Having arrived at the Relic Room, he walked down the corridor until the wall with the snake pattern appeared.
“Here it is.”
Just as Ivelotte had said, a white snake was indeed holding a blue gem in its mouth.
“She managed to find this place. Really, was it just a coincidence?”
The snake carving engraved on the white wall was so inconspicuous that one could easily miss it if they didn’t look closely.
“Is this it…?”
Vincent pulled out the blue gem that the snake was biting.
At that moment, the floor suddenly dropped.
Landing lightly on the ground, he looked around and soon spotted a corpse lying in the corner.
“So he was here.”
Who would have imagined that the person who had gone missing would be dead in the Relic Room?
His name was Heros.
He was famous as someone obsessed with ancient spirits.
From the moment he was born, he had no spirit affinity.
Because of that, he had been treated like a useless thing in the Ducal House.
An unfortunate direct descendant.
A direct descendant who couldn’t become a spirit summoner couldn’t be acknowledged.
But he didn’t give up.
Even without spirit affinity, he searched for a way to contract with spirits, and he discovered that something called ancient spirits existed.
And at last, he succeeded in forming a contract with the Shadow King and obtained great power.
However, contracts with ancient spirits were dangerous.
The greater the spirit’s power, the closer its wish was to something impossible.
In the end, Heros failed to fulfill the wish of the spirit he had contracted with and disappeared.
Vincent stared at the corpse of his ancestor with an indifferent expression before turning away.
Since it was the grave his ancestor had chosen, there was no reason for him to retrieve the body.
‘Ivelotte, there is no guarantee she won’t end up like that as well, so where does that confidence come from?’
But everything had been Ivelotte’s own choice.
The price would also be paid by that child.
There was nothing he could do for her.
***
The next morning.
Vincent summoned the two young masters to his office.
The two young masters had completely opposite appearances.
The eldest, Alex, had black hair, while the second, Valdes, had silver hair.
That was because Valdes had inherited the Grand Duchess’s hair color.
However, their eyes were both a brilliant golden color.
“Father, what is it you wished to say to us?”
Alex asked with a calm expression.
“You must have already heard about it.”
A sharp glint flashed in Alex’s eyes.
“Is it about the youngest?”
“That’s right.”
The two young masters roughly knew how Ivelotte had been living in the annex.
The servants of the annex had been purged on a large scale, so it would have been strange if rumors hadn’t spread.
“So what is it that you wish to say to us?”
Valdes asked with a challenging gaze.
“That child formed a contract with a spirit in the Relic Room.”
“That’s impossible!”
The moment he heard that, Valdes shouted in disbelief.
“That child…”
“Her spirit affinity is pathetic.”
At that moment, Valdes made his own assumption and grinned.
“So she got lucky and contracted with a low-level spirit?”
Valdes didn’t think for even a moment that Ivelotte could have contracted with a high-ranking spirit.
Vincent observed the reactions of his two sons before opening his mouth.
“Ivelotte contracted with the ancient spirit, the Shadow King.”
“…!”
At that moment, both young masters flinched.
“As you both know, ancient spirits are extremely special spirits.”
“So the youngest obtained it in the Relic Room?”
At Alex’s words, Vincent nodded.
“That is correct.”
“You are lying, right?”
Valdes denied reality. The idea that someone who was nothing more than useless trash had contracted with an ancient spirit was impossible to believe.
“It’s the truth.”
“I see.”
Unlike Valdes, Alex was unexpectedly calm.
Vincent continued.
“From now on, Ivelotte will also live in the East Wing.”
Alex nodded as if he had expected it, but Valdes didn’t take it well.
“I refuse to accept that!”
He couldn’t acknowledge Ivelotte.
When Valdes stormed out of the office, Alex quietly rose from his seat.
“I will take my leave now, Father.”
After Alex left the office following Valdes, a faint smile appeared on Vincent’s lips.
***
After finishing breakfast, just as I was about to go out for a walk, Jeff came to see me.
“Good morning, my Lady.”
“Mm, good morning.”
Perhaps because he was in a good mood, a strange word appeared above his head.
[Cute]
‘Cute?’
I couldn’t understand his thoughts at all, but Jeff looked at me with a pleased expression.
“At last, your residence has been prepared, my Lady.”
“Is the annex already cleaned up?”
Jeff grinned unpleasantly.
“Rejoice, my Lady. From now on, you will be moving to the East Wing.”
“What?”
“By His Grace’s order, I have been instructed to escort you to the East Wing. It is proof that His Grace intends to acknowledge you.”
The East Wing was where the direct descendants of the Ducal House lived.
Since I had contracted with an ancient spirit, I had expected that some kind of measure would be taken. I just hadn’t expected to be moved to the East Wing so quickly.
‘This worked out well.’
I had been wondering how I could enter the East Wing.
Because there was someone I needed to meet there.
But to think the opportunity would fall into my lap so easily.
“So when do I move?”
“You will be moving tomorrow. If there are any belongings you wish to take with you from the annex, please prepare them. Is there anything you wish to bring?”
“No.”
“I see.”
Above Jeff’s head, the word [Regret] appeared.
“Understood. Then I will take my leave now, my Lady. Have a good day.”
After he left, I gave up on going for a walk. There was something I needed to think about.
***
“Brother!”
Alex glared sharply at Valdes, who burst into the study after flinging the door open.
“What is it?”
“Are you really going to just sit still?”
“And what if I don’t?”
“You’re really not bothered by that defective thing coming to the East Wing at all, Brother?”
“Not really.”
Seeing Alex’s indifferent face only made Valdes’s anger flare up.
“You’re not even human. How can someone be like that?”
“Are you saying I should get angry like you?”
“Of course. You hate her too, don’t you? Or not?”
“I don’t care. If you’re done, get out. You’re in the way.”
“I’m done too! Hmph!”
Valdes snorted and disappeared from the study.
Alex let out a sigh as he looked at the door Valdes had left open behind him.
“An ignorant fool.”
When he made a small gesture with his hand, the door closed on its own.
Alex believed that emotions were the most useless thing of all.
For one born into the Grand Duke’s House, emotions were the most unnecessary thing.
Only strength mattered.
Because emotions would become an important trigger for creating weaknesses.
Alex didn’t want to allow himself any weaknesses.
So he had lived his life thoroughly excluding emotions.
Therefore, it didn’t matter much to him whether Ivelotte came to the East Wing.
To him, Ivelotte was nothing more than insignificant dust that couldn’t even become an obstacle.
Even the time spent worrying about something like dust felt wasteful to him.
***
The next day, I moved to the East Wing.
Melissa, the physician who had been taking care of me in the main building, held onto me and gave her instructions.
“My Lady, even after you move to the East Wing, you must keep applying the medicine regularly. I do not think I will be able to visit you often from now on.”
“Okay.”
Above Melissa’s head, the word [Worry] appeared.
I could feel how worried she was about me.
“Shall we go now, My Lady?”
Jeff had agreed to guide me to the East Wing.
I left the main building with him.
Perhaps because I had been well cared for in the past week, my stamina had improved a little and my wounds had almost healed.
It seemed that life in the East Wing wouldn’t be a problem.
On the way to the East Wing, Jeff offered some advice.
“My Lady, the East Wing will be different from the main building or the annex.”
“How is it different?”
“Because the two young masters live there. Young Master Alex likes quiet, so if you avoid clashing with him, you will probably get along fine. The problem is the second young master, Valdes. His temperament is very rough, so he might pick a fight with you.”
I already understood Alex and Valdes’s personalities from reading the novel.
Alex was rational and cold, while Valdes was like a wild colt running loose.
One could say he was like a ball that might bounce anywhere. Because of that, he was famous for constantly getting into all kinds of trouble.
But I wasn’t worried at all.
After all, they were just children.
Well, from the start you didnt do any for her either, Your Grace