Chapter 17

17

The straight, well-extended white fingers were quite calloused.

They were hands that had handled weapons quite a bit. It was the complete opposite of his rather plain face.

"This is for educational purposes."

"Education?"

In response to the unyielding words of Lady Sullivan, Sharent Clowen slowly repeated as if he had heard something quite peculiar.

'From his reaction, could this human have been the one who ordered it?'

I blinked once and tilted my head.

I had thought for sure that this human had commissioned it, but it seemed I was wrong. It was unexpected.

"What kind of education?"

"I heard that he was wandering around rudely and acting without knowing his place, so I only intended to educate him before he grew any further..."

Thump.

Something welled up from within me.

'Why do I have to be treated like this here?'

I flailed my arms.

"Ahhhhh!"

Let go, let go!

You damn humans! I'm going to kill that woman today!

"Tsk, stay still..."

"Nia!"

Let go! Why can't anything go my way?

I didn't like anything about Sharent Clowen, who held the back of my neck as if my struggling was annoying.

My pacifier even had a hole in it.

I couldn't even speak properly.

I couldn't kill her.

Thud.

A thick droplet fell to the floor.

Thud. Thud.

Tears of injustice rolled down my cheeks and onto the floor.

I was dangled and rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand.

'Sigh, why is this so short?'

My arms were too short to even properly wipe my eyes, which made me even more miserable.

"Are you crying?"

So what if I'm crying! It's a blow to my pride!

The sound of my pride shattering rang in my ears.

I took the pacifier out of my mouth and grabbed the string, swinging it wildly.

Because my arms were short, I couldn't even reach the maid, Sullivan or whatever her name was.

"Ugh..."

With my head lowered, tears continued to fall. My field of vision suddenly lowered.

Sharent Clowen had put me down, and more gently than I expected.

When I glanced at Sharent Clowen, he was looking at me with an unreadable expression.

With another tear falling, I gritted my teeth and rolled on the floor to change direction.

I crawled over to Sullivan and swung the pacifier in my hand.

Sullivan looked down at me as if I were amusing and lifted her foot.

I knew Sullivan's raised right foot would soon come flying at me, but I had no intention of backing down.

Why? Because I was so angry and wronged that I wanted to die!

'How can I kill her?'

How can I curse her to torment her for the rest of her life? First, I needed some of this woman's hair.

Whether it was from her head or her legs.

After that, I just needed to gather the materials and cast the curse. I would get my revenge and gain magic power, so there was nothing to lose.

Pretending to swing the pacifier, I grabbed the woman's leg with my other hand.

I grabbed one of the sparse hairs on her leg and pulled with all my might just as Sullivan's foot moved.

'It's going to hit...'

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the impact.

"Lady Sullivan."

Sharent Clowen's soft voice made Sullivan stop in her tracks.

Thinking this was my chance, I grabbed the leg hair and pulled while swinging the pacifier to divert attention.

Thud, thud, thud.

The dull sounds continued.

Hehe, the corners of my mouth turned up.

Even though the pacifier was made of wood, it would still hurt quite a bit.

Wishing for a small bruise, I clenched my toothless gums and used all my strength...

'Well, I've never actually sucked on a pacifier...'

I used all the strength I could muster.

"If you take even one more step, the name of the House of Sullivan will be erased from the imperial noble lineage."

"What do you mean by that..."

At the soft warning, Lady Sullivan's eyes widened.

Though she asked in disbelief, she couldn't take a step.

This seemed to prove that Sharent Clowen and the House of Clowen wielded considerable power in the Empire of Heiren.

'What a whim...'

Whatever it was, it was good for me.

Swish, swish, I swung the pacifier in my hand whenever I had the chance.

The wooden pacifier hit my shins hard enough to make thudding sounds, and Sullivan, whoever she was, flinched in pain.

In the midst of my vigorous beating, the thought of having to put this thing back in my mouth after it had been in contact with this human's leg made me feel sick.

I quickly retrieved the pacifier and wiped it on my clothes.

'Hmm... feels icky.'

What if a fool asks?

"What right do you have to mention our family, which has had a long-standing relationship with this dirty and lowly bloodline!"

"Deciding whether this is dirty and lowly is my job..."

Before Sharent Clowen could continue his soft voice, I finished my venting and put the pacifier back in my mouth.

Now that I had pulled the woman's leg hair, all I needed were ten rose thorns from a blooming red rose and a suitable amount of straw.

'I need to make him pay.'

Now that I had vented, it was time for revenge.

I stretched out my front paws, or rather my hands, to crawl away from them.

Each time I crawled, a sharp pain shot through my knees.

My clothes were thin, and the marble floor was too hard for a child.

I forced a smile despite my furrowed brow.

"Wasn't Lady Sullivan supposed to bark when told to bark and whine when told to whine?"

Oh, what an interesting remark. I turned my head to watch the exchange between the two.

Usually, when Sharent Clowen went too far, Deshar Clowen would intervene, but today he was quiet.

"Your Highness, I was only doing it for the Duke and the Young Duke!"

Sullivan now looked at Deshar Clowen.

After venting my frustrations, I felt like a real child, and the incident didn't bother me as much.

'That's one thing, but revenge is another.'

Yawning widely, I pushed my head through the gap of the still open front door.

"How dare you stick your nose into our family affairs, you have no sense of your place."

With Deshar Clowen's heavy voice, I left the entrance.

Squeak, squeak.

The thin metal string dragged along the floor, making an unpleasant sound.

Moreover, the pacifier was heavier than usual because of the metal string.

The sound of the metal string dragging along my ears was quite unsettling, so I sat down and stretched my legs, moving the string back and forth.

"Ugh..."

It wasn't going as I wanted.

"Choo..."

My pacifier...

Though my pronunciation was poor, after a long time of crying, I could at least say 'pacifier' in a way that someone could understand.

'I've grown a little...'

It was a solemn thought, but considering all the tears and effort, it wasn't really something to be happy about.

Sighing, I crawled to find the materials for the basic curse spell, the foundation of beginner black magic.

The material shop, which was no different from a general store... I mean, Sharent Clowen's garden.

Honestly, his garden was so diverse that I wondered if the unlucky Sharent Clowen had really grown all those plants from seeds.

He even said he was surprised by how complete it was.

'Wasn't it originally tended by the Duchess?'

It was more surprising that Sharent Clowen had taken over and was now tending the garden.

Usually, wouldn't someone cut everything down if they left their territory?

With these thoughts, I entered the garden.

'Straw... should I go to the stable?'

The straw used to water the horses would also work, so getting it wasn't a problem.

I was worried about the tiger thorn tree because it was rarely grown, but...

'Of course, it's here.'

Though it was called a tree, it was as low as a bush with thick branches.

All I had to do was stand up to get the branches.

I stretched my arms and hung from the tiger thorn tree.

Hugging the tree trunk, I carefully stood up. My bare feet touched the damp soil and lush grass.

When I tried to tilt my head back, it felt heavy and kept falling backward.

Finally, unable to resist the heavy head, my body swayed.

"Ouch! Ow!"

What's with this head size!

'Was I this big-headed?'

With my center of gravity shifted backward, I felt like I was going to fall and hit the back of my head.

Startled, I flailed my arms.

Desperately flailing my arms in the air and hopping, I managed to hug the tree trunk again.

"Phew..."

Fortunately, the tree trunk wasn't too thick, so it wasn't hard to hold onto.

This time, I bowed my head low without tilting it back. Stretching out one arm, I swiped at the air, and something caught the tips of my fingers.

I grabbed it firmly.

With one hand, it was easy to grab it with both hands. As I sat on the ground, a branch snapped.

"Ouch!"

Done!

It was a small branch of the tiger thorn tree, about the size of my palm. It was a bit short, but there was nothing I could do.

I pushed the tiger thorn tree branch into my clothes. It wasn't hard to push it into the loose fabric.

Next, I needed the rose thorns.

On one side of the garden, roses were blooming brightly in various colors.

Though there were many thorns, I needed my blood for the curse, so it was a two-for-one deal.

I solemnly stood on all fours in front of the most brightly blooming red rose.

'It won't hurt... it won't hurt...'

I slowly reached out to the rose, trying to hypnotize myself.

I was scared that the sharp thorns would pierce my delicate body.

'They won't stick in my fingers, right?'

The thorns were larger than expected...

"Ugh."

I made a groaning sound, squeezed my eyes shut, and pushed my hand into the bright rose.

Poke!

The thorn touched the tip of my finger. As expected, a sharp pain made my eyes water.

I almost let go, but thinking of the woman who treated me like a dog, this pain was nothing.

Gripping the rose tightly, the pain made my nose tingle. Tears that had stopped started flowing again.

I tore the rose forcefully and quickly threw it on the ground.

'I can't carry this.'

After staring at it for a while, I decided to hide the torn rose.

I pushed the rose and the tiger thorn tree branch into the inner part of the rose bush.

It would be better to get the straw and bring it here.

'They won't touch this.'

It wouldn't be noticeable from the outside.

"Exactly... what are you doing?!"

But a loud voice thundered down from above.

The loud voice pierced my sensitive ears, and I jumped as if struck by lightning.

My heart raced, and my eyes widened in fear.

'Deshar... Clowen...?'

His murky gray eyes were wide open, staring down at me.