Chapter 35

The children standing next to Elliot unfolded the notes that had been scattered on the table.

21st, 17th, 16th, 15th… 4th?!

"There's a 4th place!"

"I found it in the library."

At that moment, Balzac threw the note on the table. Joshua also put down his note.

Balzac scratched his head and said in an annoyed tone,

"There's no point in calling out more ranks. I found the 3rd place."

"I'm 2nd."

They found it while entering the library with Elliot.

To get to the library, you have to pass through the needle gate, so you can't go alone.

People were so surprised that they alternately looked at Elliot and the twins.

Then, Geoffrey, who had been grumbling, suddenly shouted,

"How can this be! You have them all, so we can't find them! This is cheating! Cheating!"

Geoffrey, unable to contain his anger, pointed at Elliot and screeched.

Some of the adults nodded in agreement with Geoffrey's words.

The parents whose children didn't find the notes.

"The test wasn't conducted properly. One child monopolized the notes, depriving others of the opportunity."

Encouraged by the support, Geoffrey jumped up.

"The Duke never said we could find multiple notes!"

Elliot, with an innocent expression, tilted his head and said,

"Is everything cheating if the Duke didn't say to do it? But why…"

Elliot looked around and continued,

"The Duke never said we could get help from our parents, but everyone called their moms and dads, didn't they?"

Geoffrey's shoulders twitched.

Elliot smiled and said,

"It's strange that only I cheated, isn't it?"

That smile was so much like the Duke's that it sent shivers down everyone's spines.

Heh.

A laugh came from somewhere.

People focused their attention on where the sound came from.

The Duke was smiling at Elliot.

"Elliot is right."

"A, Father!"

"Grandfather…"

The Duke slammed his fist on the table.

"Did your father dare teach you to cause a disturbance in front of me, Geoffrey?"

"…!"

Geoffrey and his father, Valdric, turned pale.

Geoffrey answered in a barely audible voice,

"N-no, Grandfather…"

The Duke waved his hand in the air and said,

"I see no one better than a three-year-old Elliot. End the test here."

"Yes, Duke."

The faces of the 3-year-olds' parents hardened instantly.

No one had paid attention to Elliot, who had suddenly risen to the top.

Moreover, the Duke had smiled?

"What is that kid…"

Someone muttered, and Daemond replied lightly,

"What, who else? My daughter."

Though he tried to look nonchalant, the corners of his mouth were raised so high they wouldn't come down.

* * *

After the banquet, the twins and I left the dining hall.

During the meal, the room assignments were completed, and the servants had moved all the luggage.

I was delighted to hear from Lord Debussy about my room location.

'As expected, the 4th place room is the one I thought it would be!'

Balzac looked at me, walking briskly, with a puzzled expression.

"Baby, are you happy?"

"Yep!"

"But you didn't get the 1st place room, did you?"

Lord Debussy seemed to be considering whether to give me the 1st place room, but I said I liked the 4th place room.

'It's the room I was aiming for.'

"Awesome!"

Joshua chuckled.

"That's great. Our room is right next to yours."

I knew that.

I had aimed for this arrangement and helped the twins find the 2nd and 3rd place notes.

Knowing that there were notes around the library, I subtly involved the twins.

'Balzac and Joshua are sensitive to sounds, so if someone tries to break into my room, they'll help.'

"Didn't you say hello to your father?"

"After the banquet, the 2-year-olds and the Grandfather have tea time."

Joshua added,

"It's called tea time, but it's actually a report. I did something big, and what's happening in the capital these days…"

"Trying to win the Grandfather's favor."

"Still, I didn't expect the General to stay for tea time, did you, Joshua?"

"From what I see…"

Joshua muttered and smiled.

"Wow, your children are amazing. Balzac and Joshua found very high ranks, didn't they?"

"Nothing special."

"But 5th and 4th, right?"

"3rd and 2nd."

Father, pretending to be nonchalant, corrected them when the twins got the ranks wrong.

"Elliot found 10 notes."

"14."

"Ah…"

"21st, 17th, 16th, 15th… and 4th."

"Ha ha…"

When the number of notes was wrong, he almost shot a death glare to correct it.

Joshua glanced at the banquet hall.

"You're trying to show off, aren't you?"

Balzac chuckled.

"A few days ago, you said they didn't need to work so hard to get good grades."

'He probably did it so they wouldn't feel pressured.'

The twins had just started getting along with their father. He probably did it so they wouldn't worry too much about their grades to maintain their relationship.

But who doesn't like their children getting good grades?

'I made Father happy.'

I felt even happier and grinned.

As we talked and walked, we soon reached the new wing.

The doors of the new wing were all different colors.

Balzac's door was red, Joshua's was blue, and mine was black.

"Baby, if you're scared of sleeping alone, you can come to my room—"

I quickly darted into my room.

"…"

"Idiot."

I could hear Joshua's voice from behind.

Soon, the two of them opened their assigned doors.

Inside my room, I exclaimed,

"Wow…"

The furniture was a rich color, well-aged by time.

The walls were adorned with old-fashioned patterns.

The chandelier had a unique shape, like a bunch of gold pins tangled together.

'It's just like the description in the novel.'

This is the room where <Black Hand> Elliot lived.

It was also the reason why the once powerless Elliot desperately tried to maintain the 4th place.

I looked around the room and found a terrace.

'Wow, there—!'

I had seen this in the novel.

I opened the door and stepped onto the terrace.

A crescent moon's shadow was floating over the lake, visible only from this room.

'It really feels like drinking moon tea.'

In the novel, this moon tea was described as the only gift the world had given to the protagonist, who had been abandoned by the gods.

I felt a strange sensation.

My heart ached and felt tender…

After staring at the moon tea for a while, I gasped.

'This isn't the time for that.'

Another reason why Elliot didn't want to lose this room.

I had to find it.

I ran to the dressing room.

'Hmm, the third from the left…'

I walked to the third wardrobe from the left.

I opened the door and felt the floor with my fingertips, and something caught my hand.

When I pressed it, the inner wall of the wardrobe opened with a creak.

'It's really there!'

I closed the wardrobe door to avoid being discovered and entered the wall.

This new wing where the 3-year-olds lived was a remodeled version of the previous Duke's 'laboratory'.

The previous Duke was obsessed with blessings.

He built this large laboratory and conducted all sorts of terrible experiments.

As soon as he became Duke, the grandfather destroyed this terrible laboratory.

'Perhaps the grandfather also…'

The thought made me shiver, and I shook my head.

The musty smell of the basement filled my nose. I carefully descended the dusty stairs of the laboratory.

At the bottom of the stairs, I felt around the dark wall.

Then, I touched something, and the basement lit up, revealing its contents.

"Wow—!"

I covered my mouth with both hands.

This basement was the material storage of the laboratory.

It was filled with various ancient artifacts and blessing stones that solidified blessings.

I held my cheeks and silently screamed in awe.

'Victory!'

The blessing stone of <Barrier>.

The blessing stone of <Seal>.

The blessing stone of <Rapid Plant Growth>.

The variety was immense.

'If he collected all of these…'

Blessing stones are produced when a person dies.

Blessings can be extracted from living people, but that requires the blessing of <Solidification>.

Even with the difficulty of extracting them, they can't be used for a lifetime.

They have a limited number of uses, and they stop working at some point, like a phone battery without a display.

I tossed the blessing stones to check their colors.

'Light green, a light green rhombus… I found it!'

I rubbed the blessing stone, which was about the size of a child's palm, against my cheek.

'Sigh, such a precious blessing stone, suffering in a shabby place.'

Now I'll use it properly.

As I was about to stand up, something caught my foot.

'A chalice?'

The chalice was in a terrible state, with the gilded parts peeling off.

Touching it would probably make my hands rusty.

'Was this also in the basement storage?'

I tilted my head.

'Well, it could be.'

Not everything here was described in the novel.

I held the light green blessing stone and left the basement, humming.

* * *

At night, I secretly called Han Jihyuk.

Before leaving the jurisdiction, we made a promise.

"When the owl statue on the first floor shelf is half-turned, come to my room?"

"Okay!"

Han Jihyuk entered the room.

His eyes were sunken, and he looked half-dead.

"Did you polish the helmet again?"

Han Jihyuk shook his head.

"No, but this place is even worse than that."

"Why?"

"The servants don't say a word. Then, when someone makes a mistake, they just watch. I thought they were letting it slide, but it turns out they report to the butler, and the salary is cut!"

Han Jihyuk was already pulling his hair out, having lost 20 silver.

The Duke's castle was known to be a terrifying place.

If you reported someone's mistake to the butler, you got money.

The person who made the mistake had to give half of their cut salary.

So, everyone kept a close eye on their work and others' mistakes.

Some even deliberately made others mess up.

"You won't advance here."

"That's true, but 20 silver!"

"Several million gold."

"Ah… Right. I forgot that you became a wealthy person by living frugally to prepare for exile."

"…"

Maybe it's better to change your limbs now.

I looked at Han Jihyuk with narrowed eyes and sighed deeply.

"Here, take this."

I handed him the light green blessing stone I found in the basement.

"What is this?"

I grinned and raised the corners of my mouth.

Han Jihyuk looked at me with one eye squinted and said,

"You really look bad when you do that, you know?"

"I'm the villain, aren't I?"

"Anyway, what is this?"

"The blessing stone of <Replication>."

"Replication…?"

Han Jihyuk's eyes widened.

"What are you going to replicate? Even replicate a blessing stone?"

"That's something only the ancients could do."

Blessings were strongest in ancient times.

Over time, they weakened, and by the modern era, they could barely mimic 5% of the ancients' abilities.

'In the past, <Enhancement> didn't just enhance physical abilities.'

It could enhance others' blessings to the level of enhancement stones.

Anyway, this replication blessing stone can only replicate objects.

If the object is an ancient artifact, it can only replicate the shell, not the mysterious power.

"Spread the word that you have the <Replication> blessing stone."

"Another rumor? Why?"

"So people with precious items will approach you."

"…Are you looking for something?"

I nodded.

"A painting."

"A painting?"

The painting that the Empress Dowager inherited from her mother.

It was lost when she was young.

'The Empress Dowager is still spending a huge amount of money to track it down.'

I don't know who currently has the painting, but I do know one thing.

'They are an art lover.'

The last work of a genius, no matter how much money is offered, is hard to part with.

'But if it can be replicated?'

They would try to replicate it for the money.

They could keep the original and give the replica to the Empress Dowager.

'In <Black Hand>, they hire a painter to make a forgery, but if they know about replication, they'll come here.'

After I explained, Han Jihyuk nodded.

"The Empress Dowager would be very grateful if you found it. But… why are you trying to win her favor? You have the Duke as your grandfather, so why do you need to?"

"Idiot. You need to be friendly with all the powerful people."

Like the country where I was about to be promoted to the youngest manager just by rubbing shoulders.

'You need to build a network outside as well.'

I smiled wickedly.

"Go now."

"Going, going."

Han Jihyuk, putting the <Replication> blessing stone in his pocket, walked to the door.

Just as he was about to leave, he turned to me.

"But."

"Okay?"

"You should be more careful."

What do you mean?

Han Jihyuk came to me in one step and lowered his voice.

"Someone was in front of your room and ran away when they felt my presence. It was too dark to see clearly, but they looked quite big."

"…"

Han Jihyuk pinched my nose slightly.

"Don't get hurt. You're my lifeline."

"Go."

I pushed Han Jihyuk's back and quickly chased him away.

Then, I jumped into bed.

Ah, so soft.

'Probably one of the direct descendants ordered it.'

I did so well today, so they must be furious.

As I lay in bed, I felt sleepy.

I must have run around a lot today looking for notes.

I soon fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, I saw a party hall.

Huh? What is this?

Looking down at my body, I realized I had suddenly grown into an adult.

I tried to move my hands, but they didn't budge.

'Another dream?'

I seemed to be seeing a scene from someone else's body.

I stood in a corner, following the body's owner.

No one spoke to me.

I stood alone while the music changed countless times.

'Why don't I go?'

Everyone was ignoring me.

Then, a loud voice came from outside the door.

"Her Highness Dalia of the Grimea jurisdiction has arrived!"

Dalia?

Hearing the protagonist's name, I was startled.

Dalia entered the party hall, linking arms with her uncle from Grimea.

People flocked to her as if they had made a pact.

"Wow, you've become an adult and manifested your third blessing, haven't you?"

"Amazing. The saying that you are blessed by the gods is not wrong."

Even her cousins looked at Dalia with affectionate expressions.

"Happy 20th birthday, Dalia."

"Here's my gift."

Dalia looked very happy as she accepted the gifts.

'What is this?'

Dalia's 20th birthday party.

The party was mentioned, but…

Dalia recalled the first birthday she celebrated after returning to the Duke's castle. Her 20th birthday party was breathtakingly beautiful.