My Unrestrained Lives-Chapter 49: Time’s Up (2)

Brunna raised her head and glared at him... or something close to a glare.

Because in Ellis’s eyes, it was apparent that it just her way of masking her fear.

Still, she forced herself to speak, "Your Highness, I work for the queen, and if you do anything to me... Her Majesty will not let you get away with that."

She threatened him, maliciously. But Ellis didn’t care in the slightest.

Instead, he laughed.

He laughed at her stupidity, for a good moment, before finally lifting his hand and conjuring a small mana bullet.

She had threatened him, and now, he needed to give her his answer.

Both Brunna and even the sobbing Grenda, were stunned into silence at the sight of him using his skills.

To them, the mana bullet was magic, real magic, and it left them stupefied.

Was he not the prince who was deemed talentless?

Then how was he able to use magic this easily?

How was he even capable of using magic when he was still only five years old?

No... who in the world had taught him?

Grenda and Brunna seemed to fall deeper into panic with each passing second.

But Ellis didn’t care about any of that.

Instead, he aimed the mana bullet at Brunna, and shot it.

He took care not to kill her in one shot.

He simply aimed at her shoulder.

"Aaaagh!"

Even then, her scream filled the training ground.

She clutched her bleeding shoulder, where a hole now remained from where the bullet had gone through, and screamed, her voice trembling with pain... and raw, unfiltered fear.

It was Silas who, at that moment, finally could no longer hold herself back.

She stepped toward Brunna, her eyes cold. And clutched her face covering her mouth in the process, silencing her screams, then clenched the other into a fist, and began punching.

She didn’t draw her sword.

She didn’t use Aura.

She struck with nothing but her bare hands and her strength... pure physical strength.

She had long since wanted to kill them. Both of them.

Even before she learned they were poisoning her master.

Back when it was only a suspicion.

But Ellis had stopped her then. He had confirmed her doubts, yes... had told her there really was poison, but also told her, "You can’t do anything... for now."

So she had held back.

She had buried her fury deep inside.

She had tried her best to hide her hostility.

But now?

Now there was no need to hide anything.

Now, she could finally express it all, how furious she was, that someone like them had dared... of harming her master.

Silas, too, seemed to have lost her mind, just like the two maids.

But Ellis didn’t say a word. He didn’t stop her.

At this moment, her furious expression, her bloodied fists... the sight of that felt strangely mesmerizing.

After all, what she was expressing wasn’t just violence.

It was love.

It was devotion.

Shaking his head slightly, Ellis turned away from Brunna and looked back at Grenda, the smarter one of the two maids who had come to his palace.

And he asked quietly, "You know? If you were really that afraid... then why didn’t you stop using poison on me?"

"Why didn’t you tell me?"

"Is the queen more frightening than me?"

He asked her several questions, his voice calm, yet his gaze sharp.

Grenda, trembling, opened her mouth, to say something, but could only stammer nonsense in the end.

She couldn’t speak.

Fright had stolen her words.

But when she met Ellis’s gaze... that cold, heavy glare... in the end, while sobbing, she managed to say,

"I... I didn’t know any better, Your Highness..."

"P-please forgive me..."

She continued pleading, over and over.

And Ellis, who had briefly entertained the idea that maybe she’d say something surprising, entertaining to save her life, ended up feeling nothing but disappointment.

He sighed.

At this point, he found himself growing tired of them both.

But still, he didn’t kill Grenda.

Silas... still needed to vent.

And once she was finished...

Well, if the two maids were still alive, then he would finish the rest.

That had been his initial thought. But after a few moments, Ellis found himself growing impatient.

There was still his mother. The one person whose current condition he still knew nothing about, after all.

She was definitely not dead. If she had died, the news would have reached him. But that didn’t necessarily mean her situation was good.

Before he turned five, he hadn’t planned to make any moves, neither for himself nor for her. But after his fifth birthday, once he knew the crown prince would be chosen in a matter of weeks, he told himself to wait just a bit longer... to stay cautious... and then, depending on the situation, act.

But deep down, he knew the truth. He had been making excuses.

If he truly wanted to, he could have at least snuck into the place where she was currently living in.

It was still within the royal grounds, after all.

Still within reach.

But...

His mother—

The woman he held such complex feelings for.

The woman he had seen only once, when she gave birth to him.

The woman from whom he had received nothing... nothing but a single stone... and troubles.

What was he supposed to do about her?

What did he want to do about her?

He had been asking himself those same questions over and over again, lately.

And now... now, he finally felt like he had found the answer.

No matter what, he wanted her to live.

No matter what, he at least wanted her to stay alive.

And now... he wanted to see her.

With that resolution firm in his chest, he turned toward Grenda, who still lay on the ground, groveling and pleading incoherently.

A faint, blue-glowing mana bullet quietly formed above his hand. And with no hesitation, he pointed it at her and fired.

The bullet struck her cleanly in the chest, making a big hole.

And just like that, she stopped speaking.

Her mouth froze in the middle of a word.

Her body went still.

She collapsed to the ground, motionless.

Dead.

Ellis turned to Silas, who still had Brunna restrained, and said in a calm, unwavering tone, "Finish the maid in your hands immediately. Dispose of the corpses. Then, follow me to my mother’s place."