Chapter 56

“First, the three Great Spirits…”
“The three Great Spirits I was supposed to contract with—and the top-grade man who would’ve become my husband…”
“What is he, caviar? Top-grade?”

Keith, as usual, picked a fight without tiring. Enoch joined in too.

“He’d give you indigestion.”
“Right? Put him in your mouth and he’d cut your tongue clean off.”

“Who said I wanted to eat him? I’m just saying that’s what was prepared for me.
If you keep interrupting me, I might have to tie up that noisy tongue of yours.”

“But Enoch was talking too! Why am I the only one getting scolded?”
“Because you look louder.”

When Laila threatened Keith with irritation, he pointed pitifully at his cousin. Enoch raised a single brow, clearly used to his cousin’s antics.

“Your personality’s showing again.”
“Must be nice being old and wise.”

I wanted to hear more from Laila, so I frowned and warned:

“Enoch, quiet.”
“Why only me?”

Keith silently cheered and winked at me. I ignored him and focused on Laila. She scoffed, amazed.

“You guys really mess around a lot.”
“We’re not messing around.”
“We’re not.”
“Ignore these two, Laila.”

I was slightly embarrassed.

“Spirits of nature don’t have a fixed number, even the highest-ranked ones.
But Great Spirits are different—they’re unique.
Only one of each elemental Great Spirit exists.
By the time I tried to contract with them, you—ah, no, she—had already done it.”

“The Fire Great Spirit was still left, though?”

“The Fire Spirit’s never contracted with a human before. At least not in any historical records.
It doesn’t respond at all. I tried several times, but failed.”

Without realizing it, I looked at the small bird wrapped around my wrist. It stuck to me so quietly that I often forgot it was even there.

‘No way. Something like this can’t be a Great Spirit…’

Enoch had told me I summoned this bird—that it was my spirit. But the fact that I didn’t know exactly what it was still bothered me. Still, after spending days with it, I couldn’t deny I had grown fond of it. Maybe it was time to give it a name.

“What else is there?”

“People, for one.
Not just Linus—the second prince of the Yullia Kingdom and my brother Blake both loved you.”

“Can I throw up?”
“You know the second prince too?”
“I saved his life once. That earned me a spot in ‘Blue Dawn.’
But seriously, was the me in that story brain-dead?
Or just had terrible taste? An iron stomach?”

I hesitated, unable to answer. Since I never debuted in high society, I didn’t know what the prince was like.

“That’s not helpful at all. Anything more constructive?”

“The rest are mostly treasures.
Cursed item removers, magic amplification wands, stuff like that…”

“And why are you talking like that’s not important?”

Because… I’d always wanted people, not things. I grew flustered. Even Jang Hyunji wasn’t particularly interested in treasures or riches. She focused only on stealing the people meant for Laila, not on growing stronger or collecting magical artifacts.

But Laila was different. She spoke brightly and cheerfully, as if excited:

“The Commander is strong.
I couldn’t see a way to beat him alone.
But if I contract with three Great Spirits, and get help from a 7th-class mage and a high-ranking spirit caster, I might stand a chance.”

“Individually, maybe.
But he commands soldiers.
And as you know, most of ‘Blue Dawn’ is completely obsessed with him.”

“Yeah…
It did kind of feel like being in his harem at times.”

Laila’s face openly twisted in disgust. I found that so funny I chuckled despite the mood. All eyes turned to me. Embarrassed, I covered my mouth.

“S-Sorry. That was rude.”
“Don’t apologize. Laugh.”

Enoch said it firmly.

“Why would you apologize for laughing at a joke?”

Laila looked genuinely puzzled. I smiled bitterly, unable to tell her that every time I laughed, it made the mood sour.

Enoch folded his arms and added:

“The Seymour Marquess house has three mages.
Two are 5th-class, the Marquess himself is 6th-class.
They’re no joke.”

“Ah, the Seymour family.
The Marquess’s wife’s family, right?
I investigated when I tried to assassinate her.
But all three are royal mages—they won’t move on their own.”

“They’ll help.
No, they’ll eagerly join in.”

Enoch sounded like he was fed up. It was a tone I hadn’t heard from him before. He had clearly severed ties with the Seymour family. When I stared at him, he asked:

“What? Do I seem like a heartless ingrate?”
“No… I know you worked for them.
I know that much.”

In the past, I would’ve barked like a drugged dog defending a family that never even patted my head. But I knew Enoch had worked for them ever since he became an adult. Even the maids who liked him, like Rishi, often pitied him for it. If they’d given him anything, he’d repaid it long ago. I just wanted to know when things soured.

But Enoch clearly didn’t want to talk about it.

“Then we’re still short on power…”

Laila’s gaze shifted to me.

“Even if we capture the Commander, it’s pointless if you’re useless.
You want to kill him with your own hands, right, Florence?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Doesn’t sound very convincing.”
“If you’re asking if I want to kill him, I do.
But if you’re asking if I can…”
“You lack confidence.”

“Well, of course you do.
If you couldn’t even walk, and claimed you could kill him, that would be more hopeless.”

Keith said:

“She’s still recovering.
Someone turned her into mush, and now she’s dealing with the aftermath.”

“I never blamed her.
I’m just assessing our power—basic strategy, right?”
“You’re terrifying.”

Keith clicked his tongue.

“As your doctor, I’m telling you—she still needs rehab.”
“How relaxed of you.”

Laila mocked him sharply. For someone asking for help, she wasn’t in a hurry at all. Truthfully, if I were just a little more useful, Laila would’ve rushed Linus by now. But after talking it through, she’d clearly decided it was still too soon.

“Tell me everything you know about the treasures I was supposed to have, Florence.
We’re going to collect them.
Better that we take them than the Commander.”
“Okay.”

Even before I could ask, Enoch brought me paper and a pen. I wracked my brain and poured everything I knew onto the page.

Laila unpacked her belongings into the room next to mine.