🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 16
That night, Dania returned right away with the herbs.
After tending to Hider all day, I came back to the room to find Dania snoring away in her sleep. When I woke her up, she clung to me, insisting we trim the herbs together, so here we were, heads close, working side by side.
With a face like an excited student at a retreat, Dania chattered away.
“You know, I always knew you were really smart. That’s why the Duchess asked you to keep an eye on Hider.”
“She did.”
“But I didn’t know you’d be so brilliant at making money too! Thanks, Lani. I’ll treat you to something big later. As you know, I’m the head of my household. My mom’s sick, and my younger siblings are still kids.”
Ugh, TMI. That was more than I ever wanted to know. I tried to let it go in one ear and out the other, but Dania kept talking.
“I mean, it’s not like I have a knack for making money or anything. In the end, I had to do whatever the Duchess ordered.”
“Mm-hmm, right.”
“But thanks to you, I learned a new way. Let’s be closer from now on, Lani.”
Dania beamed at me brightly. Of course, I was about to reject her. Honestly, no matter how things looked now, Dania was still the Duchess’s pawn. Even if her betrayal points had dropped to 2, she could flip sides at any moment.
But right at that moment—
[Would you like to purchase your supporter’s proficiency?
Y/N?]
What?
Glancing quickly at Dania, I read the status window carefully. So basically, I could pay her and buy her proficiency?
Seriously, if something like this existed, why wasn’t I told earlier?! The system really had a knack for pushing my buttons.
Things were already so uncertain!
But yes, fortune favors those who work hard! I pressed “Yes” immediately.
“Great, Dania. I’m happy to have found such a good friend. Let’s keep being close. We’ll trim herbs together and all that.”
It was a level of turnaround worthy of Udyr himself.
Yesterday’s enemy is today’s ally.
I grinned, watching my proficiency double.
Dania claimed she wasn’t smart, but she was actually pretty capable. Steady and hardworking. That’s how she’d ended up as the Duchess’s pawn, after all.
Sure, our profit margin would shrink a little, but that didn’t matter. Really, it didn’t matter at all.
While I was enjoying this bonding moment with Dania, a message popped up on the system screen:
[Dania
Betrayal Points: 0
Dania now considers you a friend.
Her proficiency will now double.]
I jumped up without realizing it. If I had even a bit less self-control, I would’ve screamed.
That means my proficiency would be quadrupled now!
Dania really was a good friend!
I couldn’t help but dance with joy.
Meanwhile, Karte had managed to persuade the Duchess to let him skip morning training. For days, he didn’t even go near the training grounds. Without Taybern’s fierce supervision, life felt survivable again.
Sornia had also taken to either hanging out at her friend’s place or locking herself in her room every day. That damn old hag.
Muttering a few curses he’d learned from Kiera, Karte quietly approached the training ground.
He had no real desire to train—he just wanted to see how things were progressing. According to the servants, Hider had been continuing his training.
‘That filthy half-blood…’
Karte gritted his teeth. Without Taybern, someone like Hider was nothing. Big body or not, he was just a stupid oaf who couldn’t even throw a proper punch.
Today, he’d finally teach him a lesson.
Karte hid and waited for Taybern to leave. His legs were falling asleep by the time the man finally exited the training ground.
Just like the servants had said—Taybern would leave first, and Hider would leave much later.
Once Taybern’s figure disappeared completely, Karte snuck into the training ground.
He was cautious—getting caught by Taybern again would mean more brutal training.
“Hey, you mutt!”
Once inside, his confidence returned. Standing tall and puffing out his chest, Karte called out to Hider. But when Hider turned to face him, his cold expression made Karte flinch.
The truth was, Hider was quite a bit larger than his peers. Karte, being on the smaller side, couldn’t help but shrink back.
‘No, he’s just a water-armed weakling!’
Shaking his head, Karte forced himself to regain courage and approached Hider with a wooden sword in hand.
Hider stared at him with a calm, frigid gaze.
“You picked the wrong day! I’ll show you how to show proper respect from now on!”
Karte raised the sword. Hider stared at the slow, floating movement. It was so sluggish he could’ve deflected it with one finger.
But instead of dodging, Hider envisioned all the consequences that could follow.
Beating Karte would be easy.
But that would only make the Duchess torment him even more. Taybern was destined to return to the North eventually.
“If you endure, I’ll come to you, young master.”
He remembered Lani’s words before he was humiliated by the Duchess. There were times when you had to endure, even when it was unfair. And now was one of those moments. Hider relaxed his body.
If he returned injured, Lani would be upset. But there was no other choice now.
So Hider deliberately took the blow and rolled to the ground. Curling up tightly, he braced for the beating to follow.
But no pain came.
Hider looked up.
It was Lani.
Lani was gripping Karte’s wooden sword. Hider’s eyes widened. She had really come.
Karte was trembling, his face red.
“W-Who are you?! Who dares to stop my sword?! Reveal yourself!!”
He shouted, frantically scanning the area.
‘He can’t see her.’
Hider swallowed hard. Lani grinned and yanked the sword from Karte’s grip.
From Karte’s perspective, the sword was floating in mid-air.
“A g-ghost…?”
Then Lani began swinging the sword with dazzling skill. Of course—it was Lani. Her swordsmanship terrified Karte, whose face turned increasingly pale.
“Eek! Aaaaah!!”
Karte bolted like a scared rabbit. Sweet, sweet victory.
“Whew. Are you okay, young master?”
Lani smiled and reached out a hand. When Hider took it and stood up, she frowned slightly.
“Seriously, Karte is just like his mother. How can someone be that nasty? Right, young master?”
“Lani…”
His throat tightened. Once again, Lani had saved him. Every time he was alone—every time he bore pain in silence—she appeared. She was… radiant. Her smile was more precious than any gem.
Hider bit his lip.
“He won’t be showing up for a while now, I bet. Such a coward. You really went through a lot, young master.”
“…Thanks, Lani.”
Hider murmured softly. He didn’t know why, but he kept ending up with reasons to thank her.
Lani shook her head at his words.
“I had a hunch and followed you—good thing I did, right? You could’ve gotten hurt again. I was actually going to pick more plums, but then I saw Karte. That lazy brat being up this early? I knew something was up.”
“Plums?”
“Oh, I was just about to head back to the orchard… Um, do you want to come with me?”
Hider nodded. He had actually been curious about that orchard Lani kept sneaking off to.
“Sure.”
