Chapter 1.2 - Kind and Cruel (2) (2/2)

Ugh, stop staring at me.

The sound of Abel’s shoes hitting the floor echoed as he walked towards me. The slow pace gave me a great sense of anxiety and pressure. In front of me, Abel stopped. His height towered over me, his tall person appearing even more so, in front of I, who was skinny and much smaller than my peers due to the lack of proper meals. I was a mouse in front of him. In order to meet his eyes, I was forced to raise my head to look back at him. Our gazes collided.

“Hey, kid.” His expression was frost.

Wait, I’m sure I said my name before, and I think it’s a nice name.

“Let’s hear your explanation. Why did Count Green send a little kid like you here? Does he not have talented people over there?”

Well, I didn’t owe any loyalty to anyone. So, I would just give him an honest answer. “The first brother, Cain Del, should be in the family, and the second sister, Jane, is about to get married. Then, the third brother, Jen, is about to get engaged.”

But, somehow I felt like a child who was snitching. I swallowed my saliva lightly and then said, “And so, I, the youngest of the family came to you.”

“Huh.” Abel clicked his tongue as if he had no words for the facts that I said. “I see, they’re looking down on this war.”

He looked at me with his haughty gaze. “Anyway, I’ve got the idea why, kid. You must have made up your mind to come all the way here. But, go back home.”

Then he continued with a heavy expression, “A child like you is not needed here.”

As I guessed correctly earlier, I got kicked out, and it was only five minutes after I got here. That was pretty fast.

Abel, who gave his command, turned around without regret. For him, there was no time to invest in a useless thing. In his eyes, that was exactly what I was. I was a useless thing to him.

I felt no sense of warmth from that cold appearance. But, I didn’t care about Abel. I had nowhere to go. Count Green, who had sent me to the battlefield? I was treated so badly when I was there. My room was the old attic that contained no warmth, and the meal I ate was the leftovers from their meals. Even if I were to go back to that mansion right away, I was sure he’d kick me out because why would he waste the chance he waited so long to get?

Plus, in reality, in the original story, Fiona who had not yet been made aware of her talent was kicked out of the Green family and forced to go to the streets. Fortunately, later she found a place to stay. However, the scars left by the world at this time were an important factor in Fiona becoming the villainess.

Now, since I knew Fiona had a great talent sleeping in her body and skilled mages were treated well, I think I could have a better option; prove my talent early and build extensive knowledge in advance. I think this option was far better than being driven to the streets.

After all, the war still would end with the appearance of the male lead. Until then, the best option to avoid my future despair was to bear this and save money. Then afterward, I could go down to the countryside, and live in peace.

So the first thing I had to do was get permission to stay here as a mage. Then, all I had to do was stay out of Abel’s sight until the male lead appeared.

After I calculated all the things in my head, I looked at Abel’s back without any regret and calmly said.

“Wait a minute, Duke. I have something to tell you.”

Abel stopped walking, and turned around, glanced down at me. “What?”

“I couldn’t follow that order”

Abel frowned while looking at me. If I were an ordinary thirteen-year-old child, I might have cried.

“What?”

I looked up straight at Abel. “I’m not going back. But I’m not going to be stubbornly asking you to allow me to stay here. Just give me one chance at it to prove myself.”

Abel’s pupils dilated. He was briefly shaken. “What are you talking about?”

“An opportunity to prove my worth?”

Abel’s face changed as he took an interest in the idea I had just brought up. Well, of course, it was amazing that a girl who looked like an ordinary thirteen-year-old, could say something like that.

He spoke with a rough voice as if to scare me. “A little girl like you? Are you trying to do chores? But, I already have many excellent servants in this place. If it was not that, I wonder how you are going to prove the worth?”

It was not a difficult question. Besides, I had some knowledge of how to deal with Abel. Never carry yourself arrogantly, but do not go to the other spectrum and appear sloppy. I clenched my fists and said in a steady voice.

“Just this once, let me go on the battlefield as a mage. I’ll show you that I can be of sufficient help in this war.”