§ Chapter 9 §
Munch, munch. After only drinking milk, the dry, crumbly texture of the cookie felt a bit overwhelming, but it was tasty.
“Munch, munch.”
I swallowed a cookie in an instant, and Ulric looked down at me in utter disbelief.
“You! I said spit it out!”
He still seemed convinced that the cookie was poisoned.
“Dietrich probably gave me that cookie! What if you eat it? You’d die!”
‘No, Dietrich has never given me a cookie…’
I watched Ulric’s panicked fussing with detached amusement. His skin, already pale, seemed almost bloodless from the shock.
“Damn. Should I make you vomit too?”
‘Huh?’
I was suddenly horrified when Ulric flipped me upside down.
“Nooo!!!”
It’s not poisoned! I don’t need to throw up!
I shouted with all my strength, but Ulric couldn’t possibly understand me. He started shaking me as if I were a laundry item. What kind of brutal method was this to make someone vomit?!
‘At this rate, most babies would get sicker!’
The room spun dizzily around me. At the edge of my upside-down vision, I caught sight of a black shoe.
“What are you doing?”
Just in time, Dietrich appeared and swiftly took me from Ulric’s hands. I finally touched the floor and gasped wildly for air.
“Ugh…uhh.”
Ulric seemed completely clueless about taking care of a baby.
‘Well, I guess it was more advantageous for him to eliminate siblings when they were young.’
With tears brimming in my eyes, I looked up at Dietrich, wishing he would at least pat my back as he held me. Instead, he tilted his head slightly and then averted his gaze.
“What’s going on?”
“Ah, it’s just… your brother swallowed poison!”
“…Did you feed it to him?”
At Ulric’s reply, Dietrich’s aura shifted. The faint gray aura that had been barely visible quickly darkened to black.
It wasn’t the filthy rage of Derek’s aura, but a clean, cold murderous intent.
‘Why on earth is a child feeling that kind of emotion?!’
No matter how “clean” it looked, murderous intent is still murderous intent. I silently reaffirmed my determination to escape Legrange under Dietrich’s aura.
“Damn it, don’t think I’m a coward like the Galang brothers! I won’t play with a baby.”
“Ridiculous. Then why did you give him poison?”
“I didn’t! You had that kid try to poison me! He just swallowed it by accident!”
Dietrich let out a faint laugh at Ulric’s outburst. The cold cynicism was so sharp it felt like the air itself could freeze. I stayed close to the floor, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
‘…Better just stay out of it.’
If I got caught in their fight, I’d be the shrimp caught between whales.
“Even idiots have levels. You’re not even on the Galang brothers’ level.”
“…What?”
“Why would I poison someone like you? You’re just a disposable candidate.”
“You brat! Don’t talk back!”
Realizing Dietrich was dismissing him, Ulric’s face twisted. Even his aura, which hadn’t seemed dangerous, flushed red.
‘S-so suffocating!’
I crawled quickly away from the furious boys.
“Wait a minute. Then why did that kid give me a cookie?”
Just when I thought I had nearly escaped down the hallway, all eyes suddenly turned to me.
“B…?”
I looked back to see both Ulric and Dietrich staring at me, waiting for an answer. I blinked innocently as if I knew nothing.
“Did he just give it to you for no reason?”
Ulric approached me first, and I knelt to meet his eye level, staring into the child’s deep gaze.
“The cookie wasn’t poisoned? He just gave it?”
His eyes had a color I had once read about in a book, like the pale blue of Earth as seen from space. Ulric’s eyes sparkled just like that blue planet.
“Bbb.”
He asked without understanding my answer.
“…Why?”
‘I can’t talk yet.’
Since he would become one of Dietrich’s subordinates eventually, I decided to get closer to him physically instead. I stood up and hugged Ulric tightly.
“Bbb! (You like me too, right?)”
I expected him to push me away like Dietrich would, but Ulric didn’t move.
He stiffened, as if feeling human warmth for the first time. I hesitated, letting go of my grip and stepping back slightly.
Observing his aura carefully, I noticed a pale greenish-white mist rising.
‘…What was green again?’ I hadn’t read the scene where Anissia checked auras carefully.
‘Anyway, it’s not murky, so it can’t be a bad emotion.’
Ulric bit his lip, raised his head, and took my hand firmly.
“Bbb?”
Surprised by the sudden touch, I tried to step back, but he held on tightly.
“Bbb!” (Let go!)
Soon, a slightly larger child’s hand was placed over his chubby little one.
“I’m sorry.”
“…Bbb?”
“I didn’t think you’d just give me a cookie. You probably don’t have much to eat either.”
Now I understood what his green aura represented. The light green reflected his feeling of being moved.
“I misunderstood. Sorry.”
Ulric patted my head, his voice soft. I shrugged at his sincere apology. Even from his aura and behavior, Ulric seemed more tender-hearted than the other candidates.
‘Hmm? Was he always like this?’
He seemed slightly different from the character described in the novel. Ulric Lagrange hadn’t appeared often, since he was a minor character.
‘And he was the one who unlocked Dietrich’s seal, too.’
“So, why did you come to this humble Dalia Palace?”
While pondering the novel’s events, Dietrich’s voice suddenly rang from above. The tone sounded unpleasant, almost angry.
‘Is it because Ulric insulted Dalia Palace?’
Ulric turned to Dietrich.
“I came to retry the match I couldn’t finish with you back then.”
‘A match you couldn’t finish?’
I remembered that Ulric had been buried by Dietrich at that time.
‘Seems like a match to me.’
Dietrich seemed to think similarly and smiled briefly.
“You came hoping I’d bury you again? Strange taste.”
“Ah, no! I didn’t die, so it was a draw! Let’s fight again, Dietrich!”
“I’ve already eliminated two candidates. No need to get rid of you too.”
Dietrich spoke calmly and avoided Ulric’s charge with a subtle shoulder turn.
“Then why should I waste my strength on you?”
“This brat!”
Ulric shouted and charged again but was thrown down by Dietrich’s flawless evasion.
“Ugh!”
“Don’t cause trouble, Euclid.”
“I’m Lagrange! My name is Ulric Lagrange! Stop talking nonsense!”
“Whether you’re Euclid or Lagrange doesn’t matter, as long as you don’t touch me.”
Dietrich’s gaze was chilling as he looked at the seated Ulric. Even in near-spring weather, I shivered.
“Don’t look down on me, slave!”
Clenching his teeth, Ulric stood again and ran at Dietrich, but was immediately flung backward.
‘Shadow ability!’
A demonic hand extended from Dietrich’s shadow, gripping Ulric’s ankle and spinning him. In a split second, his ankle had already swollen.
‘Isn’t he going to die like that?’
In the novel, they weren’t on bad terms… Strange.
‘Are they both villains?’
I watched as Ulric was tossed around in midair, far more violently than before, and grabbed Dietrich’s leg.
“No!” (Stop!)
“What?”
“No! Stop!”
If Ulric died now, it would be a problem. I needed him to handle Derek’s weakness.
I grabbed Dietrich’s pant leg, and he lowered his hand from the ceiling. At the same time, Ulric fell to the floor with a thud.
“Do you know that Derek Lagrange’s mother was also a slave?”
“…Ugh.”
“If you show up in this palace and start talking nonsense again, I’ll eliminate you for real.”
Dietrich spoke coldly to the nearly tearful Ulric and then turned away.
“Bbb!” (Where are you going suddenly!)
I hurried to follow Dietrich.
‘I need to give him milk!’
Why was he inside the palace today instead of in the garden?
I remembered my plan to bond with him over milk.
“Bbb!” (Wait!)
Dietrich, already far ahead, didn’t stop for me. I had no choice but to plant my feet and shout at the top of my lungs.
“Ooooh!”
Plop.
‘Oops.’
Pororong.
I tried to hold it in, but the fart that escaped could not be stopped.
