Chapter 1.22
After expressing her gratitude in a trembling voice, her vision blurred like a fool.
Discovering that Ayla’s eyes had turned red, a flustered Levi couldn’t help but ask.
“Ayla, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just…….”
Drip—
The tears that had welled up in her blue eyes flowed down her heated cheeks.
Levi calmly patted her shoulder and listened to the story Ayla poured out along with her sobs.
‘I knew it, but this house’s uncle is a real piece of work, too.’
It was shameless enough to think of the inheritance the Baron and Baroness left for their daughter as his own—unbelievable.
“Don’t listen to the things that blame you, Ayla. You said you were only seven back then.”
To tell a seven-year-old who lost her parents in an accident that she was incompetent or that she had no right to be the heir.
Recalling her own uncle who had ended up behind bars after trying to pull a similar stunt, Levi grew even more furious.
“They probably wanted to make you feel powerless by saying those things. Because they themselves have no right to inherit the legacy.”
“Levi…….”
“They raise their voices more because they know they’re the ones who fall short of the qualifications. So, instead of the words of your uncle and his wife, let’s listen to the opinions of experts.”
Watching Levi get angrier than she was, Ayla let out a soft laugh.
“I’m glad I met you, Levi.”
If she had spent her days in a gloom, locked in the dormitory without interacting with anyone, she surely would have felt nothing but self-hatred.
But these days, talking with a newly made friend and soaking up the sunlight while walking across the campus, she had become able to look at the things she had suffered from a step away, objectively.
Her uncle was trying to take everything from her.
‘He’s already taken everything I possessed.’
After she received her Academy diploma, he would surely swallow her share of the inheritance and quietly dispose of her.
If Levi hadn’t approached her, it was a truth she might have tried her best not to face because her situation was so pitiful.
“As long as I stay in the dormitory, there’s a physical distance, so I’m less influenced by my uncle. We’ll find a way. Once I become an adult, I won’t even acknowledge his existence.”
Levi, who had been quietly listening to Ayla’s resolve, carefully raised her head and met her eyes.
Now was the time to tell her the way to achieve Ayla’s wish even sooner.
“Ayla.”
“Yes, Levi.”
“If there was a way to nullify the contents of your parents’ will and receive your inheritance a bit earlier, would you do it?”
“I can receive the inheritance earlier?”
Ayla checked again to see if she had heard Levi’s words correctly.
As Levi nodded, an immediate answer popped out as if there was nothing to deliberate.
“I mean…… of course.”
“Really?”
“If I get my inheritance, I can hire a lawyer with my own money and buy a decent mansion again, so I won’t have to be swayed by my uncle anymore.”
Ayla also knew what she wanted to do.
It was just that she had momentarily folded her hopes away because all the assets to do such things had been taken from her.
Confirming that fact, Levi wore a small smile.
“In that case, I have a pretty good method.”
***
After finishing the training, Levi walked alone and thought after dropping Ayla off at the dormitory.
‘I hope Ayla accepts my proposal.’
Thanks to her—who held an immense amount of holy power inside her body—willingly training with her, Levi’s stamina had doubled in the meantime.
Of course, since her body was originally like a paper doll, it was still ridiculously weak even after doubling, but it was certainly a dazzling development.
The proposal she gave Ayla was a thank-you for that.
‘My stamina has recovered a lot thanks to her, so should I train a bit more before I go?’
Through a brief performance, she had informed everyone that the Heron bloodline was not to be trifled with, but that was merely a temporary optical illusion.
Thinking about the many things she had to do in the future, she couldn’t afford to walk slowly at her leisure.
‘If I fail to change the future and die young as in the original, there are many who must die with me.’
Thinking of the Heron vassals who supported her fervently, Levi headed back to the training ground alone, just as she had for the past few days.
However, today, there was someone waiting for her there.
“Levi Heron.”
A low voice that was pleasant to the ear yet pierced clearly through her senses.
Red eyes that matched that unshakable, calm tone were staring at her.
As the man who had been leaning askew straightened his upper body and walked out on his long legs, his face, so handsome it made her lose her senses for a moment, caught her gaze.
“……Prince Demian?”
Levi muttered despite herself, thinking something was strange.
No matter if the Academy was just a wall away from the Imperial Palace, why is a Prince here at this hour?
And Demian was thinking the same thing. Why the hell am I standing here at this hour?
“You’re saying there’s someone else using that dilapidated training ground besides me?”
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.