Chapter 81
The Archduke of Halbern.
The most secretive and mysterious of the five dukes, a family shrouded in mystery.
Long-time allies of the Imperial Family, true friends, and guardians of secrets.
Generation after generation, the Archduke of Halbern has wielded the most power in the highest office of their time, save for the Emperor, and the power of Halbern has become a symbol of unbreakable eternity.
-Therefore, we are the true masters of this Empire.
We watch and control everything from behind the scenes, where no one can see.
The secrets in our hands make this possible. All we had to do was give up one thing, and the rest was easy.
Humanity.
-No one will ever know. What we do, what has happened to us, what we have taken, they will never know in their brief glimpse.
The voice in his head was as sinister as a snake.
Valar frowned at the visions that ate away at his sanity and clouded his judgment.
Halbern’s clamor for secrecy had corrupted power, generation after generation, out of a need to keep secrets.
A man who seemed to have scraped together all that disgusting stuff and molded it into a human being.
-Who dares defy me, who can defy me?
The good Archduke of Halbern, Gazoo Morden.
-You are not your sister. You are worthy to inherit my kingdom, my son.
The cunning and vicious dictator of Halbern.
A father who had no qualms about abusing the power of Halbern, which was meant to be kept secret.
-Pity? You’re being ridiculous.
-Discard such weak sentiments. Son.
-You’re capable of everything.
Sometimes you feel like you’re choking on your own blood, disgusted with the blood that flows through your veins.
-If you truly care about your sister, you’ll listen to me, Valar.
Valar has lost so much at the hands of Gazoo Morden, who wanted an obedient puppet, not a son. Any human emotion.
-You want to lose even your sister?
Valar wrinkled his eyebrows at the sticky sensation enveloping me. The actual feeling was no illusion.
“Fuck off.”
He clicked his tongue briefly, and the shadow that had taken form to invade his mind fled.
Unlike the secure main building, the inner annex, where only the immediate family and the lord’s agents were allowed to enter, had always looked like this.
This was why, despite living here all his life, Valar had never liked it.
-…Valar.
Fragments of memories he didn’t want to recall fluttered about.
The Archduke stepped soundlessly through the warmth, less silence and breathless stillness.
-My dear brother…
The platinum hair shone pale, the violet eyes black with darkness.
A click.
The long-lost lock recognised its owner and opened the door of its own accord.
Kiiiiiik.
Beyond the open door was a vast, dark hall.
Light leaked in here and there, making the outline of the hall vaguely visible. It’s like a huge art gallery, with a variety of frames on every wall.
This was Halbern’s portrait room.
It was the reason why he had ventured into this unwelcome annex.
-Be happy, my brother.
After walking through several halls and archways of portrait chambers, where only the immediate family of Halbern could walk, reached the deepest part of the corridor.
{Valar Sigria Halbern, 52nd Archduke of Halbern.}
A portrait of him with a younger face glows in the shadows.
His portrait was the only one of the many damaged frames left intact.
And the only empty wall.
A framed portrait, larger than any he’d ever seen, lay on the floor, wrapped in a velvet cloth.
He grabbed it lightly and pulled, and the fabric slid off. A portrait of a woman who is soon revealed.
-You must be happy.
Valar stood as if nailed, staring at the distant portrait.
“It’s been a long time.”
Platinum hair like molten sunshine, rose-stone eyes like spring.
Sione Sigria Halbern.
His one and only sister, whom he could no longer see even if he wanted to.
***
“Allerilin, help me!”
Platinum hair like molten sunshine sways. The pale pink eyes of spring were filled with confusion.
The demon twins, visiting the Halbern manor on their father’s request, looked eager.
“Suddenly, what do you want me to help you with?”
She narrowed her eyes and asked, and Ciel and Noel started babbling back and forth.
She couldn’t make out what they were saying, maybe because they were so excited.
“I’m sorry.”
Browning, the apologist, apologized profusely.
“No, it’s not, Noel. You have to explain this!”
“What are you talking about, Ciel. You have to tell her this first so she understands!”
They were debating whether or not to stop the twins from arguing when they suddenly realized how to explain it.
Aaron stood in Arellin’s line of sight, looking cool.
‘What is Aaron doing here?’
“Aaron, why are you standing there?”
Aaron was on guard.
It was a strange feeling, like being in a strange place and seeing a black cat with shaggy hair.
“Come here.”
“…”
He didn’t want to come, but she told him to come.
She couldn’t help but laugh because it was funny and cute that it came so faithfully while she was wary.
“Good boy.”
Aaron’s cheeks flushed red as she patted his head.
“Did you come with the twins?”
Aaron shook his head.
The eyes, still clear and straight, walked through the snow. She yet to master the language of the eyes, and this is troubling…
“Speak to me in words.”
“To see my uncle.”
“Uncle?”
You mean Aaron has such a thing?
Then why come to Halbern to find it?
After a moment’s puzzlement, one of the now familiar shadows in the window suddenly burst through.
“It’s my niece-!”
It was the knight who had once lectured her on the beauty of dragons.
His name was Jaren.
“I missed you! Where is John and only you came! It’s good though. My sweetie!”
She was watching Jaren bite and suck on Aaron and go round and round.
“Arelliririn!”
“Allelirin”
The twins found her again.
“Yes, yes, I hear you, you devils.”
What the hell did they think they were barging in here for?
“So father said he’d grant us our wish if we brought him a dragon machine!”
“A special blank cheque for the Sperom family!”
“Oh, Sende.”
Help, of course, came in the form of dragon byproducts.
“Arelliririn, help!”
“Please!”
Coincidentally, she had some dragon byproducts.
‘I was already worried about how I was going to get rid of it, but the twins will give it to me.’
‘What would they do if I sold it to them?’
But the basis of any transaction is negotiation.
“Again, money…?”
“Money is all I have.”
A bucket list of things she’d like to do someday came out of the twins’ mouths.
“Forget the money. I need you to cooperate with me for a moment.”
“Huh?”
There was something she wanted to do anyway.
‘How did I get myself into this mess?’
Of course, she hadn’t yet admitted that she liked Pession, that she liked him… well, whatever.
She dismissed the fact that her heart was beating like that, that she couldn’t stop thinking about Pession, and that she couldn’t stop seeing him as some kind of strange condition.
Or that she was mesmerized by his face!
‘Twins aren’t so bad.’
She looked at her dad and realized: I’m a dork. If I was a real dork, shouldn’t they have heart palpitations too?
“What? Arellin?”
She grabbed Noel and Ciel’s hands. Unlike the two of them, who were blushing with embarrassment, she was calm.
“Wait, excuse me.”
She hugged Ciel close to her.
Her heart, which had been beating like it was broken when she’d held Pession, was quiet now.
“Heh, are you going to hug me next?”
“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden, are you sick?”
It wasn’t the twins after all.
After a moment’s consideration, she abandoned the twins and went outside. She found Aaron playing with his uncle in the garden of the house.
Aaron likes it more than the twins, so the heart is more likely to respond, right?
“Aaron.”
“?”
She took Aaron’s hand in her own.
Aaron’s eyes widened.
“You have a calm heart.
She hugged him close. Aaron froze and she was still calm.
“Maybe I should kiss him?”
Why isn’t my heart beating?
It was time to grunt.
“Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh?”
“What did I just see?”
“Love?! Green light?!”
The idle Saren knights began to make a ruckus. She’d better get back in there before they become a nuisance.
That’s when she turned around.
“Uh.”
“Huh?”
Their eyes met.
I don’t think Pession’s gonna like being left out of the hug train