Home/I Am the Youngest Granddaughter of the Monster Duke Family/ch 1

Chapter 1

Tension hung thick in the air of the incubation chamber deep within the basement of House Lusmain.

It wasn't simply because the direct descendants of Lusmain had gathered in one place.

There was a reason these people, who barely met even once a year, had assembled like this.

It was all because of an egg that was about to hatch soon.

Due to the family's unique nature, those who carried strong Lusmain blood were not born from their mother's womb in human form, but rather as eggs.

Eggs born this way typically hatched after sixty days.

If they were "Chosen Ones," they would emerge as newborn infants, but in extremely rare cases, if they were "Perfect Forms," they would hatch with the intelligence and physique of a five-year-old child.

Furthermore, because the first head of House Lusmain had been a monster, the so-called "Chosen Ones" bore the physical traits of monsters.

Of course, that alone wasn't reason enough for the esteemed direct descendants of Lusmain to gather from all directions.

It was because this egg was a "Perfect Form" that would be born with a complete monster's body. And not just any Perfect Form—it was the first to appear in a full hundred years.

However, this egg had come from the outside.

The head of House Lusmain himself had confirmed it was a Perfect Form through magical inspection, and two evenings ago, signs of hatching had appeared, prompting this gathering.

"Judging by the color of the egg, it seems to be a wyvern."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. Anyone can see it's a golem. You really need to get your eyes checked."

The egg had garnered all the expectations of the direct descendants.

Until the Duke of Lusmain appeared, they speculated among themselves about the identity of the Perfect Form.

Though they called it speculation, they were actually insisting that whatever monster form they themselves possessed was the correct one.

However, their chatter didn't last long.

The reason was simple.

"What is all this commotion?"

The head of House Lusmain, Kalen, had arrived.

Kalen, who was over sixty years old—a fact hard to believe given his imposing stature—exuded an extraordinary aura of authority.

The direct descendants immediately bowed their heads respectfully, as if they had never been talking at all.

"We greet the Head of the House."

Kalen walked in with dignity and stopped at the forefront of the direct descendants.

Then he reached out his hand toward the white, round egg.

From Kalen's heavily calloused hand, a dark magical energy emanated and seeped into the egg.

'Receiving the Head's magic.'

That was the final step for the egg to hatch.

Kalen let out a dry laugh.

"Hah."

At that sound, one of the direct descendants couldn't contain their curiosity and finally asked.

"What is it, Head of the House?"

"It seems it truly is a Perfect Form. It's devouring the magic voraciously."

Kalen looked down at the egg, which absorbed every bit of magical energy he released.

If it could consume magic to this extent, it must certainly be a Perfect Form of an extraordinary monster.

Though Kalen hadn't held high expectations even for a Perfect Form, interest flickered in his eyes now.

Crack.

At the sound of the shell splitting, Kalen withdrew his hand from the egg.

Everyone's gaze focused on the egg.

Crrack.

The small crack grew larger until it reached half the size of the egg.

The movement seemed so laborious that Kalen found himself cheering it on.

"That's it. Keep going."

Encouraged by Kalen's support, the egg shook vigorously from side to side.

Crrack, crrrack!

With a powerful sound, the eggshell split in half.

The direct descendants craned their necks to see the identity of the Perfect Form, but all they could see was Kalen's back.

"What is it?"

"Oh, well..."

"Just tell us quickly."

"Hold on, won't you?"

Those in the back urged those in front.

"...A slime?"

"A slime! They say it's a slime!"

Someone who had heard Kalen's muttering shouted.

"I see. So it's a slime after all. As a Perfect Form, it must be valiant—... Wait, a slime?"

Kalen let the sounds of his descendants' bewilderment wash over his ears as he stared intently at what was before him.

"Goo."

A pink, soft-looking shape that seemed like it might melt away at any moment.

Something ambiguous, existing somewhere between liquid and solid.

The Perfect Form born to House Lusmain—the house called the Monster Dukes—after a hundred years.

Its true identity was, without a doubt, a slime.

---

To understand the origins of Lusmain, one must go back to a time long before the Heorn Empire was established.

There was once an era when monsters and humans lived together in peace.

But when mutant monsters called Beasts began attacking humans, relations between monsters and humans deteriorated beyond repair.

Monsters insisted that they were different from the Beasts.

But humans didn't believe them, and ultimately, war broke out.

It was a long war.

A brutal war that could only end with the complete extinction of one side.

As time passed, the war deviated from its original purpose. The strong simply plundered the weak.

It had lost all meaning of being a war fought for anyone.

Eventually, humans and monsters who wished to end this meaningless war joined forces.

They were the first Head of House Lusmain and the first Emperor of the Heorn Empire.

Ending a war that had persisted for so long was no easy task, but they never stopped.

After a great deal of time, they finally emerged victorious and established an empire.

The first Emperor granted the only ducal title of Heorn to the monsters.

And now, several hundred years later.

Having overcome countless prejudices and preconceptions, House Lusmain had established itself as one of the most prominent noble families within the Heorn Empire.

House Lusmain boasted such formidable power that even the Emperor himself could not touch it lightly.

And yet, that great House Lusmain was thrown into an emergency in the deep hours of dawn.

All because of the small monster that had hatched that very day.

"Morrus. Is it still not done?"

At Kalen's urging, his aide and butler, Morrus, bowed his head slightly.

"I apologize, Head of the House. It seems I must search through nearly six hundred years of history..."

There was a reason the mansion, which should have been quiet, was now so noisy.

Just an hour ago, Kalen had ordered a thorough search of all records for information about slimes.

The archive, which contained every record related to the family, was no exception.

Because the archive contained confidential information that could not be accessed carelessly, only a small number of people could search for records, which naturally delayed things.

"Summon the slave trader who brought that egg."

Lusmain itself had precious few members, and the 'Chosen Ones' were extremely rare.

Yet a month ago, some slave trader had brought in such an egg.

He had purchased a pregnant slave who then laid an egg. The slave died during childbirth, but the trader realized that this egg carried the bloodline of Lusmain.

The traits of House Lusmain were so famous that even a passing three-year-old knew of them.

The trader considered disposing of it in a secret grave, but fearing future retaliation, he brought the egg to House Lusmain instead.

Kalen had paid a whopping two million gold coins for the egg.

"But you already completed your investigation when you received the egg, Head of the House. There's no connection to that slave trader at all."

Morrus was right.

Kalen had already conducted a thorough investigation, suspecting it might have been stolen from a collateral branch of the Lusmain bloodline.

He had also investigated the mother and father, but had found nothing.

"Slimes are also, strictly speaking, included among monsters... aren't they, Head of the House?"

"Hah."

That was true.

It was simply unbelievable.

Various monster forms had appeared over time—usually wyverns, golems, gargoyles—always high-ranking monsters.

A low-ranking monster.

And a slime, of all things. It was unprecedented.

"A slime... a slime..."

Kalen muttered, unable to hide his bewilderment.

Slimes were among the weakest and smallest of monsters.

The adults grew to at most one meter in size.

Their varieties were limited, their reproductive drive was low, and they were believed to be nearly extinct.

Everyone who needed to know already knew that there was a Perfect Form egg at the Lusmain estate.

And now that Perfect Form was a slime.

"For now, put that slime... on hold."

Perhaps it was due to his age, but thinking for too long made his head throb.

Kalen pushed thoughts of the slime far to the back of his mind.

For an entire month.

---

I am a slime.

Insignificant, useless, pitiful.

Animals weren't even afraid of me—they tried to step on me, and my forest friends looked down on me.

[You call yourself a monster? You're an embarrassment to all monsters!]

[Right. If you ever go around calling yourself a monster, I'll kill you!]

[They say he's a coward who's afraid of animals!]

That day, I was returning home, dejected after being ostracized by the forest friends.

My reflection in the river beside me looked uglier than usual today.

[Why was I born a slime?]

I turned my body away, disgusted by my soft, squishy form.

But then suddenly, a sweet fragrance wafted through the air. Before I knew it, I was moving mindlessly, following that scent.

[Huh, this is...!]

It was the only forbidden zone in the forest—the place where the World Tree stood.

The forest friends had warned me that the World Tree fed on monsters as nutrients, and that someone like me shouldn't even go near it.

[As if I'd believe that. They're just trying to scare me.]

Come to think of it, I had heard that the World Tree was bearing fruit for the first time in a hundred years.

Suddenly, a good idea struck me.

[If I take a World Tree fruit, they won't call me a coward anymore, will they?]

'I'll show them all!'

With firm resolve, I stepped into the territory of the World Tree.

[H-huh? Wh-what's happening?!]

Suddenly, all the strength began draining from my body.

Back   Next