Henry felt as if it were a desperate cry, begging to be taken out of there. He whispered to Rachel.
“It feels like someone is inside.”
“The torture chamber isn’t this way, and this isn’t a place where people come and go…….”
Fear spread in Rachel’s wine-colored eyes, like a rabbit being chased by a lion. At that moment, they heard a sound, an indication that someone was approaching.
As if they had an agreement, the two swiftly hid behind a large pillar nearby. The footsteps grew closer and closer. Rachel poked her head out to see who it was.
‘How did he manage to get in here?’
A child with eyes covered by a white cloth was walking towards them. Immediately, Rachel’s irritation flared. The child was the son of the Duke’s favorite subordinate. The man had raised the child alone after his wife passed away due to complications during childbirth.
The child, since birth, has had a disability that prevents him from seeing. Whenever the man had important business, he entrusted his son to the Duke.
Rachel found it displeasing, but she couldn’t object since it was something her husband permitted. The child, unable to see properly, roamed around the Duke’s residence freely.
Occasionally, he would enter her husband’s study, a place not accessible to anyone. The servants felt uncomfortable, but for some reason her husband was lenient with the child.
Rachel knew that the subordinate was essential to her husband. Therefore, she didn’t show any signs of dislike, no matter what the child did within the Duke’s residence.
Although Rachel couldn’t understand how the child ended up here, she knew that it wouldn’t be good if someone found out that she was here with another man. The two held their breath, waiting for the child to leave.
The child stopped in front of the door, enchanted with dark magic. Then, as if checking something, he turned his head towards the pillar where the two were hiding. Seeing this, Rachel and Henry were surprised and hid even tighter behind the pillar.
‘He acts as if he can see everything in front of him.’
Henry felt a sense of unease at the child’s behavior. Then the child began to behave even more suspiciously. The child removed the white cloth covering his eyes. The two were frozen in a terror that was difficult to express in words. It seemed as if the entire white of the child’s eyes were pitch black.
As the child uttered an incomprehensible and eerie incantation, the dilapidated door, enchanted with dark magic, creaked open on its own. And a woman appeared. When she saw the child, she tried to flee in terror. However, whether due to weak legs or some other reason, she could only crawl on the floor, using only her hands for support. The child, looking at her, murmured as if annoyed,
“Oh, it seems a gap has formed in the spell that paralyzed your entire body.”
The woman, unable to speak, shed tears endlessly. The child grasped her chin and whispered low,
“Trying to escape won’t work. You know that, Vanessa.”
“…….”
“Don’t look at me like that. We’re also suffering from that damn spell the Emperor cast.”
The child gently stroked the woman’s cheek with a sluggish motion, wiping away her tears.
“Blame Benjamin Cassel, who sealed away that dangerous secret. That heartless man who made it impossible for you to live or die for his son’s sake.”
“…….”
“Well, the Emperor’s favor is always calculated. Your situation became like this partly because of your naivety.”
The child’s voice was chilling and eerie, echoing through the room. With those words, the child uttered another strange incantation. Enveloped in a black mist emanating from the child’s body, the woman lost consciousness and collapsed.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
The next day, Stella delivered shocking news.
“I’ve heard from Henry Child. It seems they’ve finally found the whereabouts of the secret order.”
Upon hearing Stella’s story, I couldn’t contain my astonishment. The secret imperial order that the Emperor had sealed with powerful magic, said to be impossible to destroy, was sealed inside a human body. And the sacrifice was none other than his mistress, Vanessa.
Before the Emperor left this world, she had left the palace. It was known that she left for health reasons, and she has not been seen ever since. However, it turned out that she had been confined in the Duke of Bledel’s secret chamber all this time.
“The only person who can release that seal is His Majesty, the Emperor.”
Ian’s father, Benjamin Cassel, was as cunning as the Duke of Bledel. The spell he placed on Vanessa was constructed with an extremely intricate structure.
Only through Cassel’s blood could it be undone, and that blood had to carry a strong determination to break the seal. Since the Emperor had passed away, Ian, his only direct descendant, was the only one who could do it.
However, it was not possible for the Duke of Bledel to simply kill Vanessa. The purpose of this spell, from the beginning, was to create an unbreakable will.
If they tried to eliminate Vanessa and forcefully break the spell, it would backfire, causing harm to everyone involved.
Because of this spell, Vanessa had become trapped in the Duke’s manor, unable to live or die.
“Why did Vanessa get involved in this perilous affair in the first place?”
“If it weren’t for that, the lady would have died long ago.”
Seeing the puzzlement on my face, Stella continued.
Although Empress Ramelia was known to the imperial citizens as a compassionate and gentle queen, it seemed she harbored deep resentment toward Vanessa.
The moment the Emperor left this world, Empress Ramelia couldn’t possibly leave Vanessa, who had been her rival in love, alone.
Benjamin, who cared deeply for Vanessa, devised a way to give her a lifeline before he died and a way to keep the secret order safe.
The fact that he entrusted her with such an important item shows that she was the person he trusted most.
At the time, Emperor Benjamin probably expected Asha to fall completely into the hands of Duke Bledel.
He was sure his wife, Empress Ramelia, would be his next target, and the imperial family was on the verge of collapse.
It was best for Ian to marry Lethenia and live quietly until he became an adult and could save his life.
Perhaps Vanessa, under the emperor’s secret orders, was hiding in an undisclosed location, planning to reveal the secret order at an opportune time. However, it seemed that her plan went awry when she was captured by Duke Bledel.
I pondered at what point it would be best to reveal this tremendous revelation.
“But…….”
Stella’s face was burdened with heavy concern. Sensing that this was an uncomfortable topic, I quietly waited for her next words.
“They say the black mage who sealed the secret order was a child.”
My eyes widened at Stella in disbelief.
“What?”
It was unthinkable that a black mage could be a child, but her next words were even more shocking.
“I don’t know how such a thing is possible… but apparently, the child conceals the fact of being a black mage by covering his eyes with white cloth.”
At that moment, the image of the child with covered eyes, whom I had seen near the auction house, flashed through my mind.
“Could it be…”
“It seems highly likely that the child Her Majesty the Empress saw near the auction house is the one.”
The small child waiting alone in the woods for their father was, in fact, a black mage aiding Duke Bledel in his nefarious deeds. A chill ran down my spine at the thought of the depths of the Duke’s machinations.
“To find the whereabouts of the missing organization members, Priodos is secretly investigating the child’s identity. However, it doesn’t seem like an easy task.”
Stella’s voice, filled with depth, resonated lowly.
The person in question, who is believed to be a black mage, was also associated with Duke Bledel. Even for Priodos, soaring and flying, it would be challenging to approach the child recklessly.
I realized that Ian’s failure to catch Duke Bledel so far was precisely because of this.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
For several days, Ian spent most of his time at Kaelin Palace. He stared at the doll-like figure of Rosetin lying down with closed eyes, lost in deep contemplation.
The palace physician concluded that Rosetin had eaten a poisonous herb called Ledotir. The tiny red spots on her fingers were evidence of that.
Ledotir is a toxic plant, and if touched with bare hands, symptoms like that appear on the skin. It was a rare herb not easily obtainable in Asha. The antidote was also the same.
After discreetly interrogating people in Kaelin Palace, it was revealed that Rosetin acquired the poisonous plant through a maid who she usually kept close to her.
When Rosetin suddenly fell into a coma, the startled maid stammered, confessing the circumstances to the Emperor.
“I got it to help her recover her health; that’s all.”
The maid had known that Rosetin’s physical condition had not been normal. However, for some reason, Rosetin vehemently avoided revealing her illness to the outside world. She had even hidden it from the Countess who frequently visited Kaelin Palace.
The symptoms worsened over time, but due to Rosetin’s strict orders, the maid couldn’t disclose the situation to the public. Then, not long ago, Rosetin asked the maid to obtain Ledotir for her.
She claimed it was not a disease that could be cured with ordinary medicine and insisted that it could only be alleviated with that specific herb.
Although it seemed a bit unusual, as cases of using a poisonous plant mixed with other herbs as a remedy were rare, the maid obediently followed her orders. However, the idea of bringing poison into the palace was unnerving, so she made sure to get an antidote as well, which saved Rosetin’s life.
‘Why would she do such a thing?’
Ian was well aware. It wasn’t an assassination attempt; Rosetin had tried to take her own life. But he couldn’t understand why.
The harsh words he had said to Rosetin lingered in his mind. He couldn’t shake the suspicion that Rosetin had decided to end her life because of him.
He swore to the sky that there were no subtle emotions between Rosetin and him. They weren’t close enough for her to end her own life because of him. Surely, there must be another reason.
But the last image of Rosetin’s uncharacteristic behavior flashed through his mind, sending him into deep anguish.
That’s when it happened. Rosetin’s eyebrows arched slightly.
Ian, who had been momentarily lost in thought, quickly examined Rosetin’s complexion. It seemed like she was trying to say something, as her lips moved slightly, but no sound came out, as if her throat were locked.
He leaned in a little closer and listened to her voice.
Ian thought that the words she unconsciously uttered in this state might reveal the truth of the matter. And eventually, words that could never come out of Rosetin’s mouth flowed out.
“Kaire…”
Ian’s entire body stiffened. He could only stare at Rosetin.
❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀
Happy Holidays!
