The Male Lead’s Fake Sister - Chapter 39

“I’m not sure, but maybe seven years? It’s been a while since I’ve been this young, so I can’t really tell for sure.”

“Seven years is not a small number.”

Haha.

Rette only laughed dryly.

“I’m not at the level where I’m worried about that, Herod. It’s already been 20 years since I joined Orpheus.”

Every ability carried penalties fitting the ability itself. The penalties followed the keywords of each season, and the keyword for summer was Immaturity.

The more an ability is used, the younger your body becomes.

It was impossible to control the degree of reverse aging, since it was hard to estimate the weight of a prophecy before the words were uttered.

Therefore, many summer users accidentally disclosed prophecies that were too heavy and turned into newborns.

One might ask, if so why don’t you just not give any prophecies at all?

If a summer user was unable to control their ability properly, they could deliver unintentional prophecies. And usually, such prophecies weighed heavily and could turn adults into infants instantly.

The first to notice that was Orpheus, the family to which Herod belonged.

When they discovered the summer users’ condition, getting younger regardless of their will, the family tried to monopolize the summer users from generation to generation.

“You must know that people like us have to work for Orpheus in order to receive protection. So you’re not exactly in a position to whine, are you?”

The summer user’s setbacks weren’t easy to conceal compared to other seasonal users. In addition, their youth meant they were vulnerable to external risks.

Orpheus had long been in a symbiotic relationship with the summer users, providing them a comfortable life in exchange for their foresight.

Rette surely belonged to Orpheus, because she had been issuing prophecies to find the next summer user before the current summer user lost the power.

Rette looked at Herod in a relaxed manner, shook her head and said.

“I’m not whining! I know my life right now is the best.”

Even though this kind of life wasn’t exactly fulfilling.

Rette added that inwardly and wore a lonely expression.

Of course, it was only for a short while. Rette quickly shook off her gloomy countenance and continued.

“Anyway, Herod, the fact that I’m so young must mean I did a great job of getting you closer to her.”

“But you still don’t know the process or the result, do you?”

“Yeah, but at least you know that you’ll get what you want in the end!”

Ravia Leontine will walk into Herod’s hands.

Herod grasped the meaning of Rette’s words and raised the corners of his mouth.

With his relaxed smile, he resembled a beast watching its prey and waiting for the right time to attack.

That, too, only lasted for a short while. His relaxed smile disappeared and he began to grumble again, pulling down his necktie.

“I feel much better listening to you. I’ve been frustrated recently. Looking for a spring user is really tough.”

“Didn’t I tell you last time? Those who awaken their seasonal talent aren’t easily caught in a prophecy. My advice at that time was the best I could give to you.”

“Advice?”

At Herod’s question, Rette lifted up a tress of her hair.

“Change your wig color with the Dark Flower at the party.”

“Was that a prophecy related to the spring user?”

“Yeah. To minimize the penalty, I hid most of the prophecy and only told you the necessary part. Even that was enough to extract three years of my life. I couldn’t see anything beyond that, and that was the best I could do for you.”

Rette turned her head away from Herod as if asking him not to demand more.

Fortunately, Herod changed the subject to the matter of the upcoming parties. Rette was relieved that Herod no longer asked about the prophecy.

The reason was simple.

Because the summer user’s prophecy was only meant for one subject. Their prophecy only had positive results for the actual subject of the prophecy.

Because prophecies are usually in the form of messages, it was easy for the recipient of that message to be the ‘subject’.

Both the prophecy about the spring power and the prophecy about Ravia Leontine included two or more people.

A prophecy for only one person means that the others involved in prophecy are merely chess pieces arranged by the prophecy for its purposes. If you weren’t the main character of the prophecy, you will only be used in the prophecy.

However, if that was the best path chosen by a summer user, those who had to convey the summer user’s prophecy had no choice but to remain silent.

That’s why Rette remained silent and hoped that everything would not lead to catastrophe.

However, because she was too distracted, Rette missed a fact.

The man in front of her was more quick-witted and smarter than she realized. So, Rette had given him more information unawares.

‘I wonder if it’s possible to win over Ravia without getting on Tidwell’s nerves.’

He didn’t anticipate Ravia would help Rette. The smile returned to his face. If this is how things progressed, he didn’t need to use many resources.

Herod snapped his fingers and stood up.

“Rette.”

“Hmm?”

“Marquis Callister’s party will be held in a week.”

“I already prophesied that you have to get an invitation to that party. Why bring it up again?”

“No, I’m not asking you for a prophecy,” Herod said.

He gently lifted Rette and placed her in his lap.

“You’re accompanying me that day, Rette.”

He had thought of a very interesting scene.

*** 

‘An invitation from Marquis Callister.’

It seemed she must go this time. Ravia put down the invitation letter with a cold gaze.

Marquis Callister.

It was not an exaggeration that he was the pillar of the current noble society. He captivated people with the dignity and solemnity of a true Noble, and many nobles called him by the name ‘godfather’.

Thanks to that, there was a running joke in the social world where Ravia lived.

‘A person who has never held the hand of Marquis Callister doesn’t deserve to step into society.’

It is because Marquis Callister’s influence was so strong, and the Marquis himself was quite down-to-earth. Marquis Callister was truly a godfather who liked to reach out his hand first to the young people who were new to society.

But it was only limited to a ‘Nobleman’.

He was a conservative-thinking man who believed that each person had a position that suited them. No, it was quite an outdated idea.

Most people believed that their status and lineage was something innate and superior.

However, Marquis Callister was a little different.

The status you were born with shaped your environment, and the power and wealth you inherited shaped your judgment.

If the most important thing for a poor beggar child was to secure the meal for that day; the most important thing for a rich noble child was to fulfill their duty accordingly and maintain their pride as a Noble.

Each had a duty to fulfill, whether a Noble or a lowly-born beggar child.

That was Marquis Callister’s belief.

‘He’s one of only a few people who put Noblesse Oblige in action.’

It was notorious that he held a hostile opinion toward the Blue, an emerging force that was putting pressure on the nobility due to its sudden growth.

And it applied equally to Tidwell the illegitimate child. In [His and Her Spring], Marquis Callister was described this way.

Tidwell’s first obstacle when entering high society wasn’t Duke Leontine or Ravia, but Marquis Callister.

Marquis Callister didn’t even reach out to Tidwell because he was adopted.

If he couldn’t earn the favor of Marquis Callister, Tidwell would find it difficult to inherit Leontine completely.

However, Marquis Callister’s invitation came to Ravia’s hands instead. Such great timing.

It meant one thing.

Ravia had acquired another key.