#66

Victor reported the situation rapidly, like a machine gun.

“Y-Yes! That weasel’s summoned whale devoured all the pheromone poison at the rampage site! M-My mission was definitely a success…!”

He tried to offer an excuse, but his superior cut him off.

— We’ll discuss the mission’s success or failure later. For now, explain the situation in detail.

Relieved by the slightly softened tone of his superior’s voice, Victor let out a sigh of relief and began babbling.

“Well, it’s like this…”

* * *

Zakari brought me to the entrance of a secret garden.

Why did he bring me here?

Zakari, lost in thought, had me tucked under his arm, his expression distant. His face, almost vacant, revealed a turmoil of emotions. Was it because he nearly died from the rampage? Or was he relieved to have survived?

I stopped my squirming and looked up at Zakari, feeling like now wasn’t the right time to interrupt his thoughts.

After a moment, he put me down. I leapt away quickly, creating some distance between us so I could better observe his expression.

Beside me, Tabby, who had returned to the form of a fish, swam leisurely in the air.

Zakari glanced at Tabby and asked.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, what is that?”

Took him long enough to ask.

I guess he hadn’t been in the right state of mind to notice it before. I shrugged and answered casually.

“A friend I found in Hebel.”

“In Hebel? So you really stole it?”

“No! I didn’t steal… I think?”

I tilted my head uncertainly. After all, I had taken the sacred artifact from Hebel’s well. And since it was originally supposed to belong to Ella, it might have been closer to taking it away rather than simply finding it.

As I kept tilting my head, Zakari asked irritably, “So did you steal it or not?”

“Would it change a lot depending on my answer?” I replied, lacking confidence.

Zakari let out a small chuckle, a smirk forming on his lips. It was more of a sneer than anything else.

“If you stole it, just say you didn’t. If you didn’t steal it, just say you didn’t.”

So, my answer doesn’t really matter, does it?

I looked at Zakari with a slightly exasperated expression. But, truthfully, his response did make me feel more at ease.

I clasped my hands together and confessed, “Well, I found it in Hebel’s well. I swallowed a strange orb there, and then Tabby appeared.”

“The well? So, you’re the one who reopened the well?”

“Y-Yes, I suppose?”

If I hadn’t removed the pearl of purification that was lodged in there, it would still be blocked, so it wasn’t entirely false.

“I see.”

Zakari grinned as if he’d just stumbled upon some very interesting news.

“In that case, I might have a card to play here as well.”

His smile reminded me of a villain plotting some scheme. It was such a sinister grin that I clutched his sleeve and asked with a nervous voice, “W-What are you planning?”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know what it is, but can you please not do it?”

“No, I can’t.”

Zakari chuckled, a chilling aura radiating from him. Now I understood why Zerakiel was a lunatic—clearly, this madness ran deep in the Black Lion’s bloodline.

“So, that’s why you suddenly became so adept at managing pheromones. That thing was helping you out, wasn’t it?”

Zakari glanced at Tabby again and then clapped his hands.

“Well then, let’s wrap up things with that whale.”

With a sigh, Zakari suddenly reached for the doorknob.

“Eek!”

Before I could react, the door swung open. Light flooded my vision as I stepped into the secret garden, and I found myself looking up at Zakari with a bewildered expression.

This was the place I had promised to visit with Zerakiel…

Feeling uneasy about unintentionally breaking that promise, I glanced around nervously.

The place felt like night itself. A soft, moonlight-like glow illuminated the flowers within glass cases, giving the space an air reminiscent of a mourning hall.

‘Just like how it was described in the novel.’

Inside the glass cases, the flowers had withered, leaving only their stems behind. Below each glass case, the names of past heads of the Jabis family were inscribed.

‘It really does feel like a grave.’

When I had only read about it in the novel, I didn’t fully grasp it, but seeing it in person made me understand why Zerakiel called this place the “Grave of the Jabis.” The atmosphere was cold and desolate. As I stood there, frozen in place, I suddenly realized that Zakari had moved quite a distance ahead.

“W-Wait for me!”

Zakari either didn’t hear my voice or chose to ignore it, striding forward with his long legs, as if in a hurry to confirm something.

Determined not to be left behind, I pushed my legs to move faster. But he was so fast that I couldn’t seem to close the distance between us.

Pat-pat-pat.

Just as I barely managed to catch up, using all my strength to keep pace with his long strides—

Thud—!

I bumped my nose into Zakari’s back as he came to an abrupt halt, causing me to let out a pained groan.

“Ow!”

My nose stung, much like the first time I collided with his leg when we met.

Was his body made of stone or something?

As that thought crossed my mind, I finally looked up at Zakari’s face, and my eyes widened in surprise.

“Father?”

Even at my call, Zakari remained motionless. His golden eyes trembled as if they were experiencing an earthquake.

Following his gaze, I turned my head, and my jaw dropped open in shock.

‘What… is that?’

One of the glass cases was glowing, a bright, shimmering light coming from a flower within it.

What stood out was the color of the flower—it was white. In the midst of the black flowers surrounding it, the white bloom looked completely out of place.

Its sparse petals, as well as its stem and stalk, were all pure white, emitting a soft glow like a frozen ice flower. Below it was a nameplate with my father’s name.

[Zakari Aebron Jabis]

And beside it, there was an unbloomed flower that bore Zerakiel’s name. Unlike the other lifeless black flowers, this one had a vibrant black bud, creating a stark contrast with the white flower beside it.

‘What is going on here?’

I had never heard of a white flower being in the secret garden. According to the novel, Zakari’s flower should have been black too.

Just then, something unexpected happened.

Thud.

Zakari fell to his knees in front of the flower, his trembling fingers clenching into fists, struggling to steady themselves.

“H-Haha.”

Zakari let out a hollow laugh, like someone who had lost their mind, and then, as if truly mad, he began to tear open his clothes.

“Ah!”

I quickly covered my eyes with my hands, but I couldn’t help peeking through my fingers.

Underneath, I saw his toned chest and abdomen, tightly packed with muscle. But what caught my attention was the white flower blooming on his chest.

‘What… is that?’

When Zakari was on the verge of a rampage, his entire body had been covered with strange, dark tendrils. Those vines, which grew darker and more ominous, had looked dangerous even at a glance.

But now, all of those tendrils had disappeared, leaving only the bright white flower etched on his chest. It was as if the earlier events had never happened.

Then again, the tendrils had started to fade right after I used my pheromones, and by the time Tabby had devoured all the pheromone poison in the air, they had vanished completely.

The tattoo-like mark now on his chest felt harmless, unlike the sinister vine-like patterns that had once covered his body.

Zakari, oblivious to my gaze, kept running his hands over his body, as if searching for something. His actions puzzled me.

‘Could it be that he can’t see it?’

I had just taken a step closer to the now statue-like Zakari when something strange occurred.

The white flower on his chest started to fade, slowly disappearing until it was completely gone, as if it had finished whatever purpose it served.

“Oh.”

The unexpected sight made me gasp.

Zakari’s head snapped up at the sound, his eyes, which usually looked dull and clouded, seeming unusually bright. He spoke in a voice filled with wonder and joy.

“It’s gone.”

“Pardon?”

“The Flower of Frenzy is gone.”