CHAPTER 32: CHAPTER 31 - THE ACADEMY’S INVITATION

’What is the meaning of the quest?’

He felt that there was too much new information in the quest description until he massaged his forehead.

There was no information about the seven deadly sins in the Hero’s Destiny novel.

How was he supposed to know about the hidden threats on the continent of Avalon when the novel only focused on Hansen and his harem or potential harem?

Then again, strangely enough, that was exactly the kind of story that Lev liked in the first place.

The more important thing was...

How would he be able to complete the quest?

Did he have to exterminate all the demons in this world?

Why was there a notification saying that the Black Lotus crest had detected one of the seven deadly sins when he met Harlequeen?

"Ugh!"

’I’d better get some sleep and focus on finishing the things I’ve planned for tomorrow’s party.’

He chose to close his eyes and sleep.

While he could still sleep on a soft bed, there was no harm in enjoying the peaceful time he had left.

***

Lev opened his bedroom window and found the sun had already peeked out.

He took a deep breath and prepared for a busy day—ok, it was a bit overly dramatic when he said so. He was just spreading his arms in the air.

Regardless, he felt that he could breathe peacefully when not looking at the black smoke billowing in the air. As a result of seeing the black smoke coming out of the burning houses too often, he felt as if he had developed respiratory problems in his previous life.

He was a little mesmerized by the clear blue sky. And the sound of the birds flying around—not the screams of the war victims ringing in his ears, allowed him to put away the worries of the destruction of this world in the future.

He looked down from inside the window and found Daria already running in the courtyard.

Lev decided to go downstairs and join her in running.

In the past week, Daria had been exercising regularly.

Except during her working hours as Lev’s personal maid, she would constantly move her body.

Daria’s running schedule started in the morning when Lev wasn’t awake and in the afternoon when it was almost dinner time. She would run around the mansion until she couldn’t stand up. It was not uncommon for her to faint halfway through her run.

The only option for Lev when that happened was to carry her.

He didn’t know if Daria fainted on purpose or not, but the instances where she fainted only happened when he was watching her.

"Aren’t you tired?"

While running along with Daria, Lev asked a small question.

Although Lev thought that his question was a pep talk, it didn’t seem so to Daria.

"Hehe," She chuckled. "I’m glad you’re considerate of me, Young Master."

’Am I?’ Lev asked himself in his mind.

"Don’t worry, Young Master. I’ll lose some weight and try not to burden you when we sleep together later."

"...Do as you please."

Lev resigned himself to Daria’s behavior.

Every night, he had always felt that there was a gaze directed at his body. ’Does she always want to sleep with me?’

It seemed like he had to be more vigilant so as not to get hit at night.

Nevertheless, he had to honestly admit that Daria’s dedication to losing weight should be applauded.

Sweat was pouring down every pore on her skin.

Perhaps because Lev saw Daria every day, he couldn’t tell you whether Daria was successful in losing weight or not.

However, it’s not easy for someone to accept criticism from others—especially when it comes to weight issues.

Daria, on the other hand, was able to keep smiling and trying to lose weight without blaming the situation. A situation where she mysteriously became fat.

A few days ago, Daria shared a bit about her past experience.

She said that she had tried to lose weight a long time ago. She had gotten to the point where she felt that she was in a life-and-death situation.

"This time, I will try once again. Who knows, I’ll be able to resurrect my bloodline if I’m in a state of life and death once again."

Hearing Daria speak thus with a forced cheerful tone made Lev feel very guilty for having had the intention to put Daria in a state of life and death.

"Hm?" Daria stopped her steps when she realized that Lev was already far behind. She looked puzzled when she saw Lev standing still. "Why did you stop, Young Master? Is something wrong?"

"I wanted to tell you something."

"Ah, what could it be?"

"...It’s not what you think."

As if he knew what Daria was thinking, Lev gave a warning first.

"For today, you’d better not do anything first."

"What do you mean, Young Master?"

"Today will be noisy. Find a safe place and hide inside the mansion. Or, you can go back to the Dreamhouse brothel first."

The more she heard Lev’s explanation, the more disappointed Daria looked.

Lev noticed a mound of dirt still at the end of the mansion’s courtyard.

The reason why he often went on morning runs with Daria was just to confirm whether the mound of earth was still there or had been dismantled.

’It looks like it’s still safe.’

After making sure all the preparations were completed, he returned to the mansion.

***

When he finished bathing, Lev had breakfast in his bedroom.

He always couldn’t eat leisurely when an awkward atmosphere occurred at the dining table together. The only option to eat comfortably was to eat alone in his bedroom.

But it seemed that today was not like usual.

Sitting in front of him, Elizavet ate the food in the style of noble etiquette.

"Why did you come here?"

"That... I wanted to talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

"You know... You must have heard that I’m getting engaged to your brother."

"I know. Is that all you have to say? Seeing your timid nature, you must have gathered enough courage to talk to me."

"Even though I’ll be your sister-in-law in the future, I’m not sure we’ll have the chance to talk alone." She lowered her head down, not daring to look Lev in the eye. "I’m sorry."

She apologized through tears as she stuffed a bite of bread into her small mouth.

’Did she think I was hurt?’

She seemed to feel guilty.

She then tried to explain her situation, where she could not help but obey her father’s wishes.

Lev frowned.

If he followed his childish thoughts, he would be so angry that he would slam the dining table.

How can you be engaged to my own younger brother? Didn’t we promise to love each other? Such words could come out of his mouth.

It’s just that, as his mind grew, such things weren’t important.

Lev ended up replacing the frown on his forehead with a smile.

"You’re wrong if you think that I would be hurt to see you engaged to Boris."

Lev did not blame Elizavet’s decision to obey her father’s wishes.

Considering that this world upholds the ethics of nobility, where daughters must obey the wishes of both parents, what Elizavet did was really makes sense.

"I-I will definitely become strong and make my parents cancel my engagement. I will decide for myself who to get engaged to."

She spoke with her hands clenched.

Her one eye that came out from behind her bangs looked at Lev with a determined gaze.

"Huuft. It’s up to you."

Most importantly, Lev had already given Elizavet’s father a warning. However, it seemed that the warning only went into the right ear and out of the left ear again.

When the atmosphere turned awkward, Greda opened the door and walked in. "Oh, Miss Elizavet is here. Do I have to come in later, Young Master?" She held the doorknob with the door half open.

Although Greda’s face looked normal, from the furrowed brows and the look in Greda’s eyes, Lev felt as if Greda was saying that she had just seen the seeds of an affair.

"If you have nothing else to talk about, you can leave." Lev subtly pushed Elizavet away.

Elizavet pulled her chair back and stood up to go out with her face back down. She even saluted Greda, which was unnecessary.

"What do you need to come here, Nanny?"

Greda approached Lev and handed him a letter.

"Is it a letter from my big sister?"

"No, it’s not. You’ll understand just by looking at the insignia on the letter, Young Master."

He had expected to receive a letter of complaint from his older sister, but it seemed he was wrong.

Just as Greda had said, on the envelope where the letter was kept, there was a symbol of a book and a sword crossing each other. He recognized what that symbol meant.

"...From the Red Onion academy?"

Lev opened the envelope and read the contents of the message.

- Congratulations on passing the coming-of-age ceremony. With the sending of this letter, you are eligible to enter the Red Onion Academy. Please bring this letter with you when you come. You won’t regret it when you enter...

The more he read, the more things he could find.

He thought that the invitation message would be short. Who knew that the contents of the invitation message would be full of boastful words from the academy itself.

’The person who wrote this invitation must be an eccentric person.’