The Male Lead Is In Charge Of The Successor

“Yeah. It’s just the material is so difficult and many words are not familiar to me.”

“Is that so?”

Eisel tilted her head and looked down at the book. It was a memoir, so there were many unfamiliar words, but it wasn’t unreadable.

“Did you finish it, Eisel?”

Lancia asked cautiously, with suspicion in her eyes. As Eisel pondered whether to tell the truth, the door opened and Ezakiel appeared.

“I’m about to test you, so get ready.”

As soon as he entered, Ezakiel gave her instructions and handed out test papers. Lancia, who had been talking to Eisel, took the test looking like she would cry. Eisel took the test and looked at it.

‘It’s really easy.’

Eisel felt her heart sink, wondering if she was worrying too much about an 8-year-old’s learning, especially since most of the questions were at the beginning of the book. Ezekiel glared at the paper, then ran his hand across it and looked up. He made eye contact with Eisel, who looked at him.

Ezakiel glanced at Eisel then leaned closer. Glanced at the test then leaned back.

“When you’re done, please leave. There’s someone waiting for you, and you can follow him.”

Ezakiel turned away as if he had finished speaking. She stood from her seat and stared at his distant back wordlessly.

The children’s eyes turned to Eisel as she stood up from her seat, not long after the test began.

“Where are you going?”

Lancia asked in a small voice. Instead of answering, Eisel gave her a wry smile and turned and walked out of the room. The gazes fading when the door closed behind her.

“Are you finished? This way, then.”

True to Ezekiel’s word, the servant who had been waiting outside led the way as soon as he saw her. Eisel slowly followed the servant as he led her away.

Eisel’s eyes scanned the surroundings, wondering if the man who was taking her to an unfamiliar place was up to something.

Opening the door to a large chamber, Eisel stepped into a performance hall. She stopped when she spotted a man waiting for her on the other side.

“There you are.”

Bahidman stared at Eisel with a stern face.

“Blow it up.”

With a short command, an explosion occurred beside Eisel.

·        

The powerful explosion created a smoke cloud that partially obscured her vision. Stunned by the explosion that occurred as soon as she entered the room, Eisel stood back and looked to the side. Black smoke billowing through the transparent walls told her what had happened.

What just happened?

As Eisel stared in disbelief, Bahidman approached him, chuckling.

“Surprised?”

‘You’re laughing? I thought my heart would stop.’

 Eisel looked up at Bahidman, still clutching the air in her lungs. Bahidman relaxed and helped her.

“Even with a strong heart, I’m surprised by this.”

“It’s not a strong heart, it’s a heartless heart.”

Eisel’s eyes widened at the reminder, and Bahidman grinned in amusement. Did you just blow up to mock me? What a personality. No matter how old you are, you’re still a child……. Aizel looked out at the smoke, swallowing the many words about to burst out of his mouth. But why the sudden explosion?

“Have you ever seen explosives go off?”

“No.”

“Then what did the explosion look like a moment ago? Did it seem strong?”

Instead of answering, Eisel nodded briefly. Bahidman turned around and raised his lips.

 Eisel moved to the side with a gun to follow her. Bahidman removed his gloves and picked up the barrel on the table.

 “When I was worried about the sweet taste you mentioned the other day, I did the test. As expected, cheap sugar was the cause. He dared to trick me and supply cheap gunpowder to lower the unit price. When I looked it up, it turned out that this gunpowder had already caused several accidents and many people were injured.”

 ‘I guess so.’

Because Bahidman also died in that accident. Bahidman lowered the barrel and looked at Eisel.

 “How did you know?”

 “I don’t know. I just said it smelled like sweetness… … .”

 “I am not asking that. I asked how you knew it was strange it was sweet.”

 Bahidman’s expression, which had smiled until now, was serious.

 “For children who have never come into contact with gunpowder, it would not be strange to think gunpowder smells sweet. But you said it as if sweetness was the problem. How did you know that?”

“That…  .”

Bahidman’s expression was so serious that silly excuses wouldn’t work. Eisel pondered how to speak. However, she thought no one would trust her to say what she knew, so she breathed.

 “I didn’t know either.”

 “You do not know?”

 “yes. But I knew from reading that gunpowder is made of salt vinegar and sulfur. But sulfur and salt vinegar don’t smell sweet. So I thought it was strange.”

 Want to be tricked?  Bahidman was not the only fool by three tongues. It was very difficult to deceive a man who endured 30 years as chancellor with just a few words.

 Bahidman remained silent as he rolled the gunpowder keg in his hand. Then he said, “Ha ha-” He shook his head with a small laugh.

 “It is something you should live long and see.  I never thought I would get help from a child.”

 Bahidman put down the gunpowder barrel and smiled at Eisel.

 “Did you do well on the test?”

 “It’s okay.”

 “I don’t like that kind of talk. I like to do my finest in everything.”

 Bahidman stroked Eisel’s hair with a kind hand.

 “I punished you when you harmed Basquiella. Now that you’ve helped us, it’s only fair to reward you.”

“I’m fine…”

“The secretary’s seat remains. Your father will work for me.”

A secretary of the Basquiela family. It was also the clerk of the Duke of Bahidman. When Eisel blinked in surprise, Bahidman raised his mouth corners.

“I said I knew their parents when I was their child. You told me about your parents. And….”

Bahidman reached into his arms, took out a square piece of paper, and held it out to Eisel.

“I’ll invite your family to my birthday party next week. I’m inviting you myself, so be sure to attend.”

Bahidman, with a kind smile not shown to his children, stroked Eisel’s head like a hat of cotton and turned around.

Eisel, who stared blankly at Bahidman, who moved away with an invitation in her hand, rolled his eyes. The invitation in her hand was clearly stamped with a seal stating that it was from Bahidman.

“Is this a positive thing?”

Eisel, who was standing in a daze, didn’t know how to react, so he looked at the innocent invitation for a long time.

***

“Panthetic.”

Gerald crumpled Raven’s test in his hand and threw it away. Raven bit her lip and hung his head as the paper rolled haphazardly.

“I am truly disappointed in you. You can’t even satisfy your father with a djed test, let alone anything else. Is that all you can do?”

“That’s not it, that’s not…….”

“From a young age, you were given an education that others could only dream of. Even if you took a different path for a while, your blood and beginnings should have made up for the two-year gap. But you couldn’t even beat, let alone equal, a girl from a fallen family. What excuse do you have for that?”

Raven could barely speak at the faint anger in his voice. Kneeling before his father, the man he feared more than anyone. He could only wait for this hellish time to end.

But Gerald, who had been outclassed by his brother and disappointed by his father, had no intention of resting his anger.

“I told you that if you don’t satisfy me in this test, you’d better be prepared.”

“Father…….”

Gerald stepped to the wall and picked up the hanging sword, which had been better cared for than any other. As Raven leapt to his feet, he immediately froze.

“Suddenly it’s…….”

“Don’t you realize that the two years you’ve lost are all for this?”

“Break it,” Gerald instructed quickly, handing the man the sword he was holding. As soon as the order was out, Raven’s eyes widened and she jumped in fright.

“Oh, no, this sword is my…… I’m wrong, I’ll try harder, please……!”

“When you disappoint someone, you should know how to pay for it. Take it!”

“Father, I’ve done something wrong, please forgive me. I’d rather you beat me and lock me in my room, please don’t…… that…….”

Raven sobbed and begged, his head down, wanting to turn the situation around somehow. Gerald however, turned his head away, unmoved by his son’s plight.

Slipping past his sobbing son, Gerald left the room. As the door closed behind him, darkness fell, and the only sound in the darkened room was Raven’s cries.