Chapter 133: Talk About Cannon Fodder
Chapter 133: Chapter 133: Talk About Cannon Fodder
Startled, everyone at the dinner table quickly resumed their previous conversation.
Arabella Donovan glanced at the now-bustling dining room and blinked. She lowered her head to take a bite of the chicken leg her older brother had given her, a thoughtful expression on her face.
’No way. Saving someone is an emergency. I have to figure out a way to get Grand-uncle over there and rescue Miss Preston for treatment. While I’m at it, I can help Miss Preston teach her worthless descendants a lesson. That’ll make me feel a whole lot better! But how am I going to do it?’
Dennis Donovan’s eyelid twitched. ’It’s fine, little one,’ he thought. ’Say whatever’s on your mind. No matter what you say, your Grand-uncle will believe you!’
[’I’ve got it!’]
"Grand-uncle, do you have any plans for your visit to Stroven City?"
Dennis Donovan suppressed his excitement and smiled faintly. "Not really. I just figured I should get out and see things while I can. In a few years, I’ll be even older and won’t be able to get around. Then I’ll probably just be stuck at home, twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the end."
Arabella’s eyes lit up. "Grand-uncle, don’t say that! What’s that saying on the internet these days? Your age is the perfect time for adventure! Since you don’t have a destination in mind, how about you accompany me on a trip to Crovia?"
"Crovia? Why go to Crovia all of a sudden?" The question came from Mrs. Donovan. Her daughter had only just been reunited with them, and now she wanted to run off somewhere. It was only natural for a mother to ask a few more questions.
Arabella didn’t suspect a thing. She chuckled. "A friend of mine told me there’s a place in Crovia famous for its hot springs. I’ve never been to a hot spring in my entire life. Crovia is right next door and not far, so I just wanted to go check it out."
Audrey Quillan, unaware of the inside story, heard Arabella and recalled something Dennis Donovan’s physician had said recently. She unwittingly lent her support, "Dr. Sawyer mentioned a few days ago that your leg is prone to cold-related ailments in the winter. Soaking in natural hot springs to improve your circulation might help a great deal."
Dennis Donovan had broken his left leg in his younger days from all the traveling. Treatment was delayed due to the poor conditions back then. Even after his life improved and he was treated by many famous doctors, the damp rainy seasons and cold winters were still agonizing for him.
Listening to their conversation, Arabella felt that even the heavens were on Miss Preston’s side.
[’Isn’t this the perfect opportunity? If I remember correctly, Miss Preston should be in a small village in Crovia famous for its hot springs right now.’]
It was because Audrey Quillan’s boyfriend had been out at a hot spring with friends, on the prowl for women, when he happened upon a junior from a side branch of the Preston Family. This relative had been assigned to watch Miss Preston. Birds of a feather flock together, and the scoundrels hit it off right away.
Plus, the relative from the side branch had a big mouth. In just a few sentences, he spilled the beans on why he was stuck in this backwater place.
The scumbag boyfriend didn’t pay much attention at first. It was only when the relative joked about the "stinky old hag" he was guarding and how she treasured a plain, dusty wooden hairpin that a light bulb went off in his head. He suddenly thought of Miss Preston, and just like that, he luckily stumbled upon this huge secret.
Dennis Donovan was shaken to the core. He wished he could send his men to find all the hot springs in Crovia right now and search them one by one.
But he also knew that having his men investigate probably wouldn’t be as fast as the person right in front of him.
They had only spent a few hours together, but that short time was enough for this old man, who prided himself on his sharp judgment of character, to understand. He now knew why the members of the Donovan Family—who had been questioned one by one a few days ago due to Beatrice Donovan’s report—had all wanted to help Arabella hide her secret, despite having met her only once.
Even when they were finally forced to talk, they remained protective of Arabella, terrified she would be harmed for her extraordinary gift.
She was the treasure of their entire family, a lucky star. As long as you were near her, good things would just come knocking.
Who wouldn’t love a treasure like that?
"Well, in that case, I suppose I have no choice but to go with little Ara, then."
Arabella was overjoyed. "Great! I’ll ask my friend for the specific address in a bit, and what we need to bring. If all goes well, shall we leave tomorrow?"
"Alright. You handle the planning."
"Mhm." With the matter that had been troubling her so easily resolved, Arabella’s eyes curved into crescents. She lowered her head and shoveled in a few more mouthfuls of rice.
[’This is great! Later, I’ll look up Miss Preston’s exact location. As long as I can get near the area, I’m sure I’ll recognize the house where she’s being held in an instant!’]
Hearing this, Dennis Donovan couldn’t help but take a deep breath. Although he was still extremely worried about his beloved’s condition, the joy of their impending reunion and the excitement of his long-cherished wish finally being fulfilled made him eat half a bowl more rice than usual.
Arabella was somewhat absent-minded for the rest of the meal. It wasn’t until the dishes were about to be cleared that she looked up, saw Mr. and Mrs. Donovan, and it dawned on her that she’d forgotten something.
[’Come to think of it, did Grand-uncle have any special dealings with our family? If he did, it makes no sense that the book wouldn’t mention it at all, right?’]
With this in mind, Arabella decided to scan through her memory of the book again to confirm.
And as it turned out, she actually found something.
[’Oh, there really is something!’]
The Donovans’ ears perked up. ’How are we involved in this too? Hurry up and tell us!’
[’Late in the plot, a rival of the mysterious powerful figure who’s working with Butler Donovan finds out that Miss Preston was tormented to death by her worthless descendants. He plans to use this information as leverage to land a fatal blow on his competitor.’]
In the mouth of this major rival, the Donovan Family was just an insignificant backdrop. The original line was: "Other than our own people, the only ones who know are a certain side branch of the family in the neighboring city. But don’t worry, my men are already taking care of them. I’ll make sure they’re silenced forever so they can’t go blabbing to the old man and ruin our plans."
[’...Isn’t that the very definition of cannon fodder?’]
The Donovans: "..." Seriously? To be caught in a disaster through no fault of their own... it was a classic case of when the King of Hell fights, the little ghosts suffer.
They were so unlucky they didn’t even get their names mentioned. Suddenly, they understood a little of what their daughter must have felt when she first returned and abruptly learned she was the sole true victim of the baby-swapping incident.
’Happiness is for you protagonists. We cannon fodder characters get nothing. All we’ve achieved is a world where our family is the only one that gets hurt!’
As if that wasn’t shocking enough, Arabella then dug into her memories of the other book, the one about her grand-aunt Lillian Donovan.
Then, Mr. and Mrs. Donovan discovered that they were apparently moonlighting. Just like their unlucky second son, they appeared in different books, and they were cannon fodder in all of them!
In the book about Julian Croft and his "Phoenix Man" father, Mr. and Mrs. Donovan were cast as the unreasonable backers for Lillian Donovan, the "vicious original wife." They helped Lillian in her villainy, judged people by their wealth, and looked down on everyone. In the end, Julian Croft framed them, and they were sent to prison, where they died after only a few days.
’Arabella recalled Julian Croft’s profile. She didn’t think he was capable of taking down Mr. and Mrs. Donovan by himself. It was almost certainly the protagonist’s plot armor at work. The rival’s men must have made their move against the Donovans at the same time, and Julian Croft just got lucky and swooped in to take the credit!’