CHAPTER 009
You don't want it because of that?!
He waved the magic wand in his hand.
Every time the wand moved, the diamond embedded in it sparkled brilliantly.
"This is the first gift I made to give to someone else."
Then he gave the decisive reason.
"And, I want to meddle. Do you have a problem with that?"
No one would dare to express dissatisfaction in front of the ruler of the magic tower.
As my father fell silent, Lewis turned to me.
"It's strange. If it were me, I would have buried the family that deceived me underground."
What Lewis meant was, "It's infuriating, so give them hell before you leave!" I understood his intention, but agreeing to it was...
I was just planning to leave and never see them again.
So I hesitated for a moment, and it must have been obvious on my face.
My mother, who had been quiet until then, spoke to me.
"Selina, you’re not seriously considering what the Marquis is saying, are you? I know how much you cherish your family."
My mother seemed to be trying to persuade me.
Seeing that I was taken aback by Lewis's words, her face, which had been extremely anxious, showed a bit of relief.
With an awkward smile, she gestured to Lewis.
"Go ahead and tell the Marquis that you were just angry when you said you’d leave. Let’s send him off first and calmly solve this among ourselves."
"······."
When I remained silent, my mother urged for an answer.
"You weren't really planning to report us, were you? After all, we're the parents who raised you."
"Of course. It's ridiculous for a daughter to report her parents!"
My father immediately chimed in.
"From a parent's perspective, if we need urgent money, we might borrow some from our daughter. That's just being flexible, isn’t it?"
"Anyway, we promise not to do it again."
Ah······.
These people are really consistent. Even now, there's not a shred of guilt in their expressions!
The hesitation quickly faded, and I made up my mind.
"That magic wand looks quite expensive, doesn't it?"
"Huh?"
My sudden comment left my parents bewildered.
Of course, they wouldn’t understand. I wasn’t talking to them.
"Come to think of it, a valuable item like that would be enough to file a report, even against family."
"What?"
"I'm talking about theft. I'll report it, Marquis."
"Se-Selina?"
My parents' mouths dropped open in unison.
Did they really think I wouldn’t make a decision after hearing such words?
I thought reporting them was too much, but their attitude made it easy to decide. They really made sure to erase any remaining affection!
With an awkward smile, I turned away from them.
"Why are you so surprised? We were strangers all along, weren't we?"
* * *
The situation was resolved.
‘So I can kill them?’
‘No. Even then, you shouldn’t kill them!’
When I stopped him, saying there was no need to go that far, Lewis disappeared for a few seconds and then reappeared with the guards.
‘Selina, do you really have to go this far?’
‘If you calm the Marquis down, we will reflect and take care of you!’
Seeing that their words before being taken away by the guards didn’t affect me, I realized I no longer had any expectations of them.
"Are you okay?"
As I watched their backs, I heard Lewis’s voice behind me.
Am I okay? How do I even begin to describe this feeling?
"Now that it’s all over, I feel relieved but also... a bit bitter."
Honestly, I felt a bit empty.
After all, we had lived as a family, so how could I feel completely good about it?
When I trailed off, Lewis's expression suddenly became serious.
He furrowed his brows as if displeased and crossed his arms, looking at me intently.
Did I do something wrong...?
Should I change my words now? As I pondered, Lewis spoke.
"Cheer up, friend."
"Pardon?"
"I said, cheer up."
"Oh..."
Was that why he was staring at me so sternly? If he wanted to comfort me, he should have softened his expression. Is this his first time comforting someone?
Even so, it was surprising to hear such kind words from Lewis. The fact that he was making an effort to console me was astonishing.
I awkwardly accepted his comfort.
"Thank you, Marquis."
Though it was awkward, comfort is still comfort. He cared enough to try.
Thanks to him, I felt a bit less empty.
Receiving comfort from Lewis of all people. I sniffled a little.
* * *
If it weren’t for the auction, Lewis wouldn’t have visited the Elsner estate.
‘What the... Why is that here?’
Did they really sell my gift?
It was just as Lewis had said to the Elsner family.
He saw the magic wand he had given Selina at the auction and visited the estate to find out why.
It was true that he waited for a while because of the commotion.
‘Are you doing this because you heard that story? You talk as if you’ve done something grand!’
What a mess.
Lewis knew little about Selina. He only became friends with her because she asked.
Initially, he thought she might be worth studying.
Even when they made plans at the duke’s estate, his opinion hadn’t changed much.
Lewis’s interest in her stemmed solely from the noise.
The unbearable noise that only she could stop.
It was Selina who suggested they become friends.
‘You want to be friends with me too?’
‘Yes. A friend of a friend is a friend.’
No matter how he looked at it, she didn’t seem genuinely eager to be friends. Watching her squirm was amusing.
He always thought she had a peaceful heart because she always smiled.
‘I’m really sorry for not being helpful. Can I just leave now?’
When he saw Selina's expression through the window, it was filled with various emotions.
Even the wizards who cried all the time at the tower didn’t have expressions like that.
Lewis didn’t want to see it to the end.
So he barged in between them on impulse.
After handing over her parents to the guards, he asked Selina,
"Are you okay?"
It wasn’t because he was particularly empathetic.
Her expression made him uncomfortable.
"Now that it’s all over, I feel relieved but also..."
Unlike earlier, when she smiled indifferently, her expression was now complicated.
It definitely bothered Lewis.
‘What should I do in this situation?’
Unaware that his scowl made Selina flinch, he pondered deeply.
Then he remembered how wizards, whom he had defeated, used to comfort each other.
‘Just do it like that.’
Lewis spoke immediately.
"Cheer up, friend."
For the tense Selina, his words were too sudden.
Even after repeating it, he didn’t notice her confusion.
"Why are you sniffling? Still sad? Should I go back and overturn everything?"
"No. I’m really, really happy!"
"Good."
Lewis finally uncrossed his arms. Even then, he kept an eye on Selina’s expression.
Why was he so concerned about her face?
How close were they anyway?
Although he called her a friend, they weren’t truly friends.
Selina must have known that too.
Still, seeing her sad face wasn’t pleasant.
‘Maybe it’s because she’s Bella’s friend. How curious.’
Anyway, he was glad his comfort worked.
* * *
When Lewis returned the magic wand, he made a special request.
‘I told you to keep it as a family heirloom.’
‘Yes······.’
‘Don’t even think about selling it. Keep it until you die.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Croft people really like the phrase 'until you die.'
After leaving the mansion, I stayed at the Croft duchy.
Whatever settlement was reached, the incident at our mansion was quietly handled.
The punishment for the Count and Countess Elsner was to cover the cost for me to live independently.
So, I planned to start living on my own with the money to secure a small place.
But-
‘How about staying at the duchy for a while?’
Representing the duke, the Croft family repeatedly made the same suggestion.
‘I feel too guilty to impose.’
‘Even if you go out, you need to find a place to live.’
‘That’s true, but...’
‘There’s the time to find a place and to arrange it. Stay here until everything is ready. Don’t feel burdened.’
So we compromised.
I decided to stay at the duchy temporarily until I could arrange a place of my own.
My routine of relieving Lewis from the noise continued at the duchy.
"Where's Bella?"
"She's at the training grounds for a bit. She’s training with the knights today. She’ll be back soon!"
I don’t know why she’s training in swordsmanship instead of magic.
Because Bella was late, I was alone with Lewis. But he wasn’t as scary as before.
After all, I had seen another side of him during the incident at my house.
"Marquis, there’s something on your sleeve."
"Oh, this? It’s blood. Don’t worry about it."
"········."
"Why that face?"
"No reason."
Uh, I take back what I said about not being scared...
Lewis is still Lewis.
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