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Chapter 55
‘His guard dropped?’
Howell’s wariness had lowered—if only a little. Elysia widened her eyes at the unexpected development.
‘…That’s strange.’
She had thought that her unreasonable behavior during this outing would only make Howell dislike her more. Between the Crown Prince, Finn, and even dragging along the snow leopard without asking—of course he’d see her in a bad light.
But for him to let it slide without pressing her further? And to actually lower his guard toward her?
‘Is it because I saved his life?’
Perhaps he was impressed by her skill and integrity in protecting him from the beasts.
While Elysia was lost in thought, Howell continued.
“It’s a relief no one was hurt, but please—don’t let anything like this happen again. Going into a forest like that without warning… I should have stopped you sooner.”
He glanced at the snow leopard with a disapproving look.
“And that cat—leading us into a place like that is awfully suspicious.”
Meow?! Meoow! (I only took you where I was told to!)
The snow leopard meowed indignantly, but unfortunately, Elysia was the only one who could understand it. She offered a mild defense.
“Still, since it was the Saint’s descent site, maybe it didn’t have bad intentions? It did lead us somewhere sacred and good, after all.”
“…Is that so?”
Howell narrowed his eyes, studying the snow leopard.
“Well… it does seem tamer than most beasts. Not all magical beasts harm people—maybe it led us there on purpose to help the Saint.”
In truth, the snow leopard hadn’t run or attacked even when alone with Howell—though that was mostly because it was terrified of Elysia and obeyed her out of fear. Unable to hear the leopard’s words, Howell seemed to have come up with his own explanation. Elysia gave him a reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry, big brother. If this guy tries anything funny, I won’t let it get away with it!”
Meow?! (Hey, that’s uncalled for!)
The snow leopard let out a small, aggrieved meow at being misunderstood and scolded. Howell sighed.
“Still, I’ll have to tell Father about this—at least to some extent. The Saint descended, and he can’t be left in the dark about it.”
“I suppose…”
Elysia reluctantly nodded. Even if they tried to keep it quiet now, news of the Saint’s descent would spread across the country in no time. Rumors that Elysia had saved the Saint would follow, and it was only a matter of time before the Duke found out.
‘Or… maybe he already knows?’
Everyone, including the temple officials, had returned before her. The Duke could have heard the news by now.
Elysia stared out the carriage window with a troubled expression. The slow, plodding ride had never felt so frustrating.
‘At this rate, when will we even get home…’
She really wanted to just get out and run. Resting her chin in her hand, she sulked.
In the end, the carriage was indeed slow.
So slow, in fact, that the rumors reached the Duke’s ears before they even arrived.
“Elysia Sempérion!”
The moment she stepped into the house, a thunderous voice pierced her ears. Howell and Elysia kept their distance, sneaking a glance at the Duke’s face.
‘He’s angry.’
Very angry.
The Duke was glaring at Elysia with a terrifying expression.
Ding!
The Duke’s Disappointment has increased!
+30%!
Disappointment 410% → 440%!
Warning: Disappointment level dangerously high.
Avoid exceeding 500%!
‘It’s already at 440%?!’
The sheer number made Elysia swallow nervously. Up until now, she’d always thought, “Surely there’s nothing left for him to be disappointed about, right? He should have given up by now, shouldn’t he, Father?”
But that warning message… was actually scary.
‘If it goes over 500%… won’t that be bad for his health?’
She didn’t actually want to see him clutching his neck and collapsing because of her. Looking concerned, she waved her hands.
“F-Father? Can we… calm down first?”
Her awkward smile didn’t help—his expression didn’t soften in the slightest. His voice was low and sharp.
“Is it true you rescued the Saint?”
‘So he’s already heard about that too.’
“…I’ll explain, Father.”
Howell stepped forward, only for Elysia to jab him quickly in the ribs.
‘Keep it short! He’ll grab his neck otherwise!’
Howell shot her a look full of annoyance—one that said, ‘If you were going to be careful, you should’ve acted that way in the first place.’ Then he began a concise report.
Thankfully, he didn’t mention the Crown Prince or Finn for now—whether because he left it out on purpose or because the Duke was already furious, she couldn’t tell.
The summary: they followed the cat to catch fireflies, saw the Saint descend, were attacked by beasts, fought them off, and saved the Saint without injury.
“…And that’s how we came straight home.”
The Duke stared at Elysia the whole time, veins bulging in his neck, then shut his eyes tightly before glaring again. Finally, he asked,
“…What is that in your arms?”
“It’s… j-just a normal cat.”
“Don’t lie to me, Elysia Sempérion. That’s no normal cat.”
Tch. Not fooled.
Elysia bit her lip.
“…I just picked it up, that’s all.”
“Picked it up? What kind of beast is that supposed to be?”
“No, I mean—I brought it home to keep as a pet…”
“You want to keep that?”
Meow? (That’s harsh…)
The snow leopard purred indignantly, but the Duke pressed on.
“Is that the wretched beast that led you to the Saint’s descent site?”
“…Yes.”
“Then why keep it?”
Meooow—mmpf! (Because I—mmph!)
Elysia quickly clamped her hand over the snow leopard’s mouth.
“Because I actually owe it a debt.”
It had led her to the fireflies, which in turn led her to the Saint’s descent site, allowing her to complete her quest. But she couldn’t exactly explain all that to the Duke—so she dressed it up.
“Thanks to this cat, we were able to find the Saint in time and rescue her. She even took a liking to me—so much that she said she wanted to stay with the Sempérion family instead of the temple.”
“What?”
“Of course I refused… but still, it shows how well she thought of me.”
Howell added,
“It’s true. The Saint really seemed to think of her as a benefactor.”
The Saint had spurned the imperial palace, the Mage Tower, and even the temple in favor of staying with Elysia. Apparently, Howell had been surprised by that too.
Encouraged, Elysia pressed on.
“Isn’t it a good thing to earn the Saint’s goodwill? Everything turned out fine in the end…”
“Who asked you to do something like that?”
Her words were cut off by his cold voice. His expression was razor-sharp.
“Elysia. No one ever expected you to do that. No one told you to save the Saint.”
“But…”
“Why were you catching fireflies in the first place?”
“…”
Elysia kept her mouth shut, trying to think of an answer—but Howell was quicker.
“She said she wanted to make money.”
“What?”
“Maybe she followed the cat because it looked valuable, too.”
‘Why would you say that out loud?!’
Elysia couldn’t stop him in time. The Duke’s face darkened further.
“Hah… Do you even know the value of the jewels you wear? And you still chase after useless greed?”
“That’s not…”
If she told him it would barely be worth pocket change in cash, that wouldn’t help. She rolled her eyes helplessly, and he pressed again,
“How long are you going to live in such vanity?”
“I wasn’t trying to buy jewels!”
Her voice shook. She was tired of hearing this. A sudden urge to just be honest—disappointment be damned—rose up in her.
Meeting his eyes directly, she said,
“I was trying to do something that would help you, Father.”
“Help? I don’t need that. And if you were thinking of buying me a gift—”
She could already predict he’d follow with “I don’t need that either.”
Elysia let out a bitter laugh.
“…Right. You don’t need anything from me.”
Then she spoke calmly.
“So I’ll just leave.”
“What?”
“Ely, are you insane?”
Ignoring Howell’s alarm, Elysia continued without hesitation.
“If I go somewhere so far away that you never hear from me again, that would definitely help you, wouldn’t it? That’s why I wanted to save up money.”
One trillion gold, to be exact. With that, she could cross dimensions and disappear for good. She swallowed those words and raised her head. She could see the Duke’s still-dark expression—and his trembling eyes.
Ding!
The Duke’s Disappointment has increased!
‘Ah. I’ve done it now.’
