The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 81

81. Michael Luchelle’s Secret (1)

January 20, 2024

“Why?”

“Just because. I thought if I told you about myself piece by piece, you might want to see me again.”

“Since when does that work?”

“It does here.”

Michael chuckled as if he had just told a funny joke.

“How long are you going to stay at the Dallas estate?”

“Well…”

Michael propped his chin up and stared at Rosette.

“Does me staying at the Dallas estate bother you that much?”

“Huh?”

“Should I stay at Adrian’s instead?”

‘Oh? It seems like Michael is offering to come over on his own?’

Rosette tried not to show her excitement as she replied.

“Would that be okay? You said you came to learn magic. Adrian’s family are swordsmen, though?”

“I can learn from you.”

There it is again. Michael smiled, his eyes crinkling.

Rosette felt her face heat up and turned her head away.

“If you want, I can talk to my dad about it. And I can also find a magic teacher that suits you…”

“Just kidding.”

“Huh?”

“I have circumstances that require me to stay at the Dallas estate.”

After saying that, Michael got up from his seat.

“I should get going. See you later.”

Even after Michael left that day, the two of them often met.

Sometimes they met at the Adrian mansion, and sometimes at a café.

Each time, Rosette subtly suggested that he leave the Dallas estate, but he still stayed there.

Today, the two of them met on the sunny terrace of a café.

Rosette, who loved sweets, ordered a parfait with ice cream, while Michael only ordered black tea.

Rosette was diligently eating her parfait with a long dessert spoon when Michael chuckled.

“You’re very cute. Still a baby, after all.”

He rested his chin on one hand and ruffled Rosette’s hair with the other. Rosette pressed down on her messy hair with her hands and protested.

“Don’t do that. You’re messing up my hair. And you’re a kid too.”

“Huh?”

“Aren’t you about the same age as me?”

“Pfft.”

Michael muffled his laughter.

“Why? Why are you laughing?”

“How old do I look to you?”

“Hmm.”

Rosette tilted her head, looking at Michael’s face.

‘Lucas is fifteen, but he looks younger than that.’

Around fifteen, you suddenly get taller, and your voice changes.

But Michael was a bit taller than Rosette, but his voice was still soft, and his figure was graceful.

No matter how generous you were, he only looked about the same age as Rosette.

“Thirteen?”

“Pfft. Hahaha.”

Michael burst into refreshing laughter. Rosette’s face turned reddish at the thought of being teased.

“Then how old are you?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Can’t you tell me?”

“Curious?”

“Yeah.”

Michael rested his arms on the table and leaned forward.

“You want to know that much about me?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Hmm.”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Rosette saw Michael grinning at her and leaned back a little. Michael leaned towards her and whispered.

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“I don’t even know exactly how old I am.”

Rosette was dumbfounded.

“Are you making fun of me right now?”

“I really don’t know.”

“Then roughly how old are you?”

“Twenty?”

“Hmm.”

Rosette frowned at the unexpectedly high number.

“Are you kidding me?”

“No, I’m serious.”

“No matter how I look at it…”

‘You don’t look twenty?’

As she was thinking that, something suddenly came to her mind.

‘That’s right. There were kids at the orphanage who didn’t know their exact age either.’

Whether it was lucky or not, Rosette was abandoned at the orphanage shortly after she was born. She didn’t know her birthday, but she could roughly guess her age.

However, there were also children who came to the orphanage when it was impossible to accurately guess how old they were.

The head of the orphanage roughly estimated the age of such children by looking at their development, but it wasn’t accurate. Rosette, for one, was underdeveloped for her age.

-You look six at most. You’re a hand shorter than me.

Isabelle and the other family members saw her as younger than she was. It was because she didn’t eat properly and her development was slow.

Could Michael be the same case?

‘But Michael only looks young, but he seems to be well-fed?’

Unlike Rosette, who was skinny and had dry hair and skin, Michael looked like he had been raised preciously.

He was slender, but his natural build was like that, and it didn’t seem like he couldn’t eat. His hair and skin were glossy, and the clothes he was wearing were luxurious.

She felt it when she first saw him, but he seemed like a nobleman who had been raised very delicately from birth.

Besides, no matter how underdeveloped he was, was it possible for a twenty-year-old to look like Rosette’s age?

Rosette asked, just in case.

“You said you were a noble?”

“Me? I am a noble. Why?”

Michael’s eyes curved softly.

“No, just because.”

“Just because what?”

“If you’re a noble, you would have eaten well, so it’s strange that you didn’t grow.”

‘Michael must be lying. He’s trying to tease me.’ Rosette pouted.

Seeing her like that, Michael whispered as if telling a secret.

“I’ll only tell you this. I’m not a noble, actually.”

“Huh?”

“I was adopted like you. When I was eleven.”

“Really?”

Rosette made a gloomy face without realizing it, and Michael frowned.

“What’s with that expression? Why did you suddenly get serious?”

“Just…”

Rosette carefully stroked Michael’s hair.

“It must have been hard for you, too.”

“…Suddenly?”

“Rather than suddenly, it’s just…”

Rosette whispered a little sadly.

“I feel like you lived a similar life to me. You may already know, but I’m also adopted. I lived in an orphanage before coming to the Adrian mansion. I was smaller than my peers.”

“Well…”

Michael tilted his head.

“You and I are similar, but also different, you know?”

“Why? You didn’t live in an orphanage before that?”

“Well…”

“You didn’t?”

Michael smiled brightly.

“If we get a little closer, I’ll tell you my real secret.”

“If we get closer?”

“Yeah. If we become the best of friends in the world.”

“Like me and Bbi Bbi?”

“Yeah. Like you and Bbi Bbi, or like me and Perito.”

Michael, who muttered in a meaningful voice, got up from his seat.

“Time’s up. Hurry up and go.”

“Okay. See you next time.”

“Wait a minute.”

Michael grabbed Rosette’s arm as she was about to leave. Then, he pressed his lips on her soft cheek and took them off.

“……!”

Michael smiled as he watched Rosette, who was flustered and cupping her cheeks.

“See you again soon.”

* * *

After parting with Rosette, Michael returned to the guest room he was staying in at the Dallas mansion. Then, as if waiting, Perito came to Michael’s room through the window.

Michael kissed the forehead of the white snake that wrapped around his arm as if he was used to it.

“I’m thirsty, Perito.”

‘Shall I get you water?’ Perito asked. Michael chuckled.

“You can’t even bring water. And my thirst can’t be quenched with something like that.”

Michael thought of Rosette’s face. The way she smiled, the way she wrinkled her nose, the way she looked sad.

He thought he had seen various sides of her, but there was one face he hadn’t seen.

“What does she look like when she cries?”

“…….”

“She must be pretty when she cries, too. How can I make her cry?”

Perito tilted his head.

‘Should I bite her ankle? Then she might cry in pain.’

The white snake pondered and offered an opinion.

“No. I can’t stand her getting hurt.”

Perito became dejected. Michael pondered and muttered.

“You know, Perito. That child cherishes her family so much.”

Perito focused on his words.

“If her family disappeared, would she cry?”

‘Shhh, shhh.’ Perito slowly shook his tail from side to side in agreement.

“Yeah, I guess so, right?”

Michael smiled.

“I guess that’s the only way.”

* * *

Michael Luchelle was born in a brothel. His mother was a woman who sold her body, and he didn’t even know who his father was.

Michael, who was born that way, was pretty like his mother but had red eyes. Everyone envied him but was also afraid of him at the same time.

An angel-like face with devil-like eyes. That’s how everyone described him.

Then one day, a nobleman found him.

His mother sold Michael at the words that she would be given money to live on for at least three years. It was when Michael was eight years old.

The nobleman who took him did strange experiments on Michael. It was a time too terrible to properly describe, a time he didn’t want to remember. Perhaps because of that experiment, his body didn’t grow properly.

In the end, he tried to summon something by drawing a magic circle with animal blood in a place like an altar.

At that time, a change occurred in Michael. A change as if all the dark energy in the world was entering him.

Michael killed everyone in that place, including the nobleman. He didn’t know how old he was at that time. Because he couldn’t count the time.

But he thought about 1 or 2 years had passed.

But what was strange was that his body had hardly grown from the age of eight. So Michael couldn’t properly estimate his age.

After that, he wandered aimlessly on the streets again. He was a person who couldn’t belong to the light by birth, and he lived hidden in the darkness.

He punished those who targeted his pretty face with an unidentified power and, conversely, stole money and goods. He lived day by day with that money.

In the process, he also met Perito. He didn’t really do anything. He just woke up one day, and a white snake was sleeping next to him.

The white snake coldly got up and followed him as he left.

Michael’s heart softened for the first time at the sight of the red eyes that were wagging their tongues and staring at him.

“Were you kicked out of your group too?”

‘Shhh.’

The snake was clearly speaking in the language of snakes, but he could understand what it was saying.

‘I wasn’t kicked out of the group. I was born for you.’

The white snake said that.

A being born for me.

That one word moved Michael’s heart.

He had never fully owned anything since he was born. The white snake was the first thing he owned.

So Michael named the white snake ‘Perito’ and went around with him. Strangely, after Perito appeared, his body was less tired than before when he used his mysterious powers.

Then one day.

He and Perito had just beaten up a group of people who had approached him as usual with an unknown power.

“Hey, are you alone?”

A gentleman who didn’t match the musty and dirty back alley approached him.

As soon as Michael saw the clothes he was wearing, he remembered the nobleman who had bought him and stiffened.