Volume 2 Chapter 34: The World Outside【The Aristocratic Council Arc】

“Ah, Dad!”

At the detached annex of the Kelphine mansion.

In a place approached only by the bare minimum of personnel and rare visitors, Izun lived there all alone.

Then, her father, Kelphine, arrived.

He was her biological parent, yet he rarely appeared.

Seeing him arrive, Izun greeted him with a beaming smile.

Though her gesture was adorably childlike, Kelphine’s expression remained completely unchanged.

As he silently glared at her, Izun continued talking nonstop.

As that moment began—just as Izun had always imagined…

“…Get out.”

Those words came from her father.

And they were directed at Izun.

Her eyes widened in shock.

Then, the door that was always securely shut swung open.

Izun hesitantly asked Kelphine,

“Izun, is it alright if I go out?”

Kelphine did not answer; as soon as the door opened, he turned his back and started walking briskly.

Though hesitant, Izun bolted out of the room she had lived in alone since birth—a place that, while lonely, had been a safe and comfortable haven for her.

With that final image seared into her memory, Izun followed her father’s retreating figure.

“Wah…!”

Stepping outside for the first time, Izun’s eyes sparkled—though, to be precise, it wasn’t truly the outdoors but still within Kelphine’s grounds.

Yet for Izun, who had never even been allowed a walk in the garden, that alone felt remarkably novel and invigorating.

“Hey, hey! Izun, I’ve got so many things I want to talk about with Dad!”

“Izun, is it alright if you talk with Dad?”

“…No, there’s no need. You’ve done well so far.”

Izun stopped in her tracks involuntarily.
Had she just received words from her father?
It had never happened even once before… and yet, it was exactly what she had craved from the bottom of her heart.

“U-uh! I’m totally fine!”

At those words of consolation, she almost burst into tears.
Being confined since birth and not even being spoken to was nothing short of abuse.

And yet, despite that, a child still longs for parental love.
Izun felt a joy that made her previous life vanish in an instant.

“But, as you might already know, a new child has been born. In other words, there’s no longer any need to confine you here.”

“Izun, you’re allowed to go outside!?”

Izun’s eyes shone even brighter.
It wasn’t just a temporary outing—she would be allowed to be outside permanently.
Though it might seem ordinary to others, to Izun it was an extraordinarily enticing offer.

“…Ah. But you understand that you won’t be living with us, right?”

“Eh…?”

But Izun’s expression froze.
That was to say, it meant she would no longer be able to see her parents…

Izun looked down, then…

“Izun—”

“…Yeah, I understand. If there’s something I can do for Dad and Mom, then I’ll give it my all.”

When she lifted her face, Izun was smiling—a painfully forced smile that masked a sorrow too deep for a child.

“That’s fine.”

Seeing that, Kelphine simply nodded without any emotion.

◆

“Oh, this is…”

The one whose eyes sparkled was the master of a reasonably large mansion at the end of a dim back alley where Kelphine had brought her.

Those glaring, glittering eyes were unlike any that Izun had ever seen.

They were eyes that recognized value. Under other circumstances, such a look might have filled her with joy, but Izun felt only fear.

For those eyes clearly valued nothing but her appearance.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a cursed child who has lived to this age. Wonderful…” 

“Wonderful? That was quite the irony.” 

“I apologize. Please understand that I never meant to displease Kelphine-sama. I am truly moved. Even after decades in this business, it is the first time I’ve seen a grown cursed child.”

The man was in high spirits while Kelphine remained sullen as they conversed. Izun could only listen to their exchange in silence.

“Uh, uh…” 

“Oh, my apologies. Miss, from today you will be living here. Nice to meet you.”

The man smiled sweetly at her. Yet his eyes were, in some way, terrifying, viewing Izun not as a human but as an object.

“Well then, I’ll leave you in their care.” 

“Yes.” 

“Ah, Dad…”

With a turn of his back, Kelphine began to walk away. Izun instinctively reached out, but Kelphine did not look back.

“Now, let’s go.”

The man led her by the arm, and Izun fell into deep darkness.

◆

The place where Kelphine left Izun was a slave market. One could not take matters into his own hands there.

Even as a newborn, he had shown that anyone who harbored hostility toward him would be crushed and killed. It was so terrifying that the very thought of raising his hand never even crossed one’s mind.

Thus, Kelphine sold her off as a slave. Cursed children are immediately identifiable by their distinctive appearance, and they are often killed at birth before they can spread their curse.

Kelphine had confined Izun to avoid scandal, yet, ironically, he ended up producing a grown cursed child—a rare cursed child with an almost ethereal beauty.

With translucent white hair and skin, and eyes as red as blood—an appearance revered as divine in some regions—Izun, with her beauty, was bought in an instant.

However, no wealthy man desired a cursed child as a mistress. The place to which she was sold was a freak show.