TVNFL 10

Chapter 10………………………

Russell’s room in the novel had been described like this:

Near Russell’s room at the end of the right corridor on the third floor of the mansion, there was always a faint smell of chemicals and hazy smoke lingering in the air.
Because the servants tried not to disturb Russell’s work, very few of them passed through that area, and those who did always moved carefully.

…And it felt exactly like that.

As soon as I reached the third floor and headed right, the gradually strengthening smell of chemicals told me I had found the correct place.

“…It’s cleaner than I expected?”

I had imagined it would be gloomy and dim, with little sunlight because of the chemical smell, but that wasn’t the case at all. Instead, a neat and luxurious-looking door greeted me.

I took a short breath and stared at the door.

…If I wanted a mana stone, going to the mage was the fastest option. Besides, he also seemed easier to deal with than the Duke.

I raised my hand and knocked lightly. At the sound of knock knock, an irritable voice came from inside.

“Who is it?”

“Brother Russell. Do you have a moment?”

At the loud crash, I flinched instinctively and stepped back.

Sounds of things breaking and colliding followed, growing louder and louder.

“C-come in, Erina.”

The moment the door opened, I fell silent.

Putting aside Russell’s bewildered expression as he stared at me, the state of the room itself was a complete disaster.

A carpet stained with chemicals, shattered glass scattered chaotically across the floor, thick hardcover books tossed around carelessly… Looking at the desk, which was in no better condition than the floor, words slipped out before I could stop them.

“…Brother, are you okay?”

“Ah, y-yes! I’m fine. Erina, just a moment.”

Russell snapped his fingers.

Immediately, the books lying on the floor floated into the air, while the shards of glass neatly gathered themselves into one corner.

Even the overpowering chemical smell began fading quickly as the windows opened at the same time.

After roughly tidying the room, Russell finally seemed to realize how disheveled he looked. He awkwardly smoothed down his clothes with his hands before gesturing toward me.

“Ahem. Come inside, Erina.”

My heart fluttered slightly at seeing magic happen right before my eyes, but I kept a calm expression and walked in.

When people think of a wizard’s room, certain images usually come to mind: a dim interior with little sunlight, thick hardcover books overflowing from shelves and piled across the floor, shelves lined with mysterious potions and strange ingredients in glass bottles.

But Russell’s room was far from that image.

Sunlight streamed through wide windows, brightly illuminating the room, and aside from the mess from earlier, everything was tidy and luxurious.

Of course, there were still bookshelves packed wall-to-wall with books and shelves filled with ingredients.

‘Maybe because he’s the son of a ducal family, he doesn’t fit the typical image of a wizard?’

Or maybe Russell himself was just unusual.

With that small curiosity in mind, I sat down on the sofa nearby.

Russell pulled the bell cord to summon a servant and ordered tea, all while wearing a dazed expression, as though he still couldn’t believe I was sitting in front of him.

“What brings you here, Erina? Do you need my help with something?”

I could see a faint glimmer of expectation in his eyes as he asked.

Since I had no intention of disappointing that expectation, I nodded lightly.

“I was wondering if you had any mana stones.”

“Mana stones?”

Russell tilted his head before suddenly making an “ah” expression. Then he hurriedly lowered his head.

“S-sorry! I just realized I left without explaining how to hatch the Lindworm egg…!”

Seeing Russell flustered like this felt incredibly unfamiliar.

No, in the original story he’d been a prickly tsundere, not this clumsy fool.

‘This is refreshing.’

If it weren’t for the out-of-character behavior, I probably would’ve enjoyed this situation more openly.

A small laugh escaped me without realizing it, and Russell’s face turned so red it looked like it might burst into flames.

He rubbed one hand over his face, clearly trying hard to calm himself down while I quietly lifted my teacup.

Still, when someone that handsome acts like this, it’s entertaining to watch.

“Ahem! D-did Father tell you how to hatch it, Erina?”

“Yes. He said I’d need mana stones…”

“There are plenty of mana stones strong enough to hatch a Lindworm.”

As he spoke, Russell quickly walked over to a cabinet containing materials and brought back a small wooden box.

“These are mana stones. To hatch a Lindworm egg… three should be enough.”

“These are mana stones?”

No matter how I looked at them, they just looked like ordinary rocks.

As I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, Russell laughed softly.

“Unprocessed mana stones really aren’t much different from stones. But you don’t need refined ones to hatch a Lindworm. Wild Lindworms don’t process mana stones either.”

As he said that, Russell selected the three largest mana stones from the box and placed them on the table.

“Wait here a moment. I have a book that organizes information about Lindworms. It should help.”

With that, Russell stood up again.

“Wait a moment, Brother.”

I stopped him.

Russell flinched and turned his gaze away.

“…What is it, Erina?”

Seeing him subtly avoid eye contact made me certain.

‘Wow. Russell feels uncomfortable around Erina?’

Wasn’t it the complete opposite in the original story? Honestly, seeing this side of him was almost fascinating. I really had shattered the canon, hadn’t I?

I barely suppressed the laugh threatening to escape—whether from disbelief or absurdity, I couldn’t tell.

Instead, I quietly asked:

“…Brother. Something really is going on, isn’t it?”

I’ve basically figured it out already, so if you’d just tell me honestly, it would save me a lot of trouble. Seriously, can’t you just spit it out?

I looked at Russell with that earnest plea in my eyes, but he silently searched through the bookshelf and pulled out a book.

“Is it really that strange, the way I’m acting?”

“…It’s not just you. Everyone’s acting strange.”

At those words, Russell placed the book beside the mana stones and fell silent.

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

“It’s just… I regret the things I’ve done until now. I feel like I treated you badly, so I thought maybe I should start treating you better from now on…”

“There’s no way that’s true.”

I shook my head firmly.

You expect me to believe that nonsense? If you wanted to treat her well, you should’ve done it sooner. None of you even looked sad after Erina died in the original story.

…Of course, considering how much these people had gone off-script, maybe the original setting had changed too. But even so, what they’d done up until now hadn’t changed. If they really had changed, he wouldn’t be making that “male lead full of regret” expression.

“I was young and immature. I was always someone who disappointed you, Brother Russell. There’s no way you or the others did anything wrong.”

“…Erina.”

“It was all my fault. I shouldn’t have thrown tantrums, but I did. I was clumsy with etiquette. And when I got bored, I would go bother you while you were concentrating on your magic studies.”

Because of that, I remembered very clearly what happened to Erina in the original story.

Russell had gotten annoyed and absentmindedly shoved her away with a swing of his arm. She’d fallen into the desk and ended up bedridden for days.

And as soon as she recovered, Gawain scolded her.

Saying that even if she was a child, she was still a duke’s daughter, and she’d brought it on herself by acting too spoiled.

Much later—months later, in fact—it was briefly mentioned that Gawain had also reprimanded Russell.

Erina had been portrayed in surprisingly great detail for a villainess, which made those episodes all the more immersive.

‘And thanks to that, I can use it against them now.’

If someone wanted to understand them, they probably could. Russell and Gawain had only been children themselves compared to Erina.

But my current situation didn’t allow me to be that generous.

‘Finding out why these idiots suddenly broke character comes first.’

So I looked calmly at Russell’s wounded expression.

His red eyes—so much like the Duke’s—wavered and darkened, but I drove the final nail in anyway.

“Father and my brothers never did anything wrong, so apologizing feels strange. That’s why… ever since a few days ago, it’s been hard for me to accept. The way you keep apologizing to me and saying you were wrong.”

After adding that it felt like everyone was wearing clothes that didn’t fit, I fell silent.

…That was all I had to say.

Now all that remained was waiting for Russell to speak.

His eyes looked so full of regret and hurt that he resembled the protagonist of a regret story.

…Seriously, I don’t care about any of that, so could he just stop dropping vague hints already?

The Duke’s excuse had sounded far too convincing.

I couldn’t exactly tell a man who claimed he realized his daughter was his late wife’s precious treasure during the funeral, “That sounds suspicious!”

‘If you know the original story it’s obviously bullshit, but Erina isn’t in a position where she can say that.’

So among the two men who clearly felt incredibly guilty toward Erina, Russell was the easier target.

Come on, Russell. Take the hint and just tell me already.

At this rate, trying to figure out why everyone’s acting out of character is going to make me tear my hair out and go bald!