Chapter 51
“W–Where on earth did you find that ring?”
Creel, who was also unable to hide his bewilderment, hurriedly asked as if realizing that the situation was slipping out of his control.
“I picked it up.”
“What?”
“I said I picked it up.”
At Seres’ flat reply, the Tower Lord Cheion, standing quietly behind her, let out a short sigh.
What the hell kind of road does she walk that important things keep lying around everywhere? Giving beggars false hope like this.
“A–Anyway, thank you for finding the ring. Hand it over now, if you please. That was originally mine.”
If things went smoothly from here, all would be well.
His master was long dead, and the fake succession document declaring him as heir had already been accepted as genuine. Now that the ring was back, there was nothing left that could go wrong.
“Do you know something?”
Seres spoke slowly, watching Creel stride toward her.
“Even if the ring is separated, the Fire Spirit King sealed within it shares everything with the master he has chosen.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“It means that this guy has seen and heard everything that the late head of the family went through.”
“W–What?!”
At her words, Creel’s eyes began to tremble as though struck by an earthquake.
Without taking her eyes off him, Seres quietly spoke again.
“Jubellios.”
[Why are you calling me? You told me to keep my mouth shut.]
Act your age, old man.
Seres pressed down the head of the red bird that was muttering irritably.
“There’s only one thing you need to speak of right now.”
[And what would that be?]
“What you saw. What you heard.”
The Fire Spirit King, Jubellios, turned his head toward Creel.
Was it an illusion?
Or did flames really flare up within his eyes as he stared at the man?
[It’s that one. He’s the one who killed Ezley.]
The words fell like a thunderbolt, and the council chamber went utterly silent—as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over it.
Everyone looked as though they doubted their own ears.
“What did you say!”
“Just now—what did you say?!”
“Who killed the former head?!”
But soon, shouts erupted from every direction.
“Th–That’s a lie!”
[A lie? You dare call me a liar?!]
Fwoooosh!
“U–Aaaargh!”
A surge of heat exploded outward, and Creel couldn’t even breathe properly. Collapsing onto the floor, he could do nothing but tremble in terror.
[Ezley knew you were poisoning his food, fool. But by then it was already too late.]
It was Creel himself who had blocked all access to the former head after he collapsed—claiming that the man needed rest, and monopolizing every contact with him as his “disciple.”
Barely able to move, Ezley had no way to inform anyone else. It was, for all intents and purposes, imprisonment.
[If I hadn’t been sealed away, you would already have burned to death by my hand.]
Back when the poison was first consumed—
Feeling that something was off with his body, the late family head Ezley had secretly hidden and sealed the family ring in a concealed place known only to the head himself.
That was the very place where Seres had found it.
The fountain.
Not the large fountain in the mansion’s central courtyard, but the small, shabby one tucked behind the building.
Of course, just knowing the location wasn’t enough to retrieve the ring.
Only the head recognized by Jubellios—or someone acknowledged by that head—could take it out.
Anyone unworthy could dig up that fountain a hundred times and still never find it.
How did I take it out, you ask?
[Gasp! G–Grace? How are you alive? And that form—did you steal another’s body? I knew you were ruthless, but you at least valued life—!]
Shut it.
Just as she suspected, he recognized her immediately.
What did he say again?
Spirits, he’d said, possess the eyes of truth that pierce through essence.
Whatever—Jubellios recognized that she was Grace, so he appeared, and the true ring hidden away was revealed.
And then…
“I–I…”
Creel, still trembling on the floor, watched as Seres stepped toward him and took something out.
“Take it.”
“N–No… I…”
“I said take it.”
What she handed him—half out of his mind as he was—was a letter.
A letter found together with the ring.
A letter written by the late family head Ezley himself, addressed to his disciple Creel.
“……”
Creel, his eyes cloudy with confusion, took the letter with trembling hands.
As he slowly unfolded and read it, his gaze began to shake violently—until his jaw dropped open.
“Th–This can’t be…”
He reread the letter again and again with shaking hands, then finally let out a scream.
“It’s a lie… A lie!”
“Don’t deny it. It’s the truth.”
“No! They told me I wasn’t the heir—”
They? What nonsense is he talking about?
Seres, who already knew the contents of the letter, looked at him with even greater pity.
It was full of a master’s affectionate words to his disciple—advice, requests to take good care of the family.
Indeed, the former head Ezley had never intended to pass the title to anyone else.
Creel, you idiot. You just misunderstood everything on your own.
The letter even included this:
Herion has great potential. When she comes of age, keep her close and rely on her help when you take over as head. She will be a great support to you.
The reason Ezley had shown interest and mentorship toward Herion was because he believed she would one day become a great help to his beloved student, Creel.
But Creel had completely misunderstood his teacher’s intentions.
“Th–That’s impossible… Then why the ring…!”
“Why do you think?”
Even a teacher is still human.
When the disciple he cherished tried to kill him, how could he not feel betrayal?
He must have discovered the poison, felt disgust, and—out of spite—refused to reveal the ring’s hiding place.
If it were my disciple who’d done that to me, Seres thought grimly, I’d have broken every bone in his body before dying, no matter how much pain I was in.
“It’s a lie… It’s all lies…”
Creel continued to mumble the same words blankly.
Seres ignored him completely and turned toward Herion, who was watching the scene in wide-eyed shock.
“Jubellios.”
[Why are you calling me again?]
“You decide.”
[Decide what?]
“The ring’s owner.”
When the family head dies suddenly without naming a successor, leaving the seat vacant, the Elresia Count family follows a rule—
The Fire Spirit King Jubellios chooses.
No matter whom the elders propose, if Jubellios disapproves, that person becomes nothing but a half–head of the family—unable to wield the ring’s power at all.
[Why ask something so obvious? My choice is Gr—!]
“Shut it, you damn bird.”
Say one more word and I’ll pluck every last one of those red feathers—just like before.
[…]
Under Seres’ murderous glare, Jubellios’ eyes rolled sideways.
And there, his gaze settled on someone else—
Herion, who was sniffling as she finally understood that her teacher’s death had been murder.
[That child, then.]
The one whom the late family head Ezley had cherished deeply.
No one knew that better than Jubellios.
If not for Creel’s treachery, the headship would surely have been passed to her.
[You shall be the head, child.]
“M–Me?”
Herion’s eyes widened, tears still glistening. Seres nodded slightly.
She had brought Herion here precisely for this outcome.
The Fire Spirit King might have a nasty temper, but he was also the one who best understood and respected the will of the master he’d chosen.
“It can’t be… Lies… Lies…”
Even as this unfolded, Creel sat on the floor muttering the same words over and over again in a daze.
“Has Lord Kainel still not eaten anything today?”
“No, not a single bite.”
The maid carrying the dishes out held a tray whose plates looked untouched.
