PDHMO Chapter 26

Chapter 26

“Uh…?”

I jumped back in surprise and pulled my hand away.

When I turned around to make sure I was seeing correctly, Finn was smiling knowingly, and Ellie covered her mouth with both hands, looking completely unsure of what to do.

Judging by their reactions, I guess I succeeded.

I just used my ability, didn’t I?

I slowly raised my hand and made a fist, opening and closing it repeatedly.

My fingertips tingled, and I couldn’t stop the faint trembling.

“Young Lady, you need to remember this sensation well.”

“Okay.”

I nodded at Finn’s words, which felt more like advice than a command.

“Mm! Today’s cookies taste more buttery than yesterday!”

“Don’t eat too much. You’re sneaking them without Adeline knowing.”

I was reporting the results of my training while entering Herald’s office.

He watched me stuff cookies into my mouth behind Mom’s back, then lifted his teacup with the grace of a true noble.

Honestly, if he just stayed quiet, he could rival the male leads of most fantasy novels.

“Can I have these again tomorrow? I’ve been working really hard lately…”

“More importantly…”

Herald cut me off sharply, his gaze piercing.

“I want to hear about your ability training progress.”

Startled, I slowly put the cookie I was eating back on the plate.

As soon as he mentioned my abilities, my appetite disappeared.

“You said you were confident back then, right? You said you could do it quickly, master it in no time, and protect your mother, didn’t you?”

He was adding something extra to the deal about reconciling with Mom: daily training to manifest my ability. If I succeeded, he said he’d give me a generous allowance. I agreed immediately.

I guess I was blinded by money. But at that time, I really felt confident.

After all, Herald had said someone with Eraiten blood couldn’t have been born without the ability.

There were times when I felt something surge inside me.

But manifesting the ability was not easy.

The cookie left a rough, sandy texture in my mouth.

After swallowing it, I dug into my pocket and placed something on the table.

“What’s this?”

“A piece of wood I split.”

“You did it?”

“Yes, with my ability. That’s why it broke like this.”

I pointed to the small wood pieces on the table, and Herald picked one up with his finger.

“I see… just a piece of wood this size…”

“D-Don’t say ‘just’! Finn praised me for doing well…”

“Finn is generous with praise.”

“So my dad doesn’t give me any…”

“What was that? Speak up, I didn’t hear.”

“Nothing.”

I turned my head, pretending not to know, and heard Herald click his tongue.

Ever since I was forced to call Herald “Dad” in the dining hall that day, I had to keep calling him that.

At first, even saying “Ah” made me shiver, but after a few weeks, I got used to it.

Anyway, that wasn’t important now.

Since I successfully manifested my ability, I deserved the reward.

“Here.”

“Huh?”

I held out both hands, and Herald raised one eyebrow, as if asking what I was doing.

“Allowance.”

“……”

“I used my ability, even if it was small.”

“……”

“Allowance!”

When Herald didn’t answer, I urgently shouted for my allowance.

But he remained silent, unmoved.

Why is he like this?

“How long did it take to split this?”

“…Huh?”

“And you can’t use your ability freely every time, right?”

“……”

“Don’t try to hide what Finn told you. Speak up.”

Damn it.

I pouted like a walnut and recalled about two weeks of training with Finn.

“Ha! Hiyah! Hiyah!”

I shouted strange sounds while Finn watched with a worried expression.

“Young Lady, shouting won’t make your ability appear. Focus on your fingertips holding the branch first…”

“I’m doing that!”

I wasn’t ignoring Finn. I was concentrating all my attention on my hands.

But…

“Hiyah!”

The branch still hung in my hands with no change. Finn had said the wood would split instantly if struck by my lightning ability.

But this branch showed no sign of breaking. I stared at its ugly, dark bark and held it toward Finn.

“…Try another one. This is too thick.”

“I’ve already given you more than ten branches. Size doesn’t matter.”

With a sigh, Finn handed me a slightly smaller branch.

This one fit perfectly in my hand. It was easy to grip and hold.

I focused all my attention on my hands again.

Thanks to Finn, my stamina had definitely improved. Even after running three laps in the big misty field, I wasn’t tired.

And yesterday, after collapsing on the ground, I had felt a small tingling in my fingertips.

I remembered the feeling from the rainy day and closed my eyes tightly.

Tingling at my fingertips, tingling, tingling…!

“…Shall we stop here for today?”

“No… just a little more, a little more…”

“Of course, I want to listen to you… but someone is sending a very intense gaze over there.”

I slowly lowered the branch and turned toward the source of the gaze.

Ellie was standing there, looking at me with concern.

After the rainy day when I first manifested my ability, for safety, Ellie had stayed far from the training area.

But despite my efforts, I hadn’t succeeded in manifesting my ability even once since then.

“But… I want to try a little more today. I feel like I can figure something out.”

“Hmm… then let’s try for about another hour.”

Finn agreed, but that day ended in failure.

The next day, I finally succeeded.

“Uh…?”

Using the same effort as the day before, I suddenly felt tingling in my fingertips, and the wood snapped with a loud crack!

That day, every time I touched wood, it broke easily.

But it didn’t last.

Some days I failed, some days I succeeded. Sometimes I did well two days in a row… other times I failed for three straight days.

For two weeks, I couldn’t say I perfectly succeeded in manifesting my ability.

And Finn… reported everything exactly to Herald.

If he was going to report to Finn anyway, why would he ask me separately!

I puffed my cheeks in frustration, when suddenly Herald stood up.

“I need to see your condition for myself. Let’s go outside.”