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Chapter: 30
Not the Demon Cult Leader, but the Baby Head of the House –
Startled, Ariel reached out toward Denian.
It looked like she was trying to use her healing ability in a hurry.
But Karina quickly grabbed Ariel’s wrist.
Ariel looked at Karina with wide, confused eyes.
“Let me go! I have to heal Denian!”
“If you touch Denian now, his energy channels will twist. He could die instantly or half his body could freeze and be crippled.”
Ariel’s eyes filled with fear as Karina spoke so sharply.
“Th-then what should I do?”
“We can only watch.”
“You mean… we just have to watch him?”
Turning her head, Ariel saw Denian suddenly cough up blood again.
Blood dripped from under his chin and soaked the front of his clothes, then froze instantly from the cold radiating from his body.
“What if something really goes wrong?”
Ariel’s worried voice drew a calm, cold reply from Karina:
“Denian chose this himself.”
Ariel clamped her mouth shut. She sat beside Denian and silently waited, hoping he would open his eyes.
Crack… crack…
Frost began forming over Denian’s skin. Ariel shrank back, startled.
“You’re really saying we just have to watch?”
“Yes.”
If this continued, Denian would freeze alive—an ice statue of himself.
But now that he had begun circulating energy, no one could stop him.
Watching him, Karina wondered if she had overestimated Denian. His eyes reflected a poisonous determination, reminding her of herself in the past.
A child his age, in a similar situation, with the same burning determination.
Perhaps he really could do it.
Suddenly, blood ran from under Denian’s chin.
Perhaps this is the limit of your fate.
But since you chose this path, do your best, Denian.
If you survive…
Then I will take responsibility and teach you properly.
Unlike Ariel, who clasped her hands in prayer, Karina stared at Denian with a cold, emotionless expression.
Denian opened his eyes a full day and a half later.
The other children, confused by the frost radiating from him, tried to approach, but Karina blocked them, saying he seemed to be awakening a new ability.
At the final moment, Denian floated a hand’s width above the ground, glowing with a blue light as he suddenly opened his eyes.
At the same time, a bone-chilling cold burst explosively around him.
Karina blocked the cold instinctively and clicked her tongue, looking at Denian:
“I’ll have to teach you how to control your energy first.”
“Denian!”
As soon as he came to, Ariel ran to him.
Denian looked at Ariel in a daze.
“Uh… but your eyes…”
Denian’s original gray-brown eyes now glowed with a blue energy.
Karina had expected this. The more cold energy he stored in his core, the bluer his eyes would become. It was similar to the energy accumulation seen in the warriors of the Northern Ice Palace.
Denian looked at his own hands, fascinated, sensing the unusual cold flowing below his navel through his energy channels.
“Once you get used to it, it will help you grow stronger.”
Only then did Denian look at Karina. His eyes reflected gratitude, admiration, and respect.
“Remember to do well in the friendly match. If you lose to Ludovico and his team, I won’t forgive you.”
Of course, this was only the beginning. Karina had much more to teach.
Denian grinned at her, his face streaked with blood. Karina frowned:
“First, you should wash up.”
After sending Denian and Ariel to their quarters, Karina lay in the garden staring blankly at the sky.
The sun was slowly setting, painting the sky orange. It looked the same as the skies in the Central Plains where she had lived.
Watching the sun, Karina pondered: Is this really the right thing to do?
Teaching martial arts to the people of this world… What consequences might it bring? She still couldn’t tell.
She shook her head impatiently.
“Eh, if everyone benefits, that’s enough.”
Training Denian and Ariel would strengthen them—and that was also advantageous to her.
It would help not just in friendly matches but in the long term.
If, hypothetically, Denian and Ariel passed all the tests and were adopted into the Duke’s house, she would gain strong allies in the dangerous Batios Ducal Mansion.
It meant more options for her to use strategically.
Hmm… maybe I should teach the others too?
Isaac was fine alone. No need.
Even if taught, some wouldn’t follow instructions faithfully.
Isabella wasn’t as trustworthy as Denian or Ariel yet.
Albin… hmm… better think about it.
While Karina calculated quietly, she felt someone watching her.
She had sensed this gaze since she began teaching Denian and Ariel. Calmly, she turned her head.
A gray-furred dog, who had come from Count Frederick’s estate, stared at her with glowing blue eyes.
“Are you really going to stay here?”
The dog only stared silently, as if judging her.
“What do you know to be looking at me like that?”
Karina spoke coldly, and the dog growled.
“Surely you dislike me… so why are you snooping around?”
The dog growled again.
“Fine, fine. I don’t like you either.”
At that moment, footsteps approached the garden. The dog noticed and tensed.
Looking up, Karina saw a man approaching in the uniform of the Ludovico Knights.
It was the captain who closely followed Duke Ludovico.
The captain saw Karina and smiled politely:
“Ah, looks like you wandered around the mansion and ended up here.”
“Little one, are you an adopted child of the Batios Ducal House?”
“Am I?”
The captain glanced at the dog beside her. The dog was unusually wary.
“Where did you get that dog?”
Karina replied bluntly:
“Why do you want to know?”
The captain knelt slightly to meet her eye level and smiled kindly:
“Did you happen to get it from Count Frederick’s estate?”
Karina frowned, then glanced at the dog. The dog looked anxious, suspicious of him.
Karina leaned back her hands behind her head, relaxed, and said:
“Nope. I bought it at the market for a penny.”
The captain was momentarily speechless.
