HYVT | 003

<Episode 3>

My head felt like it was splitting apart.

“There’s no threat to her life. The wound on her leg has healed considerably as well.”

“So, she’s faking it?”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Murmured voices reached my ears.

Where am I?

“Oh! She just twitched slightly.”

“Really?”

I felt a finger poke me.

Groggily, I opened my eyes.

A very familiar face came into view.

“You’re finally awake.”

It was my uncle.

After my parents died in an accident when I was young, he had taken it upon himself to raise me as my guardian.

“You may leave now, doctor.”

“But I still need to confirm the patient’s stability…”

“Now.”

With a curt dismissal, my uncle looked down at me.

“Can you sit up?”

“Yes, Uncle.”

My head still rang faintly, but I hid it and sat up.

The moment I sat upright on the bed—

Slap!

My head snapped to the side.

I held my breath. My cheek burned from the strike.

“The marriage alliance with Felix Rohaim was our family’s last hope.”

I stayed frozen, head turned, barely breathing.

When I finally straightened, I saw my uncle’s face, flushed dark red, pointing accusingly at me.

“What did I ever ask for? I told you to hold on to Felix, didn’t I?”

“…”

“With a prenatal betrothal binding you, all you had to do was stay still, and things would’ve gone smoothly. How utterly charmless must you be to mess it up this badly?!”

I clutched my stinging cheek, dazed.

He’d always been strict but had told me he loved me.

I’d been disciplined with a switch before, but this was the first time he’d struck me with his hand.

“There’s no need for long talks. Go beg him. Don’t come back until you get a firm promise of marriage!”

Memories from before I passed out came flooding back.

Felix, kneeling before Lorena, offering her the engagement ring I’d always dreamed of.

And Lorena, confessing she was pregnant with his child.

“…It’s already too late.”

“What?!”

My uncle raised his hand again.

Flinching instinctively, I spat out my despair like vomit.

“Lorena is pregnant with Felix’s child.”

“What…?”

My uncle’s face twisted in shock.

The explosion must’ve kept that rumor from spreading yet.

Soon, his face turned red and purple with rage.

“You useless thing!”

Slap.

Another strike landed on my cheek.

“While that lowborn girl got pregnant with Felix’s child, what were you doing?! If I’d known, I never would’ve sponsored her.”

To be precise, it was my late parents who sponsored Lorena’s academy admission, not my uncle.

He huffed and continued.

“That wench’s child. Say you’ll adopt it.”

“…What?”

“Pretend it’s your own. Do whatever it takes to win over that lowborn girl and bring Felix’s heart back.”

“But…”

“Beg, throw yourself at him, do whatever it takes! Until then, you won’t get a single coin of allowance! No meals either! I won’t waste money on a leech who only eats up resources!”

Bang.

My uncle slammed the door and left.

I clutched my throbbing cheek, feeling as if I’d been hit by a cauldron lid.

I’d been beaten black and blue on my legs before, but being struck like an animal was a first.

As if, the moment Felix broke our engagement, my worth as a person had vanished.

Suddenly, I recalled last winter.

My usually stern uncle had come to me with a rare gentle expression and said:

‘Freesia, you’ll soon come of age.’

‘Yes, Uncle.’

‘Once you’re an adult, it’d be right for you to take charge of the Violet viscounty I’ve been managing for you. But you’ll soon marry Felix and become the Marchioness of Rohaim, won’t you?’

‘That’s right, Uncle.’

‘I’ll manage the family your father left behind well, and when your son comes of age, I’ll pass it on to him.’

Back then, I thought his words made sense.

I even felt grateful to my uncle for supporting our faltering family.

He always lamented that his life had been ruined managing the debt-ridden family my parents left behind.

‘Felix is destined for greatness. Hold on to him and contribute to our family. That’s your duty to your late parents and to me. You know how much I love you, don’t you?’

‘Of course, Uncle.’

Now I see it.

All his talk of love was a blatant lie.

Maybe I knew deep down but ignored it.

Desperate for the scraps of affection he dangled as rewards for my obedience.

“Really…”

What a pathetic fool I was.

Rubbing my slapped cheek, I let out a hollow laugh.

Why am I only seeing it now?

My uncle wasn’t worried about me—he was worried I’d try to reclaim my family.

‘How can I be so stupid and not even pitiful?’

Self-loathing.

As I writhed in despair, a thought struck me.

‘Oh, right…’

The memory from before I passed out, second only to Felix’s proposal in shock, resurfaced.

‘The speckled chick…’

The voice that called me its savior, thanking me repeatedly, echoed in my mind.

But the chick was nowhere to be seen now.

After all that pleading for synchronization or whatever.

‘It must’ve gotten better and left. Figures.’

Betrayed in succession by my fiancé, my childhood friend, and my uncle, I wasn’t even disappointed.

Or… maybe…

“Was it exterminated as a magical beast…?”

My heart sank.

I remembered its voice, pleading to live.

Its desperate claims of mathematical and computational abilities.

…That voice felt oddly like me, struggling to prove my worth to survive.

[I haven’t been exterminated!]

“Eek!”

I jolted upright.

Emerging from behind my pillow, waddling out, was the chick.

“You’re alive…!”

It wasn’t exterminated.

Its pitiful appearance was now unrecognizably clean.

Relief washed over me as the chick chirped.

[Please take care of me from now on! I’m a cutting-edge, growth-type magical AI designed to make your life more convenient, efficient, and fulfilling!]

A more convenient and fulfilling life.

I gave a bitter smile.

Let’s think objectively about my situation.

My family was taken by my uncle, my fiancé betrayed me, and I ruined my own grades gilding his.

Objectively, I have nothing.

Zero multiplied by anything is still zero.

Maybe I was too deep in despair, but I could only think pessimistically.

Unfazed by my listless response, the chick prattled on.

[To provide more precise assistance, may I read your memories?]

“Do whatever you want.”

My voice drifted out like weak smoke.

I didn’t have the energy to tell it to do or not do anything.

Just lethargy.

The chick climbed onto me and pressed its head against my cheek.

‘It’s so soft and fluffy…’

It tickled.

A moment later.

The chick, trembling its wings in focus, suddenly opened its eyes wide.

[All of your memories have been fully learned!]

“How was it? My life.”

It must’ve looked hopelessly pathetic even to this chick, right?

I asked with a bitter smile.

[Doormat. Sucker.]

“…”

[Servant. Footwipe.]

“…”

I was momentarily speechless.

This chick’s got a sharper tongue than I expected…?

[The world refers to those with your traits as such!]

“…I see. That’s pretty accurate.”

[Thank you! I’m a cutting-edge, growth-type magical AI that never neglects learning!]

The chick happily wagged its short tail feathers.

[Having learned your memories, I can now provide optimal assistance. What is your greatest wish right now? I’ll support you!]

My greatest wish.

Until yesterday, I would’ve said without hesitation: to be Felix’s virtuous wife.

Felix. His name made my exhausted heart pound.

With excitement?

No way.

I may have been a foolish pushover, but I wasn’t so deranged as to pine for love after yesterday’s events.

If I were, I wouldn’t have boosted Felix’s grades to the top.

The unfamiliar emotion surging in my chest was undoubtedly rage.

“…Felix is set to soar from now on, isn’t he?”

[Felix Rohaim. A name learned from your memories.]

The chick closed its eyes and fluttered its wings.

It seemed to enter calculation mode.

[The probability of an academy valedictorian accumulating over 100,000 gold in wealth within five years is 98%.]

100,000 gold is enough to buy a fine house in the capital.

A true symbol of success.

My stomach churned.

[The probability of rising to a rank of third-class official or higher is 75%. In simple terms, yes! Felix Rohaim’s path is paved with flowers and success!]

A path of flowers…

‘The disgusting leash your grandfather put on me? It’s useless starting today.’

Felix’s face as he said that flashed in my mind.

So did the image of him trampling over a flowery path.

‘…No way.’

I can’t stand to see that.

My sinking mood began to boil, bubbling up fiercely.

I want to set fire to that flowery path.

I want to wreak havoc.

I want to fiercely, messily, utterly ruin Felix’s future!

‘…But how?’