Chapter 10
Viola clenched her teeth while wielding an Icylla tree whip. The wounds increased one by one.
Viola’s eyes turned red.
‘I’m in pain.’
In Arin’s point of view, Tundra is a child.
Meanwhile, Tundra’s head cooled off.
‘If you scream from the beginning, the butler will doubt you.’
The whipping continued for a long time. And as Viola and Tundra had expected, Xenon heard the whipping sound in the next room.
“It looks like she had started disciplining and taming him.” He got up slowly and put his ears on the wall.
“Wow, that must hurt.”
After a long time, he could hear a faint groan.
There was also a faint breathing sound that forced him to endure pain.
Xenon had seen Tundra’s hard weep.
He had a firm look in his eyes. The fact that a child with such a look groans that much means that she is brutally harassing him.
“How cruel is she really?”
It’s not hard to kill. However, it is difficult to make such a painful moan.
I’ve seen her type a lot.
They’re not bent for it, even if they’re broken.
Xenon was evaluating Tundra as such.
“I guess she’s really trying to make him give in.”
His eyes drew a line.
“That’s a Verratoux like way, Princess.”
***
When Tundra was moaning, someone came to the room.
“Viola! Are you having fun?”
It was Vixen, the Fifth Prince. Vixen’s eyes were twinkling. It was the eyes of a predator who found a new prey or toy.
“Hehehe.”
He saw Tundra in pain. Vixen then looked at him with strange eyes.
“But you know what?”
It was like a young predator who found its prey.
“Are you going to put some medicine on him, too?”
“…”
Since Viola was silent, Vixen repeated his question.
“He’s hurt. Are you going to put some medicine on him?”
“Is that important?”
“It’s important.”
Viola thought Vixen was a little absurd.
Why’s it important?
Vixen squinted his eyes. “You’d better not apply the medicine on him.”
“Why?”
“Put some medicine on him, and I’ll kill him.”
“But what is the reason?”
When Viola kept asking why, Vixen felt as if he was feeling a heartache.
“Just…!”
“Just, why?”
“Just! Just! Just! Just…! I’m going to kill him! Do you understand?” Vixen’s eyes were full of life. His ears were fluttering.
Viola sat on the chair. My stomach was burning up in front of Vixen, who was making no sense, but I didn’t show it. Fortunately, Vixen is weak in verbal fights.
“It doesn’t matter if I put medicine on my toys or not.”
“…”
“But it’s a different story if you try to kill my toys. I’m telling you, you’ve invaded my space.”
“Hh, hum, that doesn’t matter. The important thing is I don’t want you to put medicine on anyone else.”
“Why? Give me a reason so I can understand. You’re a Verratoux.”
“Well, that’s…” Vixen’s face heated up in red beet.
“Because it’s my first experience!”
Viola was speechless at the moment. I wondered if the word that came out was correct, but Vixen’s intention was purely transparent.
“So, you don’t want to lose your first experience to anyone else?”
Vixen nodded.
“Now, brother, you know you’re being stubborn, right?
“No? Don’t you know me?”
Vixen’s acting like he’s someone else. He seemed to insist, ‘I know I’m stubborn!’
“I learned that Verratoux is a rational family. But I’m a little bit disappointed in you. Are you all right with this”
“D-disappointed?” Vixen’s expression got a little dark.
He thought he showed Viola a little of his brotherly greatness while destroying the bandits, but she was disappointed with the way he acted.
“Well, I’m still a little disappointed…”
“Give me logical grounds and rational conditions that I can understand. I’ll do whatever I want until then. I want you to act more like a Verratoux.”
“….”
“If not, then this is far-fetched as it is right now.”
Viola’s eyes squinted, and she laughed.
“From now on, I will never apply ointment again.”
“Then, I’ll forgive you this time.”
Vixen was incredibly quick to change his attitude.
“What?”
“No. I mean, I’ll forgive him for the time being, if you apply medicine to him.”
“You’re forcing me again?”
“Oh, come on! Just put it on him.”
Vixen slammed the door as if he was nervous and went out.
“I’m going to kill you. You’ll see when you’re ten.”
I meant it when I said that. When he returned to the room, he was carried away by strange emotions.
“But…”
It’s only natural for siblings to compete by slaughtering each other.
Her small hand that applied the ointment came up in his head.
‘Do I have to kill her?’
Though… he doesn’t want to kill Viola.
‘I’m gonna have to kill her, right?’
Because that’s what Verratoux siblings do, right?
But do we have to? I don’t know.
I want someone to tell me the answer.
A very small wave of thought began to appear in Vixen’s mind.
***
After all the fuss.
Xenon opened the door to Viola’s room. He approached the fallen Tundra.
“The boy pointed a knife at my Princess. I didn’t even put a knife against her neck.”
For a moment, Viola’s body flinched. She felt a flutter of life in Xenon’s body. It was awful.
She felt like she was in hell.
“If my Princess hadn’t been generous, I would have pulled out all your teeth and ripped your mouth apart.”
Viola was shocked, as if she had been hit on the head.
‘It’s not just for me.’
This was a test. The Butler, Xenon’s test for the heroine, Viola. It was a very similar line in the novel.
「 “If our princess was not generous, I would rip your throat.” 」
The content was a little different, but the feel was the same as the original.
For a Verratoux, ‘generosity’ is a luxury. You must have the strength to be generous. Only an absolute man such as Duke Heron would have it. Being generous without that much power means being foolish and weak.
This is what a Verratoux should be.
Viola said. “Xenon.”
“Yes, Princess.”
“Uh.”
“Do you want me to make this boy kneel down?”
Viola was deliberately silent. Time has slipped along.
“I want you to kneel.”
Eventually, Xenon walked to the front of Viola, then started to bend slowly.
This is how it was done in the original story.
He fell on his knees and I slapped him across the face.
“Don’t test me.”
「 “I’ll kill you next time.” 」
But he looked at Tundra, who was right next to me. Though I thought it was not good to scold him in front of the Tundra because he was my person.
“Xenon, come with me.”
Just as Vixen’s room was huge, so was Viola’s.
It was divided into a living room and several more rooms.
Xenon walked silently behind Viola.
I closed the door and couldn’t see Tundra anymore.
“Dear.”
“Yes, Princess.”
Xenon was not particularly rebellious.
‘I gotta hit him on the cheek, right?’
This is not what a person should do. But I decided to hit him.
It didn’t matter how she felt inside.
Her butler who tested the Princess
The butler was caught. Of course, he should be scolded greatly. She will act more like a Verratoux if she scolds him.
Slap!
I slapped him in the face.
I didn’t know how hard it should be, so I just hit as hard as I could. I thought it would be okay if I hit twenty Imperial knights by myself.
Strike!
Xenon’s neck turned sideways. Xenon’s lips are a little chapped. Blood quickly formed, and Xenon’s cheek was engraved with a handprint that looked like an earthquake.
‘I-I’m sorry!’
A Verratoux had to act this way. I thought I hit him too hard, but it was already past. He continued to pretend to be as calm as possible.
“It’s good to test my qualifications as Verratoux. But don’t let it show. ‘Cause I’m really offended.”
“I’m sorry.”
“How easy is it for me to prove to you that I am capable enough?”
“I apologized. As a token of my apology, why don’t I give you my arm?”
No!
This shouldn’t be a thing!
Don’t give it to me!
Why does it feel like he is being serious? Viola wanted to cry, but she smirked on the outside.
“Do you think you can apologize with just your arm?”
“Then, would it be okay if I give you my life?”
A cold sweat ran down Viola’s back.
I couldn’t ask because I thought he would say yes if I asked if he were being serious.
“Then you can’t work for me.”
“That’s true.”
“If your arm is cut off, the efficiency of your job will be reduced as well.”
“That’s also true.”
My face turned a little pale when I said something that didn’t suit my personality.
“I’ll make you act a little more skillful. That’s why I’m testing you and keeping you alive.”
“Thank you, Princess.”
Xenon noticed that Viola looked pale. He could figure out the reason. ‘She’s deliberately controlling her blood-boiling madness.’
If it is Viola Verratoux, which Xenon identified as the murderer who was relentlessly pushing the dagger into the boy’s mouth, would be extremely excited now. I’m sure she felt bad enough.
But in a way, Viola was controlling her madness.
‘She’s desperate enough to sweat.’
She is not fit for discipline and rationalism at the age of seven. Viola was controlling her anger and leading the situation to her best advantage.
Viola Verratoux is not just a blood-crazy killer.
Her cruelty and charisma combined with her resourcefulness together are just so amazing. There is no Verratoux who showed this much promise at the age of seven.
Xenon raised himself. There is one more thing to point out.
“Did you have to bring me here to instill my prestige in front of the toy?”
“For now, you’re my only closest aide.”
“Thank you.” Xenon had a slightly strange feeling.
Viola Verratoux is extremely Verratouxistic.
He truly felt it when he was slapped. This person is more like Verratoux than any pureblood Verratoux.
“You’re being considerate.”
A strange gap occurred.
She’s so similar to a Verratoux, but she’s also strangely different from a Verratoux.
A pure-blooded Verratoux would not have given such consideration. Moreover, he is the one and only closest person to her.
‘The Princess is a wonderful person.’
I didn’t hate her novelty. A Verratoux, who is more Verratoux-like than anyone else, is unfamiliar and good.
Xenon grinned.
“If you rule Verratoux, I thought it would make me happy. I will start to listen to you with all my heart.”
Viola’s breath is suffocating. First of all, she survived today. It felt like something was a little too much.
Xenon returned to his room and compiled a diary of what happened today.
‘She slapped me in the face.’
Also… ‘I had come to my senses.’
“How can there be such a brute force even if she is small…”
The Duke’s words made sense.
She was born a star.
If he hadn’t raised his mana to protect himself momentarily, his skull would have been smashed. That kind of power is not that of a child’s. It is the power of the knight who can handle mana skillfully.
[ She is born with natural talent. ]
What’s surprising is that she didn’t get any education about Mana. In my personal opinion, it is second to or even more than the First Princess.
Xenon recalled one more fact. ‘When she first met Prince Vixen… when she threw the pens, there was mana in it.’
Vixen also raised mana to protect himself. Though, strangely, Viola had pierced the shield very easily.
This is because mana was embedded in the pen she threw.
He added a phrase again.
[ She was born with the purest Mana Class. ]
[ What is certain is that she is born with a higher mana amount than Prince Vixen. ]
Princess Viola doesn’t seem to know it yet, though.