IJEBPSCLB 50

Chapter 50

“…Excuse me, but isn’t this the Cadelion mansion?”

She gave a faint smile.

“It is.”

“Then what do you mean you’re sending me to the mansion…?”

Didn’t that mean the training wasn’t over?

I stared at her, waiting for a different response.

This clearly needed an explanation.

But she only kept that subtle smile on her lips.

No matter how long I waited, the answer I wanted—like “I’ll send you to your room” or “today’s training ends here”—never came.

‘…Don’t tell me she really intended to train me all day…?’

As that suspicion turned into certainty, my face gradually turned pale.

Without saying anything, she placed a new dagger into my hand.

“You can do it.”

I can’t.

I’m not a tiger.

I shot Louise a resentful look for asking the impossible, but she showed no sign of changing her mind.

‘Still… it’s just three throws. Maybe I should try.’

I took a proper stance and hurled the dagger Louise had given me with all my strength.

‘Please, just hit the center of the target.’

I watched its trajectory desperately, hoping it would fly straight.

‘Please.’

At first, the dagger soared through the air.

“Oh… it might actually—”

Then it suddenly dropped straight down.

‘…Nope.’

It didn’t even make it two-thirds of the way before plunging into the ground.

I stared blankly at the dagger stuck in the dirt, its silver blade glinting in the sunlight.

‘Why does it always fail when it matters most?’

Damn Murphy’s Law.

Sighing, I trudged over, grabbed the dagger, and pulled it out of the ground.

It came out like pulling a radish.

Anyone who’s tried knows—pulling out a radish is harder than it looks.

In other words, pulling a dagger out of the ground is really hard.

After struggling to yank it free, I sat down in the training yard and stared ahead emptily.

The sky had begun to tint a pale orange. The sun, hiding behind the horizon, painted the surroundings in a reddish glow as it slowly slipped behind the clouds.

I sat still, blankly watching the scene.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Then I heard an irritating applause.

I didn’t even bother turning my head. I already knew who it was.

“As expected, your dagger throwing is quite… artistic, Ariel.”

He continued, eyes curving in amusement.

“That level of skill to land the dagger exactly where you want it. Guess black cats really are something special.”

What is he even talking about?

“I’ll give you 11 out of 10. 10 for artistry, 1 for technique. How’s that?”

My eyes narrowed into triangles at his obvious teasing.

‘Then you try it!’

Do you even know how hard throwing a dagger is?

Does he understand how it feels to watch a dagger fly like it has a will of its own?

Especially when your freedom depends on it?

I want to lie down in bed too.

“Then why don’t you try?”

Ian casually picked up a dagger lying next to me and tossed it forward.

No—“tossed” wasn’t even the right word. It was more like he simply let it fall from his hand.

Thud.

With a sharp sound, the dagger embedded perfectly into the center of the target.

‘Ah. Right. That’s Ian Cadelion.’

The novel’s male lead—handsome by default and good at everything.

‘So a protagonist really is a protagonist.’

And I’m just passing Extra No. 1.

Maybe because I’ve gotten closer to him lately, I keep forgetting he’s the main character of a story.

I stared at him blankly again, reminded of a truth I’d rather forget.

I was a fool to trust him.

Shaking my head, I turned forward again.

Seriously. They say there’s no one you can trust in this world—and it’s true.

‘Louise throws daggers like she’s tossing a pencil and hits dead center, and he’s the same.’

No—those siblings are geniuses.

The crushing sense of inferiority hit me again.

Then again, being a male lead isn’t exactly an easy job. If anything, it’s extreme labor.

You need a handsome face, a good body, and outstanding ability…

Only when you have all of that can you play the role.

I glanced at Ian.

‘…What if I imagine that target is his face?’

Ian kept smiling at me, tilting his head arrogantly when our eyes met.

‘What are you laughing at? Think this is funny?’

Annoyed, I turned back to the target.

They say if you imagine hitting someone you want to hit, you do better.

Maybe throwing works the same way.

I can’t actually hit him, so I’ll at least do it in my imagination.

Thinking about everything he’d put me through…

Memories surfaced—him bringing mice, fish, making me punch him…

My grip tightened around the dagger.

‘Right at Ian’s head…!’

The dagger flew faster than before.

‘…Was I holding that much resentment?’

I watched it again, surprised.

Thwack.

“Oh. Bullseye. Well done.”

Louise patted my head. Her soft touch brushed my hair, but it didn’t give me the warmth I always felt from Ian.

For some reason, that made me a little disappointed.

And thinking that all this suffering was because of him didn’t exactly improve my mood.

Looking at the target, the dagger I threw was stuck right in the center.

How did that even happen?

‘Hmm… I guess I had more resentment toward Ian than I realized.’

I silently thanked him and looked away, ignoring the slight guilt creeping in.

‘No. He’s always bullied me.’

Straightening my back, I walked confidently up to Ian.

“Well? You saw that, right?”

I wore a proud smile.

Ian picked up another dagger and threw it again.

It shot forward in a straight line at high speed.

The corner of his lips curled smugly.

‘This unfair life…’

Ariel’s expression quickly soured, like a caterpillar chewing on a rotten leaf.

The face of someone confronting harsh reality.

“Hey. Don’t follow me.”

I turned away from Ian and strode into my room.

‘I’m going to wash up and sleep.’

My body felt drenched in sweat, like I’d been soaked in sticky syrup.

My steps quickened toward my room.

Watching Ariel disappear in hurried steps, Louise lightly patted Ian’s shoulder and left with an elegant smile.

“Do your best, little brother.”

Ian simply smiled and brushed off his shoulder.

***

The sound of pages flipping echoed quietly in the office.

Louise sat upright, working quickly through her documents.

“Lady Louise.”

“What?”

Her pen stopped, and her indifferent brown eyes turned toward him—different from how she looked at Ariel.

“This may be presumptuous, but may I ask one question?”

“If it’s presumptuous, shouldn’t you not ask it, Lis Demont?”

“…My apologies.”

Louise picked up a stack of documents and lifted her pen.

“I’ll allow it this once.”

“Why don’t you investigate Lady Ariel’s outings?”

Lis Demont was genuinely curious.

Louise always thoroughly investigated and prepared for everything others did.

So why, this time, was she not looking into Ariel at all?

“I don’t understand.”

“Understand what?”

Louise asked as if the question itself was strange.

“You usually investigate everything—where they go, what they do…”

“That’s when it’s necessary. Or when they’re enemies.”

“Ariel doesn’t require that.”

That… made sense.

Even if she tried to kill someone, Ariel looked like she’d tremble the entire time.

Could she even kill a single shapeshifter?

‘Probably not.’

She couldn’t.

Louise smirked as she signed a document.

“You’re right. She looks like she’d barely manage to kill even one.”

Lis Demont paused, then nodded in strange agreement.

After all, they were warriors strong enough to serve as vice-captains in the Cadelion knights.

They had fought alongside their lord on the battlefield, surviving life and death.

Naturally, they were powerful.

So someone who couldn’t kill even one shapeshifter was incredibly weak by their standards.

Ink spread darkly across the paper.

Frowning slightly, Lis crumpled the sheet and tossed it behind him.

It landed perfectly in the trash bin.

Louise pictured Ariel wandering around outside, curiously poking into things.

She let out a small laugh.

“How adorable.”

Could a little kitten who couldn’t even kill one shapeshifter really accomplish anything significant?

Or become a threat to Cadelion?

Louise smirked again as she continued her work.