🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 13
Little by little, consciousness returned, and the first thing Winter detected was her own body, heavy as if submerged in deep water.
Even though she was clearly lying still, her head felt like it was spinning.
“Ugh……”
A groan escaped her involuntarily from the nauseous feeling in her stomach.
Her mouth was completely bitter, as if she’d been force-fed medicine while unconscious.
“You awake?”
A grumpy voice came from the darkness.
As she groggily opened her eyes, a pair of cold ice-blue eyes came into her blurry vision. It was Aicel.
“Ah… M-Mage…?”
Looking at Winter, who parted her parched lips, Aicel clicked her tongue briefly before getting up.
After pouring lukewarm water into a cup, Aicel carefully trickled it into Winter’s mouth.
Despite her utterly cold expression, her hands were remarkably delicate, and Winter found herself letting out an involuntary laugh.
At that, Aicel frowned and spoke.
“You wake up after three days, and you’re laughing, you wretched little foal.”
Winter was startled at the mention of three days.
She had assumed it would be, at most, half a day.
“Usually, when I take the medicine you gave me, ahem, I was fine before…”
Winter said, clearing her throat to cover her hoarse voice.
Aicel shook her head and replied with a sigh.
“That medicine is merely a temporary measure to stabilize magic power. Do you think it can actually work properly when you’re stuck all day with an unstable mass of magic?”
Winter clamped her mouth shut.
She had realized the cause of this magic outbreak from Aicel’s words.
An unstable mass of magic. That must have meant Maidelion.
“Well, I suppose. How could you have known that?”
At Aicel’s lamenting sigh, Winter averted her gaze slightly.
Contrary to Aicel’s expectations, Winter did know.
She knew that the waves of someone newly awakening their magic would have a rather negative effect on her.
And she also knew that Maidelion was scheduled to awaken his magic.
But in the novel, it was only mentioned as being somewhat dangerous, so Winter had simply thought, “Oh, is that so?”
She never dreamed in her wildest imagination that she’d end up this sick.
“Winter!”
It was Duke Vladimír who broke the awkward silence.
Having rushed over upon hearing that Winter had woken up, the Duke grabbed Winter and pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Winter, my baby! You’re all right now, aren’t you? Right?”
“Yes, of course. I’m perfectly fine.”
Winter answered with deliberate cheerfulness.
She had seen the Duke’s face become as rough as if she hadn’t slept properly for even a single night while Winter was unconscious.
“Good, that’s all that matters. That’s all that matters.”
The Duke mumbled repeatedly in a voice trembling as she tried hard to hold back tears.
After blinking a few times, she quickly returned to her composed ducal face.
Then she smiled with utmost affection.
“I should tell my daughter, who’s just woken up, some good news first, shouldn’t I?”
“What news?”
Could it be news about Maidelion?
Actually, Winter had been feeling uneasy since earlier because she hadn’t seen Maidelion.
Seeing Winter brighten up, the Duke smiled contentedly and said.
“About that ruffian who dared to climb over the ducal walls to kidnap you. That fellow is currently in the underground prison.”
“…Pardon?”
But the news that came back was completely unexpected.
Underground prison all of a sudden? A ruffian?
At least the mention of climbing over the walls gave her a big hint.
“I kept him untouched, not laying a single finger on him, to give him to you as a gift when you woke up.”
“Don’t tell me it’s Hanta…?”
“Oh, yes. I believe that was the name.”
Hearing that Hanta had been detained in the underground prison, Winter pressed her forehead.
Completely unaware of what her daughter was thinking, the Duke whispered excitedly.
“You can cut off whatever you want, whether it’s his wrists or ankles. You like that sort of thing, don’t you? Hehe.”
“…Please don’t laugh like a villain, Mother.”
Winter, echoing back exactly what Naila used to say to her sometimes, let out a deep sigh.
“It’s good that you didn’t lay a single finger on him.”
“Right? Your mother kept him entirely for your share…”
“No. I’m not cutting off any wrists or ankles. That person is Uncle Mei.”
“…What?”
The Duke, who had been excited at the thought of giving her daughter a special gift, suddenly crumpled her face.
Uncle Mei all of a sudden? What is she talking about?
“First, I need to go see what condition that man is in.”
Winter fidgeted and tried to raise herself from the bed.
But before she could even get halfway up, she wobbled and fell right back down.
The Duke supported her noticeably thin daughter. Then she called one of the knights who had been prostrating at the door.
“Sir Hanger.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Please assist Winter.”
Eustace, who had entered the room, gently lifted Winter up.
In the meantime, as the dizziness subsided a little, Winter pouted her lips and called out to Eustace.
“Sir Hanger.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Being carried like a princess is a little embarrassing.”
“Is that so?”
But this wicked knight just smiled brightly and didn’t change his posture at all.
Knowing he was clearly teasing her, Winter smacked Eustace’s shoulder with a thud.
It was, after all, just the strength of a child. Eustace looked as unperturbed as if a mosquito had bitten him.
Letting out a deep sigh at the ineffective act of violence, Winter spoke again.
“…Just give me a piggyback ride.”
“Yes, as you command.”
Winter got her wish and was carried on Eustace’s back to the underground prison.
As they descended the dark staircase, they saw walls flickering with torchlight.
It was a space filled with an unknown dampness, slipperiness, and a somewhat fishy, dank smell, but true to the bloodline of Vladimír and its vassals, neither Winter nor Eustace showed the slightest change in expression.
“Here we are, my lady.”
Eustace stopped in front of the innermost cell.
Peering inside, Winter smirked and opened her mouth.
“What’s this? Is the underground prison just your natural habitat or something?”
She had resolved to gleefully mock Hanta’s pitiful state, having not eaten, washed, or slept properly for three days, but unexpectedly, Hanta looked perfectly fine.
Winter secretly thought that was a relief.
“Huh? That voice is…”
At the sudden sound of a child’s voice echoing in the prison, Hanta, who had been leaning against the wall looking bored, widened his eyes.
Eustace slightly turned his body, revealing Winter hanging on his back.
Their eyes met, and Winter grinned, raising one hand in greeting.
“Hi, Uncle.”
“Oh, little one! Are you all better now?”
Hanta sprang up from his spot and grabbed the bars, shouting.
At that, Eustace frowned and warned sternly.
“Do not act rashly in front of the young lady.”
“Huh? Ah, young lady?”
Still not understanding the situation, Hanta just blinked innocently.
Seeing that, Winter let out a deep sigh.
How on earth does this adult plan to survive in this harsh world?
“I am the young lady.”
“Yo, you, little one…?”
“Yeah. I’m the precious young lady of this house.”
At the sly, evil smile, Hanta was shocked.
No wonder she treated the Prince like a neighborhood puppy—she was the heir of House Vladimír?
Thinking about it that way, everything seemed to make sense.
Her habit of speaking informally to everyone, her strangely cocky attitude—things like that.
Of course, it wasn’t because Winter was the ducal heir. She was just born that way.
“So that’s why the knights suddenly rushed in, ugh.”
Finally understanding everything, Hanta nodded to himself.
Honestly, the fact that he hadn’t realized it even up to this point was more shocking to Winter.
Just how oblivious can he be? She knew he’d never had a deep thought in his life and lived like a beast by instinct, but she never imagined it was this severe.
It was a moment of mutual shock.
“Honestly, I was surprised you came quietly.”
Winter, who had been clicking her tongue at Hanta’s utter lack of awareness, suddenly said.
Hanta was a giant, two heads taller than the average person.
His physical condition was unfairly superior from birth, and he possessed martial skills that matched his physique.
A man who ranked at the top in martial prowess even within the secret guard Arca, he had obediently gone to the underground prison without resisting the ducal knights even once.
Whatever his intentions, it was a great relief for the ducal knights.
“I couldn’t go wild with my precious prince… no, little one around.”
Hanta said with a grin.
Even in this situation, his face showed no thought of how Winter knew about his martial prowess.
Watching him, Winter inwardly clicked her tongue and then pointed to Eustace, who had been carrying her all along.
“By the way, you two should greet each other. This is Sir Eustace Hanger. He’s Mei’s swordsmanship teacher.”
“Huh?”
It was a sudden introduction.
Hanta looked at Winter with a blank face, as if asking why she was telling him that.
Winter widened her already large eyes and emphasized clearly.
“Sir Hanger, this is Uncle Hanta. He’s Mei’s uncle.”
Eustace, who never imagined he’d end up having a parent-teacher meeting across prison bars in the underground dungeon, let out a low sigh.
Meanwhile, Hanta pointed at himself and was repeatedly confirming the situation he’d been given.
‘Me? I’m an uncle? I’m the Prince… no, the little one’s uncle?’
Reading his mouth movements, Winter nodded vigorously.
Of course, Hanta would find this utterly surprising. After all, Winter had just decided that about 30 minutes ago.
But true to Hanta’s nature of not having deep thoughts, he quickly accepted the situation.
Hanta brought his thick, bear-paw-like hand to his cheek and smiled somewhat shyly.
‘I’m… an uncle?’
It seemed like a flowery background was brilliantly unfolding behind him.
At the sight that was practically eye-rotting, both Winter and Eustace, who had no idea what was going on, twisted their expressions.
“Nice to meet you. You are… Mei’s uncle?”
Eustace, still sounding unconvinced, was the first to offer a greeting.
Hanta bowed his head deeply and scratched the back of his head as he replied.
“Oh, yes! I am our Prince… I mean, Sir Mei’s uncle! Haha! You know, this is my first time being an uncle, so I’m truly honored! Please take good care of our Sir Mei, hahaha!”
The childish uncle’s laughter echoed loudly through the underground prison.
