The Sickly Youngest Member of the Villainous Family - Chapter 38

[Quest: Solve Hector Winchester’s problem and earn his recognition].

A new message popped up in front of me as soon as Hector issued the challenge.

It had a slightly different feel from unlocking limited features or leveling up, also known as ‘achievements.’

Quests have specific things they ask of me, and more importantly, they have rewards.

[Quest reward: 100 Rubies, Secret of the Blue Falcon.]

By the way, the store function, where I could use Rubies, was still locked, but I had 50 Rubies from selling items.

I speculated that collecting Rubies would come in handy once the store function was unlocked.

Also, the “Secret of the Blue Falcon” was a bit of a mystery, but the reward sounded like it might be worth it.

So, it was natural for me to eagerly attempt to unravel the secret of this ball.

“I want to put it in the water!”

“You mean you want to put the ball in the water?”

I nodded my head, and Maya lifted the sphere and placed it above the fountain.

In fictional stories when there was a mysterious object, the mystery often got resolved when the object was dipped in water.

“Hmm… It floats nicely,” Maya commented.

However, the ball showed no reaction. It didn’t respond when rolled, thrown, or even when dipped in water.

Could it be just an ordinary ball without any hidden mechanisms?

Apart from the owner’s name, Eshir Taylor, the golden ball had nothing engraved on it.

I looked out over the secluded garden and imagined a twelve-year-old girl playing with the ball. The golden ball that would roll away when kicked and Eshir, who would smile and catch it.

And Kaisa Taylor, who observed Eshir from a distance, wearing a chilling expression.

 I wondered what the reason was for sacrificing Eshir among his five children. What made her so special or repulsive in Kaisa’s eyes?

“……Miss?”

“Mmm, Maya.”

Lost in thought while staring at the floating sphere, I snapped back to reality at Maya’s words.

“I think it’s going to rain.”

Upon Maya’s remark, I looked up at the sky. 

The once-wispy clouds were gradually thickening.

“I guess you should go inside now, so you won’t get wet in the rain.”

“Right. Let’s go in,” I nodded. Maya held my hand while carrying the golden ball in her other hand.

As soon as we entered the mansion, the rain started pouring down. As the early autumn rain fell, the temperature dropped enough to send chills down my arms.

“Maya, come here.”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Do you know where this was made?”

At my question, Maya looked at the ball intently, then opened her mouth.

“It would be difficult to tell because it’s very old. And it was from Taylor’s.”

True, there probably wasn’t an Elle Toy Shop a hundred years ago.

“You must really want to solve the riddle, Young Miss.”

“Mmm. I want to solve it!”

Maya giggled at my confident statement.

“Then why don’t you ask the young masters for help?”

“Not Othello!”

“Even if it’s master Jin…….”

I paused at Maya’s words.

Jin is the greatest prodigy of the Winchester family.

The main character, Evan Taylors, had such exceptional talents, but if it weren’t for him, Jin could have conquered the world.

And there was no rule that said I couldn’t get help from someone.

I stopped in my tracks.

* * *

After seeing Maya off, Jin closed the door. Now it was only me and Jin in his room.

The room was a very spacious area, like a living room with a bedroom, by modern standards. It had a similar structure to Othello’s room that I had visited before.

Jin was holding the ball and staring at it intently.

“So….. you’re curious about this.”

I continued to gaze at Jin with sparkling eyes.

“Yes.”

[Character Profile]

[1. Recardo Winchester

Title: Master of Black Flame

Causality: 8%]

I scrolled down below.

[2. Jin Winchester

Title: None

Causality: 9%]

[3. Othello Winchester

Title: None

Causality: 10%]

[4. Chenoa Taylor

Title: Ruler of Blue Light

Causality: N/A]

[5. #@$% , #$%%, $#$%^^$$#@

Cannot display information below]

[6. Permetis Winchester

Title: None

Causality: N/A].

[7. Hector Winchester

Title: Guardian of Black Flame

Causality: N/A]

Added Hector Winchester to ‘People’. 

Anyway, the person with the highest causality ratio currently is ironically Othello.

Although Jin’s causality ratio is relatively high, it is still lower compared to Othello, who has two digits.

“……Sasha.”

Jin’s lips trembled after a considerable amount of time had passed.

“Yes?”

“When did you receive this? Wasn’t there a warning to be careful after receiving it?”

“Just now, Hector gave it to me!” I replied to Jin’s question. “I didn’t use it in any weird way!”

At that moment, I felt a strong chill in Jin’s gaze, but perhaps it was just my imagination.

Jin furrowed his eyebrows, looked at the ball again, and then opened his mouth.

“…How absurd.”

I couldn’t understand Jin’s words. When I opened my round eyes and stared at him, he held up the ball and spoke again.

“To give something like this to a child.”

“What do you mean?”

Jin twisted his lips and infused black flame into his hand. Then, the intense black flame began to envelop the ball.

The overwhelming pressure emitted by the black flame was enough to make my heart sink.

The black flame wrapped around the sphere and spun around before being sucked into it.

For a moment, I wondered if it might be an ordinary ball, but as expected, it wasn’t.

“Eshir Taylors was the child of a woman of Quenne.”

I was stunned, hearing the story for the first time.

Eshir Taylors was also born of…… a mother from Quenne?

Jin handed the ball back to me. The weight of the ball was almost the same as before. Of course.

My face was reflected in Jin’s eyes.

“If you sleep with this tonight, you’ll be able to solve the puzzle.”

I raised my eyebrows and pursed my lips.

“……Really?”

You can solve puzzles by sleeping with them? Surprisingly simple.

“I infused the Black Flame, so there shouldn’t be any danger.” The ends of his eyebrows were tense, and his gaze was cold. “I’m only giving it back to you because you’re determined to solve the mystery,” Jin added. “A word of warning. Don’t trust anyone in Winchester.”

Jin’s words made my heart pound firmly in my chest. The weight of the ball suddenly felt heavier.

Since the moment I found out which family I was born into, I made up my mind to keep my distance from the Winchesters.

But now that I’ve grown up a bit, I’m realizing that it’s not so easy.

My heart wasn’t made out of black flames.

After a moment, I asked Jin.

“…What about Brother Jin?”

His eyebrows twitched for a moment in response to my unexpected question. It seemed as if he heard a surprising question.

Suddenly, I remembered the fleeting moment when I met Jin when I arrived at the summer mansion. I wondered how long we could stay peaceful like this.

After a while, Jin pursed his lips.

“If you grow a little bigger…”

It wasn’t an answer to my question.

“I’ll give you an answer, Sasha.”

Then he gently stroked my neatly combed hair, somewhat absentmindedly. The brief flicker of emotion quickly faded away, replaced by his usual stare that seemed to have a layer of emotion behind it.

For a long time, I stared blankly at Jin.

And as I left his room, I thought to myself that I may not have heard an answer about whether I could trust him, but I could trust what he told me.

My gaze turned towards the ball containing his Black Flame.

* * *

Recardo’s office.

He was busy going over papers and signing documents.

Storage of the loot received from Bashiron, acquisition of the summer mansion, and reviewing the conditions provided by the Taylor’s family.

There was no shortage of matters to attend to.

“It is said that the Lord has given Miss Sasha the golden ball of Eshir.”

Rowen’s voice came as he was reviewing Taylor’s conditions.

Recardo’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the report.

Eshir’s Gold Ball. So, Hector Winchester had been keeping it.

“Just in case of any unforeseen circumstances, Young Master Jin has taken measures.”

“…….”

“I can’t quite grasp the Lord’s intentions. It’s true that you have shown a favor to the young miss. Even so, giving such an item to a young girl….”

Recardo’s pen, which had momentarily stopped, started moving again.

“Besides, if the young lady fails to read the ball, it will be a burden to the young master Jin who infused it with black flame.”

A heavy silence lingered in Recardo’s office for a while.

Having completed the review and signing, Recardo put his pen down and pursed his lips.

“It’s a test for Sasha and a warning to Jin.”

“I understand the test, but the warning….”

“Distorted greed brings about destruction in one way or another.”

Rowen looked on with an expression that showed he couldn’t quite understand while Recardo stared out the dark window with cold eyes.

Just as the Winchester family’s past leaders, including himself, were lacking in one or two things, Jin was also like that. Recardo had even warned him through previous disciplinary actions.

Hector, too, must have seen through Jin’s true nature clearly.

“It is something he needs to be reminded of.”

There was a strong need to restrain his eldest son’s obsessive urge to collect preferred items during the growth period.

Even if there was a presence that greatly stimulated it.

“That child is not an item to be collected but a presence to be protected.”