The Secret Hidden in the Evil Eye

After showing Sylvia around our family’s castle, where she was staying for the first time, and having dinner together, we were both exhausted from our travels and returned to our respective rooms, falling sound asleep.

The next morning, the breakfast table was graced by a combination I’d never even imagined: my parents, Hasel, me, and Sylvia.

“Welcome. Eleanor-yang, did you sleep well last night? I hope you didn’t find anything uncomfortable in someone else’s home.”

“I was able to sleep as comfortably as if it were my own home. Thank you for your consideration, Laird-kyung.”

“I’m glad to hear it. You must be hungry, so please, take a seat.”

My father’s still overly friendly attitude towards Sylvia was hard to get used to, but it was better than him treating her coldly, so I figured good is good and took my seat.

Hasel, sitting across from us, was glaring at us with a face full of worldly discontent, but I simply ignored him.

“Kyle, did you hear from Father? Apparently, a light social gathering is being held soon, bringing together young friends from various families.”

As I brought the food that had just arrived to my mouth, focusing on my meal, my mother casually brought up the story she had heard from my father yesterday.

“Yes, Mother. I heard. I plan to attend anyway.”

“Oh, really? Then you and Hasel can go together.”

“…Tch.”

I nodded at that, and along with my mother’s words that the brothers should go together, I heard Hasel’s tongue-clicking sound.

I have no desire to go with that guy either, but there’s something bothering me, so I had to attend this time.

If possible, I’d like to take a separate carriage.

“By the way, when is the schedule?”

“It’ll be in four days. Duke Esfelt is personally opening it in his territory, I hear.”

“That’s quite far.”

The time of four days later is one thing, but the Esfelt Dukedom is located almost at the very end of the eastern region.

Of course, the Laird Earldom is located almost in the exact center of the continent, so there isn’t a big difference in distance no matter where you go, but even considering that, it’s quite a long journey.

It’s much farther than Ruben, where I went yesterday.

Assuming I leave a day early, I’ll have to leave in three days.

“So, in this father’s opinion, how about leaving two days early instead? You haven’t been to the eastern region much, so take this opportunity to go and see the sights at your leisure.”

“Even if you say sightseeing….”

To my expression of reluctance, my father suggested that I leave two days earlier instead of one and look around the surrounding tourist attractions, but I wasn’t particularly interested.

From the beginning, that damn social gathering is far from me, and I don’t want to go, but I have to go to collect information, and now you want me to waste another day there.

I was about to refuse, thinking that it would be better to lock myself in my room and take a nap during that time, when my father’s gaze turned to Sylvia instead of me.

“Eleanor-yang, what do you think?”

“Yes? Are you… talking to me?”

Sylvia and I were both equally dumbfounded by my father’s actions, asking Sylvia’s opinion on something that had nothing to do with this.

But as my father continued, the joy and sorrow in our faces quickly crossed.

“Yes, since it’s a rare opportunity, how about going on a trip with my son? The invitation says that you can bring a lover or family member with you.”

“Really…!?”

“…Father?”

Why is he doing this?

My father’s actions of providing favors to Sylvia to the point of being burdensome made me suspect that he had some other dark intentions.

Letting her stay overnight yesterday was because it wouldn’t look good to send someone else’s daughter home alone at that late hour, so I’ll say he had no choice but to accept it.

Allowing her to accompany me on the invitation that arrived in my name is an unimaginable favor.

“If you allow me, I would like to go with you.”

“Is that so? Kyle, what do you think?”

“……”

Seriously, this father.

From the beginning, he subtly asked Sylvia, and if she agreed, it would look strange for me to refuse, so he was aiming for that point.

Anyway, he shows the aspect of a shrewd person in unnecessary things.

“If Eleanor-gongnyeo is okay with it… I have no objection either.”

“Is that so? That’s great. Your brother probably has no interest in sightseeing anyway, so leave a day early and have a cozy tour together.”

“That’s great, Laird-gongja.”

No, it’s not great at all.

Watching Sylvia jumping up and down as if she was about to get up from her chair, I sighed softly, wondering whether I should be happy or sad about this.

From the beginning, I’m the same in that I have no interest in sightseeing, so I don’t know what basis my father thought that only Hasel would have no interest in sightseeing.

Or is it that my father, who still doesn’t like me, is trying to give me a high-level feeding?

Otherwise, I can’t understand the current situation.

“Laird-gongja, I heard that the eastern region has so much to see. In the past, monsters often appeared, so there’s even a circus that trains and shows monsters. I hope I can see it this time.”

“…I guess so.”

To Sylvia’s innocent appearance, clapping her hands like a child going on a picnic, rattling off trivial knowledge that I wasn’t particularly curious about, I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

Even so, seeing her happy makes me laugh too.

I think that alone is a good thing.

＊＊＊

Three days later, we left for the Esfelt Dukedom a day early.

As expected, Hasel said that he didn’t want to waste time and would go separately, so he decided to take the carriage that leaves tomorrow.

I was glad that I didn’t have to be trapped in a carriage with three people and spend awkward time.

– Kkiaeaeaegek!

As we got closer and closer to the Esfelt Dukedom, a strange noise that seemed to tear through space came from somewhere on the way through the mountain range.

Sylvia, startled by that, came to my side, grabbed my arm, and looked out the window, searching for the source of the sound.

“W-What’s that sound? I just heard a huge cry….”

“It’s probably a wyvern. I heard that wyverns live around the Esfelt Dukedom. Especially here, it’s the King’s Nest, where the leader of the group lives.”

“W-Wyverns? Is it okay for such monsters to live around the Dukedom…?”

Sylvia asked with worried eyes, as if she couldn’t understand it at all with her common sense.

I nodded to reassure her and added an explanation.

“Yes, I heard that they are gentle creatures unless you touch them first. In fact, some tourists get out of the carriage and watch the wyverns.”

“Wow, that would be really cool. Shall we go see them too?”

“……”

I shouldn’t have said that.

Still, it was a trip that Sylvia was really looking forward to, so I had deliberately collected various information in advance for her sake, but I didn’t know it would be poison.

I regretted inside that the problem was that I had talked about unnecessary information, but I couldn’t take back what I had already said.

“Yes? Yes? Laird-gongja. Let’s just go see them once. You said they’re gentle kids, so it’s okay.”

“…Okay. Then let’s stop the carriage for a moment.”

I felt like I had dug my own grave, but I couldn’t ignore her expectations, so I told the coachman to stop the carriage for a moment.

– Kkiiiiiiiek!

“Wow, wow! Laird-gongja! Look at that. Wyverns are really flying overhead!”

“Seeing how big it is, that guy is probably the King of the Wyverns I mentioned earlier.”

As soon as she got out of the carriage, Sylvia jumped up and down like a rabbit, watching the wyverns floating in the sky and soaring.

It was my first time seeing a wyvern in person, so I was quite amazed and stared at the scene endlessly.

“…Hmm?”

Then, at some point, I sensed something strange as the wyvern’s body, which had suddenly looked small, gradually grew larger.

Isn’t that guy coming down?

Flutter. Flutter.

“Wow, it looks like it’s coming to us?”

“Gongnyeo, now is not the time to be excited. Get in the carriage quickly.”

“Yes?”

Anxiety struck me at the distance that was now close enough to clearly hear the sound of flapping wings.

On the other hand, Sylvia was too busy staring at the wyvern with her mouth open, not knowing what was going on, and it was the moment I was trying to quickly evacuate her into the carriage.

Kuung.

– Kkiaeaeaegek!

True to its nickname as the King of the Wyverns, a huge new figure landed on the mountain range.

Then, it looked down at us, and the guy came closer, letting out an ear-splitting cry once again.

Could it be recognizing us as enemies?

I was about to draw up my magic, thinking that if it attacked, I wouldn’t stand still either, when suddenly the guy put his head forward.

Unlike me, who was momentarily stunned by the same action as a puppy putting its head out to be petted by its owner, Sylvia saw the figure and said, ‘It’s cuter than I thought,’ and approached naturally, actually putting her hand on its head.

Stroke. Stroke.

– Kkiiiiing….

Then, as she stroked the wyvern’s head with her slender hand, the guy shook his head slightly, responding with a small cry as if acting cute, without any of the fierce cries from before.

In a bewildering scene where I couldn’t even guess what was happening in front of me, I could only blink blankly.

Of course, monsters are also a type of beast, so there are some individuals who are friendly to people they meet for the first time, but what is this attitude?

It’s not just gentle. Should I express it as submissive?

It’s like wagging its tail in front of an absolute powerhouse.

“I guess it’s because of my eyes.”

“Eyes, you say?”

Sylvia’s voice echoed in my ears as I was confused.

She still didn’t take her hand off the wyvern’s head, and turned her head diagonally this way as if to show her right eye, adding an explanation with a bitter smile.

“Actually, a long time ago, I hated being trapped in the castle so much that I secretly escaped.”

“Gongnyeo also had such an aspect.”

“Hehe, I’m also a person. Besides, it was when I was so young that I didn’t even know why I was trapped.”

To me, who was a little surprised by the unexpected aspect, she began to explain in detail what had happened when she was young.

“There’s a forest not far from our Kaintreche Castle. I thought that if I hid there, no one would find me, so I headed there aimlessly. That’s when I met a Beowulf monster.”

“Beowulf, you say?”

Beowulf. It’s easy to mistake it for an ordinary wolf, but in reality, it’s a type of monster that has the shape of a wolf but has a body the size of a bear.

It’s a very ferocious guy, and hundreds of people are killed by them every year in this country alone, so its notoriety is high, and she ran into such a guy.

“At that time, I thought I was going to die, but for some reason, that child came to me and put his head out like this. So I stroked his head, and suddenly I wanted to go back to the castle and cried. Then he put me on his back and sent me back to the castle himself.”

“…That’s a truly rare experience.”

“Right? Anyway, I started to guess from that incident, but it seems that my right eye has a power to subdue beasts or monsters.”

I see. It’s not just a cursed eye.

I don’t know much about evil eyes either, but maybe there’s some unknown power in it that even the owner, Sylvia herself, doesn’t realize.

If that’s true, then it’s somewhat understandable that those guys ordered me to kill Sylvia.

The Dawn’s Eye was aware of the power contained in her evil eye to some extent.

– Kkiaeaegek.

“Oh? It looks like this child is telling me to ride on its back? What should I do, Laird-gongja?”

“……”

Anyway, even so, this guy is supposed to be the King of the Wyverns, doesn’t he have any pride?

I’m going to end up getting off at the Dukedom riding a wyvern instead of a carriage.