Home/I Saved the Villain and Fell Asleep/ch 18

Chapter 18

"Kaelen."

"Yes! Your Excellency! I'm ready!"

"For what?"

"Pardon?"

Dad looked at Kaelen with a pitiful expression.

"Throw it."

"Uh, where?"

"Why are you suddenly so dense? Throw it at Hari."

"Excuse me?! This?! At the young lady?!"

Kaelen jumped up in horror.

"This is an offensive spell!"

"It's not fast, so it's fine. Daughter, you can hit it, right?"

"I think I can?"

If it's slow, I can just see it and swing.

Thinking back on what Dad said earlier, it seemed that Algenprina's inherited magic had passed down to me as well.

Algenprina's inherited magic is about nullifying magic. So doesn't that mean I can also nullify Kaelen's Rasengan—I mean, wind ball—by batting it away?

"Kaelen! I'm ready! Throw it!"

"Huff! Why are you both doing this to me! If the young lady gets hurt, I'll really...!"

"Stop babbling and throw it!!"

Whether Kaelen screamed or not, I took my stance.

I'd always thought the club was just sturdy and that's why the fire went out, but that wasn't the case... If this ugly Goblin Club can really nullify magic too... isn't that a total win?

It stores items and summons them, it's sturdy, I can hide it, I'll never lose it, and I can just swing it at incoming attacks to nullify them all.

I felt like planting a kiss on this lumpy, ugly club. Come to think of it, there might have been an explanation in the setting collection, or maybe not...

"If it looks like you can't manage it, just dodge immediately. Understood, young lady?"

"I said I got it!!"

Kaelen squeezed his eyes shut and gently nudged the swirling orb. He didn't even throw it—he pushed it.

I eyeballed the slow-moving wind ball and swung directly. The ball was heavier than I expected, but I struck it with force, and the whirlwind instantly dissolved and scattered into the air.

"Haha."

Dad clapped and laughed as Kaelen's magic dispersed in an instant. Meanwhile, Kaelen stood beside him as if he might faint, which made me laugh too.

"That's wonderful magic, Hari. If you just build up your physical abilities, you'll be able to take down most opponents. Mages tend to think that firing off powerful spells is all that matters."

Mages with strong unique magic have immense pride—especially if it's offensive magic.

What if I knock down all the spells of those arrogant mages with just one club? Once I give those bewildered mages a good club-beating, it's game over.

"But you can't just rely on nullification. Once they realize magic doesn't work on you, they'll counterattack from other angles."

For example, basic weapons like swords or bows.

Mages have a very high dependency on magic. They fear losing their mana more than dying. But knights and assassins who operate on the battlefield prepare for situations where magic doesn't work.

Even if ordinary weapons like swords and bows have far inferior killing power compared to magic, a weapon is still a weapon. It's more than enough to kill a person.

And that preparation... I could do it too, right?

"Since you have an unbreakable weapon and shield combined..."

"I'll smash them all!!"

"Oh dear, young lady! Your language has gotten so rough lately!"

"I'll smash them ALL!!!"

Dad smiled contentedly and placed his hand on my head.

"Good. It's better than getting beaten up."

Kaelen was the only one losing his mind over our conversation. Though I was more active and spoke far less formally than befitting a ducal daughter, I was still a princess.

Kaelen always worried about me. But our family had little interaction with other houses, and there were still years before my debutante. When the time came to behave properly, I planned to do so.

So at home, I didn't want to be bound by etiquette. Even Dad and Mom didn't.

"I'll handle the aftermath, so go ahead and smash to your heart's content."

"Yeah! Dad's the best!"

I want to live a life without too many twists and turns. Peacefully!

Mom and Dad should live long as a loving couple. I want my brothers to live as they wish, without anyone suppressing them. Kali... Caelius...

I looked at the small back sitting by the fountain, dipping his hand in the water and splashing it around. I vividly remembered how thin his arms were and how severe his wounds had been.

If Kali wants revenge, I have no intention of stopping him. That's a just revenge.

I just hope his vengeful fire doesn't end up burning himself. I couldn't let those raging flames, burning for so long, consume not only my family but Kali himself.

After all that effort feeding him, putting him to sleep, and raising him—if his end is just a handful of black ash, that would be too sad.

Since he's already strayed from the path of the villain, he can just take a different path. If there's no path, he can tear it up and make one.

The original story is already twisted.

So, Caelius. You absolutely cannot walk the path of a villain.

"Your Excellency."

"Hm?"

Hale glanced at Kaelen standing by the window, then returned his gaze to the documents. Kaelen looked out the window with a complicated expression.

Out there, the young princess was gripping the back of the young boy's neck—the boy known as the dead young Grand Duke—and dragging him along.

"Didn't the Duchess say she would soon end her seclusion and come forward?"

"She did."

"When she begins managing internal affairs in earnest, the young lady's education will also..."

"Kaelen."

"Yes?"

Hale slowly fiddled with the fountain pen in his hand. Kaelen looked at the Duke's back—still facing away, staring down at papers—with a puzzled expression, then realized his mistake and fell silent.

"I overstepped. I apologize."

"She'll learn on her own when she's older. She's a smart child."

The princess was fourteen years old. Not a very young age.

In other noble families, dozens of kinds of education would have already begun—etiquette, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, embroidery, dance, and more.

Kaelen knew that even without formal education, the princess had picked up a fair amount. But that alone wasn't enough.

The world was full of people who would seize upon the smallest opening to dig in and create flaws.

"Still, I think it would be good to have her study history."

"I'll look for a tutor."

"No. Rachel will probably want to teach her herself. She can take lessons with Kali. With the current situation, bringing in outsiders would only cause more trouble."

Hale set down the pen and picked up his cold teacup. Finding an excellent history tutor was no challenge for Kaelen. But it wasn't just about teaching well.

He needed someone who would teach only academics. But renowned tutors had great pride as nobles.

He would have to exclude those types.

He needed someone who wouldn't harbor suspicions about the boy beside the princess, who wouldn't scold the princess for running wild in the mountains, acting without formality with her family, or ignoring her duties as a noble lady and just playing as she pleased.

He could threaten them into silence, but Hale felt it wasn't worth the trouble. If he had his way, he'd rather keep Rachel from ending her seclusion altogether and keep Hariella tucked under his arm forever.

"I think I mentioned this before. I want my children to throw away all that nonsense about noble honor and duty, and live as they please without caring what others think."

"Yes. That's certainly how Lord Irein is living."

"I want Sier and Hari to live that way too. And to live like that... you only need one thing. We already have more money than we can spend, a suitable title, and lands."

Hale leaned back in his chair, brushing his hair back lazily. His shimmering silver strands slipped through his fingers.

"What do you think that one thing is?"

"Why do you ask? It's obviously power."

"Right. Power. With money, authority, and power, you can live comfortably for a decent while. That's my philosophy. I have no ambition to expand the ducal house further... just maintaining it is fine."

Objectively speaking, Algenprina Hale was not a difficult superior to serve. Others might be horrified to hear it, but at least Kaelen thought so.

Though there were difficulties arising from work, Kaelen could count on one hand the times he'd faced hardship because of Algenprina the Duke personally.

He wasn't fussy, he wasn't capricious, and he didn't mistreat anyone just for being a servant. To Kaelen, the Duke was simply a man who loved his family deeply.

...Of course, Kaelen could only say that because he was safely within the Duke's boundaries.

Kaelen knew well how cold the Duke could be to those outside those lines. If it were just coldness, he'd be lucky. The moment the Duke decided to go rough, mountains of cleanup work would pile up behind Kaelen.

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