Chapter 23
At those calm words, the sneer disappeared from Harnein’s face.
He slowly raised his head and stared at Arkes.
Even someone like Harnein, who didn’t have a particularly close relationship with him, could clearly tell—Arkes was smiling with genuine joy.
As if he had just heard the happiest words in the world.
‘…You idiot.’
Muttering to himself, Harnein slumped weakly back into the sofa.
‘Einra doesn’t dislike you.’
She likes you.
…Though she hasn’t realized it yet.
Harnein slowly closed his eyes.
He had no intention of kindly informing that stupid Grand Duke of what he already knew.
Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced his chest, and he clenched his fist tightly.
It was a small act of comfort to his pitiful heart.
“The assassination failed.”
Duke Baharman barely managed to speak through gritted teeth.
Dante, who had sensed failure the moment he saw the priceless ornaments shattered across the floor as he entered, closed his eyes at the expected words.
“I hired the most famous assassination guild in Elberk! And not just one—they sent five A-rank assassins! Five elite assassins couldn’t even kill one brat?! Wiped out—completely!”
Another glass ornament shattered with a loud crash.
Harsh, ragged breathing filled the room.
Dante slowly opened his eyes and spoke calmly.
“Please compose yourself, Your Grace. We did gain one piece of information.”
“Information? What information?”
“The Grand Duke of Serenia is an aura user.”
“…What?”
Duke Baharman’s face twisted in shock.
Dante elaborated.
“All of them were A-rank assassins. The spirit suppression spell did break later on, but before that—how could five top-tier killers fail to kill a single child? It doesn’t add up. And yet the Grand Duke survived.”
“…”
“If we assume he’s an aura user, everything starts to make sense. Those who have mastered the sword are immune to most mental spells. His body may have regressed to a child’s, but his mind wouldn’t have.”
“…”
“With his adult mind intact, he could have located the spirit summoner—the only one who could save him. And he likely used aura to fend off the assassins.”
“Hah…”
Duke Baharman let out a cold sigh.
The Emperor’s lapdog was an aura user?
This unexpected complication was both maddening and dumbfounding.
“…So what do we do now?”
The Duke asked bitterly.
Dante bowed his head slightly and replied.
“There is still one way.”
“What is it?”
“We send an assassin to the spirit summoner.”
“To the spirit summoner? Didn’t you say before we shouldn’t touch them?”
Duke Baharman questioned suspiciously.
Dante nodded.
“Of course. The target won’t be the summoner. And they must never realize we were behind it.”
“So? What’s your idea?”
“If the assassin’s face is someone the summoner knows—and even better, someone they consider an enemy…”
Duke Baharman’s eyes sparkled.
After a pause, Dante continued.
“We’ll use an illusion spell to make the assassin look like the Grand Duke of Serenia. The summoner will think Arkes tried to kill them.”
At the same time, the real assassin will kill the real Grand Duke and escape.
Of course, the spirit summoner might retaliate, so a stronger spirit suppression spell would be necessary—much stronger than the one they used last time.
And they’d need a nullification spell to suppress the pendant’s protective enchantment that hung around the Grand Duke’s neck.
Moreover, since Arkes could use aura, only someone strong enough to counter that would suffice.
While reviewing the specifics in his mind, Dante clenched his fist tightly.
‘We can’t afford to fail this time.’
The spies the Grand Duke of Serenia had planted in Baharman’s estate were all eliminated using Dante’s past-life memories, and Serenia had yet to fully reveal their identity.
Now was the perfect time to eliminate him.
Even if it meant pushing themselves a little too far, they could not afford to miss this golden opportunity.
Why had they lost in their previous life?
Because Duke Baharman had launched his rebellion, completely unaware that Arkes was still alive!
The consequences had been devastating.
The army that advanced on the capital had been nearly annihilated by Arkes’s aura.
Duke Baharman and the remnants fled to the frontier forests to regroup, only to be wiped out later by the summoner’s spirit magic.
So the first priorities were clear: kill Arkes and pull the spirit summoner to their side.
A pleased smile crept onto Duke Baharman’s lips.
“A Grand Duke trying to assassinate the spirit summoner… That’ll drive a wedge between them even deeper.”
Of course, Arkes would already be dead by then.
Dante added in a low voice:
“And to prepare for potential failure, I suggest hiring a backup assassin. The suppression spells for both spirit and mana will last for three days, so we should aim to eliminate the Grand Duke during that time.”
The mana suppression spell—also called the nullification spell—could block only lower-tier spells if tuned carefully.
So it could specifically suppress teleportation and communication magic.
Arkes’s pendant primarily enabled teleportation and communication.
Disabling it meant complete isolation.
No matter how strong an aura user he was, Arkes was still in a child’s body—and he had no weapon.
He couldn’t possibly fight off waves of elite attackers alone.
“Good.”
Duke Baharman grinned in satisfaction.
“Children have weak bodies. Let’s see how long he lasts.”
“Then, Your Grace, I’ll return to my workshop to begin crafting the spell tools.”
“Yes, yes, go. If this mission succeeds, you’ll be greatly rewarded.”
“It would be my honor, Your Grace.”
Dante bowed and exited the Duke’s office, heading straight for his lab.
A stronger spirit suppression spell than before, and a mana suppression spell that would block teleportation and communication for three days.
He had to combine both spells and embed them into a physical item.
So that even an assassin unfamiliar with magic could use it easily.
Dante sighed and pressed his fingers to his temples.
A stronger suppression spell than last time, huh…
The previous one was the strongest spell an ordinary human could cast—but Dante was no longer ordinary.
The mana from his past life overlapped with that of the present.
Of course, my current mana capacity is far from normal. Crafting a stronger spell will definitely take a toll on my body.
But failure was not an option. If he could create a stronger spell, he absolutely had to do it.
“…Even a whole bowl of blood might not be enough.”
He murmured faintly, then shook off the thoughts and began moving swiftly.
“Forgive me for the sudden message, Lady Einra. Is Lord Harnein available?”
While having a light tea time after breakfast, a voice echoed from the crystal orb.
It was Countess Violetti, head of the Chevila household.
Harnein, who had been drinking tea, stiffened at the voice.
He glared daggers at Arse, who was sipping cocoa beside him, as if ready to kill.
But Arse just looked confused and made a pitiful face, as though he didn’t understand why Harnein was so angry.
“Brother, if you look at me like that, it’s scary…”
As Arse whimpered, Harnein finally exploded.
“You damn brat…!”
“Harnein! Watch your language!”
What kind of person curses at a child?
I scolded Harnein with a sharp glare.
“Sigh…”
Rubbing his eyes and letting out a long sigh, Harnein reluctantly got up and took the crystal orb I offered him.
“I’m here. What is it?”
Harnein said weakly.
Violetti nodded and got straight to the point.
“His Majesty the Emperor is requesting your presence. He wishes to meet with you as soon as possible. When would you be available?”
