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It’s finally the day of the showdown. I was out in the neglected garden behind the Duke’s castle, which is deserted.

It’s the middle of the winter at Duke Castle. The gardeners only cared about the glass greenhouse and the main gate, so this place was naturally left untouched.

‘Well, this is the perfect place to play the game.’

Satisfied with the desolate place, I kneeled and gazed at the green leaves that didn’t match the frozen ground.

It hasn’t been long since I stayed at Duke Castle, but my physical condition was improving day by day, as my life went on a different path and lifestyle than when I was in the orphanage.

Of course, I still looked skinny, but this couldn’t even compare to how I was before, back then I could barely breathe after walking a little.

‘Now I have enough strength to start training my mana.’

Bianca told me not to force myself until I became a little older because there’s a risk of mana runaway again, but that was true when I was a child who couldn’t handle mana.

In particular, I grew a herb field to practice mana control with the guild executive Ted, so I’m

was very familiar with injecting mana into the ground.

Even now, when I began to inject mana, the mana was delivered to the roots of the plants, and green leaves slowly began to expand the area.

It was also proof that I was using mana efficiently. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to control the sudden increase in mana, but I didn’t think I had to worry too much.

“When the flowers bloom, I’ll bring them to Diana,” said Lia.

Today, after leaving the child again, I felt a little uncomfortable.

Still, a few days ago, Diana was very satisfied with tying my hair and playing with it repeatedly in the room, so it was fortunate that she agreed to just play in the room today.

“From tomorrow, we’ll play together every day.”

My will burned thinking about the lovely child, Diana. Although Diana and I would not have met if it weren’t for Sid Valerie, I couldn’t stand the thought of the child being kidnapped and suffering.

While expanding the area of green leaves for a long time, I saw something noticeable.

“Huh? This can’t be…”

“Who are you?”

At the same time, I heard a voice behind me. I had already noticed his arrival long ago, so I turned calmly and frowned.

‘That snake-like impression.’

When we first met, he didn’t have a good impression, but when I got to know the real thing, he looked meaner.

Yes, my wish for Allen was to be alone with Sid Valerie.

‘To send the vice commander to the place I want, exactly when I want to.’

Allen, who heard my wish, wondered at the silly content but kept his promise anyway.

“Hey, I guess you used the young master to bring me here?” Sid Valerie snorted.

Sid Valerie was wheezing at me, perhaps only to grasp the situation after the rare sponsorship of the Duke.

“How can a young child be so clever? So you clung to the young lady and followed her here shamelessly. Does it feel good to have a nice little girl to your liking? You’ll have to live your whole life thanking the lady.”

He spat at me and turned around as if he didn’t want me to be Diana’s servant.

So I spoke exaggeratedly behind him, “As you said, I should thank her, not you.”

“What?”

“How could I have met you if it wasn’t for the young miss? Don’t you think so?” (Lia)

“What…” (Sid)

Lia continued, “I heard everything. You deliberately lied to Sir Sedian that the escort mission had changed.” 

Sid Valerie’s face hardened at my words. It was very painful to see Sir Sedian even if he had enough skills to rise to the position of vice-commander of the Rexion Knights.

But I raised my voice again. Let these words spread far away, “Isn’t that too much though? No matter how much you want to drive out Sir Sedian, you gamble for the safety of the lady you serve…”

Sid Valerie exclaimed, “Crazy! That’s vulgar, and you’re good at making up lies.”

When I saw the man approaching me threateningly, I was scared for a moment, but I managed to control myself.

‘Don’t be afraid, it’s okay.’

I already know the meaning of the words of Count Valerie. It’s foolish to run wild without knowing one inch ahead.

“You’re threatening me without proof. You want to die, don’t you?”

“So you mean to say that everything I’m saying is a lie?”

“Yeah! And even if it’s true, who’s going to believe you or Taze!”

“Whether to believe it or not is a matter for the Duke to decide.”