2. The Lord is with you (21)
Elsie was dwarfed. It’s been that way since I was born.
The Rainella family was a magical family, but they were famous for their dignified appearance. Among her seven siblings, Elsie was the only one born with a dwarf body.
Including her withered frame, there were only two of them, counting her only sister, Lupine. If it had been an ordinary family, they would have grown up receiving more love, but it was not the Rainella family.
The world of the high nobility is cold.
They were people who calculated even the friendship between family members according to political advantages and disadvantages. There are no exceptions in the succession race, and from childhood, slander is trained to become a daily routine.
There was no sympathy to be given to human beings who were born weak. Elsie grew up being ignored, and even beaten, as if it were natural.
It was unfair. She was young, not even ten years old at most, but Elsie, who was especially bright, knew. That it was not her fault that she was born weak.
If I had to blame it, it would have been with Elsie’s parents. But even her parents didn’t protect Elsie. Rather, he went beyond this and even condoned the bullying towards Elsie.
As long as the line was not crossed, the ordering of siblings was a natural phenomenon. It was common knowledge in the world of the high nobility. Elsie couldn’t stand it.
Elsie gnashed her teeth every time her older sisters and brothers tapped her on the shoulder, laughed at her as a nerd, and occasionally got hit one by one.
I also cried a lot. Elsie was as soft as her shell. A timid and small child, but the miasma of not being able to live like this raised her up.
I will remember.
The Rainella family was a magical clan. In the long journey of searching for the truth, innate physical ability was only an insignificant condition.
The only true talents were brains and mana. Clever Elsie knew very well that a small body, weak muscles, and such things meant nothing.
So somehow I shut myself in the library.
Even the subtle restraints of her siblings could not stop her miasma. It took several years for the gaze of disregard and containment to turn into jealousy and awe.
Elsie entered the academy. And he began to stand out in the place where all kinds of talented people from the continent gathered.
Both the Rainella family and the academy were no different in their meritoriousism.
Soon, the treatment in the family improved beyond recognition. After entering the academy, there was even a group of followers following her.
Elsie, who gained strength, had only one thing to do.
Revenge, rightful bloodshed for a grudge carved into your heart.
Elsie returned the ignorance and sadness she had received. No, it was more than that. Elsie didn’t want to be ignored anymore.
Still, she harbored a subtle fear.
What if the other person did something like the girl in her childhood?
What should I do if I get stronger later and come back to take revenge on Elsie?
I knew because she was both the victim and the perpetrator. The fact that it was not entirely impossible, so Elsie, who was actually just a timid and timid girl, resolved it with even stronger aggression.
Let it be smashed, so that it can never resist again.
It was ironic. Elsie’s cruelty stemmed from anxiety. The fear of returning to her childhood made Elsie even more of a demon.
The only exception to that chain of violence was her younger brother, Lupine.
He was a younger brother who was ignored since childhood and followed her by calling her ‘Sister’.
Elsie was especially fond of Lupine. Ever since she suffered all sorts of sorrows, Elsie has considered Lupin to be something she needs to protect. That’s why I took a heavy step that day.
It was because of the news that a lower noble had dared to touch her brother.
He was a man who looked like a nobleman. As befits a fencing department, he was quite tall, and his muscles, which were revealed at first glance, were firm, though not bulky.
With black hair and golden eyes, he greeted Elsie with a sullen attitude. Even in the midst of that, the junior who went with him had the guts to ask for it to be removed.
not bad. Elsie liked a strong man like that. The unbreakable strength, that did not exist to Elsie, so she longed for it all the more.
That’s why she liked to defeat such a strong human being.
Because that’s when I knew. I was just pretending to be strong, and the ordinary truth that everyone has no choice but to become weak in the face of excessive violence.
So, the comfort that she wasn’t the only one who was weak, Elsie sought and got. I thought it would be the same that day.
Until the man picks up an axe.
It was a terrifying surprise. After she opened her eyes for a moment, screams and blood flowed from her back, and before she knew it, the man was rushing at her.
It was too late though. Elsie wasn’t a kid, and she put a shield on herself in one go.
I thought it was over. It seemed that he had a hidden trick, but he was careless that he would not be able to defeat her.
So when the entire shield fell over, Elsie couldn’t come to her senses.
Every time the ax blade flashed, the shield broke at random. Shards of magical power scattered like shards of glass. Beneath it, Elsie could only scream.
It didn’t take long for the shield to break.
When he came to his senses, all he could see was an ax that had been raised. Elsie recalled the fear for the first time in a while.
The sadness I had to endure when I was young and weak.
It was flipping over and coming back to her. Like cotton that sucks up damp moisture, Elsie’s mind gradually returned to that day when she was young and timid.
It was scary. So Elsie apologized.
Saying I was wrong, admitting defeat.
I was able to tolerate any amount. It’s enough to remember it and give it back. It had already been experienced several times.
At least that’s what I thought until the man opened his mouth.
“Elsie-senpai, what did you just say?”
The panting breath and the golden eyes of the man who cut through the crowd with a knife were chilling. Seeing those unwavering eyes, Elsie froze.
It was sincere. It was a look that wanted to inflict raw violence.
It was something Elsie was afraid of. The existence she ignored as the weak returned violence as she usually did.
It was Elsie who had seen countless times how people were messed up by pain and violence. The moment I imagined that she would be put in that place, the shell of cruelty that I had worked so hard to put on was shattered.
It was scary. He even intended to kill his opponent. There was no chance of revenge.
Elsie Rainella’s human life was in danger of ending as it was.
can’t leave anything behind
Elsie begged. Please save me, I was wrong. Still, the man’s eyes did not waver.
At the last moment, when the blade of the man’s ax cut through.
Elsie closed her eyes tightly. Tears flowed down. That was the essence of a girl named Elsie.
Coward, weak, the words that I used to criticize myself countless times as a child resurfaced.
I didn’t want to die.
I pretended to be strong. You should be a little more honest, and don’t rush.
It was then that the sound of the blade cutting sharply rang out.
Elsie’s trembling eyes turned to the side. The ax blade was stuck right next to her. Elsie almost peed on the spot.
He looked up at the man with a teary face. The man still had an emotionless gaze.
“… … Next, there is none.”
It was the moment Elsie collapsed.
After that day, the disregard and criticism toward Elsie revived. just like in childhood.
Elsie responded desperately. She went to and smashed those who dared to curse her, and inflicted even more brutal violence to prove her fearsomeness.
Even so, a voice that always ignored her followed her like a shadow.
It was scary. I didn’t want to go back to my childhood.
The threat to life I felt that day was mixed with the nightmares of my childhood. The memory of fear covered her brain and heart like mud.
Ian Percus, he was scary. so much
So when he came back, Elsie felt like crying and wanting to run away. I didn’t want to follow. However, the fear that had grown over the sleepless nights took away her rebelliousness.
When I saw the hatchet again, my heart skipped a beat. The wobbly legs forced her to sit on her own. In front of that hatchet, Elsie had to go back to being the weak girl of her childhood.
However, there was one thing that was different from that time.
It was a hand stroking Elsie’s hair. The warm comfort and security that I did not receive in my childhood.
Every time she saw the hatchet, it was Elsie who went back to being the weak girl of those days. I used to receive stronger comfort than ever from the stroking hand.
it was good. It was a feeling I thought I would never receive.
After gaining power, the people of the world only heard to use her. Or just look at her with eyes stained with fear and hostility.
Come to think of it, the life Elsie had dreamed of was not like this.
I just didn’t want to be ignored. How this happened, she did not know.
It was around that time that I began to hang out with a man named Ian Percus.
It was embarrassing and difficult. Although she gritted her teeth for the showdown with her rival, Delphine, after sitting on the throne for so long, her venom was gone.
I thought it would be fine though. Elsie was strong, and she was also a genius.
It was a mistake. In a surprise attack, Elsie was defeated again. I had to helplessly watch my colleagues who I had been with for days in front of me suffer.
Again, she felt as if she were returning to her miserable childhood. A girl who couldn’t do anything, but only screamed.
It was then that the man got up.
It was a miracle. It was bloody, and it was bruised. It was normal to break it a long time ago. But he didn’t fall.
At that mysterious fighting spirit, Elsie had no choice but to keep her mouth shut. Until the man defeats Fermin, Olmar, and Aisia one after another, and defeats Delphine.
strong.
It wasn’t brute force, it was mentality. It was a strength that Elsie never had.
It was cool.
I inadvertently admired. If that battle was simply a surrender due to fear, then Elsie finally accepted the result of complete defeat. It was conquest and obedience.
Ian Perkus is above Elsie Rynella.
From the moment that thought was engraved, Elsie worked hard to gain his approval.
Even when he was ordered to run errands at the orphanage, he followed without a word. Occasionally, she would deliberately tickle because she missed his touch, but basically, Elsie was the type to listen to Ian.
She was longing for the love and acceptance she never received from her parents as a child. I hoped that Ian would affirm her existence.
That made me even more angry. Elsie never forgave anyone who touched her.
That was the way she learned to live. Didn’t Ian also break her down like that?
I wanted you to admit it. However, Ian did not take Elsie’s side because the other person was a child.
Do you have to look after the other person because he is a child?
So what about her childhood? Elsie felt like crying.
I felt like tapping my chest and begging that the ignored and abused child see what he was doing when he grew up.
had to be trampled That’s the only way I could avoid getting hurt.
I was so angry that I couldn’t even look around. So, the sight she saw the next moment was sharp silver nails reflecting the moonlight.
And the man who jumped in between them.
The image of Ian collapsing while shedding blood.
Like flipping through a photo album, all those scenes cut off and burrowed into Elsie’s head.
Elsie was crying and holding on to the fallen Ian.
“Okay, it’s okay… Whoa, whoa, are you okay? Hey, hey!”
The man barely opened his eyes. And he smiled lightly. as if it was nothing.
“Sung, Nyeo… Call… … .”
Ian’s appearance that night haunted Elsie for a long time.
I thought about it even when I lay down, and even when I closed my eyes.
Even when I was eating, I remembered the smile of Ian lying on the puddle of blood, and it was the same when I was blank.
Elsie had only one impression.
why?
Why did I sacrifice myself to save her?
Aren’t you a mean and selfish girl? The incarnation of violence and ‘little villain’ that even children cannot tolerate.
Elsie was also kind to Ian. Because he was the person I wanted to be acknowledged for and was the object of admiration.
However, as a coward by birth, she could not even imagine risking her own life to save Ian when he was in danger.
He would cry out of fear, but how could Ian do that?
I never knew. So when Elsie heard that Ian had woken up after two days, she walked away as if possessed.
But why can’t I get the courage to stand in front of the door?
My heart was pounding and I was nervous. My hands trembled uncontrollably.
Why is this, Elsie couldn’t even understand the identity of this emotion.
It was then that the man’s voice was heard.
“……Senior Elsie.”
At that low voice, Elsie showed her face. Then, golden eyes gazed at her without a word.
The atmosphere of laughter and chatter subsided like a lie. Before I knew it, Ian and Elsie were the only two in the hospital room.
The world was so different. There are a lot of people who worry about someone even when they are still, but it wasn’t Elsie.
So Elsie had to ask in an even more timid voice.
“……Why did you save it?”
Even after I said it, I thought, Oops.
It was such an omitted word. Sorry, thankfulness, and many other emotions.
Elsie groaned at the thoughtless attitude she had even thought of herself. It wasn’t like this in the past, but today I was very concerned about how Ian would appear to me.
But the man didn’t seem to care.
Rather, he spoke calmly. As if nothing happened, immediately.
“just.”
Elsie’s eyes went blank.