Chapter : 10
Because of that, his sons were all exceptionally skilled individuals who had become more familiar than anyone else with the law of the survival of the fittest.
To the point that, if they went outside, people would call them monsters.
The youngest, Theodore, was only seven years old, yet he was already a child capable of taking down mid-sized magical beasts.
‘He’s also very competitive. Though, that seems to be the same for our assassin as well… …I should make sure they don’t run into each other.’
After letting out a sigh, he sat down at his desk to finish what he had been doing.
Up until that moment, all he had in mind was to quickly wrap up his work and continue the ridiculous interrogation of that assassin.
But that evening—
“M-my lord, the young master fought with that child.”
“…Why.”
He regretted not giving instructions regarding the children before starting his work earlier.
“A minor argument escalated into a physical fight…”
“And?”
“The young master has a bald patch on his head—”
A bald patch…?
Millian’s gray eyes wavered for a moment. The baby assassin had performed better than expected!
“Hmm. As expected, that child is quite competitive too.”
“And he was… beaten a lot.”
Millian blinked once.
“Who?”
“The young master.”
“He got beaten ‘a lot’ by a child who isn’t even five?”
Was that even possible?
The butler who delivered the news smiled awkwardly and added,
“V-very… very badly, sir. He’s currently unconscious.”
Millian was momentarily speechless.
Suddenly, he recalled the baby assassin who had charged in recklessly without even gauging her opponent’s strength, firing poisoned needles.
And the solid grip that had pounded on the door as if it would break it down.
…That child’s unique magic—perhaps it was superhuman strength.
“Ah. Did that child try to kill Theo, by any chance?”
“Pardon? No, it was just a fight.”
“I see. Then where is that child now?”
“She escaped to the ceiling. Her control over mana is extraordinary, sir. She was as fast as a ghost…”
The butler muttered as if he had truly seen a ghost.
Of course, there was no ill will toward the child in his voice—only admiration.
Millian felt the same.
A faint trace of interest crossed his face.
It seemed Theo had been completely defeated.
While both of them needed to be corrected for trying to resolve conflict through violence, sparring itself was a common occurrence in this family—as long as there was no killing intent.
So for now, it seemed better to simply observe.
‘It’s also a matter of how that child understands the concept of violence.’
“Number 1!”
Recalling how she had proudly declared that ridiculous title with such pride, he honestly didn’t know where to even begin.
Then, suddenly—
Millian, who had been lightly tapping his desk with his fingertips, spoke.
“Theo is going to get quite excited.”
“That’s why we’re currently on high alert, sir. We’ve already moved all the valuable items to storage…”
The butler replied gloomily.
Having found a worthy opponent, who knew how much they would end up fighting?
But no matter how strong the opponent was, she was still a baby.
“I’ll give them a warning about sparring.”
“Yes, please do.”
Though whether it would help was another matter.
The competitive spirit of a seven-year-old boy was sometimes enough to trouble even the head of the great Winter family and the ancient butler.
But at that time, none of them had any idea how things would unfold.
Two days later—
“Why did you fall and still keep running?! Stop!”
“Get away from me, you little demon!”
“You’re the demon for calling me that! Hah, hah… Hey, then go to your room up there on the ceiling—I’ll put medicine on you there!”
“Hey, I don’t need medicine! Seriously! I don’t need it—I’m just going because it’s my room! My room, hehe! You stupid demon!”
Theodore Icarus (7) began trailing right behind the baby assassin (4).
On the morning before the incident—
Theodore Icarus was being warned by his older brother.
“My little brother. Can you promise me you won’t take interest in that intruder?”
“Why?”
“Because… it’s not dangerous—it just looks too weak.”
Barely managing to avoid triggering the instincts of a seven-year-old boy, Damian naturally lifted him onto his back.
Theodore, who was used to climbing onto his brother’s shoulders, wrapped his legs around him and asked,
“How can an intruder be weak?”
“You know too, Theo. They didn’t get in through skill.”
“But they’re still alive!”
“That’s only because we’re letting them live.”
“Why?”
“Hmm?”
“Why let them live? Isn’t it because they’re too strong to deal with?”
His sentence structure had improved a lot now that he was seven.
Damian smiled gently and fell silent for a moment.
“I saw them flying.”
“…I see.”
Was that when the child had first come in, moving along the ceiling?
Come to think of it, Damian had briefly stepped away after entrusting things to the butler at that time.
Other than that, he had stayed up even through the night to prevent his younger brother from encountering that suspicious child.
Damian shifted the topic naturally as he thought,
‘This won’t work.’
There was no way Theo wouldn’t be interested after seeing someone flying across the ceiling.
Theo often felt lonely because there were no children around his age in the castle.
Even if there were, the strong mana unique to their direct lineage subtly leaked out, making it difficult to form friendships.
‘I still had it easier, though.’
Even though he knew it couldn’t be helped, it still weighed on his mind, and Damian couldn’t bring himself to say more.
He simply decided he would pay closer attention to prevent anything from happening.
“Hyung?”
“Yeah.”
But in the brief moment he stepped away, the children ended up meeting.
In a completely unexpected place.
“I won’t wash!”
That morning, I made my declaration.
“I have something to do today! I don’t have time to wash!”
Today, I was going to kill one of these strange humans.
To do that, I needed preparation—and time to observe.
“Whaaat? But if you don’t wash, you could get sick or hurt.”
“Me? Hurt? I won’t get hurt. I’m not doing it!”
After shouting like that, I wrapped mana around my hands and swiftly escaped to the ceiling.
But they followed me.
“…!”
“Now, now, little one, it’s dangerous—shall we go down together?”
Humans usually don’t look above their heads, so the ceiling had always been my personal path to move quickly.
But now—
It was taken from me.
“No! Way!”
So I crawled along the ceiling and ran away.
Of course they chased me, but if I truly decided to escape, no one could catch me.
Because I could use shadows, traces of mana, and even sound.
“Oh my, did you see that? In an instant!”
“Have they already learned magic?”
“It didn’t feel like they were using mana, though. How did they disappear so completely?”
“…Hehe.”
At some point, watching them panic because they couldn’t find me became fun.
“Little one! Where are you?!”
“There’s delicious bread here!”
“Prepare soup! Make it warm so the scent spreads far!”
I completely forgot the important thing I had planned for today and roamed all over the ceiling, exploring this place.
And then, I found it.
A room with a sign in front that read <Theo’s Toy Room>, filled with rainbow-colored stones.
“What is this place?!”
I had never seen so many colors in my life.
Some were shaped like ducks, others like rabbits, and some like tigers.
“No, that’s a leopard!”
Perched on top of a bookshelf, I stared at them quietly, then confirmed no one was around and slipped down.
Just in time—I was running low on mana.
Carefully, making no sound, I walked closer to them.
They weren’t as white as snow, but they were just as beautiful.
Without touching them, I circled around, admiring them, then very carefully tapped one.
A long-necked animal figurine toppled over.
Without realizing it, I stared at it with my mouth slightly open, then sensed someone entering and quickly hid back on top of the shelf.
The door, which had been open earlier but I had closed when I came in, slowly creaked open.
“What? I left it open—why is it closed?”
The one who entered looked like a small child, wearing a somewhat sulky expression.
It was fascinating that there was such a small child even among these terrible Winter people, so I stared intently at the little demon.
Then our eyes met.
“UAAAAAAH!”
The little demon screamed.
