Gudas, the Head of House Teneris, crumpled the sheet of paper in his hand.
"Is this true?"
"If the message came from House Dikidia, then it is true."
Damn it!
There had been no news from the curse mages he had dispatched.
They had boldly claimed that they could deal with the troublesome Kreuz more effectively than House Ipes, only for this to happen.
BANG!
Unable to contain his anger, Gudas struck the wall.
The ceiling shook, and dust rained down.
The person who calmed Gudas was his ever-inscrutable son, Pertio.
"Father, you must think of Nellis."
As it happened, Gudas and Pertio stood outside Nellis's bedroom.
Nellis, who had dared to disappear from the house without permission, lay sleeping inside.
Her body was being maintained with Necromancy so it would not decay before they found her soul. If Gudas vented his anger, the magic might break.
Gudas barely suppressed his rage before speaking.
"Yes, Nellis. That cunning little thing is more important."
Nellis was an asset of House Teneris.
She was a child deliberately born to produce an outstanding heir.
She had been able to control wraiths from birth, and could cast Necromancy before she had even learned to walk.
Gudas had secretly cherished his youngest daughter, yet she had dared to betray him and disappear.
'Damn it!'
Anger welled up in Gudas once more, so he clenched his fist and calmed himself.
Then he passed Pertio and entered the bedroom again.
Inside were the son Gudas was most proud of, Desion, and the son he would have killed immediately if not for his connection to Nellis, Mirus.
'Trembling like vermin.'
If Mirus had not learned Nellis's Necromancy by watching over her shoulder, he was less than an insect who would never have even been allowed in this room.
Gudas settled imperiously onto a sofa.
"Continue."
Mirus's shoulders twitched.
"I-I still haven't found where the soul is………"
"You still haven't found it?"
"I am trying, but—"
"Useless thing."
Gudas berated Mirus as usual.
At his sharp tone, Mirus squeezed his eyes shut.
"Does it make any sense that months have passed and you still have not found the soul?"
"………."
"What have you been doing at that cunning little thing's side all this time?"
"………."
"To bear the Teneris name without improving at all. Is it time to dispose of you?"
"Dispose of me?"
At those words, a chill ran down Mirus's neck.
Being disposed of was no different from being expelled from the family. If it happened, he could be reduced to an experimental subject.
Mirus wanted to say that it was not true, that he could find the soul's whereabouts if only he had more time, but Gudas's overwhelming presence kept him silent.
As Mirus could only sweat, Gudas stared down at him coldly before finally looking away.
"I will give you time. If you fail to find the soul by then, know that you will be expelled from the family."
"Y-yes?"
"Must I say it again?"
"N-no! I will do it!"
Mirus answered in a squeaky voice, terrified.
Gudas clicked his tongue and left the bedroom.
Once Gudas was gone, the tense atmosphere seemed to ease somewhat.
But the bedroom still contained two leading heir candidates.
'Why, why aren't they leaving?!'
Regardless of Mirus nearly bursting into tears, the silent Desion looked at the sleeping Nellis.
Her long white hair was spotless.
As befitted a necromancer, her skin was so transparent that it seemed pale, while an intense wraith energy subtly flowed from her body.
And beyond her tightly closed eyelids lay crimson eyes.
'If she wanted to run away, she should have made her body disappear too.'
Because her body remained behind, Gudas still had lingering attachment to her.
In truth, Desion disliked Nellis.
Nellis's coloring and abilities were an eyesore to Desion.
Coloring that closely resembled his father, Gudas.
Gudas valued Nellis's Necromancy more highly than Desion's Darkness Magic, saying that she resembled him and would become a powerful Head of House.
With all those feelings layered within him, Desion glared at Nellis.
Then Pertio approached him with a sly smile.
"If you stare at her like that, you'll bore a hole through her."
"It was your doing."
"What was?"
"You were the one who told Father that that wretch had run away from the family."
Pertio's golden eyes rounded.
Then they curved into crescents as he spoke in a honeyed voice.
"It helps you."
"Not at all."
"You're lying. If Nellis disappears like this, you'll become the Head of House without ever settling things with that brat."
"Pertio."
"That is why I told Father. For your sake."
That was not true.
Pertio had told Gudas for his own purposes.
He had always been walking a tightrope between Nellis and Desion, deciding which side to take.
"I never said I'd keep you by my side."
"Once you become Head of House, you won't have a choice but to keep me by your side."
"I'll kill you."
"You?"
Desion's eyebrow twitched at the mocking question.
But it was true.
If he killed Pertio, it would be no different from losing a useful source of information.
Desion fixed Pertio with a hard stare, then turned away.
"Watch yourself."
If Pertio made another move after Nellis returned, Desion truly would not let it pass.
***
I went out into the garden with Ruperi for the first time in a long while.
They had turned the manor and garden upside down to uproot every trace of Dikidia's curse.
And after Duke Kreuz learned that Ruperi had been cursed, he had made Ruperi recuperate.
That was why the Kreuz family, once they learned what had happened, came to see Ruperi so often that they nearly wore down the threshold.
But.
"Are you sure it's all right for you to be out in the garden?"
Now that time had passed, Ruperi had insisted that he no longer wanted to remain in his bedroom.
"Father said I could come outside."
"Even Paul is this worried about you."
Praten gave Anchina a look.
Anchina picked me up and spoke in an overly cute voice.
"Mhm! I'm worrieeed!"
This was complicated.
Whenever Duchess Kreuz was absent, Anchina inserted herself between the brothers and played dolls.
Seeing me like that, Ruperi bit his lip and tried not to laugh.
'Hey, don't laugh.'
His reaction was completely different from when he had been cursed by Dikidia.
As I glared at Ruperi, I realized that someone else was the one I should be warning.
Huff—
That dog bastard, Blanc.
'Did you just laugh? You're a dog. How dare you laugh at me?'
That bastard had not shown a single hair while we were searching for curse media!
'Just wait. I'll whack you once before I escape the Kreuz manor.'
I fumed as I made that vow, but in truth, my dream of escaping the Kreuz manor was gradually growing more distant.
I had overworked my mana core, making the flow of mana even more tangled and difficult to unravel.
And whenever I tried to focus on untangling it—
-Paul, are you trying to leave? I said I'd protect you.
Ruperi would uncannily wake up and interrupt my mana manipulation.
Was his mana sense sharp enough that he woke up?
Or did he wake because his arms felt empty?
'It's probably the former, but I can't cast Sleep Magic on him either.'
I had once cast Sleep Magic on Ruperi so that I could manipulate mana.
Ruperi had slept soundly, and I had easily focused on untangling the flow of mana.
But the next day—
-Paul, don't you have something to say to me?
[What?]
-You cast Sleep Magic on me. Did you think I wouldn't know?
He said something utterly terrifying.
For the safety of my heart, I had not cast it again after that.
'How did he sense the magic? And how does he know I'm manipulating mana and wake up?'
He had claimed to sense energy when he was afflicted by Dikidia's curse, too.
The answer seemed to be pointing toward one conclusion, but I wanted to ignore it.
'Come on, he's not going to awaken Divine Power already, is he?'
If Ruperi awakened Divine Power……….
Enough.
I did not want to think about it. It would become incredibly troublesome.
I was clutching my head and praying that it was not so when—
"Ruperi."
Duke Kreuz, apparently on his way back from the Grand Temple, approached in formal attire and called out to Ruperi.
"You're in the garden with Praten. Is it truly all right for you to be out already, Ruperi?"
"I'm fine. You said I could come outside."
"That was because the inspection of the garden had been completed."
"I'm not sick anymore, so you don't need to worry."
Ruperi coldly rejected his father's concern.
He was even treating the father he loved so much coldly.
Duke Kreuz, too, seemed unaccustomed to Ruperi's changed attitude, judging by his strange expression.
But after a moment, Duke Kreuz glanced at Praten and continued.
"Praten, I am sorry, but may I take Ruperi with me?"
"Ruperi?"
"Ruperi said he wants to learn swordsmanship. I have some time now, so it is about time I taught him swordsmanship again."
Ruperi was startled.
Before his blue eyes could even widen, Praten readily agreed.
"If that's the reason, it can't be helped!"
Yet Praten's voice sounded oddly urgent, as though he had been waiting for this moment.