Chapter 1. I was abandoned by my family
***
“Long time no see, Emil.”
“How have you been?”
“It’s been hard to see your face lately.”
“We were wondering if something had happened to you.”
He was having dinner with his classmates from the academy in the main banquet hall. When Emil sat down, everyone began talking as if they were waiting. However, Emil just nodded lightly and gave no answer.
After confirming that everyone was present, one of his classmates spoke up first.
“It’s Ian Achilles.”
At those words, the atmosphere became chilly and Emil’s eyes wavered slightly. However the classmate seemed to not notice, and continued.
“He was praised by the professors for a job well done in the third round of interviews.”
“Hey…”
The person sitting next to him was finding this unbearable to hear, and secretly hit his arm for Emil’s sake. However, the tactless classmate pushed the hand away as if it were annoying and exclaimed.
“After all, a man who can do something like that can do anything…”
The classmate that was thoughtlessly talking shut up belatedly when he finally noticed Emil staring at him.
At that moment, the butler entered the banquet hall and he was guiding an unexpected guest. Emil froze the moment he saw who it was, turning his face away indifferently.
“What? Who invited Ian Achilles?”
“I’m guessing he was invited because we’re celebrating the people who passed the Imperial Civil exam.”
“Didn’t you hear the news?”
“What news?”
“The fact that Emil Leroy…”
He would have whispered quietly so that he could not be hard, but anyone could tell what they were talking about without asking.
“I thought this was a party to congratulate those who’ve passed.”
Ian said this as he observed the classmates gossiping. Thanks to this, the atmosphere, which was already dark, became even darker.
The classmates were unsure and peeked at Emil. There wasn’t anyone in his class that didn’t know that Emil Leroy disliked Ian Achilles.
“Can’t you read the atmosphere?”
“Why are you saying that it’s a celebration for the successful candidates?”
“I’m suffocating to death.”
“Who called this young man?”
“I can’t believe Emil failed the exam.”
“I feel sorry for him.”
“I still think he’s kind of cool though.”
Although he’d never shown off or ignored them, Emil always showed an attitude of superiority. So it was hard for his colleagues to lose the thought that he looked cool somehow.
“I think I’m in an uncomfortable place.”
His expression was dark and he definitely didn’t look like he wanted to celebrate. Even though he was definitely invited, Ian turned around indifferently and left.
It was none other than Emil who followed him.
“It’s obvious that you still don’t understand reality.”
Emil smiled and said this as soon as they’d stepped out into the empty hallway. However, Ian just gave Emil a cold look.
“That’s what I wanted to say.”
“What?”
“You know for sure now, right?”
Even before he asked what he meant, Ian smiled and said.
“Who’s level will be lowered?”
“I don’t think…”
[You don’t have to lower yourself to their level.]
This was what Emil said to Leticia on the day of the Imperial Knight appointment.
“Did you take the test because of that?”
“So? Did I need some grandiose reason?”
“This is why you aren’t qualified to be an Imperial official.”
“Then what was the reason you wanted to become an Imperial official?”
“….”
Emil couldn’t answer his unexpected words, but then he smirked at Ian.
“I’ll tell the professor everything you said, so enjoy it for now.”
He felt pity for him, but Ian was still calm. At that moment, a chuckle sounded in his ear.
He thought he’d heard wrong, so he looked at Ian, who was smiling brightly. Emil felt his stomach begin to churn at the blatant mockery.
‘Is he laughing?’
He dares to laugh right now?
Both of his clenched fists began to tremble as he tried to hold back the anger that was rising inside of him. Ian looked down at him nonchalantly and shrugged his shoulders lightly.
“Do you think they’ll listen to you?”
“What does that mean?”
“Exactly what I said.”
Ian kindly explained to Emil, who didn’t seem to understand.
“Who would believe a person who spreads false rumors?”
“….!”
He didn’t expect Ian to know that he was the one who’d spread them, but Emil immediately stood up with an unconcerned expression on his face.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never spread false rumors.”
“I’m sure you’re right.”
“If it weren’t for the professor’s recommendation, you wouldn’t have made it here.”
“If you don’t want to admit it, that’s fine.”
“What?”
“You’re just becoming more unseemingly.”
“Hey!”
“So!”
Ian stopped talking while a smile slowly spread across his face.
“Who’s lowering their standards now?”
While it was obviously stated as a question, the answer was already known.
Even if Emil glared at him fiercely, Ian smiled at him, as if it was all ridiculous and left first. As soon as his back had completely disappeared, Emil let out an angry scream.
“You son of a…!”
No matter how much he thought about it, Ian was no greater than him.
Ian’s never even been to the academy, and his family isn’t in a good position, but the way he’d looked down at him was disgusting.
‘I won’t leave you alone.’
Emil breathed through clenched teeth as he quickly left the banquet hall. No matter what happened, he planned to stomp this idea out with his own hands.
He swallowed down the urge to strangle him immediately, and tried to return to the Leroy residence, but soon he saw Ian’s back.
‘Unlucky guy.’
Just as he was about to turn around in annoyance and go on his way, something Ian was doing caught his eye. It was because he was headed to a pharmacy.
After he talked to the pharmacist, Ian bought something and quickly strode off. Emil took this opportunity to speak to the pharmacist.
“Who came in? What did he buy?”
“What? Nothing special, just…”
The pharmacist, who’d received money from Emil, replied that Ian had bought clean bandages, hemostatic drugs and medicine that was good for cuts.
‘Did he get hurt somewhere?’
However, Ian seemed to be fine. Enoch, who was the most likely person to suffer from a stab wound, was even less likely because he’d recently gone on a tour of his territory.
‘Suspicious.’
He had a hunch that there was something going on.
.
.
.
“You keep talking and nothing is getting done!”
As soon as he entered the Leroy mansion, Emil sighed at the bitterly sharp voice.
‘Here we go again.’
Since Marquis Leroy had returned the fights with Diana had been non-stop. The first thing he did was raise an eyebrow, even though he thought he was already used to it.
“You said you’d get me engaged to Levion. So why haven’t I heard from him yet?”
“He’s going to be engaged to you no matter what. So why are you in such a hurry?”
“You’ve been saying that for months.”
“I have everything under control, so wait patiently.”
“Father!”
Marquis Leroy looked at Diana in exasperation, he was tired of the argument that had been going on for several days.
“How the heck do you want me to get an engagement with the El family with such a useless ability?”
Diana seemed to lose her grasp on reason when he murmured that so openly for her to hear.
“What’s dad’s power?”
“What?”
“How amazing is dad’s ability then?”
When Diana raised her voice to ask this question, the Marquis became angrier and demanded where all of this big talk came from.
‘The house is running well.’
Emil returned to his room with a complicated expression on his face. These days, the atmosphere in the house had deteriorated, and there were no signs of improvement at all.
Emil sighed as soon as he entered his room and lay down on his bed, exhausted.
‘Come to think of it…’
He’d never heard what Marquis Leroy’s ability was. He’d never really thought about it before.
‘What is his ability?’
Even though his face had turned red, he couldn’t tell if he was angry or not.
***
The village that they arrived at this time looked more relaxed than the first village. The fields were cracked from the drought as well, but they were fortunate to have stocked up on food beforehand because of the heat wave.
“The recent drought has caused a lot of trouble.”
“If we hadn’t been prepared with food, we could have been in a lot more trouble.”
However, the food supplies were gradually diminishing, so everyone was worried. When Enoch told them that relief supplies were arriving soon, everyone’s faces brightened up.
The Enoch quietly listened as villagers spoke.
“While the drought continues to be an issue, there’s another problem…”
“Shh!”
“Why are you talking about that here?”
Everyone was angry because he was saying something useless, but Enoch urged him to continue what was going on because he’d already heard. In the end, the village head was forced to sigh and explain.
“That’s, you know…”
In short, several villagers suddenly collapsed and were suffering from high fevers. As soon as he heard that, he thought of the nobles that had collapsed at the party.
[Some miners collapsed at the Rose Velvet mine.]
[The symptoms were similar, they suddenly fainted and suffered from a high fever.]
The symptoms were so similar that it was hard to overlook it as a coincidence.
Pushing away Keena’s voice from her ears, Leticia looked up at Enoch. Enoch seemed to have the same idea, as they looked at each other quietly.
“It sounds similar, doesn’t it?”
On the way back from talking to the villagers, Leticia spoke to him as if she’d been waiting for him to start.
“Yes, I think there’s something to it.”
“Actually, there’s something I haven’t said yet.”
Leticia told Enoch everything she’d heard from Keena. The miners who worked in Marquis Leroy’s mine were showing similar symptoms, Enoch sighed and rubbed his chin.
“Maybe some of the villagers who are suffering from high fevers worked at that mine.”
Leticia also nodded because she felt the same way.
At that time, she felt someone pulling on her dress from behind. As she looked behind her, a small child dressed in worn-out clothing looked up at Leticia.
“I like anything. Can you give me something to eat? I’m so hungry.”
“Here you go, you can take this.”
Fortunately, she had some leftover relief supplies to distribute to starving children. The child smiled as he received grain, dried meat, and commonly used medicine, and bowed his head in gratitude.
“It’s getting dark, but where are you parents? Why are you out here alone?”
Enoch got down on one knee and made eye contact with the child, and said this with a stern expression, but the child’s expression darkened.
“My dad is sick and lying down.”
“Ah…”
Feeling sorry for him, Leticia let out a sigh without realizing it.
At that time, Enoch rolled up his sleeve and handed over the bracelet he was wearing to the child.
“Take it and go.”
“What? Are you giving this to me?”
“It’s a bracelet that makes your wish come true. If you pray for your father to get well soon, it’ll come true.”
“Thank you so much!”
With tears in his eyes, the child thanked them again and went home.
Leticia watched as the child moved away, then asked Enoch with a strange look.
“Is it okay if you just give it to him?”
“I just gave it to someone who needed it more.”
“Since when have you been wearing a bracelet?”
Before the wishing bracelets flourished, Elle distributed them to Leticia, Ian and Enoch. However, Enoch looked down at the bracelet, which was too cute for him, and didn’t wear it. When it didn’t appear on his wrist, Elle couldn’t hide her disappointment, saying that she knew it wouldn’t happen.
“Why didn’t you show Elle your bracelet?”
Leticia was sure she would have liked it.
She said this regretfully, but Enoch shook his head firmly.
“What do you mean? I was worried you’d tease me that it doesn’t suit me.”
“It doesn’t suit you, but you still liked it.”
“….”
“I’m just kidding.”
Enoch’s embarrassed appearance was somehow funny, so Leticia crossed her arms with a bright smile.
What they didn’t know was that the child’s father had gotten better that day and was able to get up from his bed.