
She planned to complete the quest by secretly putting the Cellts in her pocket when her grandmother wasn’t looking.
Once she got the shirt, the beginner set would be complete, and she was thrilled.
Olivier sat on the steps in front of the cabin, watching the child pull weeds with a big smile.
The sight of her tiny hands working so hard was so cute that he couldn’t help but smile.
Watching her, Olivier recalled a dream from a few days ago.
The husband who had appeared in his dream kissed and hugged him tenderly.
And, as when he was alive, he spoke with loving eyes:
“Olivier, I have something to ask of you.”
Haren pulled out a map from somewhere and pointed to a small village on the outskirts of the capital.
“There will be a treasure here. Small, but stronger than anyone else’s.”
“Treasure? Why are we talking about treasure all of a sudden?”
Olivier didn’t understand. The wealth of the House of Raspel was unmatched in the Empire, so he’d never really coveted any treasure.
But Haren didn’t answer the question and continued:
“You must protect that child.”
Then the dream ended.
When Olivier awoke, he couldn’t remember all the details, only the map that Haren had shown him.
He briefly told the butler he was going out and left the mansion with his horse.
He told Angelica he had just come for a walk in the forest, but that wasn’t the truth.
He was searching for the place Haren had pointed out.
Meanwhile, his mana poisoning symptoms suddenly appeared, and Angelica discovered him.
Only recently had he remembered the contents of the dream in full.
‘Did Haren send me to Rika, anticipating my mana poisoning?’
Olivier looked at Angelica with gentle eyes.
The child, tirelessly, continued to pull weeds.
Seeing her struggle but refuse to give up warmed a corner of his heart.
‘Rika really is… a treasure.’
The strong power she possessed was a treasure in itself, but Olivier considered her kindness the true treasure.
Naturally, he worried.
When his body fully recovered and he left the forest…
If the child were left alone in the woods, who knew what might happen?
Angelica was only seven. She was tiny and thin, barely appearing to be seven.
Even if she had powers for self-sufficiency, she was still a child.
‘That must be why Haren asked me to protect her.’
But even without Haren’s request, Olivier would have protected Angelica.
All children needed an adult’s care.
Just then, as Angelica finished pulling weeds, she waved both hands and called to Olivier.
“Grandmother!”
She added brightly with a smile:
“Shall we harvest the Cellts together?”
