Youngest 211

Episode 211

“Father!”

I shot to my feet.

The silhouette speeding toward us on horseback could only be my father.

As the boat drew closer to shore, our eyes met for a fleeting moment, even from afar. In his hand, gripping the reins, he held a small violet box.

[ He said he couldn’t give you something important to you… ]

Ruby? Why are you… how is this…?

My father’s furrowed brows seemed to convey those unspoken words.

It was then.

“Who the hell are you?”

Licht drew his sword, leveling it at the boatman.

“You deliberately slipped a moment ago… And now you’re only pretending to row.”

“Huh? I—I’m not—nothing—”

“Truly.”

Licht smiled gently, the floating mage-lights flitting across his smooth face in sharp chiaroscuro. He seemed to have grasped the situation instantly.

“Why does my brother always make such poor moves…?”

The prince advanced without hesitation and swung his sword at the boatman. A scream rang out.

‘Why, of all times, now!’

I bit down hard on my lip and moved my mana, seeking to neutralize the mage tool the boatman had placed on the floor.

Just as Licht said, the man had surely slipped on purpose.

I’d only realized he had a mage tool after the boat set out. Until then, I’d thought him nothing more than a petty servant with sticky fingers, stealing precious magical implements.

‘I never imagined he’d be one of the First Prince’s men.’

“Please, spare me—have mercy!”

The boatman cowered, feigning terror and begging for his life, all while surreptitiously groping along the floor—his ploy almost laughable.

‘He means to trigger a mage tool in front of me?’

Pressing a hand against the hull, I cast a dispelling spell. Blue mana raced swiftly along the boat, touching the mage tool on the floor in an instant.

At the very same moment, the man stomped down hard, crushing the tool.

“That’s settled, then… huh?”

But the explosion he wanted never happened.

“What—what is this? Why didn’t it go off?!”

Licht shot me a sidelong glance, let out a short sigh, and moved to restrain the boatman again.

“Damn it!”

Like lightning, the man snatched a sharp needle from beneath a nearby silk cushion.

“Licht, look out!”

Licht dodged deftly, but the boatman grinned, his mouth stretching wide.

For sharp needles had also been lodged in the decorations Licht had touched while evading.

“Petty tricks…”

Gritting his teeth, Licht pulled a needle from his palm—and in that moment, his body swayed violently. The boatman didn’t miss his chance, snatching up Licht’s sword and charging the prince.

‘Poison?’

“Rubian, don’t come any closer!”

Licht shouted, warning me not to approach, fearful there were more poisoned needles. Even as the venom spread and bloodshot eyes glazed, he kept checking that I was safe.

Their melee sent the small boat lurching out of control.

Just as I tried to cast another spell, my shoulder slammed hard into the hull.

Splash! The impact knocked the potion from my hand and into the lake.

“No!”

“Ruby!”

From far off, I heard my father’s voice.

He’d sensed something awry on the boat and was leaping from his horse, wading swiftly toward us at the lakeshore.

Get the boat moving, now!

Father shouted—a rare, sharp command.

“The potion…!”

I have to retrieve it.

But Licht first…!

“Gh… Let go! I said let go!”

“Shut up!”

Even laboring under the effects of venom, Licht didn’t let the man go. Yet I could feel his strength ebbing away. As I tried to steady myself and send my mana to aid him—

“Damn you royals!”

Maddened, the boatman struck Licht hard and knocked over a nearby lamp.

Flames raced along the wooden dinghy with a rush.

“If it’s come to this, let’s all die here!”

The boatman smashed the reserve oil flasks. Dry winter wind whipped up, fanning the blaze in an instant.

“Rubian, run…! Ungh—”

He tried to move toward me reflexively, but faltered and collapsed. Licht had reached his limit long since.

With a ragged breath, Licht shouted for me to flee—and then lost consciousness.

One side of the boat splintered with a crack, and the craft, off-balance, began to sink rapidly.

‘At this rate, Licht will die!’

As Licht slid limp toward the side, I cast gravity magic. His sagging body floated up from the deck.

The magic drew on my reservoir; I saw the mana gauge drop and felt warmth beneath my nose once again.

‘My mana…’

The bleeding I’d only just managed to stop was starting anew.

“Ha—haha! Let’s see how well you survive now…!”

Cackling, the boatman made to leap into the lake. I strained to cast magic again to seize him—

Whoosh, thud!

An arrow, shot from the far shore by my mother, pierced his chest.

Splintering—

At the same moment, the boat gave way for good.

Splash!

Dragged under, I caught a glimpse of my mother’s fierce, anguished face as I was sucked down into the black lake. Irresistible icy water engulfed every part of me.

‘Father.’

Just before I went under, I saw him—my father, leaping without hesitation into the water.

But I could not return to his side just yet.

Dizzy from mana depletion, I forced my strength to the limit.

Borrowing the glow of a floating mage lamp above, I illuminated the depths, searching for the sinking potion. At my fingertips, a circular magic sigil appeared. The water eddied against its own current and placed the potion in my grasp.

I clenched my teeth. This was it.

Any further magic might interfere with the spell suppressing my Mage’s Crest.

Ruby!

As tension released, my strength ebbed away.

In the distance, I heard a voice calling my name.

Endlessly, endlessly, my body sank.

Like someone seized by the ankles in viscous mud, I was being pulled swiftly down to the lakebed.

But I knew.

The one person in this world with power enough to pull me back was here.

‘Father…’

Rubian!

A hand grasped me firmly, locking around my body. Father held me close, and shot upward toward the surface.

Suddenly, I saw the bandage tied around one of Father’s fingers, clutching my shoulder—a bandage frayed, half-unraveled. Beneath it, a wound like one made by broken glass.

From that wound, a thin thread of blood seeped out…

Can this kind of accident be called fate?

Clink.

The cork came free from the potion vial in my hand.

Even in my daze, I was relieved the stopper was loose.

The iridescent liquid spilled out eagerly, gleaming. It seemed a river of stars scattering through a black cosmos.

My long hair floated and swirled beneath the deep surface of the lake.

But what reached first was not the potion—it was the steady flow of my own blood.

And my father’s blood.

Stay with me, Ruby.

His strong arms wrapped me tight, drives us fast toward the surface.

A stream of bubbles broke from my lips. Breathing was becoming impossible. In Father’s silent pleading gaze, I felt the urgency of another’s heart.

But did he know?

That the one wishing to plead, truly, was me.

“Ruby!”

The empty potion vial drifted rapidly away behind Father’s back.

My chin slipped from his shoulder, losing strength. Even as my consciousness faded, I fixed my gaze to the end.

There—swirling and shining among the glittering lights—were the mingled blood of myself and Father.

‘Lies…’

Beneath the sapphire glow of the lakeshore.

At the moment my truth first began to bud.