LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 63
TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 63
A blue window appeared before her eyes.
A blue window filled with an ominous story loomed before Hanna, enough to make her frown.
[Q. If He Hadn’t Been There…]
Histania Hanna, a woman with a tragic fate. She was originally destined to die.
Despite her father’s constant discrimination and the indifference of her kin, Hanna worked tirelessly, seeking only recognition.
She held onto the belief that one day she would be treated the same as them.
She had steadily improved.
She possessed exceptional talent in swordsmanship and remarkable learning ability.
However, her father never gave her the attention she desired.
He believed that focusing on Malik over Hanna was what benefited the family.
Hanna was starved for praise.
If even one person had stood by her side and given her a single word of encouragement, she might have avoided the tragedy.
One scorching summer day.
Hanna made a drastic decision.
Knowing she couldn’t win, she climbed the Hamel Mountain Range to achieve growth of the sword and earn her father’s recognition.
1. Read the letter sent by Histania Rowen. (0/1)
2. Meet Histania Rowen. (0/1)
3. Subjugate the Elite Orc Warriors of the Hamel Mountain Range. (0/30)
Reward: You can view the [41st Side Story] “If He Hadn’t Been There…”.
Hanna blinked.
What was this situation? Why was she seeing such a thing? Her body understood, but her mind couldn’t comprehend.
Was it because her training had been too grueling?
Or was it because she had skipped meals?
Even after blinking deeply, the blue window before her eyes didn’t disappear.
‘What is this…’
Goosebumps spread across her entire body.
The blue window contained an ominous message, stating that she would have died if she hadn’t met the butler.
As the content pierced through her past self, who had swung her sword thoughtlessly, seeking only her father’s recognition, Hanna’s fingers trembled slightly.
‘Why would I die…’
Hanna thought of herself as a strong person.
Both in the past and the present.
She believed the reason she could endure a lifetime of neglect was her strong mental fortitude.
The idea that she, who had never been broken by her father’s neglect, would make a foolish decision was unimaginable. Yet, as someone who knew herself better than anyone, Hanna couldn’t hide her trembling heart.
Her gaze kept returning to the blue window, driven by a foreboding feeling.
She denied it internally, calling it nonsense, but when she thought about her past self, she couldn’t dismiss the possibility of having done something foolish.
If only…
If she hadn’t sought out the butler back then…
Hanna shook her head, trying to dispel her thoughts.
-Smack!
Hanna slapped her cheeks with both hands. Get a grip. She thought the strange vision was because she wasn’t focusing on her training and kept thinking about the butler. Shaking her head, she willed it to disappear.
When she opened her tightly shut eyes, the blue window with its ominous message had vanished.
“It’s just because I’m tired… just tired.”
With difficulty, Hanna rose from her seat, clutching her father’s letter tightly in her hand.
‘It’s nothing.’
With an uneasy heart, Hanna headed up to the dormitory.
*
Three days earlier.
The Imperial Knight Commander, Histania Rowen, sat at his office desk, holding a pen for the first time in a long while.
Rowen, who hadn’t held a pen in ages, pressed his throbbing forehead as he fell into thought.
[To Hanna…]
The hand holding the pen wouldn’t move.
What should he write?
What words should he use?
Unable to think of anything, Rowen let out a deep sigh.
“Hoo…”
The words of the red-haired boy from before lingered in his mind.
-Coming to hunt Elite Orcs at this age is something only lunatics would do.
-Isn’t it impressive? Why aren’t you clapping?
-You’ve never done anything like this yourself…
The boy who had boldly defended Hanna with unwavering eyes. It was something only someone with considerable courage could do.
He must have known that I was the Imperial Knight Commander.
The ferocious killing intent he had been exuding vanished the moment he saw me, as if it had never been there. The faint aura he had been emitting also disappeared without a trace, something I confirmed with my own eyes. It was a situation I could somewhat deduce.
Even so, the boy’s words, spoken without a flicker of hesitation, kept lingering in my memory.
“Arrogant bastard…”
Today, the pen in Rowen’s hand felt unusually heavy.
He had faced countless strong opponents and survived battles on the brink of death, yet the pen in his hand felt heavier than the sword he had wielded hundreds of times.
‘Hoo…’
The blank letter paper was soaked with ink from the pen.
Rowen crumpled the letter paper and sighed again.
“This is driving me crazy.”
Behind Rowen, a mountain of crumpled letter paper had piled up.
Starting with “To Hanna,”
even asking “How have you been?” took him an hour to write, only for him to tear it up again.
Where had it all gone wrong?
Rowen, who always sought the best effort, couldn’t figure it out.
Praise for Hanna was widespread. His colleagues and nobles, who celebrated the youngest to awaken aura, praised her as the family’s glory.
They spared no compliments, saying it must be reassuring to have a daughter who awakened aura at such a young age.
‘Was I wrong?’
Even when he asked himself, the answer came back as a strong denial.
Because he wasn’t wrong.
Whenever he tried to write a letter, only sharp words came out.
-Lay down the sword.
-It’s dangerous, so laying down the sword will help you.
If it had been before Hanna awakened aura, he might have written a letter mentioning her talent, but now his daughter had achieved accomplishments that couldn’t be dismissed by talent alone. Even that was no longer possible.
Supporting Hanna for the sake of the household was the right thing to do, but the hallucination he had seen back then made him write negative words in the letter.
-Please save me… Father… Please save me…
Hanna dying…
It was something he had never considered before.
That’s why it troubled him even more.
What kind of father in the world would think about their child dying? Rowen found it difficult to make rational judgments.
For the family’s glory, supporting Hanna was the right choice.
Although Malik had awakened aura and shown outstanding achievements, they paled in comparison to Hanna’s reputation.
Logically speaking… that was the right thing to do.
But thinking of Hanna holding a sword made his chest tremble.
-Please save me. I don’t want to die like this.
Crack… Rowen broke the pen in his hand.
“…I need to think of another way.”
Rowen sighed and pulled out a new piece of letter paper.
-To Hanna.
‘…’
The letter paper became soaked with ink again.
*
[Read the letter sent by Histania Rowen. (0/1)]
-Crumple.
Hanna, seated at her desk, stared at the letter before her with eyes full of complicated thoughts.
A letter filled with traces of an attempt to tear it apart but ultimately left intact.
Hanna slammed her desk in frustration.
-Bang…
“What are you trying to say now?”
Her clenched fist trembled slightly.
She didn’t want to see it.
She was certain it would contain the same predictable words.
-Lay down the sword.
-You have no talent.
Hanna was convinced those words would be written there.
What kind of words would wound her this time?
Would he call her the disgrace of the household again? Hanna was afraid.
She was scared of her father.
Because even after proving her worth, her father hadn’t changed, and she hated him for it.
Hanna simply stared at the unopened letter before her, her heart troubled.
“I proved myself…”
She had proven herself, so what more could he want… Hanna couldn’t understand.
Hanna glared at the blue window before her with teary eyes.
[Q. If He Hadn’t Been There…]
1. Read the letter sent by Histania Rowen. (0/1)
2. Meet your father, Histania Rowen. (0/1)
3. Subjugate the Elite Orc Warriors of the Hamel Mountain Range. (0/30)
Reward: You can view the 〈41st Side Story〉 ‘If He Hadn’t Been There…’.
“I won’t do it.”
Because avoiding an ending she didn’t want to see was better.
She was already living a happy enough life. She didn’t want to dwell on the past, especially when she had someone who supported and believed in her, unlike her coldly rejecting father.
Hanna firmly rejected the blue window before her.
However.
She couldn’t help but glance at it out of unease.
What if. If she listened to the story the blue window was showing…
She felt as though she would never be able to face her father again.
Hanna gazed at the sky with a troubled heart.
“Sigh… I miss the butler.”
Today, more than ever, Hanna found herself longing for the red-haired butler.
***
“Sit!”
The peaceful Young Lady’s room.
With a more serious expression than ever, the Young Lady was holding a piece of jerky and attempting to educate Gomtangi, who was sitting under the bed.
Not understanding what was going on, Gomtangi tilted her head and stared at the Young Lady’s hand, causing the Young Lady’s irritation to skyrocket.
The Young Lady shouted at Gomtangi.
“Sit! You lowly beast!”
-Goom?
Gomtangi completely ignored the Young Lady’s words.
Gomtangi’s gaze was fixed solely on the jerky in the Young Lady’s hand.
Salivating and waiting, Gomtangi drooled.
The Young Lady twirled the jerky in front of Gomtangi’s eyes and said,
“I’ll give it to you if you sit.”
-Chomp!
Gomtangi ate the jerky along with the Young Lady’s hand. Unable to match the reflexes of a beast, the Young Lady stared blankly at her saliva-drenched right hand.
The jerky disappeared in an instant.
-Goom!
Gomtangi wagged her tail happily.
“You little…! You bear brat!”
“She’s not a bear; she’s a dog.”
“Bear or dog, whatever! She’s annoying!”
The Young Lady swung her hand around to threaten Gomtangi, but to me, it only looked adorable.
It was a peaceful day.
The sun shone brightly.
No visitors came.
A day of lazing around like an unemployed person.
This is the life.
I want to live like this forever.
Doing nothing, just playing, eating, and enjoying a peaceful unemployed life while throwing all the work to Mikhail… a leisurely life of idleness…
Then it happened.
Gomtangi, who had been playing with the Young Lady, climbed onto the bed and started barking at something outside.
-Gom! Gom!
“Hey!! Where are you going? You need to be scolded!”
The Young Lady shouted at Gomtangi, who ignored her, but when she looked out the window where Gomtangi was staring, she tilted her head, saying, “Huh? Who’s that?”
“Ricardo. There’s a thief.”
“Huh? There’s nothing to steal in our house.”
“There is.”
“What?”
“The most beautiful thing in the world—me.”
I lightly ignored the Young Lady’s words.
“Why are you ignoring me!”
“…”
“Hey!!”
I shrugged my shoulders.
Who could have come to this estate that seemed haunted?
I cursed the intruder who disrupted my happy unemployed life and resolved to put up a sign at the estate’s entrance reading [Villainess Bites If You Enter.]
I slowly looked out the window.
A brown-haired man stood at the gate, waiting for someone to come out.
He was tall.
He had graceful looks.
He was the man who would become Mikhail’s master.
Histania Rowen.
I said to the Young Lady,
“Air raid alarm!!!”
“Eeeek!!!”
We dove onto the bed and hid.