Chapter 08
Cain took Luciela, who was carrying the tray, toward a room tucked away in a corner of the second floor of the ducal residence.
As Luciela walked along the long corridor, she suddenly stopped.
Despite it being the middle of the day, the atmosphere in the hallway was gloomy, and very little light entered.
The old carpet covering the floor was worn and faded in numerous places. As though servants rarely passed through this area, only the stale smell of dust and a chilly coldness lingered in the air.
Even the candle holders hanging on the walls had long since gone unlit, making it feel as though she were walking through a haunted house.
It was almost strange that a place carrying the name of the Vellaon Ducal Residence, the heart of an empire that symbolized prosperity and glory, could contain a space that smelled so strongly of death.
“Someone is actually living here?”
“Yes.”
Cain answered without stopping.
“The owner of the room is my nephew.”
“……”
“In other words, he is the direct grandson of the current Duke.”
Luciela nodded.
She had a fairly good idea which nephew Cain was talking about.
‘Has that child been living in an environment like this…?’
Just as she was about to step into the room, a woman wearing a white coat opened the door and came out.
“Lord Cain? Your timing is perfect.”
She spoke in a tired voice, as though she were struggling to keep herself from falling asleep.
Unlike the other servants in the residence, who had been tiptoeing around Cain while carefully watching his mood, her attitude was somehow equal to his and completely unreserved.
“Ayla.”
“Yes.”
“Did you stay up all night again? Isn’t it a problem when the person who is supposed to be the family physician can’t even take care of herself?”
“Sigh… I’m so sleepy I could die, so please save the nagging for later.”
Despite Cain’s words, the physician named Ayla continued yawning.
When she pushed back her disheveled brown hair, her pale face and dark circles became visible. Her brow was furrowed as though she had a great deal weighing on her mind.
Her features could certainly be called beautiful, but she looked like someone suffering from chronic exhaustion.
“How is he?”
When Cain asked, Ayla let out a deep sigh.
“Same as today. He takes the medicine I give him, even if I have to force him, but his temper hasn’t changed. And of course, he refuses to listen when I tell him to rest.”
Cain’s gaze passed over the woman and moved toward the bedroom deeper inside.
Without hesitation, he walked in, and I followed behind him, holding my breath.
The moment I stepped into the bedroom, a sharp killing intent that felt as though it were piercing my skin swept across my entire body.
Cain stopped and looked toward one corner of the room.
At the end of his gaze was a boy lying on the bed.
‘……Ah.’
I involuntarily widened my eyes.
The boy, who looked about my age, resembled a beautifully crafted doll.
His translucent silver hair gleamed like jewels along every strand, while his flawless white skin looked as though it had been sculpted from porcelain.
Beneath it were brilliant blue eyes as beautiful as a lake.
“Vael, don’t you have anything to say to your uncle?”
“……”
Silver hair and blue eyes like a frozen lake.
The child looked subtly similar to Cain, but his eyes were much larger and more striking.
This was the child Cain had gone all the way to find me for.
And he was also the person in the game whom Mother had felt so terribly sorry for.
“He had incredible potential, but it was such a shame that his body was so frail. You could say he was a flame that was destined to go out before he ever had the chance to display all of his talent.”
“Vael. Aren’t you going to answer?”
“Do I really have to answer, Uncle?”
The boy gave Cain a twisted smile filled with anger.
“What useless thing have you brought this time?”
The tragic genius who was destined to die before reaching adulthood.
The son left behind by the deceased Duke Vellaon’s eldest son.
Vael Vellaon.
Mother had told me that when she was a player in the game, the reason the rebellion had failed was because Vael, who was supposed to be its central figure, kept dying.
‘Status window.’
Luciela unconsciously muttered the words under her breath.
If that boy was the one who was going to eat her food, she had to find out everything she possibly could.
With a pop, a small status window appeared in the air.
[Target: Vael Vellaon]
Preferences: Sweet foods and drinks that stimulate the brain, such as chocolate, honey, sugar, and so on.
Dislikes: Anything bitter, including the lingering aftertaste of medicinal herbs and the raw, grassy smell of fresh vegetables.
He has a completely childish palate, surprisingly.
Luciela narrowed her eyes as she read the status window.
She couldn’t see grand information such as the target’s mana level, level, or status the way Mother could, but Luciela’s status window provided a wealth of information specialized in the target’s taste preferences and nutritional needs.
As she checked the detailed status window that followed, Luciela’s brow furrowed.
[Condition: Severe nutritional imbalance and physical exhaustion]
Nutrient deficiencies: Vitamin D (insufficient exposure to sunlight), essential amino acids and protein (long-term dietary refusal).
Special note: Abnormally heightened sensitivity to taste.
Luciela’s eyes moved rapidly.
There was something written in tiny letters at the very bottom…
“You’re being rude, Vael.”
“Is it a girl this time?”
Vael had been arguing with Cain, but his cold gaze slowly turned toward me.
The status window vanished with a pop.
His glass-like eyes stared intently at Luciela for several seconds.
“……Is this some kind of seduction tactic?”
“What?”
What?
Luciela and Cain both stared at him with bewildered expressions.
“Isn’t it obvious? The calculation that I’ll like her because she’s pretty.”
Vael’s lips twisted as he asked with a mocking smile.
Cain’s eyebrows twitched in bewilderment, while Luciela herself was left speechless.
It was nice to be told that she was pretty.
And, well, she thought so too.
But with him saying it while looking at her with such intense suspicion, it didn’t exactly feel like a compliment.
“What?”
“You’re actually resorting to something this ridiculous now? Have you become that desperate?”
“You idiot.”
Vael furrowed his brow at Cain’s words.
“She is a chef. If you eat the food she made, your strength will…”
“Ah.”
Only then did Vael seem to notice the soup Luciela was holding.
He gave a bitter smile.
“Strength? Or is it fuel to extend my life?”
“……Vael.”
“I don’t need it. Take it away. I don’t want to be forced to eat something my uncle brought again.”
“Vael.”
“You promised. You said you wouldn’t force me to do anything else if I obediently took Ayla’s medicine. I kept my promise, so take it away.”
“And if I don’t?”
“……”
Vael coldly extended his right hand into the air.
At that moment, the air around him shimmered and distorted like a heat haze.
Pop—
A magic circle appeared across the back of the boy’s pale hand.
It was a complex, intricate, and vivid silver magic circle unlike anything I had ever seen, even in books.
It probably meant that the total amount of mana he could manipulate was overwhelming.
In an instant, the air sank with the weight of a boulder.
The air surrounding Cain in particular became as sharp as a cold blade, threatening him.
“……You’ve even mastered spatial interference.”
Cain muttered quietly.
‘Spatial interference…?’
Luciela’s eyes widened.
So this was it.
The advanced technique she had read about in books and heard Mother talk about.
It was her first time seeing it in person.
So geniuses can use such high-level mana techniques before they even reach adulthood.
“Do you hate seeing my legs like this for the past two years so much? Is that why every few days you bring in a mage, a spirit mage, an apothecary, and now even a chef under the excuse of trying to seduce me?”
“Vael.”
“I take disgusting medicine, perform meaningless training like some circus clown… Can’t you hear me when I say I don’t want any of it?”
The marking on the back of his hand shone once again, and the air inside the room became so heavy that it felt as though it were squeezing the breath out of everyone.
“Vael Vellaon!”
Cain shouted sternly and took a step forward.
At the same time, a silver marking engraved on the back of Cain’s neck flashed.
It was even more intricate and sophisticated than Vael’s.
Cain’s mana generated a wave and forcibly pushed back the spatial interference Vael had established.
“Don’t waste your strength. Don’t you realize your body can’t handle that output?”
“I wonder. If it can’t handle it, does that mean I’ll finally die?”
Vael gave another twisted smile.
The furniture in the room began to tremble.
Creeeak—
A sharp frictional sound caused by the disruption of the spatial alignment stabbed into their eardrums.
Perhaps because of the excessive release of mana, tiny blood vessels around Vael’s eyes burst one after another, staining them red.
Even so, he did not stop rebelling against his uncle.
Blue sparks crackled between the two.
Watching them glare at each other in such a precarious standoff, Luciela couldn’t help but admire them despite her concern.
‘……Geniuses really are different.’
Cain’s oppressive presence, as a hero of countless subjugation battles, went without saying.
But what was even more astonishing was Vael.
If what he said was true and his lower body was paralyzed, then he had reached this level of ability despite being unable to use half of his body.
Luciela didn’t know when he had become like this, but one thing was certain.
Even after becoming paralyzed, he must have trained himself somehow, all on his own.
What must it feel like to continue training yourself in a room this dark, surrounded by endless loneliness and frustration, without even knowing exactly why you were doing it?
‘……Now I understand why Mother said it was such a shame.’
That wasn’t merely innate talent.
It was a desperate persistence—the kind that had made him struggle with his entire body to survive even while saying that he wanted to die.
……No.
Luciela put strength into her trembling legs and gathered her concentration.
That wasn’t what mattered right now.
What mattered was the soup.
