Ch.70Reflecting (1)

The fastest way to untangle a knotted thread is to cut it.

But if you cut it out of laziness, that thread becomes unusable.

If the thread belongs to you, that’s fine, but if it belongs to someone else, problems arise.

“Young Lord Ruide. Why did you blow up the main building?”

“To break the barrier…”

Ruide replied weakly. Fenicia was clearly furious.

Even Vice-Chancellor Fenicia, who usually took Ruide’s side, wasn’t defending him in this situation.

“The academy professors would have removed the barrier in about 10 minutes. That’s no excuse.”

Ruide flinched slightly, then turned his head away.

“I’m sorry.”

“Haah… Anyway, I can’t let this incident slide. In addition to repair costs, your salary will be cut for three months.”

“…!”

This was troubling for Ruide, who was already under an allowance ban.

“That’s…”

Fenicia’s eyebrow twitched.

“That’s what?”

“No, nothing.”

He slumped his shoulders dejectedly.

With fierce eyes, Fenicia put down her documents and said, “I’m letting you off easy because you’re Young Lord Ruide. Please be more careful next time.”

“…Yes.”

Ruide trudged away.

‘Mother was really angry.’

Victoria was historically furious. She didn’t say much, which made it even more terrifying.

Amelia was the same. She had trusted him to handle things properly and followed along, but she scolded him severely for betraying her expectations.

‘Was I too extreme?’

Though breaking the barrier was necessary, he had done it because he didn’t want to resolve this episode himself.

If this was karma, then it was well-deserved.

‘Still, it’s going to be difficult without an allowance.’

Of course, his dimensional storage was still connected.

But Ruide wasn’t reckless enough to raid the treasury again, ignoring Victoria’s warning.

Living in the empire required a lot of money. Ruide had been spending money like water.

That lifestyle would have to end for now.

Thinking he should properly apologize to Amelia, Ruide turned the corner.

Somehow knowing he would be here, Damon was leaning against the alley wall with his arms crossed.

“……”

Ruide tried to tiptoe past without greeting him. As he was passing by:

“Why did you blow up the main building?”

Damon asked. Ruide stopped walking. He looked up at Damon with a crumpled expression.

“It was a mistake.”

“A mistake. What an absurd excuse.”

Damon opened his previously closed eyes. His red eyes fixed on Ruide.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“Yes.”

“What was it that I did that day?”

“……”

Damon’s words carried deep emptiness.

Ruide’s expression hardened.

Damon turned his head to stare into empty space.

“You destroyed the tower your students had carefully built. Bear the guilt of turning the efforts of those trying their best into nothing.”

Damon walked away in the opposite direction, as if not expecting an answer.

Ruide stared at the sky with a blank face.

‘Have I been taking things too lightly?’

Suddenly, Ruide remembered that this wasn’t a novel but reality.

**

“Captain, your brother is here.”

Gilbert, who had been awake for nearly 40 hours due to the “Ruide’s Mistake Incident,” said while rubbing his dark circles.

Amelia replied coldly without even looking up.

“Send him away.”

“…Really?”

Gilbert was surprised by Amelia’s reaction, considering she usually turned into a golden retriever at the mere mention of Ruide.

“Yes. He’s probably coming to whine again. This is a good opportunity to correct his behavior…”

Peek.

But Ruide was already peering through the slightly open door, only his eyes visible.

He seemed to think he was sneaking a look, but in this world, only the Windsors had such clear blue eyes.

Amelia sighed deeply.

“I told you not to come. Let’s talk properly at home.”

Ruide slipped into the room.

“…I just happened to be passing by.”

“…How do you ‘happen to pass by’ the fencing hall?”

“Ahem.”

Gilbert cleared his throat and bowed his head.

“I’ll take my leave.”

After Gilbert left, Amelia glared fiercely at Ruide. Ruide avoided her gaze and sat on the sofa.

“You know your allowance is suspended, right?”

“Yes.”

‘Money isn’t a big deal anyway.’

Ruide thought with cat-like eyes.

He could earn money using his magical abilities, so he didn’t really need an allowance.

But Ruide had underestimated the Windsors.

“You’re thinking ‘I can just earn money somehow,’ aren’t you?”

“…!”

“The head of the family has given orders. This is a chance to fix your spending habits. We’ve been too lenient. From now on, you’ll be subject to Windsor family rules.”

Ruide’s eyes widened.

“You know our family’s rules, right? Windsors outside the family cannot gain any profit other than work income. You can’t sell your possessions or make money through investments. Of course, you can’t use any assets you already have. Especially since you caused an accident this time, you can’t even receive ‘donations’ that would normally be allowed. You must live solely on your professor’s salary.”

“That’s too harsh.”

“Too harsh? Too harsh?!”

Amelia jumped to her feet.

“Too harsh?! You’re the one who’s gone too far, Ruide. No matter how much of a genius you are, if you had made even a small mistake, everyone there could have died. And why did you lie to me? You said it was a gift from His Majesty, but you actually took it from our family’s armory!”

Ruide flinched.

Amelia took a deep breath to calm herself and sat back down.

“Anyway, remember that. Get your act together this time.”

Ruide bit his lip, facing a desperate crisis.

‘I can’t survive this harsh medieval era on a measly professor’s salary.’

He slowly approached Amelia. Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her waist and nestled into her embrace.

Amelia’s entire body tensed.

Ruide looked up at her with moist eyes.

‘He’s so cute.’

He was already cute just standing there, but this behavior made him so adorable it made her mouth go dry.

“I’m sorry. I truly regret it.”

“……”

“So, can’t you talk to Mom for me? She’s not taking my calls.”

‘This is dangerous.’

Amelia stroked Ruide’s head, suppressing with superhuman patience her urge to brightly exclaim, “Trust your big sister!”

“Please?”

But that was… impossible even for Amelia, who had the strong mental fortitude to be called the Sword Princess.

Click.

“…?”

Just then, there was the sound of metal catching.

Amelia tilted her head to the left.

…Ruide was quietly trying to unlock the safe.

It had a double lock, but he had only managed to unlock the first level before getting caught.

“…What are you doing?”

Ruide rolled his eyes around, pretending not to know.

The pitiful expression that looked ready to cry had already disappeared.

“Busted.”

“Hey!”

Amelia shouted.

Ruide said with an indifferent expression:

“Honestly, Ame, you’re not in a position to talk. How much have I helped you? Nyah!”

Then he ran out of the room.

Amelia’s expression went from bewildered to bright red.

“That, that brat!”

Amelia decided to use this opportunity to properly discipline her ill-mannered brother.

**

Ruide was slumped over at a window seat in a dessert shop.

‘There’s no way my apology was properly conveyed.’

What he had really wanted to say to Amelia was, “I’m sorry. I’m sincerely reflecting on my actions.”

That was Ruide’s honest truth without any lies.

But once he said it out loud… it felt embarrassing.

So he glossed over it with a joke.

In the end, it only made Amelia angrier.

He had apologized many times before, but this was strange.

Even though he was truly sorry, the words wouldn’t come out.

‘What have I been doing all this time?’

As funny as it sounds.

It was only after seeing Damon’s empty expression—that high-self-esteem Damon—that Ruide realized.

Until now, he had only been living in a novel, not in reality.

He had taken his precious people for granted and only caused them harm. He had never seriously reflected on this.

For the sake of preserving the episode, he had cared about Justin, with whom he had never exchanged more than five words and considered to have no connection.

He worried about a future that hadn’t even arrived while ignoring what was right in front of him.

It was absurd.

Despite having the power to solve everything, he had entrusted his future to Justin, who by his standards wasn’t even a water flea.

Only after tripping on a stone and getting a bump on his forehead did he realize this.

‘What I should cherish isn’t the original content but the people around me. I need to look at reality seriously.’

So, Ruide decided to change.

He would look at the present, not some distant future.

He would live in reality.

Thump.

Ruide raised his head.

To do that, first…

“Let’s see how much money I have.”

Let’s check the money first.

Ruide turned his gold pouch upside down.

Gold coins spilled out.

Since most of his gold was stored in his dimensional space, he didn’t have much cash on hand.

But he still thought he had quite a bit as he counted. How much wealth do I have?

But—

“…50 gold?”

An unbelievable amount.

Ruide shook his head.

“No way.”

He started counting one by one.

It was 50 gold.

“……”

Ruide, denying reality, counted again.

But the gold coins didn’t multiply.

He rested his chin on his hand with a serious expression.

50 gold was equivalent to about 500,000 won in modern terms.

For reference, one cake at this dessert shop cost 10 gold.

He had ordered four because he wanted to eat several, and with tea, it came to about 45 gold.

So that left 5 gold…?

“Even if I substitute grass for meals, I won’t be able to have snacks.”

Ruide felt a sense of crisis he wouldn’t have felt even if the world were ending.