Translator and Editor: Bunny and Aki

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Chapter 21

‘Ah, I see. The atmosphere is gentle.‘

All the people who came to harass me were dull and ominous. When I saw them, my heart pounded, but this time, I stayed silent.

“Hello, young lady. I am Yegrine from the Blue Tower. I came because I thought you had a special ability for a young lady.”

She’s a wizard!

I was surprised and got close to Deleign.

“Big sistew also cawme to hawass me!”

(Big sister also came to harass me!)

“That-That won’t happen! Wizards do not touch good citizens!”

“But, thwat pewson hawassed me eawliew… ”(But, that person harassed me earlier…)

I muttered with a dead face.

For me, the class of sorcerers was nothing more than a vampire mosquito who pulled out my abilities.

“Shushu… How did he bother you?”

The Grand Duke called my name and took a deep breath, as if trying to get his anger down.

However, the air shook as if vibrating at the subsequent question of whether he had failed to endure. It felt like an earthquake in the air.

‘If you are very strong, you can do that.’

After I admired myself a little, I shook my head to see the complexion of the people around me deteriorating.

“My bwothews arw stwuggling! Pwease don’t!” (My brothers are struggling! Please don’t!)

I think I can control it so that only myself is not affected because I am a capable person who can make the air tremble with just the momentum alone.

I was the only one with a good face here.

They say they are far more capable than Wyndert and Deleign, but they are still young. It was not comparable to the Grand Duke.

As soon as I got out of embarrassment, the air that was shaking like a vibration sank.

“So, what happened to you? What was he trying to do to you?”

The Grand Duke calmly asked again.

Conversely, when I tried to tell him what I was facing, the pressure didn’t drop somehow.

Tears struck again as I remembered that terrible pain.

I shouldn’t be considered a bother to cry so often!

“Shushu, you know. It‘s okay because I am next to you now.”

As I took a breath, the Grand Duke stroked my head and whispered.

“Thwat….. He pwut a stwange bwooch on me, and when he stawted muttewing wowds, my stwength stawted to dwain.”(That…. He put a strange brooch on me, and when he started muttering words, my strength started to drain.)

I explained how painful the process of draining my power was.

Every time I spoke little by little, people around me groaned.

“To a child like this… .!”

“So he’s a guy who hits and kills.”

“How can he do that to a pretty baby?”

I ended my testimony in shudders because I no longer wanted to bring out terrible memories.

“Come, lady. Knowing what that power is, you can help prevent it from happening again.”

Yegrine said, reaching out for me. She said she came to figure it out.

It seemed like she was asking for my hand.

‘Will it help if they know my spirit power?’

As soon as the Grand Duke knows about my spirit power, he may send me to the imperial family.

Finding the lost daughter of the Emperor would really help his reputation.

But, I didn’t want to go back to the imperial family.

‘Dad is my dad, not your dad! Your unclean mother is also dead, and your dad has forgotten you, so why do you do that?’

Azuela’s words that I heard the moment I learned the truth. It was one of the things that bothered me at times.

The scenes that I didn’t experience were drawn like a picture.

As if Shuelina recalls the past.

At that time, I felt really miserable and my heart ached.

My dad has already forgotten me, and my mom is already dead.

When I went back to the Imperial Palace, no one welcomed me.

If I did something wrong, I will be immediately used by the Empress.

My heart became anxious again without stopping. I lowered my head and looked at the blanket.

“Shushu, I already know a lot.”

Then, the Grand Duke put his hand on my knee and whispered.

‘Ah, the director… !‘

However, it turns out that the Grand Duke must have stolen information from the director.

The director wouldn’t be able to speak properly because he didn’t know my true identity.

Even so, the Grand Duke would have provided all this due to all the information that could be guessed by combining it.

It can’t be avoided anyway.

I glanced at the Grand Duke.

Sharp and grueling eyes. However, only my figure was contained in those eyes.

He has a gentle look.

I decided to believe in the kindness the Grand Duke had shown me so far.

“Hewe… .”

I gently reached out my hand.

Yegrine approached and gently grabbed my hand.

“It will be cold for a while.”

Yegrine warned me in advance, saying that she was a magician who uses the cold.

Indeed, as she said, I felt a sense of strength from my fingertips.

‘It feels black and cold.’

It rotated quickly around my body.

‘It feels stuffy as if it was breathing inside my body.’

The more it searched inside my body, the more distorted my face became.

And then it got closer and closer to my head…

“Ah… .!”

At that moment, Yegrine’s hand fell off with a sound ‘Pak!’ I could see her fingertips burnt black.

“Ahhhh!”

“Awr-Awr you alwight?”

Startled, I stared at the tips of my fingers with a frightened look. But Yegrine didn’t seem to care about the pain in my hand.

“Unbelievable… !“

Yegrine’s face was pale.

It seemed to me that she met something she could never understand.

“How the hell… ?”

As Yegrine muttered, the Grand Duke stared at her with a sharp glance.

“Speak in order for us to understand. What’s going on?”

“That… It-It’s not like what you wrote for the young lady.”

Yegrine stuttered. It looked like a question mark was engraved on her whole face.

“What? But I’m sure we both saw the appearance of the magical fire and water!”

Deleign shouted sharply. Signs of incomprehension were both on Wyndert and Deleign’s face.

“About that… At first, I thought it would be some sort of elemental magic. But the lady doesn’t have mana.“

“What?”

The eyes of the people of the Grand Duke, famous for their lack of mana, were wide open.

The only people in the world who had no mana were the people of the Grand Duke of Vaillot.

“Oh, to be precise, we don’t have as much accumulation of magic as we can use. Instead, other disparate forces on the head… ”

The “mana” used by wizards gathers in the heart. So, the first place Yegrine checked was around the heart.

It was the norm that the “gi” of the people of the Grand Duke of Vaillot gather near the belly button.

The only thing that accumulates power in the head is ‘spiritual power,’ which is nature itself.

(T/N: Mana is a supernatural or magical power.)

“Then, spirit power… ?”

Wyndert muttered with a blank face.

Spirit power, a power derived from spirits.

An ability that only the immediate family members of the Imperial Family can have.

It is said that in the early days of the founding of the country, when it was founded in a land inhabited by spirits, it was possible to summon a truly rich kind of spirit.

At that time, the spirit power was not at the normal level of magic, but it showed a power close to a miracle.

However, at some point, the spirits could not be summoned, and now, the royal family who performed such miracles disappeared.

Nevertheless, it is admired as a descendant of the spirits because of the founding myth.

“Then… Shushu is… part of the Imperial Family?“

Deleign also asked with a shocked face.

Since the spirit power was exercised, it was directly related to the royal family.

A child who only thought she was an orphan turned out to be part of the royal family.

“There is a possibility in a direct line, um… ”

The Grand Duke muttered with an expressionless face. I hesitantly looked up at him.

“It must be the child of the deceased empress. Was the child alive when the funeral was held?”

In the meantime, only the Grand Duke seemed calm.

He quickly inferred my identity as someone who is part of the royal family just because of my spiritual power.

You probably also noticed that there is an empress behind everything.

‘So what do you want to do with me?’

It was difficult to freeze the thoughts of the Grand Duke, and I noticed it.

Are you counting on me to get back to the imperial family?

“Good job. Now that you have checked, you can go now. If something that happened today leaks out… ”

“Absolutely, I will keep it as an absolute secret!”

The Grand Duke took out a pocket of gold coins and threw it to Yegrine. It was a cost for secrecy.

Yegrine, who received the enormous amount of money, was frightened and immediately ran out of the room.

“Shushu, no, Shuelina.”

“Yes… ”

As soon as Yegrine disappeared, the Grand Duke called me, looking at my face clearly.

I responded with a small voice to my anxious mind and looked up at the Grand Duke silently.

“Do you want to go back to the imperial family? Tell me if you want to reinstate to the status of a princess.”

“I don’t like thwat.”

“Why?”

“If I wewe weally a pwincess… someone couwd have pwoteted me. But nobody dwid.”(If I were really a princess… someone could have protected me. But nobody did.)

It has been a long time since the baby escaped alone and became an orphan.

Even if Shuelina’s family members miss the lost child, it is impossible to return quickly.

It was impossible to return to family members who did not love Shuelina at all.

I firmly refused. Then, a faint smile appeared on the face of the Grand Duke.

“Somehow, my heart went away from the beginning.”

“Gwand Duke, you don’t need me anymowe?” (Grand Duke, you don’t need me anymore?)

In the atmosphere of a room full of tension, I lowered my head.

I said as the Grand Duke got up and sat down with his knees next to the bed.

Then, he took out a small box from his chest.

“Yes, there is no need for orphans for selection. Instead, I need a daughter.”

The Grand Duke said with a firmly determined expression.

“I don‘t care about your identity.”

“… .!”

“Shushu, no, Shuelina. Will you be my daughter since I will protect you until the end?”

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