—As dignified as they seemed, the imperial family is no different from any other family after all.
That the daughter betrays her mother for being infatuated with a man, what a family disaster.
—Well, like wood, like wood.
Where is the spoiled nature of a vulgar blood going to go?
She will have gotten involved with the duke and, madly in love, will have sold her own mother.
—At the end of the day, women, if you give them a little affection...
Just as the men sitting in front of the bar were gossiping and exaggerating dirty rumors about Blair.
Crack!
The glass that Mijail was carrying to his table broke in his hands.
Liquor and red blood dripped from his hand, along with the shards of the shattered glass cup.
—…Ah.
Meeting the gaze of the frightened customers, Mijail made a face as if he had only then realized that the glass had broken.
—Excuse me.
My glass has broken.
But no feeling of apology could be read in his cold expression.
One of the men involuntarily shuddered at Mijail's attitude and then raised his voice to hide his reaction.
—Hey, didn't you break the glass on purpose?
What kind of customer service is this?
One of Mijail's subordinates, noticing the unusual atmosphere, quickly intervened to mediate.
—Excuse me, gentleman.
It seems that our employee has made a mistake due to fatigue.
We will prepare another one for you soon.
Mijail, seeing his subordinate's signal, left the bar and went up to the second floor.
And using his holy power, he first healed the wound where the glass shards had been embedded.
Just as he finished healing, he heard footsteps approaching from behind.
-Teacher.
Mijail turned and saw his subordinate approaching.
He stopped when he saw Mijail's palm full of blood.
—…Has something happened downstairs?
—No, I just hurt myself a little.
What happens?
—I'm still researching that black magic grimoire that he ordered me, but since it's forbidden magic, it's being difficult to get information.
Mijail frowned.
Since the day he went with Blair to the mansion in the woods, he had been investigating about the black magic circle he saw in it.
If it was something that not even she herself knew about, there was a good chance that it was a spell implanted with dangerous intentions.
He wanted to remove that sinister magic circle from her as soon as possible, but as he expected, it was not easy to gather information.
—Anything, no matter how insignificant, bring it to me as soon as you get it.
—Ah, that's...
Mijail looked strangely at his subordinate, who was not leaving immediately, when he took something crumpled from the inside pocket of his jacket.
—It is not a grimoire of black magic, but since it is a document related to it, I have brought it just in case.
On the first page of the document he gave him he had drawn a circle of black magic, and below it…
[It is said that there is a black magic that restores the second condition of an ancient broken contract with a divine beast.]
…there was a phrase written in neat calligraphy.
Probably written by the owner of the document himself.
—Where did this document come from?
—A guy left it yesterday as payment for the drink.
From what I saw, he looked like a player.
He said that he had found it on the street in the early hours of the morning a few days ago, when he was returning home.
—You say he found it on the street?
-Yeah.
At first I didn't know what it was and, since it seemed like an important document, I wanted to sell it for a high price.
But after learning that it was a black magic circle, he became afraid and simply handed it over as payment for the drink.
Mijail, who was listening to his subordinate's story while examining the document again, carefully observed the black magic circle drawn on the first page and froze.
«This is…»
It was a magic circle with the same pattern as the one engraved on Blair's collarbone.
⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅
—Mr.
Ruth, we have arrived.
Ruth, who was nodding off sleepily, opened her eyes wide when she heard the coachman's voice.
As always, the one who received it was Mason.
While trying to greet him as usual, he saw the deep circles under Ruth's eyes from the last few days and smiled bitterly.
—Are you okay?
—...
I couldn't even say that I'm fine out of courtesy, but fortunately I'm still alive.
And Your Excellency?
—He's in his chambers.
The response was as expected, the same one he had been hearing for the past few days.
Mason led Ruth into the living room and asked:
—Will you have the usual tea?
—Ah, today I'll ask you for coffee.
Loaded.
Oh, and with lump sugar, please.
After detailing her request, Ruth entered the living room and sat down, leaning against the sofa.
Just as he had organized the documents he had brought and placed them in front of him, Mason arrived with the coffee.
Ruth drank the coffee with the lump sugar and only then, with an expression that said she was revived, turned to Mason.
—By the way, how is the Lady feeling?
After rumors related to the incident ten years ago spread, public opinion both inside and outside the mansion had become fiercely critical of Blair.
Although she had avoided going out since the kidnapping incident, the Delmark vassals had not long ago gone to the mansion to make a fuss, so it was impossible for Blair not to know the current atmosphere.
That worried him constantly.
—I couldn't tell you.
I haven't seen the Lady's face for days.
Mason responded showing a difficult expression.
That meant that Blair had been held by Herdin for days without being able to leave her chambers.
Hearing that, Ruth's eyes narrowed.
"They said they had a contractual relationship, but it's pretty hot...
Well, maybe that's a good thing under the circumstances."
After all, Blair would only worry in vain if she knew how things were outside.
Knowing the external situation better than anyone, he was worried about Blair, about whom nothing good was secretly said anywhere.
That was the reason why, although Herdin had been leaving all the work to him for days, he did it without complaint.
"If we capture the person responsible for the kidnapping and obtain conclusive evidence of the incident ten years ago to reveal the truth, at least a part of public opinion will calm down."
That's why I wanted to resolve this matter as soon as possible.
Both for Esmeralda, who had been buried underground for almost ten years with a false accusation, and for Blair, who was being the target of public criticism.
Although he himself found it a little ridiculous that he, who had once looked at Blair with distaste, was now worrying about her.
Just as Ruth was mocking himself for his guilt, Herdin, who had already entered the room, sat down opposite him.
—Ah, it has arrived.
Herdin barely responded to his greeting and brushed back his slightly disheveled bangs.
Then, after taking a drag on his cigarette, he immediately grabbed the documents in front of him.
A subtle air of displeasure emanated from his languidly disheveled figure.
—Are these all the urgent documents?
-Yeah.
…To be continued