Chapter 50
“As much discourtesy as I’ve shown today, I also bring you good news.”
With my eyes closed, I had one hand over a throbbing temple. Blanca was the one who opened her lips first after being silent all that time.
It was the same playful voice that I hadn’t heard in a while.
“Good news?”
Brooding over Blanca’s words, I opened my heavy eyelids.
Beyond the shadow of gleaming lashes, I saw Blanca sitting upright.
As she was under the light of the blue flames, the woman gave off an even more peculiar atmosphere than ever.
It matched her perfectly as someone from a secret information guild.
“I’ll be giving you the answer that I had put off from the other day.”
At the elegant, whispering voice, my heart started to pound.
If it’s the answer she had put off from the other day, then it could only mean it’s ‘that’.
Laughably enough, it was at this moment that all my fatigue melted away.
The discomfort I’d been feeling—as if I was a marionette being pulled at the strings in a well-organized puppet show throughout this absurd day—vanished all together.
Instead of explaining, Blanca moved her hand instead, and this only made my antic.i.p.ation and the tension in the air rise.
Her hand brushed underneath the veil. Then, with the veil cascaded over the back of her hand, she slowly lifted it up.
This time, my heart pounded in a different sense.
It felt like I was about to see a unicorn.
While I did see her face the other day at the hotel, that was only when she was posing as an employee. She likely changed her hair and eye color with a magic tool.
So, this was going to be the first time I’d ever see her face.
And, in the original novel, there was not one description of her face.
Below the piece of fabric, what was exposed to my eyes first was a pair of red, luscious lips.
When she smiled, she showed a set of white teeth, which looked unusually sharper than that of ordinary people.
Then, a high-bridged small nose appeared. Then, slightly freckled cheeks…
Lastly, I saw her eyes.
The shadow of the hand on the veil was cast down on those eyes.
And under that gray shade, silver eyes that were more clandestine than the shadows glistened.
‘Silver eyes…’
It was an unusual eye color that was not easily found anywhere in the empire.
No. Rather than a color that couldn’t be easily found, it was a color that wouldn’t be found at all.
Because having silver eyes could mean only one thing.
‘Witch.’
That’s what ostracized mages from other countries were called.
Silver was the unique eye color that witches had.
‘Come to think of it, people from other countries also say that they have jagged teeth, too…’
As I blinked dazedly at the unexpected ident.i.ty behind that veil, Blanca curled her eyes.
Like two silver crescent moons in the night sky.
Glancing lightly at me with her gleaming eyes, she opened her lips to speak.
“The proposal you gave me last time, I accept. Cooperation—let’s do that.”
It was at this moment that I gained the most reliable partner for both the ‘Mob-Alicia Project’ and the ‘Ca.s.sion as the next Duke Project’.
* * *
Rosetta and Ca.s.sion went back home first.
Because it was already late, a proper conversation between Blanca and Rosetta had to be postponed until later.
Anyway, Rosetta had with her a crystal ball she could use to contact her, so they’d be able to talk any time after this.
It was decided that Diana and Ria would stay at the Larrington Hotel before they officially entered the ducal estate.
As Blanca introduced the room to the two siblings, she also introduced herself.
Though there was still vigilance from the fact that Blanca was the one who made it so that Rosetta had been ambushed, it was also taken into consideration that Blanca was now on Rosetta’s side.
And since Diana had already given her favor to Rosetta, it was sufficient in the end.
Blanca also told Diana that Rosetta was the one behind the request, which Diana understood.
No, well, she was moved because she misunderstood.
‘Just to bring me back, you had to do all that, go through so many things!’
Meanwhile,
Blanca laughed riotously after seeing just how touched Diana was.
Anyway, only interesting people were around interesting people, was what she said.
However, unlike Blanca who felt only excitement, the others were worried about the situation.
“Is it really alright?”
The carriage driver asked. He was the one who had steered the carriage Blanca and Rosetta were, and was the person who visited Diana and commissioned her to ‘attack Rosetta’.
Logan.
He was Blanca’s loyal retainer, her reliable right-hand man.
“What is?”
At Logan’s worrisome question, Blanca asked back with her eyes wide open.
Logan replied with an uncomfortable look.
“For you to accept a request like that from the Prin… no, I mean the customer. You usually never agree to such a request.”
Indeed, it was just as Logan said.
Blanca had never agreed to such a request in all her life.
It was a first for her to have a hand at something so large-scale, and it was also a first for her to maintain a partnership with someone else.
However…
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
There was nothing she particularly found regrettable or concerning.
“The agreement is limited to two years, and I can still continue receiving requests from other people. Of course, the frequency will have to be decreased a little.”
Well, it didn’t matter whether the requests she could take were reduced.
She started this line of business for the sake of entertainment in the first place, and right now, it was Rosetta and her groups that was giving her the greatest entertainment.
It’s clear that fulfilling Rosetta’s request was bound to be more thrilling than ten trifling requests.
And besides…
‘Rather than that, there’s another reason as well.’
Blanca leaned back against her seat and closed her eyes. Darkness then shrouded her view.
That darkness was like a canvas to her.
Across that empty darkness, Blanca began painting a man’s face.
The finished portrait was more of a shadow than a face.
As time pa.s.sed, the face that she could see only in her mind gradually lost the details and remained now as just a blurred afterimage.
Searching through the afterimage of that man, Blanca opened her lips.
“Logan. Aren’t you curious?”
“What do you mean?”
It was a sudden question, but Logan wasn’t in the least bit surprised.
He had already adapted to Blanca’s unpredictability.
It was that period of time when the face of that ‘man’ had paled inside her mind.
Precisely then, Logan stood by Blanca’s side during that time, so it was only natural.
Lifting her eyelids gently as they were tightly closed before, Blanca replied.
“When the Second Young Master of House Carter comes to realize that he wouldn’t be able to take the seat as the next Duke, I wonder how his expression would change?”
It was a riddle-like statement, but Logan nodded calmly.
“…Yes, well. It’s up to you, Madam, so I’m sure you’ve thought of all the possibilities.”
The answer would sound soulless to anyone who’d hear it, and at this, Blanca guffawed.
Then, suddenly, she became fixated on another line of questioning.
“Now that I think about it, it’s strange.”
“What do you mean, Madam?”
“I’m talking about my partner. How did she become such a fun person? Apparently, she wasn’t like that until recently…”
Logan agreed with Blanca.
A lot of information circulated in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the Larrington Hotel, and this included some information on high-ranking n.o.bles.
For any information guild, the aristocrats were both a large clientele and a large source of demand.
House Valentine was of the highest cla.s.s amongst n.o.bility, so of course they also had much information on Rosetta.
This record started from the very moment she entered the Valentine Duchy.
And, according to that record, Rosetta wouldn’t have been able to hold Blanca’s attention up until just a month ago.
After some deliberation, Logan opened his lips.
“Everyone has a period of growth in their lives where their personalities change. One’s personality can change even after being shocked by nothing. And with the recent incident in the Duke’s estate… Could it be that her change was influenced by that?”
Hmm.
Blanca let out a faint hum.
What Logan said made sense, but she wasn’t convinced.
Hwick, hwick. The blue gloved hand spun the rather long pen handle around.
The pen handle, which swung around between her fingers like a fish, slipped on the soft glove’s cloth and flew into the air in a swift instant.
Yes. Flew.
Instead of falling right back, the pen handle continued to fly along a path.
Then, it slowly returned to Blanca’s grasp.
If it was from her native country, this was called ‘witchcraft’, while if it was from the empire, it was called ‘magic’.
As the pen handle returned to her hand, it continued to spin around as she thought vacantly.
‘It’s not just that her personality changed… It feels like something more fundamental had changed.’
And the fact that she wanted to make Ca.s.sion the next duke so suddenly was also strange.
‘Perhaps an heirloom was invoked?’
Valentine. Carter. Freesia.
Each of the three ducal households had a family heirloom that was handed down to them.
These family heirlooms dated back to the founding of the empire.
The period before the Kham Empire had been established was an era of war and strife.
In the midst of the endless wars, G.o.d gave a revelation to the purest and wisest man—‘Choose three lions to end the wars.’
The person who received this revelation was the first Kham, and the three people he chose were the first Valentine, Freesia and Carter.
And respectively, each of the chosen three were in their own league when it came to swordsmanship, divine power and magic.
They used their strength to end the wars just as the revelation of G.o.d had mandated.
The endless cries ceased to a halt, all the blood that flowed like a river had disappeared.
After a long period of chaos, peace finally came.
The G.o.d who loved humans was then touched after seeing the new world where innocents were not anymore sacrificed, and so He bestowed upon the three families these gifts.
For House Valentine, a book of aspirations that could make one’s wish come true. For House Carter, a stone of a dragon that’s said to make it possible for one to meet a dragon and learn its wisdom.
And, for House Freesia, a mirror of revelation that could give one a glimpse into the future.
These gifts could only be used by one person from each generation…
‘Maybe, what if the Princess used that relic? If that’s the case, then the sudden change of personality…’
As Blanca thought this, she eventually shook her head.
Her a.s.sumptions were wrong from the beginning.
Each heirloom responded only to the blood of a descendant who had reached their coming of age, and the princess’ birthday wasn’t until late autumn. No—winter.
Therefore, it was impossible for Rosetta to use the heirloom as she had yet to become an adult.
Blanca contemplated for a while, but she soon decided to put an end to her curiosity.
“Right, well, it’s not something to worry about. Whatever it is, as long as it’s fun.”
Longer trains of thought would only set off her mind to a complicated spiral.
What’s important here was that Rosetta’s change was making her very happy.
As she had boarded this ship, would it sink, or would it reach its destination and bring her wealth in the end?
What would be the end of this story, she wondered.
Right, well. That’s enough questions.
Blanca hummed and bobbed one foot up and down.
The pen handle, which had stopped moving for a moment, swam once more, between her fingers.
* * *
That moonlit night,
In a small clearing surrounded by a dense thicket of trees.
t/n: i chose the word ‘witch’ for Blanca since it makes more sense for the novel’s western worldbuilding, but the more accurate translation for it is ‘shaman’.