ttznovel Chapter 173 : To You, Whom I Cherish and Hate (4)
Chapter 173 : To You, Whom I Cherish and Hate (4)
Chapter 173: To You, Whom I Cherish and Hate (4)
One day in the year 1454.
Inside a small room, the incomplete talent of a young girl bloomed into full brilliance.
“…….”
“…….”
The thoughts of the three men witnessing the scene with their own eyes were all different.
Edgar Bernhardt, who would later become the family head, felt fear.
Mikhail Bernhardt, who would later become the vice head, fell into despair.
And Johann Bernhardt, the current family head who would meet his death four years later, was overcome with exhilaration.
“D-Did I… do something wrong?”
Five-year-old Michel Bernhardt cautiously asked while glancing at the formula sheet for the First-Grade Magic she had solved.
“No, you did well.”
Her grandfather stroked the girl’s head with his wrinkled hand.
“Do you think you could solve this problem as well?”
Most mages learned magic through three stages.
Comprehension, compression, manifestation.
First they understood the entire formula, then compressed it based on that understanding, and finally manifested it.
In the past, there had been many geniuses capable of creating magical formulas themselves.
But now, simply understanding those legacies was enough.
An era where people could not create blueprints themselves, but could still produce results by following existing blueprints.
By studying Beasts and evil spirits over long periods of time, humanity refined the magic system into one centered around humans, allowing even those lacking talent to use magic.
It was a historic achievement.
A tremendous accomplishment.
After the era of refinement and systemization passed, humanity naturally came to enjoy its benefits.
The many forms of magic now widespread throughout the world were no longer miracles nor mysteries.
Simply benefits and powers humans were naturally entitled to wield.
That was what they had believed.
Until witnessing a formula analysis so beautiful it bordered on the divine.
“…Unbelievable.”
Looking into Michel’s clear, bright eyes, Johann responded with a gentle smile.
“Is Maximilian outside?”
“Yes, Master.”
“It’s time to eat. Take Michel to Julia.”
“At once. This way, Lady Michel.”
“…Ah, okay. Can I come back later, Grandfather?”
“Your grandpa will play with you again tomorrow, so let’s stop here for today.”
“Okay!”
After sending Michel out with a servant—
Johann gazed down at the formula sheets she had solved with eyes full of admiration.
“To think the activation formula for Wood Barrier Magic could be shortened to this extent….”
Watching Edgar and Mikhail stare blankly at the formula sheet, Johann asked:
“Do either of you see anything in this formula you don’t understand?”
“Well… no.”
“…I feel the same way Mikhail does.”
The two nodded in agreement.
Using the revised structure as a base, Johann activated a tiny Wood Barrier from the floor.
It took only 1.5 seconds for barriers to bloom from the wooden floorboards.
“If one became accustomed to this formula, they could likely deploy barriers in under a second.”
“…….”
More than most Barrier Magic, Wood Barrier was heavily influenced by terrain and surroundings.
Its defensive power was exceptional, but because it took more than twice as long to form compared to other barriers, it was normally only useful in organized formations.
But at this speed, it could even be actively used to respond to ambushes or during infiltration battles.
“Half-baked geniuses use their talents only for themselves. They lack the ability to teach ordinary people.”
But true geniuses—
Made it possible even for ordinary people vastly inferior to themselves to achieve the same accomplishments.
“That means she understands even the thinking and psychology of ordinary people.”
Johann lightly waved the paper containing the formula and smiled with blazing enthusiasm.
“Michel… this child is the real thing. Before long, she’ll become the asset that feeds Bernhardt itself.”
Not long afterward, Johann specially promoted Michel from the branch family into the direct line.
For approximately four years afterward, until 1458, Michel refined forty-nine magical formulas, revived most of twenty-seven failing businesses, and transformed five of them into Bernhardt’s core industries.
The more accomplishments she accumulated, the more divided the opinions around her became.
Most members of the direct line feared her.
Most branch family members saw hope in her.
The employees and servants believed she would create innovative alternatives that improved their working conditions.
During that process, some people even began saying such things.
That Michel Bernhardt might become Johann’s successor as the next family head.
“That’s ridiculous! Michel is only nine years old! Even if she’s appointed later, there still needs to be someone in the middle to act as a buffer!”
And above all—
“…Michel is still from the branch family. No matter how talented she is, if you hand the family head position to branch family blood, there’ll absolutely be enormous internal turmoil.”
“…….”
“…Father?”
“I shall convene a direct family meeting, Edgar. Prepare for it.”
At the meeting, Johann raised the topic of the next family head and declared:
That neither one’s origins nor age would be included among the qualifications for becoming family head.
“I will pass this seat and my legacy to whoever can lead Bernhardt best.”
Ignoring the fierce opposition entirely, Johann continued enforcing his will.
By then, Michel had already become something like a public enemy among the direct line, but because of her grandfather’s overwhelming influence, nobody could express it openly.
Meanwhile, the influence possessed by the branch family continued growing day by day.
The family head belonged to the direct line.
The vice head belonged to the branch family.
Mikhail, regarded as the most capable among the branch family, and his daughter Michel.
If the two became vice head and family head respectively, perhaps the mistreatment suffered by the branch family would finally disappear.
Those thoughts gradually gathered together, eventually developing into a visible movement advocating reform.
Ironically, Mikhail Bernhardt himself held an extremely negative opinion regarding all this.
“Michel should never have been promoted into the direct line.”
“…Mikhail.”
“Only when the direct line remains the direct line, and the branch family remains the branch family, can true balance exist. If you shatter that balance, everyone loses. Why can’t they understand that?”
“That’s unexpected. If your daughter rises into the direct line, it’d become an unparalleled opportunity for you as well.”
“Opportunity my ass. Greed breeds division, and division destroys everything. The best strategy for preserving a group as long as possible is for everyone to fulfill their own roles in their own places. But those idiots who know nothing….”
“…Lately, the siblings have been frequently saying Father’s mental state has become unstable. At this rate, he might truly appoint Michel as family head.”
“……Which brings me to this, Edgar.”
“Hm?”
“I have an idea.”
.
.
.
August 3rd, 1458.
Inside the playroom where only the two of them sat together, Johann Bernhardt spoke shocking words to his newly acknowledged granddaughter.
“I think this old man will die soon.”
“…….”
“That Edgar brat wanted the family head position so badly that he finally seems ready to act. Though honestly, trying to poison one’s own father… what a disgrace.”
“Why… are you just sitting there and doing nothing?”
“You’re the same, aren’t you, Michel?”
“…I’m isolated from everyone. I thought it wouldn’t matter no matter what I said….”
“I’m the same.”
“But you’re the family head! Johann Bernhardt, the Seventh Head of the Great Bernhardt Family!”
“The life of an innovator is a lonely one. Whether its end is success or failure.”
That day, in that place, her grandfather left his will to his granddaughter.
A will appointing Michel Bernhardt as the next family head and transferring all his property to her.
“Edgar is not the sort of man capable of carrying out something this bold and immoral alone. Painful as it is to say, there’s a high chance your father is the true mastermind.”
“…What exactly do you want me to do?”
“The two of them will force me to write another will. If I refuse, they’ll forge one anyway and seize the position of Eighth Family Head. Even if you appear with the real will, nobody will believe you at first. They’ve undoubtedly prepared elaborate schemes for this.”
“Grandfather!”
“I know very well this is not something I should ask of a child who’s only nine years old.”
Even so, this pathetic old man begs you.
“Survive.”
“…Grandfather.”
“Even if everyone curses your birth, survive until the very end.”
Then someday, you will surely meet them.
“A true family who understands you.”
“…….”
Firmly holding both of Michel’s hands, Johann activated Engraving Magic.
A permanent engraving imbued with his mana—
A Code.
“Store this will inside the secret base you used with Chloe.”
“But, Grandfather…!”
“It is a place containing the essence of my abilities. Without the Code I’ve given you, nobody will ever be able to open that door again.”
Johann slowly stood and pointed toward the end of the wall directly facing the playroom.
“Let us make the entrance here.”
“Do we… really have to go this far?”
“If you yourself do not choose otherwise, then for at least the next ten years, nobody will be able to harm you.”
The rest of your life depends on how you choose to live.
“You may reveal the truth and fight, or perhaps live peacefully while remaining satisfied with the life you’re given.”
Whichever path you choose, I will affirm your choice.
“Still, I want to believe.”
Just as I endured and eventually met you—
You too will ultimately triumph and meet the next innovator.
Creeeeeeak—
The secret base their grandfather personally built for his two granddaughters.
After leaving the true will there, Johann closed the door and completely sealed it away.
Not even the slightest trace of mana remained before the wall.
“Now, return.”
“……Grandfather.”
“Yes?”
“Just one last time… please hug me.”
“…Very well.”
The two embraced each other for a long while in farewell.
Neither shed tears.
Neither voiced resentment.
She could have asked why he promoted her into the direct line only to make her suffer like this… but she did not.
Just as there was no sin in being born—
There was also no sin in showing affection to a child of the family.
That impossibly young genius, at only nine years old, firmly resolved to endure every hardship and trial awaiting her in the future… staking her grandfather’s name and honor upon it.
---
A great deal of time passed.
The once harmonious family was destroyed, and the talent that had once surpassed everyone else lost its brilliance.
The biological father who gave birth to me tried to kill me.
Most of the servants who believed in me died.
Even so, I survived.
Remembering the promise and words from that day.
Nearly twenty years had passed since that era of contempt where everyone abandoned me.
And only now—
I had finally reached the starting line.
Expressing sincere gratitude toward those who stayed beside her, Michel Bernhardt placed both hands against the wall that had remained sealed for decades.
For the first time since August of ’58, a radiant light illuminated the woman’s entire body.
At the same time—
Responding to the Code, the door to the secret base slowly began taking shape.
Forcing down the tears rising in her eyes along with ragged breaths, Michel threw open the entrance.
Creeeeeeak—
Inside that narrow space piled with countless toys the two had once played with together, along with stacks of letters they exchanged—
She picked up a single faded note resting atop a small shelf.
Then, without looking back even once, she left the mansion.
“Now… the end.”
Where there is a beginning, there is also an end.
At the very end of everything, what words would you speak?
Would you kneel and beg forgiveness?
Or shamelessly raise your head in defiance?
She did not know.
But she was certain of one thing.
The choice that man made tonight—
Would decide the fate of Bernhardt.
Crossing the old path swallowed in darkness, Michel gritted her teeth.
Moonlight, which had hidden behind the clouds all this time, finally emerged and began faintly illuminating the earth.