The one who asked the question was none other than Calvin.
At least on the surface, he asked the question with a smile and didn't seem to contain any ill-will towards me.
"Oh~ it's nothing. I was so busy relishing the taste of these dishes that I got dazed for a second."
My first reaction was pretty normal as one would expect.
"Then... why were you sighing?"
But, everything changed after he asked the second time.
"Haaah.. I thought you were smart enough to comprehend such things but seems like I overestimated your worth."
As my words reached the ears of everyone present, the atmosphere grew cold and they felt a sudden chill in their heart.
Except for the family members present at the table, everyone else present in the dining room, be it, maids, servants or other staff, present to serve the food and look after the needs, felt a sudden sense of dread.
"What are you implying? Do you-"
Before he could even finish, I cut him off.
"Nothing."
"What?"
"Seems like I have to break it for you to understand my intention. What I meant from my previous statement is nothing, I am not implying anything, I just made a judgment based on your idiotic behaviour and the question you asked."
"Now I feel like you understand my point. Don't you? Big brother Calvin~"
Even after saying all that, I didn't stop and continued on with my remarks:
"What I said was something even a child could decipher and here you are, trying to ruin my breakfast with your nonsensical talk."
"Tsk, I lost my appetite."
After I uttered those words, I woke up from my seat and without any notice walked out of the room.
I didn't even leave a chance for Calvin to retaliate and left in a hurry.
Why?
Because I was afraid that if this continued and things were to escalate any more than that, then even I won't be able to handle it. So without making the matter any worse I walked away, like an intelligent person.
You might be wondering why I did that?
After all, what I did was quite reckless and Idiotic, right?
To be honest, it was.
My plan to stay away from him, crumbled into pieces just like that and I was the one responsible for that.
Then why the fuck did I even do such a thing, knowing the disastrous outcome?
Is it because of my inherited Traits?
No. That's not the reason.
Then?
...What else could it be?
Did... I turn into a moron because of too much stress?
No. That's not the case either...
In actuality, what I did was a calculated move and the reason for my rash action is none other than the panel before me, floating in mid-air.
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Tutorial Quest Activated: The Fate Of A Villain.
Assigned By— Zaldaar Equivalence.
Description: Alishia, an important character in the novel [The last of legends] has misunderstood your intention to train and assumes that you are a chess piece installed by Calvin to hinder her training.
Requirements to complete the Quest: Clear the suspicion regarding you.
Limitation: The intention can't be too direct.
— The information related to Quest can't be disclosed.
Reward: 5 Points will be allocated that can be used on stats or to level up Authority.
Additional Reward: A tutorial prize awarded by Zaldaar.
Time limit: No Time limit. However, the quality of the reward may deteriorate with time.
{Note: Another Quest can't be assigned before the completion of the designated quest.}
__________________________
It was a Tutorial Quest.
In all fairness, the quest wasn't that hard for me to accomplish, and the reward it offers is quite generous and a lot for the current me.
It's basically 5 stat points.
And in a normal circumstance, even a low-rank needs to go through months of training for him/her to rank up a few stats in a certain aspect.
And in the case of high-rank, that is even more evident. Even after doing years of hard work and rigorous training one might not be able to rank up a single stat. Not even by a point.
That is the life of a.. warrior.
And now, I am getting 5 stat points just to prove my innocence!
Why would I leave such a golden opportunity?!
So I did what was required.
I quarrelled a bit and insulted him in front of my family members, that includes Alishia.
It was the easiest and most indirect way to achieve the requirements that I could think of.
But...
'I need to be ready for his retaliation.'
Even though he still has a smile when I left the table, I wasn't stupid enough to believe that, not when I can sense killing intent directed towards me.
'If I can detect that, everyone must have felt it too.'
However, even if they did, no one would interfere.
Father won't interfere because he knows Calvin, and believes he won't harm me, at least, not physically.
Even though he clearly likes me more, but as the head of Clan Ulfred, he can't openly show favouritism.
The same reasons apply to Cassandra, my mother.
However, I can't be too sure of her.
After all, her personality is quite Impetuous just like the trait that I now possess.
'Seems like Lykus has inherited it from her.'
Now that those two were out of the question, the only one left is Alishia.
But it wouldn't make sense for her to meddle, she already has a lot on her plate.
...
"Looks like she has yet to be fully convinced."
I spoke out loud as I was now in my room, sitting on a couch beside my bed.
It makes sense, that my act was not enough to convince her.
I relaxed my body and mumbled something with a chuckle.
"She must be thinking that it was an act to let her guard down."
....
In a spacious yet simple room, unlike the luxurious and extravagant room present in the estate, a figure could be seen lying atop a bed with her hair scattered across her face.
But the figure seem unaffected and showed reaction, her gaze was focused on the ceiling which was present before her eyes.
On the surface, it appeared as if she was gazing at the ceiling, but in actuality, her mind was focused on something else...
On a certain question...
'Is it a... trap? Do they want me to put my guard down?'
While thinking of that her eyes didn't flutter and her body was unresponsive, just like a lifeless doll.
"Miss, do you think it's a trap?"
A voice asked the same question, she has in mind.
And for the first time, the figure showed a reaction as she plopped up on the bed in a straight motion and looked at Agatha.
"Do you also feel it's that way, Agatha?"
Alishia didn't answer her question and asked a question in return.
It wasn't that she didn't want to answer, but it was just that she herself wasn't aware of the answer.
As simple as that.
"Truthfully, I didn't feel it was an act,"
"Hmmm, even I feel that it's not an act. The way Lykus behaved was sure quite odd bit didn't seem staged. And for a second, I even felt the killing intent leaking out of Calvin. And from my past experiences, I know that he isn't stupid enough to do that in front of father."
"That leaves me to believe that what happened was true and not an act," Alishia announced calmly as she deduced the events that had transpired.
After a few seconds of silence, she continued:
"But we can't be too careless. Continue with the plan of keeping an eye on Lykus and update me on his activities."
"Yes, Miss. it will be done,"
After Alishia said her piece, she laid back on the bed and closed her eyes as she thought.
'Let's see what it's all about.'