TVRP 08

Chapter 8

Father’s warhorse was dragging a gigantic corpse behind it.

“My goodness…….”

“It really is a Dead Dragon.”

The knights murmured here and there in voices filled with awe.

At a gesture from Father, the dismantlers who had been waiting nearby immediately rushed toward the corpse and began cutting it apart.

As I watched the scene filled with the stench of blood and entrails, I licked my lips.

‘How much would all of that be worth?’

I had heard that every part of a dragon-type monster, from its wings to its tendons, could be sold for an exorbitant price.

The heart in particular was a concentrated essence containing explosive power.

Of course, since it belonged to a monster, it would be extremely impure and require purification, but with just that one thing, a mage could use magic to their heart’s content.

Mages would probably come carrying astronomical sums of money, begging to be allowed to buy it.

‘If only I had something like that for Rossi, too…….’

I could use it as an incredible power source.

“You’re always saying you’re lacking this and lacking that, and now you’re even drooling?”

It was only after Lawrence snapped at me contemptuously that I realized my desire had literally caused drool to trickle down the corner of my mouth.

‘But why has he been hanging around nearby this whole time?’

I wiped my mouth and glared irritably at Lawrence.

That evening, I headed toward the dining hall with a slightly uneasy feeling.

How long had it been since I last ate with Father at the same table?

‘Two months? No, maybe three months…… Ah!’

As I entered the dining hall, my eyes widened.

A boy with long silver hair tied up in a single ponytail, resting his chin against his hand at an angle.

With beautiful features and a body already as well-developed as that of most adults despite being only fourteen, that boy was my eldest brother, Edward Sergegnev.

‘Why is he here?’

Although Edward was a member of House Sergegnev, I rarely encountered him inside the castle.

His favorite pastime was roaming battlefields swarming with monsters, as though he were addicted to blood.

Edward’s blue eyes rested on me for a moment before passing right over me.

As though he were looking at empty air.

“Today, I will examine the results of your training so far.”

Father spoke with a dignified and authoritative expression that seemed completely at odds with his reputation as a slaughterer.

It felt as though lightning had struck inside my head.

The candidates for the next head of House Sergegnev demonstrated the results of their training before the current head once a year.

But that was supposed to take place a month from now.

“Um, Father.”

I carefully raised my hand and spoke, causing Father’s gaze to turn toward me.

His emotionless eyes, as though he were looking at a pebble, made my body instinctively shrink back.

But I had to say what I wanted to say.

“I thought it was supposed to be a month from now…….”

I had been preparing something to show Father as well.

This year, I thought I might finally be able to prepare a convincing version of Rossi.

The mechanical engineering knowledge from modern Earth that had come to me because of the accident had been a huge help in developing Rossi.

“Training for another month won’t evolve a blockhead into something that isn’t a blockhead.”

Lawrence sneered.

I whipped around, wanting to hit him because he was so irritating, but surprisingly, Lawrence didn’t add any further insults.

He merely stared at me.

As though he were testing my reaction.

Then a bored voice broke through the silence.

“What kind of competition is it this time, Father?”

Edward looked straight at Father as he spoke.

Edward was the only person in this family who wasn’t afraid of Father.

It wasn’t because he had already become stronger than Father.

Rather, he seemed to have simply lost his fear after spending so much time on battlefields since childhood.

“Instead of going through this bothersome procedure, we could just start the succession battle now.”

Edward raised one corner of his mouth in a crooked smile.

“After all, I don’t think the succession structure will change even if several more years pass.”

I could feel Lawrence’s body stiffen slightly beside me.

Suggesting that the succession battle begin right now was practically the same as saying that he wanted to eliminate all of us who were candidates for the position of head of the family.

If the succession battle began now, Lawrence and I would be as good as dead.

Clink.

I turned at the sound of a teaspoon falling.

Eloise had gone pale.

Because of her weak health, Eloise was automatically excluded from the succession battle.

But the prospect of a future where her younger siblings would have to harm one another must have been a nightmare for someone as kind as her.

“The procedure is absolute, Edward.”

Father spoke with a cold expression.

“The succession battle will not begin until Lilyan has reached adulthood.”

“Yes. I apologize for saying something unnecessary.”

Edward readily apologized.

“It seems there are several useless insects in the family who do nothing but consume food expenses.”

The Sergegnev family’s characteristic transparent blue eyes swept over me and Lawrence.

Like someone literally looking at insects, there was no emotion in his gaze aside from faint irritation.

This was why I considered Edward a psychopath.

In the future, under the pretext of the succession battle, we would have to hurt one another as siblings.

Whether we got along or not, we were still related by blood.

Even I wasn’t exactly thrilled by the thought of harming Lawrence.

But Edward seemed to be looking forward to that future immensely.

‘He must have seen so much blood from such a young age that something in his brain has definitely broken.’

Perhaps the part responsible for conscience or sibling affection.

I glanced up at Lawrence.

His already pale face had turned even whiter.

I could see that his fists were tightly clenched.

He was unmistakably terrified.

‘Setting aside how annoying he is…… I guess I feel a little sorry for him at times like this.’

I had absolutely no intention of confronting Edward, that monster, head-on in the succession battle.

Of course, I knew that participating in the succession battle was the sacred duty and destiny of the Sergegnev family.

But as someone who had regained the memories of a modern Earthling, the idea of “fate” seemed hopelessly outdated to me.

‘Are you crazy? I should run away before that happens.’

I was still thinking about how to accomplish that.

However, unlike me, Lawrence probably couldn’t imagine any future other than one where he would have to confront Edward in the succession battle.

A future where he would have to fight that monstrous eldest brother with everything he had must have been a nightmare.

One that drew closer with every passing moment.

When Lawrence’s eyes met mine, his lips moved as though he wanted to say something.

But soon, he turned his head away.

“What is the event, Father?”

I asked while desperately pretending to be calm.

‘Please, let it at least be something I can handle.’

If it was something like archery, mounted combat, or hunting like last time, I would be in serious trouble.

Rossi wasn’t developed enough to perform that kind of combat yet.

“We will meet again at the training grounds in one hour.”

Father spoke in a frigid voice.

“The event will be revealed then.”

In other words, it was a secret.

There was no way for me to prepare in advance, even for the next hour.

I left the dining hall with my shoulders slumped.

The Sergegnev family’s “tests” didn’t particularly care about what means you used.

Although we were a family of swordsmen, that didn’t mean I had to pass the test specifically through swordsmanship.

That was good news for me.

It meant I could make full use of magical machines, including Rossi.

‘But not today.’

I stared down at the remains of Rossi that I had only partially rebuilt and grabbed my hair in frustration.

Thanks to that damn Olga, my progress on modifying Rossi had been delayed.

Still, I should at least make the minimum effort.

Fortunately, I had thought of an idea before going to sleep last night.

“Hey.”

I wanted to add a new gear to joint No. 17 right here.

That should allow me to achieve much freer and more flexible movement.

‘Sorry, Rossi. Why did Mom only think of this now?’

“Hey.”

The problem was that friction might occur between the two materials.

The elasticity of the design I had calculated might also exceed its limits.

There were many variables.

But I judged that they were still manageable enough.

“Master!”

“Gah!”

At the sudden shout, I practically jumped three centimeters into the air while sitting on my chair.

“Ah, what?! Why are you suddenly shouting—”

I angrily turned around, then my eyes widened.

‘Ha…….’

And I stopped breathing in admiration.

The previous night, I had ordered the maids to fill a bathtub with warm water.

The maids had been openly annoyed, but perhaps even they thought Eden looked seriously filthy, because they filled the tub without complaining.

Eden bathed there.

Since it would be difficult for him to wash every part of himself properly, I had offered to help him.

Instead of answering, the brat had looked at me with a contemptuous gaze for a moment.

I had been dumbfounded.

Anyway, as a result, Eden had now washed away all the layers of grime that had covered him.

“The picture really can’t compare to the real thing…….”

The illustrations of Eden in the original story had been incredibly high quality.

They were so beautiful that I could probably look at them without eating and still feel full.

But even those pictures seemed incapable of capturing the real thing.

Snow-white skin like porcelain, with perfectly proportioned features arranged across his face.

Eyes that looked as though they had been made by melting gold, and hair that swayed like ebony.

‘Hmm. His face really is cheating.’

“What? Picture?”

Eden frowned as though he didn’t understand.

I waved my hands dismissively.

It wasn’t like he wouldn’t hear people tell him how handsome he was over and over again once he grew up, anyway.

“Wait. But what did you just call me?”

“Master.”

“Don’t do that! It gives me the creeps.”

I shouted in disgust as goosebumps rose all over my body.

“You.”

Eden tilted his head to the side with a crooked expression.

“You don’t really think of me as the doll you brought into your room, do you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You said you’d help me escape.”

Eden frowned fiercely.

“Do you actually think about me at all?”

“Pfft.”

I burst out laughing before I could stop myself.

His sulky little remark was unexpectedly cute for a moment.