TFYHS 10

Chapter 10

The place where Riersha received her lessons was where all the collateral lineage children residing in the main family estate were taught.

Unlike the ‘Tower of Truth,’ which exclusively educated the heirs, this was a facility akin to a comprehensive academy within the Arachne family.

“That girl. They say she’s a direct descendant but has fallen out of the Duke’s favor.”
“But why is Lord Karden teaching her personally?”
“I don’t know. I heard from my mother that her abilities are so pitiful she wasn’t even granted a surname.”

The children began to stare daggers at Riersha as she approached.

They were children who disapproved of the fact that Riersha, who hadn’t been formally recognized as the official heir, was receiving lessons from Karden.

While the children couldn’t openly harass Riersha, they whispered and gossiped without restraint.

‘What should I do?’

Riersha hesitated to pass through there.

To get back to the detached annex, she absolutely had to take that path, but she remembered a time when one of them had deliberately tripped her, pretending it was an accident.

‘…If Grandfather finds out I can’t adapt here, he’ll surely be disappointed.’

The Arachne family, which valued capable individuals highly, actively recruited from the collateral branches.

In other words, those children over there were the future leading figures who would steer the Arachne family.

She mustn’t cause trouble and embarrass Grandfather.

Riersha took a deep breath and walked forward, step by step.

The ringleader-like child, leaning against the wall, spoke loudly, as if wanting her to hear.

“No matter how much he is the Duke, giving such blatant special treatment is just unfair.”
“And she didn’t even properly inherit the bloodline. My hair color is probably closer to silver than hers.”

Loud mocking laughter erupted.
Soon, a force from an unknown source tripped her feet.
Even though she was being cautious, it seemed someone had used their ability.

“Ouch!”
“Wow, she can’t even avoid something this simple.”
“The difference is too stark compared to the direct lineage members, isn’t it? To think we have to serve someone like her later.”
“She’ll obviously be driven out sooner or later.”

Riersha bit her lip, stood up, and brushed off her dirtied clothes.

“Seeing she couldn’t even avoid something this simple, she probably can’t even handle mana properly, right?”
“What? Where else would you find such a dimwit?”

As the ringleader child set the tone, the others around began to jeer and chime in.

When Riersha tried to ignore them and pass through to the end, the ringleader child, perhaps feeling insulted, roughly grabbed and pulled Riersha’s hair.

“Ow, that hurts! Let go!”
“The rumor about her awakening her ability must be a lie too. Otherwise, why would she be here?”
“I said let go!”

“Hmph, I heard since you’re out of the Duke’s favor, you can’t say anything even if this happens, right?”

The child started shaking Riersha’s hair violently back and forth.

“And this is supposed to be an heir?”

The child’s final, dismissive remark made Riersha snap.

“I am the heir!”

Thump! Riersha shoved the child away, then looked at her own disheveled hair and sniffled.

“Nona styled my hair so prettily this morning…!”

The child, who had fallen to the floor from Riersha’s push, looked flustered.

“Y-you, you pushed me?! Do you even know who I am?!”

The child started shouting, the veins bulging in their neck.

“If you cause problems with our family, even the Duke will be embarrassed!”
“W-what’s that supposed to mean! You started it!”
“You…!”

The child scrambled up, reached out a hand, and rushed at her.
However, Riersha dodged a step faster.

The child stumbled forward, and a wound split open on their palm, starting to bleed.

“Uh, uh? Blood! Blood! Evil, are you okay?!”

The child named Evil’s face turned pale, and soon fat tears began to fall.

“Waaahhhhh! Daddy!!”

Riersha looked at Evil with a startled face.
She hadn’t expected that simply dodging would cause Evil to fall and get hurt.

“Y-you fell on your own!”
“Just you wait, I won’t let this slide! I’m going to tell my father everything about what happened today!!”

Riersha flinched.
Unlike Evil, Riersha had no one she could call a guardian.
If news that Riersha had caused trouble reached the Duke’s ears…

Riersha pointed at her own hair, sniffling.
“My hair is all messed up too! And you tripped me first, so I fell…!”
“What does that matter! I’m hurt because of you! You’re perfectly fine!”

Indeed, blood was pooling on Evil’s palm, but Riersha was unharmed.

“I’m going to request they convene the Academy Disciplinary Committee!”

The Disciplinary Committee was an institution convened when problems arose among the children at the academy.
And that was one of the things Riersha feared most.

“Someone like you will be kicked out right away!”

At the word ‘kicked out,’ Riersha turned pale.

“You’re in big trouble now. Evil’s father is Marquis Crender! Marquis Crender, one of the family elders!”
“Enough, do you think she would even understand? Let’s go. Before it gets noisy.”

Before more eyes gathered, the children swiftly disappeared.

Riersha was left alone, fiddling with her tangled hair.

“…I was hurt too.”

How many adults would actually believe her words, when she didn’t have a single scratch to show for it?

“If I go back like this, Nona will worry.”

Riersha undid the other side of her tangled hair too and hung her head low.

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Her eyes stung, but she quickly wiped them. Then she trudged off towards the detached annex.

If she was too late, Sona might come looking for her.

And something that had been secretly observing this entire scene vanished without a sound.

Western Border of the Declair Empire.

A man with silver hair and red eyes lifted the tent flap, entered, and roughly tore open a letter.

‘It seems you must hasten your return, Lord Fernoire.’
‘It appears the young lady may face some trouble.’

Fernoire, who had been leading the front lines at the western border for four years to fulfill his promise with Archmond, furrowed his brow.

Could it be that Archmond hadn’t kept his promise properly?
No, that probably wasn’t it.
Archmond was the type to definitely keep his word, at least when he gave it.
So it wasn’t the Duke’s affair…

“Has something else happened?”

If Fernoire had another concern, it was a problem related to Riersha herself.
He had no idea what tricks the sly members of the collateral branches surrounding Riersha were up to.
The child was currently the center of a commotion in the main family estate.

Born an Arachne, Riersha had not fully inherited the characteristic silver hair and red eyes, and as feared, her awakening was also very late.
They had to wait a full four years.
In fact, this awakening was close to a miracle.
As at birth, no mana could be sensed from her at all, so they had half given up.

Born with a weak constitution, she had managed to awaken, and then suffered the aftereffects for a full two days.
The stronger the ability, the longer the Arachne bloodline suffered from post-awakening aftereffects.
Because of this, the Arachne main estate had already been turned upside down by the news.
The youngest of the family, thought to be of no consequence, had not only miraculously awakened but also hinted at manifesting a powerful ability.

Fernoire had been quite surprised when he heard the news.
And precisely because of that, he had deliberately not hurried back.
It was to minimize the public attention focused on Riersha.
But…

As he read further, Fernoire let out a stifled, incredulous laugh.
A unique phrase caught his eye.

“‘Disciplinary Committee’?”

It was a combination of words he had never seen in all his life.

‘The Young Duke might even have to attend as a parent.’

Attending as a parent?
Him?

‘While the submitted documents might suggest otherwise, according to my verification, the victim is Young Lady Riersha.’

The hand holding the letter tightened. The letter crumpled uselessly with a rustling sound, turning to dust that fell away.

It was certain that everyone had lost their fear while he was away.
Otherwise, how could they dare…

‘Please, I beg you, come quickly. If the Young Duke arrives late, Sona might beat me to death.’

Fernoire read the final, earnest sentence and chuckled.
“It seems it’s time I returned now.”

He couldn’t afford to lose a competent subordinate.
It seemed the time had come to return to his original place.