WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Malfoid

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◈ I Don't Need a Family ◈

Episode 14

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‘This is bad...!’

Lola screamed soundlessly.

The truth everyone knew except Vivette.

That the former duchess had caused the accident at the baptism ceremony seventeen years ago.

That it had left Vivette unable to use magic for the rest of her life.

The secret everyone in the estate had worked together to conceal for the past seventeen years had been exposed in an instant.

Because of that damned Harris Ashwilt.

‘How can someone be that thoughtless?’

Lola was genuinely furious.

At the same time, belated regret washed over her.

‘No. It’s not like this is the first time the young master has acted this way. I should have stopped the young lady from caring for Madam, no matter what, when she first said she would!’

She had vaguely known things might go wrong like this.

That it could end in disaster.

Even so, she had not been able to stop her.

She had seen it clearly.

How close young Vivette and the former duchess had been before the baptism ceremony.

So she had secretly been pleased to see Vivette caring for Madam.

‘The young lady has always liked Madam so much.’

But that only lasted until today.

Because Vivette had just learned the whole truth.

Lola had watched Vivette for a long time.

She knew just how obsessed the young lady was with magic.

She had even enrolled in an academy for mages despite not having a shred of mana, so her determination was anything but ordinary.

When she had been younger, she would hear strange stories somewhere and do dangerous things.

Whenever she was caught and scolded, she would protest softly, her eyes glistening with tears.

“But they said this would let me become a mage...”

If it could help her damaged Mana Heart, she would probably have willingly drunk poison.

Her gentle personality hid it well, but Vivette was a frightening person.

At least when it came to magic.

There was something else people misunderstood about Vivette Ashwilt.

Many mistook her for an endlessly soft and fragile young lady because of her angelic appearance.

But that was not true at all.

The strength packed into that small body was beyond imagination.

‘Only because she’s kind. She could easily teach that annoying younger relative, who only ever buries himself in spellbooks, a lesson...’

Lola muttered to herself, hoping young master Harris would realize it before it was too late.

There was a saying in Erenston.

‘Fists are faster than magic.’

Thankfully, she had never witnessed that firsthand.

But if Vivette came face-to-face with the person responsible for making her this way...

Even Lola, one of her closest attendants, could not guarantee that Vivette would not attack them.

No, something would definitely happen.

That was why they had hidden Madam Fadde all this time!

‘No! My lady! That’s a crime!’

Just as Lola was about to reach out to stop Vivette, whose eyes must have been half crazed with rage...

“Is that so?”

Vivette only gave a crooked smile.

It was a reaction no one had expected.

“So what?”

They said that when someone was shocked beyond measure, they became numb instead.

Vivette was frighteningly unresponsive.

Harris was the one left flustered.

“Are you seriously that much of a pushover?”

Harris shouted, his face red to the nape of his neck.

“That old hag made you like this! Why are you so eager to defend her?”

“What do you mean, ‘like this’?”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

He sneered as though it were laughable.

“Uncle, Brother Gillian, even every insignificant person in the main house looks down on you. You even have to sit there and hear this kind of thing from a branch-family nobody like me!”

For some reason, his final words carried a bitter self-mockery.

“Why are you getting angry?”

“You’ve suffered like hell all your life, and you still like that woman? What, do you just love anyone who counts as family because you’re that starved for affection?”

Vivette lowered her head and gave a small snort of laughter.

“Why is that Madam’s fault? It’s Father’s, Brother Gillian’s, and yours.”

“...What?”

“You’re the ones who looked down on me, treated me coldly, and said cruel things. Why are you pinning your sins on Madam, who did nothing wrong?”

She swept back her silver hair, so characteristic of the Ashwilts.

“The servants in the main house treating me carelessly? That is Father’s fault. Being ostracized at the academy? That is because my brother did not protect me.”

“Why are you blaming Uncle and Brother Gillian? It’s all because that woman...”

“Harris Ashwilt. Madam is the only family member who never slandered or criticized me.”

“No...”

“Isn’t it natural that I want to protect someone like that?”

As though frustrated that she would not listen to reason, Harris clutched at the front of his clothes.

“That’s exactly it! That woman made us this way. If you had any ability at all, do you think Uncle would have treated you like this?”

“So you mean I wasn’t loved because I was incompetent?”

“Isn’t that obvious? If you had magical ability, none of this would have happened...!”

Being treated differently based on magical ability.

To him, that was simply how the world worked.

He had opened his eyes at the pinnacle of Erinstern, a society where ability came before all else.

But when his sister curled her lips as if mocking him, he was confused.

“Well. Then you would have been the unhappy one instead of me.”

“!”

Harris immediately understood what she meant.

Vivette’s natural talent for magic had been extraordinary.

If not for the accident, she would have become a great mage, far beyond someone like Harris.

The family’s ugly duckling would have been Harris himself.

‘She looked down on my magical ability.’

His fist clenched tightly.

Vivette had never looked down on him before.

It was obvious why Vivette had suddenly changed her attitude so completely.

‘She’s looking down on me because I did not place first in the academy entrance exam. Even Sister Vivette!’

He was resentful. It was unfair.

He had known for a long time that Uncle and his brother would be disappointed if he failed to achieve results.

But Vivette...

He had believed that his sister would accept him no matter what he was like.

“Harris! It’s all right. You were amazing just now.”

She had always been that way, ever since his mother died.

But she had changed.

Even a few days ago, she would have gone on about how impressive second place was and soothed his feelings.

Instead, all she had given him was a cold response.

And now, she looked ready to have a full-blown fight with him.

...This needed to be crushed from the start.

That way, Sister Vivette would lose heart and obediently give him affection again.

“I warned you, but you refused to listen. You can deal with it yourself now.”

He turned away, radiating frosty air for her to see.

Then he walked on without looking back.

Until the entrance to the West Wing came into view.

And no one stopped him.

* * *

After Harris stormed away, only a cold silence remained in the winter garden.

I had answered Harris without showing it, but I was the most troubled person here.

The “wicked woman who took everything from me” in Vivette’s memories was the person standing before me now.

Only now did I roughly understand why everyone had looked uncomfortable when I said I would care for Madam Fadde.

But so what?

The past was the past, and the present was the present.

I did what needed to be done right now. I took Madam inside.

“You must be cold. Let’s go in.”

As I wrapped my scarf around Madam’s neck, Lola cautiously spoke.

“Um, my lady...”

“What is it?”

“Aren’t you angry? Madam once...”

“It’s all right. She didn’t do it on purpose. It was an accident.”

As someone who had possessed this body, I did not particularly have a reason to be angry.

Magic was still an unfamiliar concept to me.

What was I supposed to feel just because I could not use it?

Honestly, it felt like being told that someone had accidentally cut off the wings on my back when I was a baby.

It would not make me happy, but it would not leave me deeply upset, either. People could live without flying.

But Vivette, who had grown up in this environment, must have felt differently.

Though she had been born with an extraordinary talent for magic, her wings had been broken before she could cast even a single spell.

Still... it had been an accident.

An unavoidable accident.

Everyone was pitiable. The granddaughter who had lost her future, the grandmother who had become the culprit who ruined her granddaughter’s life, and every family member who had to watch it happen.

‘I can understand why the duke hates Madam Fadde. She did this to his daughter.’

His wife had even collapsed and died from the shock, so how could he not have been devastated?

But I felt sorry for Madam too.

According to Lola, after the baptism ceremony, the duke and the former duke had a huge fight.

The current duke demanded that Madam Fadde be punished severely, saying he could not let this matter pass. That angered the former duke.

Ashwilt men never forgave anyone who hurt the women they loved.

Even if that person was their own parent or child.

The cold war between father and son lasted a long time, and they never reconciled.

Because the former duke died.

Madam Fadde had been practically confined to the annex soon afterward.

Her reputation had already been badly damaged because of the baptism ceremony.

And then she had been forced to spend the rest of her life shut away in the annex.

‘She might resent me instead. If not for me, she could have lived comfortably and been treated well all this time.’

I let out a long sigh.

“I want to see Father.”

No matter how I thought about it, this was the answer.

I did not want to face the duke, nor did I want to be the first to reach out, but I had no choice.

If Madam was to have a peaceful future, I had to swallow my pride first.

“I’m the only person involved who has the right to forgive Madam Fadde. Though it’s ridiculous to even call it forgiveness.”

It was simply an accident. Like a child being hurt because their grandmother made a mistake while looking after them.

It was too sad for a family to cut ties over something like that.

And enough time had already passed.

I was truly all right, so I intended to tell him to stop pointing his blade at Madam.

Only if I stepped forward would the cold war between the duke and Madam finally end.

‘They call it a cold war, but the duke is stronger and holds a higher position. If you look at it closely, it is practically one-sided abuse.’

And I did not want that.

“I want Father to stop hating Madam. I hope they can reconcile, even now.”

“My lady, that will be difficult. These are not feelings that built up over a day or two.”

“Still, I need to do my part. Right?”

I smiled softly at the worried-looking Lola.

“Please tell Father that I would like to see him.”

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