Hearing this, Layla’s pupils suddenly constricted.
The habitual composure and elegance on her face finally shattered completely.
The first half of what Byakuran had said was a secret recorded in the notes passed down through generations of the Heartfilia family.
There shouldn’t have been a second person in the world who knew about it.
Even the Fiore royal family only knew that they had been entrusted with guarding that ancient door.
And the second half finally answered the question that had troubled Layla for years: Why had her ancestors passed down this heavy responsibility from generation to generation?
At this point, Layla already believed Byakuran’s words by seventy or eighty percent.
Seeing this, Byakuran canceled his telepathy and spoke to everyone again.
“Lady Layla, is this information enough to prove my identity?”
“Furthermore, without my help, you’re missing one of the Zodiac Keys, which means you can’t open the Eclipse Gate at all. Even if you intend to use your own life to make up for the lack of magical power…”
Byakuran deliberately paused, his tone turning grim.
“It still wouldn’t be enough!”
In reality, Layla’s magical power at her peak could barely make up for the gap.
However, Byakuran deliberately exaggerated the consequences and presented the situation in the most hopeless way possible.
Only by making himself seem indispensable could he seize the initiative completely.
Moreover, exposing Layla’s secret plan to sacrifice herself in front of everyone was the only way to put enough pressure on Jude and the others.
After all, compared to allowing Layla to sacrifice her life, his own suspicious identity suddenly seemed insignificant.
Sure enough, the moment his words fell, the entire street descended into deathly silence.
“…What did you say?”
Jude was the first to react, his voice hoarse.
“Did you just say… using a life to fill the gap?”
Byakuran didn’t answer.
He simply crossed his arms and quietly looked at Layla.
“Layla, is what he said true?!”
Jude’s expression changed drastically as he suddenly grabbed his wife’s shoulders.
“What kind of joke is this?!”
An afro-haired, gloomy-looking servant suddenly rushed out from the end of the procession.
“How could Lady Layla lose her life here?! You masked fellow who doesn’t even dare to show your face, there should be a limit to the nonsense you’re spouting—”
“Zudil.”
Layla called out softly.
It was only a name, and her tone could hardly even be called stern, yet the servant named Zudil immediately froze.
He forcefully swallowed the rest of his words.
His chest rose and fell violently as his bloodshot eyes remained fixed on Byakuran.
Then, as if realizing something, he slowly turned his head toward his mistress.
She hadn’t denied it.
“…Lady Layla?”
Zudil’s voice suddenly changed.
All the gloominess disappeared from his face, replaced by childish panic and helplessness.
“Deny it… Just say, ‘He’s talking nonsense,’ and I’ll twist this babbling fellow’s head off right now!”
But Layla only lowered her eyes and remained silent.
In the middle of the procession, an old maid who had been quietly guarding the box all this time suddenly swayed.
The lantern in her hand tilted weakly downward, its dim yellow light trembling across the cold stone road.
“Lady Layla…”
Granny Specht’s lips trembled.
She couldn’t even form a complete sentence before tears began streaming from her eyes, falling one after another onto her coarse cloth apron.
“This old woman… Did I hear wrong? You mean you’re planning to…”
“Specht.”
The housekeeper’s face turned pale as he lowered his voice and reached out to support her.
The old maid brushed his hand away and stumbled forward a few steps.
The gentle old woman who normally considered even speaking loudly to be discourteous now stood straight in front of her mistress.
“Then when this old woman goes back, how am I supposed to explain this to the eldest miss, Lucy, who is waiting wholeheartedly for you to come home?!” she cried.
“How can you expect me to open my mouth? Should I tell the young miss that her mother went to the royal palace to take care of some business and then…”
Her voice broke.
“…can never come back again?”
Several young maids at the back of the procession could no longer hold themselves back.
Byakuran stood to the side, saying nothing.
…That’s enough.
Public opinion is completely on my side now.
He quietly breathed a sigh of relief, though a somewhat bitter feeling followed.
His earlier words had been carefully calculated to force his way into this procession.
Yet everyone on this street was genuinely grieving over something that hadn’t even happened yet.
“Use mine.”
Zudil stepped forward and pulled something from inside his clothes.
A golden key appeared in his hand, glowing warmly beneath the lantern light.
“Capricorn was given to me by you, and you were the one who taught me Star Spirit Magic.”
He held the key out toward Layla.
“Take it back! If a life is needed to fill the gap, then let me do it!”
He suddenly raised his head.
Deep within his shadowed eyes burned a fanatical, almost morbid, and deeply unsettling light.
“This life of mine was originally—”
“Zudil.”
—Originally Lady Layla’s.
He refused to stop and continued shouting stubbornly.
Layla sighed softly.
She slowly walked over and bent down, gently pushing the golden key back into his palm.
Then she wrapped her fingers around his tightly clenched knuckles.
“It’s useless.”
Her voice was gentle, yet it carried an unquestionable sense of fate.
“Filling the gap requires pure and extremely vast magical power. It’s not that I look down on you, but aside from me, your magical power simply isn’t enough.”
“A forced sacrifice wouldn’t fill the vacancy. It would only cause you to throw your life away for nothing.”
“It’s all because of that woman…!”
“…If that woman hadn’t gone so far.”
Zudil lowered his head, squeezing out a beast-like, low growl through his clenched teeth.
“If that woman hadn’t taken the key to the Western Continent without authorization—”
“Zudil.”
For the first time, Layla’s voice became completely stern, carrying the authority of someone in a higher position.
“Grammi did not leave without authorization.”
“If you must harbor resentment, then direct it at me instead. I failed to properly predict the distance and her return date. That was my fault.”
“Do not mention this matter again.”
Byakuran’s eyelids twitched.
That afro, combined with the Capricorn Key…
He really does look like a future colleague.
That disgusting fellow who betrayed Lucy’s family, fused with a Celestial Spirit, and eventually joined Grimoire Heart.
He looked incredibly loyal right now.
But considering his paranoid and almost fanatical personality, it wasn’t difficult to understand how he might eventually go astray.
I’ll make a mental note of it for now.
He’s completely loyal to Layla at the moment.
If I suddenly accuse him of betraying the Heartfilia family in the future, I’ll only bring trouble upon myself.
“Things haven’t reached the worst possible stage yet.”
Layla finally turned toward her husband.
Her tone was much gentler than before, carrying a hint of reassurance.
“There are still a few days until July 7th. Grammi might make it back in time.”
“But what if she doesn’t?”
Jude stepped forward aggressively, veins bulging on his temples.
Layla raised her eyes and looked at him.
Her beautiful eyes were filled with gentleness, but there wasn’t the slightest trace of hesitation or retreat within them.
“Jude, this destiny has been passed down through our family for four hundred years.”
“Ever since our ancestor Anna entrusted it to us, it has become a massive boulder pressing down on the shoulders of the Heartfilia family from generation to generation.”
“It has already been passed down to me…”
“And it must end with my generation.”
“We cannot allow this heavy destiny to fall upon Lucy’s shoulders!”
Jude opened his mouth.
This was a man who had always moved freely through the business world, someone who had never been defeated by any opponent.
Yet now, standing in the cold night wind outside the side gate of the royal palace, he couldn’t utter a single word.
After a long silence, he suddenly turned around.
He strode toward the masked man in black.
“You.”
Jude stared directly at Byakuran.
“You said just now that you can help us.”
“Yes.”
Byakuran nodded calmly.
“And without sacrificing anyone’s life.”
“What’s the price?”
Jude’s voice was filled with the vigilance and suspicion of a merchant.
“I already told you. I’m also an ‘undercover ally’ responsible for opening the door, and this is part of my mission.”
“I don’t need the Heartfilia family to pay me anything extra.”
Just consider it an advance payment for your daughter Lucy’s future work at Fairy Tail.
After all, that girl never missed a major battle after joining the guild.
She’s practically the model of an exemplary employee.
Jude stared at Byakuran’s calm, emotionless eyes.
He had already suspected and analyzed this mysterious stranger from head to toe countless times.
His reason told him that he should never believe in something that seemed like a free gift from the heavens.
But…
What if?
He had no other options.
“…Fine.”
Jude squeezed the word out through clenched teeth, his entire body tense like a fully drawn bowstring.
“As long as you can truly help Layla open the door, the Heartfilia family will owe you a colossal favor.”
Having said that, he abruptly turned back.
“Layla. Take him inside.”
“Jude—”
“I don’t care who he is, what his face looks like beneath that mask, or what he’s planning!”
Jude roughly interrupted his wife’s attempt to object, the rims of his eyes turning red.
“But if he says he can help you survive, then that’s enough!”
“Lucy just finished celebrating her tenth birthday!”
Layla closed her eyes.
For the past few days, she had deliberately avoided thinking about Lucy.
Every time she thought of her daughter, her resolve weakened.
“I can take you inside, but there are some rules that must be made clear beforehand.”
Layla took a deep breath, calming the restless servants around her.
Then her beautiful eyes turned cold as she looked at Byakuran.
“Please, go ahead.”
“First, until everything is over, you must remain within our line of sight at all times.”
Layla’s tone was serious.
“Second, since you claim to be our ally, then act like one. Do not make any unnecessary moves.”
“If I sense even the slightest intention from you to use the Eclipse Gate for some illicit purpose or to harm anyone here, I will risk my life to stop you!”
“No problem.”
Byakuran shrugged, deliberately maintaining a calm attitude so that he wouldn’t appear overly enthusiastic.
“I’m simply here to fulfill my duty. Everything else is irrelevant.”
“Once this is over, we won’t have anything to do with each other.”
Layla studied him for a moment before finally nodding.
She stepped aside, making way for him.
“Then please follow alongside our attendants. I will take you into the royal palace with us.”
Byakuran smoothly joined the procession.
This time, none of the surrounding servants or bodyguards stepped forward to stop him.
Perhaps the suspicion and vigilance in their hearts hadn’t diminished at all.
But the heavy revelation that Layla might lose her life had forced them to place their hopes—and their bets—on the mysterious masked man standing before them.