Felix frowned while thinking positively. He couldn’t contain his anger and irritation when he thought about his niece.

Asela carefully asked.

“How is the search for Jade going?”

“Well, I don’t know. Someone must have given orders.”

“What? Father, you haven’t done anything?”

Ignoring his daughter’s question, Felix busily flipped through the documents he had taken.

Unlike her gentle eyes and delicate appearance that seemed frail, his niece had a cold and thorough side.

He was so furious at how solidly she had blocked his intervention. It was like that even when selecting just one merchant company to bring into the family.

Whenever he tried to touch anything, he needed the consent of at least one family elder, which seemed inappropriate for a time when the family heir had disappeared.

To anyone looking, it appeared like he was taking bribes and pulling strings, which was actually the truth.

Felix roughly threw the documents onto the table.

“Ha, this is maddening. Now is the best opportunity to gather funds!”

The middle-aged man scrunched up his face in anger. Deep wrinkles formed on his skin, adding a harsh and careless impression.

In the past, he only had wrinkles from smiling, but now…

Asela swallowed dryly and carefully opened her mouth.

“Father, how about… living a bit more freely now.”

Though she spoke indirectly, it meant no different than telling him to stop this and step down.

Felix, who had been rubbing his sharp, thin chin, stared at his daughter making foolish remarks with pitch-black eyes.

“Asela, Asela. My pretty daughter.”

He put on a sneering smile.

“You really know nothing about the world, absolutely nothing.”

“That’s not what I…”

“Do you know what things are needed to live comfortably?”

Felix began listing them one by one, counting on his fingers.

“A mansion of suitable size, dozens of servants, fertile land or a merchant company that brings in an appropriate harvest each year, funds that can be invested somewhere to grow.”

He stood up abruptly and glared at Asela as he continued.

“And a dowry to marry you off!”

Asela clutched her cold fingertips with her head bowed. The fine lace gloves added no warmth.

“Your case is different from your cousin Jade’s. That irritating girl, well, to be honest, she has the ability to accomplish something on her own. Even if we belittle it as just fire attribute magic, her power is so outstanding that even the king tried to use her. But what about you?”

Asela retreated step by step, but Felix approached just as much and poured out his criticism.

“You made us have expectations when you were young, but it turns out your magical power isn’t even as much as a puddle of rainwater. I couldn’t lift my head from shame. An incompetent like you, what did you say? Let’s live comfortably?”

“I just meant, even a modest place…”

“You’ll cut the grass in the garden yourself, buy things from merchants yourself, cook for yourself and live that way? Don’t say such ridiculous things. You’ve never lived like that before. That’s miserable, not free!”

Finally, tears fell onto her pale cheeks. But Asela, though stammering, tried to push through with her opinion.

“Jade, even after going through all this, if she withdraws favorably, she’ll try to give something to you and me, Father. That’s the kind of person she is.”

“No. She’s cold-hearted and greedy. She won’t try to give anything. Even if she does, it’ll be just crumbs. She’s exactly like her mother. That mud-like woman from who knows where.”

That woman was so tough that she didn’t even blink at subtle criticism. Though she was already dead and buried under a gravestone, whenever he saw his living niece, she came to mind like a hangnail.

“Ha, but…”

“Asela.”

Just calling her name once in a warning tone made Asela shrink. He wanted her to shut her mouth, but it also looked pathetic.

With such lack of backbone, I wonder if she’ll be able to properly captivate her husband even after getting married.

Felix clicked his tongue anew as he looked at his daughter with ordinary brown hair.

If only she had popular blonde hair, or at least as pale a color as Jade Broen, I could have sold her for a higher price.

He tried his best to soften his voice to hide his annoyed expression.

“My daughter. Come to your senses. We’re already in the same boat. This is the only way for us to continue living luxuriously like we have been. Jade Broen must remain just as the heir.”

And he whispered devilish words.

“That’s why I paid a teleportation mage to drop her in a strange place. I used up all my savings, so she should have died or become disabled, damn it.”

Asela covered her mouth in shock, but Felix tilted his head as if lost in other thoughts.

“Ah, right. It wouldn’t be bad to push for a funeral if there’s no news for a while. The end of a failed teleportation spell is almost always death, after all.”

Asela’s eyelids trembled. Felix’s face was full of smiles even as he said such terrible things.

“I told you, didn’t I? We’re in the same boat. Who on earth would believe in your innocence? But my daughter, don’t worry about anything. You’ll become the wife of a very good family. I’ll make it happen. Ah, it’s all done. First, I need to go to the gambling house and win some money to do anything.”

Asela, who had been clutching her hands not knowing what to do, finally dropped her head.

‘Asela, Asela! Let’s go up there together!’

‘What? Jade, no. Father will get angry. He’ll say it’s lacking in ladylike behavior…’

‘That’s really nonsense. We’re not nearly old enough to be ladies yet. Let’s go! Let’s decorate the gardener’s house up in that tree. With these ribbons!’

In the past and now. Compared to Jade, she felt so pathetic for not being able to do anything.

Neither properly rebelling nor properly following.

About 15 days had passed since falling into the Athanase Forest. Jade was gradually learning about life in the forest.

First of all, mornings in the forest are quite early. From the moment the sun was barely visible, when Ollie’s rooster crowed from far away, Axel and Jade had no choice but to wake up almost simultaneously. The rooster’s voice was really tremendous.

When Jade, who hadn’t slept deeply, staggered up from her small storage room-cum-personal space, Axel’s curses as he kicked open his door could be heard too.

“That damn chicken… One of these days I’ll…”

Then Jade would curse along inwardly. I’ll prevent that guy from eating feed…

Despite cursing through gritted teeth, Axel moved very diligently. From the sound alone, it was clear he was washing up right after getting up. Then he went to where the horse was, checked the black horse’s health, gave it a quick brush, and changed its water.

Such behavior gave some clues to guess about his past.

Of course, it might not be the case, but among the people Jade had met, those most sensitive to horses’ health were knights.

The sword he always kept nearby, and the splendid horse that must have been a warhorse.

“Ah, I don’t know. I’m tired…”

Jade, who had been thinking about his identity, flopped back down on the floor and squirmed.

By now, she was used to the crowing rooster, Axel’s pathetic gaze, this hard floor and moderately thick blanket, but she still wasn’t used to the nightmares.

Perhaps due to the anxiety and worry she had tried to suppress in her heart, she had been having exhausting and tiring dreams since falling into the forest. And those nightmares were made up of fragments of the past.

Last night was no exception. Hateful mouths floated in the dark void, spewing malicious words.

‘You have no talent for water or earth attribute magic. Even the wind attribute you can do a little of is barely the first page of the spellbook. The Broen heir has always been versatile.’

‘Is it because you take after your mother? Her background wasn’t very good. If you had taken after Yanick, this wouldn’t have happened.’

‘I wonder if you’re actually the child of someone from another family who didn’t inherit Yanick’s blood. Haha, I’m joking. Well, you need to be able to calmly brush off such remarks to rule the family. Come on, smile and loosen up your expression.’

While the gloomy words bound her, Jade tried hard to refute loudly.

No, I am the daughter of my mom and dad. My hair takes after dad, and my eyes take after mom. They were a perfect pair!

I have no shortcomings. The Broen heir doesn’t become the most powerful mage. It’s becoming the person who loves Broen territory the most!

But in the dream, her mouth was tightly shut as if glued.

As she failed to refute, the bad words piled up at her feet and began to swallow Jade’s legs like a swamp.

‘I’ll take your heir position.’

No, you only have greed. You’ll ruin that beautiful land.

‘You’re not qualified.’

No. I am qualified. It’ll be over once I get through that damn coming-of-age ceremony you’re interfering with. I’m the rightful heir recognized even by the king. There’s no problem!

‘How will you go through with it? You’re trapped there! You can’t do anything!’

She wanted to wake up rather than this. But the swamp of malice had now risen to her chin, and the Jade in the dream was on the verge of drowning.

At that moment, vivid gray eyes that seemed to pierce through the darkness appeared.

‘What are you doing?’

A sword was held out. Jade barely managed to grab the end of the scabbard…

And woke from the dream.

“Having such jumbled dreams every day makes me tired.”

Even though she was carrying on with her daily life as if nothing was wrong, it was really difficult to shake off the impatience in her heart. This dream must be reflecting the anxiety in her heart.

“Still, it’s fortunate that I’ve heard all these words before. The impact is a little less.”

They were all things the adults around her had said in her childhood.

There really aren’t any respectable people around. Jade chuckled self-deprecatingly and got up.

It was really time to get up now. Burying the gloomy dream fragments of the night in the blanket, she opened the door to greet the busy forest of the day.

The first thing Jade did upon getting up was to check the pot hanging on the fireplace while blinking her puffy eyes.

“Hmm, no bubbles. And the color is clear.”

Axel’s house had a very large fireplace. Its construction was so sturdy that it was perfect for hanging a large potion cauldron.

Of course, she needed the owner’s permission to do so, but Axel unexpectedly nodded readily.

The reason was simple. That way, it seemed Jade wouldn’t bother him.