The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 10. A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (1) (Part 2)

Meanwhile, at the Trial Grounds of Frost.

Adrian had already left.
An oppressive silence weighed down on the area.

Kai stood alone in the center of the trial grounds, trying to control the surge of anger boiling within his chest.
But it wasn’t working. He grit his teeth hard.

His rage had turned his mind blood-red.

It wasn’t just anger at Adrian—it was also directed at himself.
At himself, for being overwhelmed, even momentarily, by Adrian.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand why he had felt fear.

Kai stood there for a long time with his eyes closed.

“—Sir Kai! Sir Kai!”

The voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

It was Bernard, the Chief Steward, calling out to him.

Next to him, Serapia looked like she was about to collapse.

Her already pale skin had gone completely bloodless.
Cold sweat dotted her smooth white forehead.
Her thin body, delicate like flower petals, swayed as if it would be swept away by the wind.

If Bernard hadn’t been supporting her, she would’ve already collapsed to the ground.

She couldn’t withstand Kai’s uncontrollable aura.
And she wasn’t the only one.
Even the soldiers were dropping to their knees under the pressure.

Realizing his mistake, Kai quickly restrained his aura.

Only then did a collective gasp escape from everyone in the Trial Grounds—“Ahhh…” as if they could finally breathe again.

Kai bowed deeply toward Serapia.

“…I’ve shown disgraceful conduct. I apologize.”

“Ah, no… it’s okay…”

Serapia weakly waved her hand, trying to say she was fine.

But anyone could see she wasn’t.
Not even the able-bodied soldiers of the County could endure Kai’s presence.

Let alone Serapia—born frail under the Curse of Frost.

A relentless, absolute chill constantly flowed from within her, freezing her from the inside out.
If not treated periodically, her body would slowly stiffen and become immobile.
Left unattended, she would eventually be unable to breathe and die—frozen solid.

But in the Snowy Mountains of the North, there wasn’t much to go around.

Her treatments couldn’t be administered properly or consistently.

And in the Snowy Mountains, where biting cold reigned year-round…
Serapia lived every day in pain.

Even so, she worried about Kai.

That was the kind of person she was.

Someone who cared for others more than herself.
Someone who would stay up nights to help her people.
A true noble who would prioritize feeding her citizens over easing her own suffering.

She was nothing like Adrian the scoundrel.
They didn’t even seem like they were related—and they weren’t. Not by blood.

Fortunately, the former Count had left everything to Serapia, not Adrian.

It was the former Count’s genuine will—not tampered or fabricated.
By now, the courier should’ve delivered the will to the royal family.

It would take at least three months for the royal investigation to begin and for official decrees to be issued.

If Adrian were taken care of before then, it would be suspicious.
After all, he was still the legitimate heir of the House of Whitewolf.

Three months.

That’s how long until Adrian’s authority as Acting Lord would be stripped.

Until then, he would be kept alive.

But if, after that, Adrian still remained—
If he tried to wield the heir’s authority to use the family’s wealth as he pleased—
If he went beyond exploiting the people and dared to take the lordship away from Serapia—

Crack!

Kai’s clenched fists trembled, a deadly intent surging beneath them.

Inside the dining hall of the Lord’s castle.

“I—I’m terribly sorry! We’ve run out of ingredients…”

The head chef approached, sweat trickling down his face, sneaking glances at me.

‘What was this guy’s name again?’

I couldn’t remember.
I didn’t even remember the Chief Steward Bernard’s name until recently.
There was no way I’d remember the cook’s.

Still, I did recall the food being pretty decent back when I lived here.
This guy wasn’t bad at what he did—that much I could remember.

“No ingredients left?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right…”

The chef bowed like a sinner.

It was hard to believe—how could a noble house like a County run out of ingredients?

But it wasn’t impossible.

The County of Whitewolf was in the northern Snowy Mountains.
An unforgiving land of endless cold.
Very few plants could survive, and thus, even fewer animals.

In short—there wasn’t much to eat.

And the County didn’t even have mines or special products to trade.
They had nothing—financially speaking, they were a wreck.

It was called a County, but it was worse off than most Baronies.

“Didn’t you serve turkey earlier?”

“T-That was from the funeral—it was leftover from the memorial feast…”

In other words, they had used one of their most treasured ingredients…
And Kai had spilled it on the floor.

Seriously, what a useless guy.

Though, come to think of it—why turkey?

‘Did Bernard give me that on purpose?’

Turkey was an extremely rare ingredient.
It was only brought out on very special occasions—like my father’s funeral.

No way Bernard served it to me out of fondness.
But it wasn’t quite a command from the Acting Lord either…

‘Did he think I’d throw a tantrum?’

That was probably it.

He likely feared I’d throw a fit if I was served something bland, so he brought out the good stuff.

To them, I was still the House of Whitewolf’s Mad Dog.

Just look at the chef—he didn’t know what to do in front of me.
His eyes darted around before he shut them tight, bracing himself.

Clearly preparing for me to go off on him.

“Is there really nothing to eat?”

“W-Well…”

“What about discarded intestines? You got any of that left?”

“We do, but…”

“Go get them.”

A moment of silence.

“…You want me to bring… the guts?”

The chef’s face went blank with shock.

Translatin_Otaku

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