TLHZ 08

Chapter 08

My expression must have shifted ever so slightly, because Isaac’s serious face began to crumble.
“Pffft… heh.”
He barely managed to swallow his laughter. Clearly, he had only been teasing me to see my reaction.

“Enough with the jokes.”
Edmond’s weary voice cut through, putting an end to the moment. The family meeting had barely lasted ten minutes, and already he looked tired.

“Do you really think this is wise? Sure, it would be good if you could get information out of them, but what if everything gets exposed?”

“They didn’t seem to know much about black magic, though.”
Even if someone used it right in front of their eyes, without a measuring device they’d never recognize it for what it was.

Edmond gazed at me with those heavy eyes of his before letting out a long sigh and nodding.
“So you really won’t listen, no matter what? Once you set your mind on something, you’re even more stubborn than Julia or Isaac.”

“Am I really that bad?”

“You are,” Isaac chimed in from behind, and Julia nodded as if to agree.

“Fine, but just this once. Since you’ve already agreed, there’s no helping it. But from next time on, I don’t care what excuse I have to use—you’re not doing it again.”
Edmond’s tone left no room for argument.

“As for the site you’re visiting tomorrow—I’ve cleaned things up as best I could, but it’ll still be enough for them to figure out there was a carriage accident.”

“Which is why they probably used the measuring device. A broken carriage left abandoned halfway up a mountain looks suspicious enough.”

Finally, the meeting returned to its main point.

“I’ll go along tomorrow. Just in case anything was left behind, I’ll make sure it’s cleaned up quickly.”

“That’s best.”

“With that, the first agenda item’s done. Onto the second.”

I turned to Isaac, whose wrist still dangled loosely.
“Once you report to duty tomorrow… do you think you can hide it?”

“Ah… that’ll be tough. I skipped training today, said I had a duel instead. I barely managed to cover it up—thanks to your help. But once formal training starts again, I won’t last.”

“The only lucky part is that, because of today’s incident, they closed off the training ground.”

“So where will they train instead?”

“They’ll use the secondary grounds. That’s what they did during inspections. But since the Royal Guard shares it, space is limited. At least there won’t be basic endurance runs for a while.”

That was fortunate, but it still didn’t solve the fundamental problem.

“…Then there’s only one option,” Edmond said in a low voice.

“Desert.”

“…What?”

I thought my ears had betrayed me. Calm, rational Edmond suggesting such a thing?

“It’s the only way to skip knightly training without raising suspicion.”

“Brother, what about my social standing?”

“And if you get exposed while worrying about that so-called standing? What then?”

That… was a dilemma.
Which was more disgraceful—desertion or becoming a zombie? As someone who wasn’t a knight, I couldn’t judge.

“If we act fast, we can secure you a ship. Somewhere far, with weak law enforcement… yes, the Kingdom of Schühill would be ideal.”

The more he explained, the more plausible it sounded. I found myself nodding along before realizing Isaac’s face had gone deathly pale. Or… paler than usual.

“Why not just claim I’ve got a fatal illness~?”

“The Imperial Court might send their royal physician to check.”
Edmond answered his sarcasm earnestly, clearly just to irritate him further.

“Then say my wrist got chopped off! Barely any different!”

“Enough, both of you!”
I cut in before the argument could spiral. Both Isaac and Edmond were on edge. No wonder—after an entire day of putting on a façade before others, exhaustion was natural.

“Look, I’ve been thinking. Why is it only your wrist that keeps falling off? Edmond and Julia’s bodies are weak too, but not to that extent.”

I had an answer.
“It must be because of the accident. Remember? You reached your hand outside the carriage.”

Like a single flower blooming in a heap of corpses… how could I forget that straight arm jutting from the wreckage?

“Your body’s balance must have been disrupted because of that.”

No other reason came to mind. Edmond had been inside, so his entire body was crushed. Julia, on the other hand, survived intact apart from her heart.

“…Hmm, maybe.” Isaac scratched the back of his neck. “Honestly, I don’t remember well. I recall throwing you out of the carriage, and then… nothing, until I woke up like this.”

“Which is why… maybe we should smash that wrist and reattach it?”

“……”
Isaac’s eyes practically screamed, Emily, not you too…! Yes, it was drastic, but I couldn’t think of any other solution.

“That’s a good idea. Julia, bring me a hammer.” Edmond responded immediately.

“What about my consent?! Doesn’t my opinion matter at all?!”

“Why would it? You don’t even feel pain anymore.”

“I do mentally! My mind is still human!”
Isaac shrank back, hiding his hand behind him. Watching your wrist get shattered while fully conscious must be terrifying.

“Don’t worry, big brother. I’ll cover your eyes.”

“That’s not the problem!!”

Clearly not the answer he wanted.

“Well, it’s not like you’re reporting for duty tomorrow. Let’s look for another solution over the weekend. If we can’t find one… then we’ll consider desertion or whatever.”

“But this is the solution.” Edmond hefted the hammer Julia had hurried to fetch.

Isaac stumbled back, but Julia and I each grabbed one of his arms.

“Why do you two only cooperate at times like this?!”

“Because we’re twins.”

“Exactly.”

We nodded at each other. Isaac had always been bad at resisting us when we joined forces.

“Alright then.”
His hand was set neatly on the table.

The hammer rose high. Isaac squeezed his eyes shut in resignation.

And just before the hammer fell—

“I’m home~!”

Click.
The lights came on, flooding the table in brightness. At the door stood Andrea, tilting his head curiously.

“What are you all doing?”

“……”
“……”

We exchanged glances, then broke into bright smiles as if rehearsed.

“Waiting to throw a surprise party for you, of course~!”

“But our baby brother caught us red-handed. What to do now~?”
I stepped forward quickly to block his view.

“Really? But it looked like you were bullying Isaac…”

“Bullying? No way. We were just playing around. Right, brother?”

I jabbed Isaac in the side, and he hastily replied,
“Y-yeah, of course~!”

“Really? With a hammer?”

“Yep. It’s a new game. Loser gets punished.”

Andrea tilted his head.
“Grown-ups are weird!”

Ever since secretly sipping our wine once, he’d held firm to the belief that adult pastimes were incomprehensible and best avoided.

Edmond quickly hid the hammer behind him.
“How was your first day at the Academy? I had them prepare all your favorite dishes for tonight.”

“And cake too! Specially ordered from a pâtissier from the Kingdom of Tahil.”

It wasn’t a lie—they’d been planning his first-day celebration for months.

“Reeally?!”
Andrea’s eyes sparkled. He dashed over without even changing his clothes.

“The best! The best!”

And then—zoom. Straight at Isaac.

No!

We hadn’t treated Isaac’s wrist yet! Andrea was just acting on habit, but for Isaac in this state, it was dangerous.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion—Andrea flying toward Isaac, Isaac fumbling awkwardly to catch him, Julia hesitating, Edmond reaching out—

“Hhup!”
I exhaled sharply.

Just before impact, I grabbed Andrea by the scruff of the neck. But that alone wasn’t enough—an eleven-year-old’s momentum wasn’t something my strength could stop one-handed.

Ssslither.
A crimson serpent coiled up my arm. Thankfully, the wound from earlier hadn’t healed yet.

Snap!
The snake bit its own tail and looped around my wrist, anchoring me. Andrea came to a sudden halt—mere inches from Isaac.

“Huh? Sis?”

“Isaac’s feeling a little under the weather today. You wouldn’t want to catch it, right~?”

“Gasp. Not a cold! Then I’ll spread it to my friends too!”

“Exactly. And you might have to miss the Academy.”

“No way! I hate that!”
Andrea bolted back from Isaac, who muttered under his breath, “You didn’t have to recoil that far…” but everyone ignored him.

Soon the special dinner courses began to arrive, drawing Andrea’s attention. When Julia brought out the cake at last, he even gulped audibly.

We all played our parts, feigning ‘ordinary family life.’ The party lasted late into the night, until Andrea finally fell asleep from exhaustion.

By the time I collapsed on my bed, every ounce of energy had been drained. I felt I could pass out any second—but there was still one thing I had to do.

“Rev.”

The black cat stretched with a yawn, golden eyes half-lidded, as I spoke.

“Teach me black magic.”

At that, Rev gave a lazy smile.
—So, you’re finally ready to receive my great teachings?

With arrogant grace, he lifted his chin. His tail swished softly.

“A little.”

—See? Had you listened to me sooner, your siblings wouldn’t have come back in such ridiculous states.

He licked his paw and swiped it across his face, looking every bit the ordinary cat.

“I’m still not sure if this is the right thing.”
I gave a bitter smile.
“But for now… I need that power.”

Right or wrong—that was something to decide later. I stared into his golden eyes.

The vertical pupils narrowed, then curved as though he were laughing. If a cat could laugh, that’s what it looked like.

—To teach black magic to a descendant of Samuel… it feels sinful in its own way. How delightful.

In moments like this, I was reminded all over again—Rev truly was a demon. A chill crept down my spine.