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Chapter 13
"Huan?"
It was Namia Loapi's voice. There was ‌‌‌something suspicious in her tone.
Huan Loapi, then....
'The twin brother ‌I read about in the ‌‌‌‌report?'
Footsteps followed, accompanied by frantic exclamations about some terrible crisis befalling ‌‌their parents, then faded into the distance.
Crown Prince Kiaros furrowed his brow, and the Aide beside him tilted his head, speaking casually as he passed.
"Even her twin brother has come calling. I'm curious what calamity has befallen that ‌‌‌‌sharp-tongued young lady's family."
At the Aide's words, ‌‌Crown ‌‌‌Prince Kiaros immediately lifted his head.
"Is that so? Then investigate the Loapi Marquessate more thoroughly."
"...Your Highness?"
The rather ‌oblivious Aide wore a bewildered expression. Crown Prince Kiaros spoke gravely.
"If you're curious, your work efficiency will suffer."
"Well, I'm not particularly curious...."
"If you keep ‌‌dwelling on it, distracting thoughts will arise and you won't carry out my orders properly."
"I don't think it will bother me that much...."
"For the sake of your mental health and well-being, I should do at least this much."
"That seems like far too much effort for such ‌‌‌‌trivial curiosity on my part...."
"Investigating a single noble of the Capital is hardly labor-intensive at all."
Crown Prince Kiaros placed his hand on the Aide's shoulder and issued his command.
"Not ‌‌superficial like last time—dig deeper. Deploy The Ravens."
The Ravens were the Crown Prince's direct intelligence organization. ‌‌
In other words, he intended to uncover everything ‌‌‌‌about the Loapi Marquessate.
"Yes, Your Highness. Understood."
And the Aide's eyes glistened with tears at the Crown Prince's consideration for him.
* * *
"Father."
My earliest memory was of nights spent whimpering in my father's arms, half-asleep.
"You became like this because of me, didn't you, Father?"
My father, with silver hair and blue eyes identical to mine—the kindest ‌‌‌‌man in ‌the world.
Father was born as the second ‌‌‌‌son of the Loapi Marquessate.
The Loapi Marquessate was already a fallen noble house in ruins, and the title was to pass to his older brother, so Father was no different from a commoner.
"I'm truly sorry.... For being born... I'm sorry."
Originally, Father was an ethics teacher at the Rural Village School.
He would commute by bicycle, teach the children, and loved lying on the grass reading books—a modest young man.
Father met a woman through a parent's ‌introduction and married her.
[What? You ‌said you were nobles! How can nobles have no money at all? I thought you were just frugal people!]
But that woman changed completely right after the wedding. The reason was ‌‌‌their utter lack of funds.
Afterward, she abandoned me, a newborn, with ‌‌‌Father and fled.
That woman—my mother—had no choice but to flee. She was drowning in enormous debt.
The loan sharks came after Huan Loapi Sr. immediately.
[It's pitiful that you married under false pretenses, but that's not ‌‌my concern. Once the divorce is processed, you won't have to repay anything. But hand over that daughter. She needs to repay the debt. We already have debt documents in her name.] ‌‌‌‌
At that time, Huan Loapi Sr. refused to hand me over, though I was just a newborn.
[What? You won't give up your daughter? If you won't hand her over, then you have to repay all this debt yourself. Understand?]
It was predictable what those notorious villains would do.
In the end, Huan Loapi Sr. quit his teaching position at the school with meager wages, vowing to repay the debt himself. From there, he took on any work—manual labor, mercenary jobs, anything.
"My dear daughter, don't say such things. You are the most precious treasure to your father. Your father would do anything for our Namia Loapi."
Yet no matter how ‌‌‌hard Huan Loapi Sr. worked day and night, ‌‌the debt only grew. The interest was far too steep.
Still, he never abandoned me.
I was left in various places, only meeting my father when night fell.
As each day passed, my body bore more wounds and grew thinner, and whenever I felt sorrow at my withering appearance, my father would embrace me tightly and tell me the most beautiful ‌‌‌‌stories.
"My dear daughter, when everything is over someday, ‌‌‌let's go stargazing with your father."
"Stars? I can see them from here too."
"No, there's a place ‌‌‌‌far away called the Observatory. Your father really wants to take you there once you're grown."
I too told my father everything.
All the things that happened to me throughout the ‌‌day.
"Really? But does this make the stars more visible?"
"...What is this, daughter?"
"It's a magic scroll. I saw a book in the Library and applied what I learned to make it."
"You made this...alone? A magic scroll? You, by yourself?"
When there was nowhere suitable to leave me, Huan Loapi Sr. would place me in the Library.
Fearing the loan sharks might secretly kidnap me, he would have me wear a hat that hid my hair completely and a mask that covered half my face.
I found this getup suffocating, but I endured it nonetheless and never removed it.
It was then that I happened upon a book about magic scrolls, which fascinated me so much that I began crafting scrolls there on ‌my own.
"...What is this." ‌‌
When I activated the crudely drawn scroll, my father was startled and muttered in astonishment.
"It actually...works, doesn't it?"
"Yes. It really does work."
I was eight years old then.
Normally, only Academy students could create scrolls, so it was natural that my father was so shocked.
"Namia Loapi, this isn't your first time making ‌‌‌one, is it? Have you made more before?"
"Yes."
I spoke with pride.
"I even saved a child with one today."
"...Saved?"
"A boy in the Library's courtyard had a blade flying at him. I saw it through the window and blocked it ‌‌with a scroll."
"...What?"
"He was wearing nice clothes, but his tone was arrogant. He didn't even properly thank me."
At my rambling words, my father ‌‌furrowed his ‌‌brow and asked urgently.
"Did ‌‌‌you tell him your name? You didn't tell him your ‌‌‌name, did you?"
"Of course I didn't tell anyone! You said I should never speak ‌‌‌to people you don't know. I wore my hat ‌‌and mask the whole time!"
"Well done, my clever daughter."
Father exhaled a long breath of relief. I continued chattering away.
"Oh, but that child told me to go see Count Kalto."
"Is that so? Count Kalto has no sons, so he must be the child of a high-ranking servant."
"Do you think he'll give me some money? I was already wondering whether to go or not, but I wanted to ask you first before deciding."
I pressed my thumb and index ‌‌‌finger together to show the shape of money, and Father slowly shook his head.
"Don't go. And let's stop visiting that Library altogether. We'd have to reveal your identity, and if something goes wrong in the process, what then? Besides, even if we received a bit of money, it wouldn't change ‌‌‌our situation."
"Understood. But Father." ‌‌‌
"Yes?"
"...Will things actually change if we stay like this?"
The truth was, we both understood it vaguely. That we couldn't continue living this way forever.
That the ever-mounting debt would eventually swallow us whole.
"Father, but...I'm fine even if I get taken away."
I fidgeted in Father's arms as I spoke.
"So if you become ‌‌free because ‌‌of that, I think that would be good too."
"Namia Loapi."
Father's voice turned stern at my words.
"Never think such things ‌‌‌‌again. Never. It breaks my heart."
"...Okay. Actually, I've been thinking about a different plan."
"A different plan?"
I clenched my fists and told Father about the plan I'd been ambitiously contemplating lately.
"I'm going to marry a man with an enormous amount of money. Since you accumulated debt because of marriage, couldn't I pay off the debt through marriage ‌‌‌too? By marrying a man with an absolutely, absolutely, absolutely enormous amount ‌‌‌‌of money."
It was, in my own way, a very reasonable strategy.
"It's what you might ‌call the Cinderella Operation! Cinderella doesn't seem to suit my temperament, but if I ‌‌‌‌can pay off the debt!"
"Don't say such things. Our Namia Loapi ‌‌‌should marry someone you love."
"But...."
"From now on, don't even mention debt. It's ‌‌not something a child should worry about."
But from that night on, Father couldn't sleep well.
When I woke before dawn, I could see Father staring ‌‌‌intently at the scrolls I'd made.
Father gazed at the scrolls, sighing deeply with an expression more troubled than ever, and muttered to himself. ‌
"Sigh.... My daughter is so clever.... Really, I shouldn't be raising her like this...."
Then came that fateful day.
Father didn't go out on his usual early morning errand.
From morning on, he bought me plenty of fine ‌‌‌clothes and we ‌‌ate delicious food together.
Though a bad premonition filled me, I smiled with all ‌‌‌‌my might.
It felt as though I wouldn't see Father for a very long time.
Even if Father sent me to the loan sharks, I was determined to smile and say 'it's alright.'
But the place Father took me to, holding my hand, was utterly ‌unexpected.

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our ‌‌‌team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our ‌‌official site: valirscans.org
---------------