WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Malfoid

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◈ I Don't Need a Family ◈

Episode 13

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I absently ran my fingertips along the black line.

Gillian's was blue, and Harris's was blue too.

Among the members of this generation, only my name failed to shine.

‘It’s as if it’s telling me that even my name can’t truly be Ashwilt.’

I stared down at the family tree.

But the color of the line did not change.

This was the genealogy of a great ducal house. There was no way it was wrong.

‘Then I must have been mistaken about something.’

Could Vivette possibly not have been the duke's biological child?

Adopted children were marked with black lines.

I seriously considered it, then let out a small laugh.

‘Impossible. Duke Ashwilt would never have adopted a child who couldn't use magic.’

Even if he had adopted her as a baby, he would have annulled the adoption immediately after the Mana Heart accident.

That was the one thing I could be sure of.

Even now, as his biological daughter, I had practically been abandoned.

‘Then it must be that.’

If Vivette truly carried this family's blood, this was the only explanation.

Vivette had not undergone a proper baptism ceremony.

The ceremony in which a family's particular mana was infused into its infants.

The family's unique mana was etched into a baby's Mana Heart, allowing them to wield the family's mana afterward.

That was why members of the same family possessed mana with similar qualities.

Rather than being inherited through blood, it was closer to something passed down afterward.

The reason Ashwilts had retained silver hair for centuries was partly genetic, but mostly something the family created.

That was why the rare, beautiful silver hair became less common the farther one was from the direct line.

Though Vivette had apparently been born with silver hair.

In any case, the prerequisite for all of this was a normal Mana Heart.

And Vivette?

‘Her Mana Heart was damaged on the day of the baptism ceremony.’

That was why my name was written in black.

It was a perfect deduction.

It was entirely possible.

But one thing bothered me.

‘Then why did Gillian speak as though my baptism had been completed normally?’

Hadn't he said that I was bound to the family by magical power, just like him?

...It couldn't have been just to preserve this relationship with a lie.

‘It didn't seem like he was lying. He really believed it.’

The Ashwilts were clever people. With even a little thought, they could have suspected it.

No, questioning it was the logical thing to do. How could someone form a magical contract with their family when their Mana Heart was damaged?

Yet none of the relatives had ever mentioned it.

‘It's clear. Someone properly deceived them.’

Arion Ashwilt.

Vivette's father and the current Duke Ashwilt had announced it without batting an eyelid.

Regardless of the accident, Vivette's baptism had been performed normally, and she was officially a member of this family.

He had kept it secret even from his heir.

But why? Was he worried Vivette would be looked down on within the family?

‘When he was the one who had disregarded his daughter.’

My feelings were complicated.

But my thoughts were not.

There was one thing I needed to know in this situation.

If we were connected by a black line, it could also be cut.

This relationship was not inevitable.

The magical contract with the family remained intact on the family tree even after death.

But I was completely free of it.

It meant that once I completed the administrative procedures required by Imperial law, I could even be removed from the family registry.

‘But not right now. I need to take care of Madame Fadde first.’

I quickly pulled myself together.

I could not forget why I had come. I was here to uncover Madame Fadde's identity.

If I did not hurry, she could be driven out to the countryside as soon as this month.

With the intention of learning enough to confront the duke, I diligently scanned the family tree.

I did not know where Madame Pade's name would be, but I hoped it would be nearby.

That would make the burden of the family the duke had erased all the heavier.

But Madame Fadde's name was found in an unexpected place.

“Hmm?”

Much closer than I had expected.

* * *

I returned to the annex around dawn.

After all the secrets that had been uncovered the previous night, I was half out of my mind.

‘To think Madame Fadde was my grandmother...’

She looked about the same age as the duke, so I had never imagined it.

Madame Fadde Ashwilt was the former duchess, meaning she was the current duke's stepmother.

The former duke's second wife, whom he had taken after his first wife passed away.

What kind of family tree did this damned family even have?

‘There really isn't a single ordinary thing about the Ashwilts.’

Amid my turmoil, the maid's voice sounded especially loud.

“My lady! Where have you been?”

The moment Lola spotted me, she began making a fuss.

I could not tell her I had been to the main residence, so I gave her a vague answer.

“Just taking a walk at night. Why? Did something happen?”

“Come this way. Quickly!”

As though there was no time to explain, Lola grabbed my arm and pulled me along.

Toward the bedroom where Madame Fadde stayed.

‘Did something happen to her?’

Had the fall I had worried about so much finally occurred?

My heart dropped.

But then...

“Hmm?”

What I saw as I strode closer was Madame Fadde sitting on the bed and eating.

“Are you eating on your own now? Without help from the maids?”

“Yes, she suddenly started eating well by herself.”

Until last night, someone had needed to feed her.

Could she improve that much overnight?

No, could dementia even improve?

Something was strange.

Having finished her meal, Madame Fadde abruptly rose to her feet and headed for the door.

“Madam, where are you going?”

But there was no answer.

“She doesn't answer questions very well, my lady.”

“I see. Let's follow her for now. It would be terrible if she fell.”

My worries proved needless. Madame Fadde walked around perfectly well.

The healing mages had completely repaired her injured leg with magic.

Before the accident, she had been relatively young, around fifty, so perhaps it was only natural.

“Madam, please slow down!”

The maids trailing her on both sides were more flustered than she was.

With my arms folded, I watched them wander through the winter garden.

“Something's wrong.”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“Lola, I don't think Madame Fadde has dementia.”

“Dementia?”

Lola tilted her head.

Ah. Was it called senility here?

“I don't think it's senility. I think it's delirium.”

They looked similar at a glance, but the two were clearly different.

I had seen them countless times in my previous life.

Patients with dementia, patients with delirium, patients who developed delirium during dementia, patients whose delirium worsened into dementia, and so on.

I could distinguish them to some extent.

Unlike dementia, which worsened slowly, delirium appeared suddenly.

After a serious accident.

And dementia did not suddenly improve like that. Never.

There was also the fact that the symptoms became worse at night than during the day.

‘Madame Fadde's symptoms are far too similar to delirium.’

“Um, my lady. But is that important?”

After I had gone to the trouble of explaining, Lola only scratched the back of her neck.

Of course, this sort of thing was not important in a society of mages.

A skilled healing mage could heal any wound in an instant.

There was no need for the troublesome process of questioning and examining a patient.

So there was no need to diagnose them, and the name of the illness did not matter.

Why bother knowing the name of an illness when it could be cured anyway?

But even such magnificent healing magic had one flaw.

It did not work on mental or cognitive illnesses.

Madame Fadde's body no longer bore a single injury, yet her mental faculties had not improved.

“It is very important. Delirium can get better.”

“What? Really?”

I nodded.

‘I even saw cases where people returned to normal within a week.’

The problem was that I could not determine whether Madame Fadde had dementia or delirium.

I was not a doctor. There was no way I could know simply by looking.

Wait, a doctor?

Right. I could ask a doctor.

Healing mages might not know the names of illnesses, but ordinary doctors who did not rely on magic might.

“Lola, are there any doctors nearby? Not healing mages. Actual doctors.”

“There aren't.”

“Really?”

“Yes. They're far inferior to healing mages in ability, so there aren't any in Erenston! We'd have to go outside the city to find one.”

Then I had to assume I could not find one.

I could not even leave the annex without watching what I did, let alone leave the city.

All I could do now was watch over Madame Fadde while hoping she would improve.

Just as my family had done in my previous life.

“...Sis?”

At that moment, a familiar voice came from nearby.

It belonged to Harris Ashwilt, another member of this body's family.

Unlike Madame Fadde, he was a real blood relative.

Only then did I realize that the place we had been walking had somehow become closer to the West Wing than the annex.

The annex and West Wing were fairly close, but Harris stayed shut away in the West Wing, so we rarely ran into each other.

Unless Vivette went to see him herself.

“Can't you come visit me first sometimes?”

No matter how much Vivette had pleaded, he had never listened even once in his life.

Which meant that bastard had no business saying that to me.

“Hah. I was wondering why you weren't visiting. Did you switch to that woman, leaving me behind?”

His face was full of unmistakable betrayal.

“We live under the same roof. There is no switching sides. We're all just getting along. And don't call her that woman. She's your grandmother.”

Both of Harris's eyebrows shot up.

“What? She's our grandmother?”

His voice was so loud that it felt threatening.

Even Madame Fadde and the maids began approaching while watching us cautiously.

His expression changed completely.

“Ah. I was wondering who she was.”

His attitude shifted from a cruel prank into malice.

“She’s the woman who ruined your Mana Heart?”

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