How To Save A Time-limited Young Master - Chapter 3

Heloise could only watch the scene before her, goosebumps forming out of shock.

 

Originally, there were five lumps of mana, but the numbers gradually increased and bounced about unbridled like a rubber ball. In order to avoid these, the boys and girls hugged the tree trunks and pulled on each other to use as shields.

 

“Right, you’re doing great. Bags of the finest jewels will fall one by one for the last three people remaining.”

 

“Jewels?”

 

At his words, Heloise frowned, but the eyes of the playmates that were here first instantly lit up.

 

In order to obtain the jewellery, they didn’t mind sacrificing each other. To move the lump of mana’s attention from themselves, they had even pushed another child that was beside them, like throwing out prey.

 

The children that were able to avoid the lumps of mana were fortunate, but those that came into contact with it burst into tears out of fear when their bodies began to rise in the air despite their will.

 

“Young Master.”

 

The butler observed the occurrences indifferently, and approached the boy and bowed politely, just like how he did with Heloise. The boy didn’t even look back at him.

 

“The Young Lady from the Viscounty of Lorca has arrived. It’s your new playmate.”

 

‘Do I have to join that?’

 

Heloise’s complexion turned pale. She had originally thought that she was here to take care of a sickly Young Master, but she ended up becoming the lab rat of an ill-tempered mage.

 

“Is this Heloise Lorca?”

 

Looking back at Heloise with a smile on his beautiful face, the boy gave her a once over.

 

“What’s this? I thought it was a guy because of the name…but it’s a girl.”

 

Heloise, who was suddenly angry for some reason, spoke.

 

“Is there a problem?”

 

“Nope.”

 

His interest in Heloise was briefly lost with that remark. The boy seemed more interested in aiming at the other children with lumps of mana. Now, there were less than ten children left.

 

“Instead of that, why don’t you join us?”

 

“What?”

 

“You’re lucky to be in the second half. I’m going to give those bags of jewels to the last three that remain.”

 

As the boy spoke with a sweet smile, the boys and girls that remained gave Heloise glares. They seemed discontented with the appearance of an unfair competitor.

 

Heloise flinched back for a moment when she made eye contact with them. Everyone seemed to be around the same age as Heloise at best, but they seemed used to such competitions.

 

Heloise wanted to fly into a rage, but she cleared her throat. Despite everything, he was still the only Young Master of the family her father served, so she couldn’t get angry recklessly.

 

“Why would I receive that?”

 

“It’s a gift. It’s because friends exchange gifts.”

 

“I don’t think that this is the right way to exchange gifts.”

 

“The right way?”

 

The corner of the boy’s lips curved up as if he had heard something amusing. Afterwards, he suddenly threw a large lump of mana towards one of his playmates while they were in the middle of their conversation.

 

When the surprised boy saw the black mana was about to reach him with a swooshing sound, he grabbed the girl that was standing next to him and used her as a shield. However, the mana avoided the girl that stood before the boy and striked the boy instead.

 

“Argh!”

 

After coming into contact with the mana, the boy’s body slowly began to rise to the sky.

 

“No! Help me!”

 

As he floated beyond the height of a huge tree, the increasing fear caused him to call for help in a frightened voice. However, neither the servants nor the playmates stopped Zenon Lionerik.

 

When Heloise glanced upwards, there were already several children floating high in the sky.

 

“They’re losers.”

 

Zenon, who was looking upwards with Heloise, opened his mouth. When Heloise flinched in surprise, his eyes curved beautifully.

 

“I think that you’ll be quite good at this game. What do you think?

 

“……”

 

“If you aren’t confident, I can give you a little advantage.”

 

“I don’t need it.”

 

Heloise answered firmly.

 

Although she was from a prosperous family background that could criticise about how that jewels meant nothing, she wasn’t a brute, and neither did she want to be blinded by compensation and show a pathetic appearance. It was even more so when the boy seemed to be enjoying the pathetic appearances his game was causing.

 

“I’m not interested in these kinds of weird games. I’m only here because of my father’s orders…”

 

“You’re here to play with me? But what should I do? This is how I play.”

 

Zenon smiled mischievously.

 

Heloise bit on her lip angrily. She didn’t come over as this ill-tempered Young Master’s toy.

 

No, if she had to nitpick, although that sentence was right, she didn’t want to be at the mercy of another like she was a toy. If she knew that she’d be at the mercy of a guy like this because she was deceived by the temptation of skipping embroidery classes, she’d return home and tell her father that she would attend those boring embroidery classes again.

 

“Do you enjoy such a deplorable game?”

 

“Deplorable game?”

 

“I’m aware of the Young Lord’s great magic. However, even if you use such a manner to show off your power, no one will look up to the Young Lord just because of your venerable status.”

 

“I don’t care about others.”

 

“Is it simply because of that? There are dozens of playmates that were called over by the Young Lord, yet none of them seemed to have opened their minds to the Young Lord.”

 

As Heloise spoke mockingly, one of Zenon’s eyebrows rose upwards. The smile in his eyes disappeared for the first time as he walked towards Heloise.

 

Forcing a smile, she kept repeating, ’So what if you keep looking at me?’ internally.

 

“Why did you decide to play such a game in the first place?”

 

“Because it’s quite interesting.”

 

Unlike his pitiful situation, Zenon was a genius who was born with the strongest mana within the history of the Lionerik Duchy.

 

However, a price definitely followed such formidable power. His body would take a huge toll from the amount of mana he used.

 

Zenon would suffer damage whenever mana was used, and this caused him to become sensitive and temperamental. As such, although she has heard saying that the Young Master of Lionerik’s nature wasn’t normal, she didn’t expect that he would cause mischief like the people were rabbits.

 

“Watching screaming and crying kids?”

 

Heloise asked back in an absurd tone, but without listening to Zenon’s answer, she shook her head with her hand on her forehead.

 

“No, I’m not even curious. If the order to serve the Young Lord was only for something like this, I’m just going to return.”

 

“What’s so different with you?”

 

“I at least know how to treat people and beasts differently. Just like how I am treating the Young Lord with the basic amount of courtesy.”

 

The fact that he, who was worse than a beast, was being treated as a person was all thanks to her discernment and patience.

 

However, she couldn’t say that aloud brazenly, so she only sighed and turned around. Her frosty gaze wasn’t just aimed at Zenon, but also at the children blindly competing for jewels.

 

“Are you returning now?”

 

“Then am I supposed to fight for the jewels here with them?”

 

Heloise spoke in a fiercely sarcastic tone towards the butler and maid that approached to try and dissuade her, completely turning away from Zenon.

 

“I order you to bring a carriage right away. I don’t want to stay in a house like this for a second.”

 

“Miss!”

 

A maid shouted loudly, but Heloise wasn’t the slightest bit cowed. Rather than the son of a duke that has lost his means of a livelihood, the daughter of Viscount Lorca that had a prosperous business was definitely a hundred times better. She didn’t have to feel inferior.

 

While she glared at her surroundings with an attitude that would kick up a great fuss if they didn’t do as she said, a soft voice came from behind her head.

 

“Just send her off.”

 

It was Zenon, who had remained silent all this while.

 

“But Young Master…”

 

“I said to send her off.”

 

“Heard that?”

 

Regardless of the original work’s identity, she would rather take a boring embroidery class than hang out with these idiots. Wouldn’t there at least be some of her embroidery left?

 

However, doing something like playing with Zenon Lionerik would just be a waste of time that she was deceived into spending, let alone leaving something behind.

 

“…Understood.”

 

At the end of his words, the butler guided her out from the way she came. Heloise moved her feet in a seemingly confident manner, but she recoiled secretly when she spotted the lumps of mana that were still floating in the air, as she was worried that they would fly to her body.

 

However, the mishap that she was worried about didn’t occur while she was returning home in the carriage borrowed from the Langbert Mansion.

 

The mishap occurred on the very next day.

 

During a boring class on the art of ceremonial tea-making, Viscount Lorca, who barged in with a surprised expression, held Heloise by the shoulders and said, “Heloise! The Young Master is also looking for you today!”

 

Heloise was bewildered. The same could be said for the teacher of this class.

 

“Viscount?”

 

“Oh, Baroness Aegison. My apologies for this. Could I stop today’s class here?”

 

“What?”

 

“I’m really sorry, but I have to convey the news to my daughter now.”

 

He was so excited that he roughly asked for understanding from the Baroness teaching tea making, before holding both of Heloise’s shoulders.

 

“Heloise, I heard that he had chosen you by name today!”

 

“Is that so?”

 

Was he crazy? He was calling for her again, even though she humiliated him yesterday. And seeing her father being joyful that she was chosen made her feel odd, like she was a product displayed in a display case.

 

Heloise grabbed her head, which was shaking back and forth like a doll due to the Viscount excessively shaking her shoulders, before answering calmly.

 

“But I’m in the middle of a tea ceremony class.”

 

The Baroness was smiling awkwardly in her seat, but when Heloise pointed it out, she left the room to let them talk comfortably. When the teacher left the room, Viscount Lorca’s momentum became even fiercer.

 

“Your classes today end here. All you have to do is to go to the Young Master right now!”

 

“Dad, you had definitely mentioned yesterday that I only had to go three times a week during embroidery classes.”

 

To be exact, the embroidery classes were held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I had already visited yesterday, which was Monday, so there’s no reason for me to go today.

 

“That’s…”

 

“And I have something to tell you today. I don’t want to go to Langbert Mansion.”

 

“What?”

 

It was amazing that Zenon had chosen Heloise, but it’s unbelievable that Heloise, who was chosen, declared that she didn’t want to go.

 

Viscount Lorca didn’t know how to close her opened mouth. Heloise kindly closed his chin for him and gave him a smile.

 

“That Young Master is not in his right mind, Dad. If you tell me to go there one more time, I’ll tell Mom about everything.”