"Paul, we said we'd play war together. Why are you doing that?"
Why am I like this? A sigh escaped me.
But the obnoxious brat in front of me wanted me to hurry up and join the game.
Jet-black hair and blue eyes tinged with violet.
His face was handsome, but the dissatisfaction in his gaze as he looked at me kept it from seeming so.
'Phew.'
I took a deep breath. Around me, toy soldiers stood in long rows.
Toy soldiers in every color.
Some were new, some had pieces broken off, and some were worn from handling, their paint chipped away.
Looking at the toys, I made words appear for Ruperi, the obnoxious brat.
[I don't want to.]
"You don't want to?"
Ruperi raised an eyebrow as he read the violet words.
[You made me do it. When did I ever say I'd play war?]
And I was even supposed to be the enemy army.
'Then again, he doesn't know I'm from an enemy house.'
Of course not. I was in the body of a teddy bear now.
A teddy bear with luxuriant, wheat-colored fur and soft stuffing.
I had cast a soul-exchange ritual to escape my family, Teneris, only to end up possessing a teddy bear instead of a dead body.
Ruperi's eyes darkened as he read the words floating in the air.
"Really?"
I flinched.
"You don't want to play with me?"
[Th-that's not it…….]
Sensing danger, I changed my words. Otherwise, something terrible would happen.
"Well, that's fine. There must be times when Paul doesn't want to play with me. Then I'll have to play with you differently."
[I'm telling you, it's not that I don't want to play with you.]
"You don't need to say that. Our Paul wants to play with Blanc, whom Paul likes. As Paul's owner, I should let them play."
Having said that, Ruperi got to his feet.
I hurried after him, but Ruperi acted as if he had not heard me.
If this continued, that damn dog Blanc might tear my body apart again.
'How did things end up like this?'
All I had wanted was to get away from Teneris.
Why do I, a second-tier necromancer, have to suffer at the hands of this damn brat?!
The Holy Kingdom of Miten.
A country that worshipped Mitnus, the god of darkness.
Yet the house that effectively ruled that country was Teneris, a family of darkness.
A house that produced popes and held them in the palm of its hand.
That was why the succession struggle within House Teneris was fierce.
The heads of the house wanted exceptional children, which was why I, too, had been born among countless siblings.
"Nellis."
That was my name.
"Nellis Kere Teneris."
It was also the shackle I had always wanted to escape.
"Hey, brat? You're listening to me, right? I brought news related to Aplin just for you, urgh!"
"Why have you been following me all this time?"
Unable to take it any longer, I summoned a wraith and sent it flying backward.
Fifth-Tier Necromancy: Wraith Summoning.
The corridor filled with a dark chill, and the formless wraith obeyed my will.
When I summoned the basic fifth-tier wraith, he easily dodged it, as expected.
"That's too much, brat! How can you suddenly launch a wraith at me?!"
He dodged it. My guts twisted, and I sent several more wraiths flying at him.
"Ah! That's too much, Nellis! How can you send so many wraiths at me?!"
"You dodged them just fine, yet you're complaining."
"How is that complaining?!"
He stopped dodging and deliberately offered the wraith his collar.
The absurdity of it drew a hollow laugh from me.
'Right. He's always been like this.'
Of all the wicked and sinister members of Teneris, he was the one who made my insides churn the most.
Pertio Rophe Teneris.
He was a leading candidate for succession, yet he supported another heir; he was full of mischief and used his other siblings as chess pieces with his sharp mind.
With that damned mind of his, he had even killed Aplin, the sibling closest to me.
'This is annoying.'
My mood darkening, I was about to summon a second-tier wraith as well.
Among the wraiths densely filling the corridor, Pertio's golden eyes were filled with anticipation.
'What was that?'
At that sight, I stopped myself from summoning the second-tier wraith.
"Why? You're not going to summon it?"
"Even if I summoned it, I couldn't kill you."
"Come on, you could. You're a better mage than I am."
Pertio smiled smugly.
What I said was true.
As I had said, Pertio was a leading candidate for succession. He was skilled enough that, if we fought in earnest, I did not know how long the fight might last.
'He was only provoking me to assess my abilities.'
Keeping my emotions in check, I asked Pertio,
"So what is it?"
"Wow, are you changing the subject?"
"If you want me to leave, I can do that."
When I turned to leave, Pertio blocked my way with darkness.
"That won't do. This older brother has brought interesting news for our youngest."
"Older brother? What a joke."
"Listen, you know I bought poison from the twins, right?"
"I know. You killed Aplin with that poison."
"Wow, you know? Then again, it's not like it was something to hide."
"What are you trying to say?"
When I joined in, Pertio smiled cunningly.
"I haven't paid the twins for the poison."
"The price of the poison?"
"They asked for Aplin's dead body as payment, so I said I'd think about it……."
And?
"The twins could not wait any longer and said they were going to take Aplin's body."
At Pertio's words, I rushed out of the manor.
No doubt he had brought up the twins' payment for the poison for his own amusement.
Pertio knew how close I had been to Aplin and how deeply I had grieved over her death.
-Nellis, couldn't you call me sister just once?
-Why should I?
I had never once called her sister.
-Nellis, here's the cherry cake you like!
-I told you I don't like cake. How many times do I have to say it?
Even when I pushed her away, Aplin kept coming closer to me.
-…….
-……Wake up, Aplin. Why are you doing this?
Her warm heart reached me, and I had only just opened my own to her when Aplin died.
That was why I had no choice but to hurry to Aplin's burial place.
'No! Not her body!'
Aplin had finally escaped Teneris!
When I reached the burial site, I barely managed to block the twins' path.
I cast Second-Tier Necromancy: Reaper's Scythe.
"Agh! Nellis!"
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"What do you two think you're doing?!"
"We only came to collect Pertio's payment for the poison, you know?"
The twins brazenly demanded their payment for the poison.
But I swung Reaper's Scythe and drove them away.
"That's really unfair!"
"Fine, we're leaving!"
"Get out now! Don't ever come back!"
The twins disappeared, grumbling.
I dropped to the ground. The tension had finally left me.
Fortunately, Aplin's grave had only been dug up halfway.
"What a relief……."
I had prayed so desperately to Mitnus, whom I resented, to let me arrive before the twins could take Aplin's body.
My heart was still pounding. Teneris was as sickening as ever.
I had lived under threat of death from the day I was born.
If I let my guard down, my siblings would use me whenever they could.
If I had no value left, I would be used as a tool, just like Aplin's dead body.
I simply could not understand the way this family operated.
"Why do they have to live like that? Why do they have to survive while using their siblings?"
That was why I had tried to keep no one at my side, but—
-Hello, Nellis? I'm Aplin Par Teneris.
Yet Aplin had reached out to me.
"What's the point of thinking about Aplin now? She's already dead."
As I shook off those thoughts, a question suddenly came to me.
"But how did they know about this place?"
I had never told anyone where Aplin was buried.
Could that damned Pertio have again…….
"Forget it. What does it matter whether he told them? The important thing is that Aplin's burial place has been discovered."
Even if I moved her elsewhere, now that it had been found once, it could be found again.
Then I needed to move her somewhere that no one could easily find…….
"What place would be best?"
As I tried to find a suitable place, a sigh escaped me.
As expected, this family—
No matter how exceptional your abilities were, no matter how strong a candidate for succession you were—
was a family in which protecting what was precious was simply too hard.