Chapter 55
Friction. Rupture.
A strange murmur of words as the air shifted.
A blessing that almost sounded like an incantation.
Marie’s eyes widened after hearing the unfamiliar blessing, but she soon had to catch her breath.
From the back of her head and from her wrist.
A strange sensation began to creep in from the places the man touched.
“U… ugh… uurk…”
A groan spilled out, a mix of pain and terror.
“As the filthy soul is washed clean, as it then becomes filled with pure white vitality, then, live again through a blessing anew.”
“Uhh… uuurk… ahhh!”
Sacred incantation and terrified screams became entangled in the air.
A completely incongruous chord.
The discord continued.
The figure quivered.
Thrash, squirm, writhe.
Then, it all stopped.
The man looked at the figure hanging from his hand and felt nothing, then he closed his eyes slowly.
It couldn’t be said just how long he stayed like that.
Wriggle.
The drooping figure at his fingertips began to move.
It was a movement reminiscent of a broken doll.
The figure moved with a strange jitter, then it slowly straightened.
The man took one step back.
As Marie’s figure escaped from the man’s arms, it stumbled for a moment, but it then stood properly on its own.
A bright light started rising from its feet. The group of lights wrapped over the figure, and then faded away slowly.
Where the light left, darkness arose.
With eyes that were empty.
Like the dead.
With nails that grew out sharply.
Like an animal.
Light was replaced with darkness.
The tongue inside the mouth turned black.
A sickly pale complexion covered the entire body.
No matter who would see this, it did not look like a living person. Rather than a human being, it looked like a beast.
However, the man remained calm as he looked at it.
It’s none other than the power he’s had for a long time now—the power to turn the dead into beasts.
The man sat down in an empty chair. Then, he closed his eyes with a sense of tranquility.
“Rosetta… Alicia…”
Two names were drawn within the darkness.
Soon, two pairs of golden eyes appeared in his mind’s eye.
Two different pairs of eyes.
The two princesses of a duchy.
Indeed, which one of the two…
“…is Rita?”
The corners of the man’s lips curved up into a smile.
It was a serene smile.
* * *
The mansion had been noisy for a while, but it was soon settling down.
Katie had been executed at the backyard of the manor, and within days, all the servants of the lateral mansion were kicked out.
‘I feel a bit of regret at not seeing Katie’s end in person, but…’
I couldn’t go because I thought it would be too much of a joke for a ducal princess to watch the execution.
However, seeing that she couldn’t say anything until the very moment her head was lopped off, I must have blocked the pressure point perfectly.
In any case, that’s how everything ended with Katie.
Like the dew atop the executioner’s grounds, her cries asking to save her were gone, too.
Soon after, a renewed vigor swept through the residence.
It was thanks to the new servants who had been recruited through an announcement. They were here to fill the vacancies of those who left.
It was through this process that Diana also safely entered the manor.
There were some cases like Diana where they needed to care for little boys or girls as the breadwinner of the family, so there were separate accommodations so they could stay with their families. It wasn’t difficult to bring in Ria in this way as well.
I immediately picked Diana to become my personal maid.
Right, so far, it’s all going according to plan.
However, the man sitting across from me was not a variable in my plans.
“Left! Your left side is open!”
A full voice came from the side.
It was Diana, who had been sparring with Ca.s.sion for a while now.
After glancing once at the two people who were locked in combat, I looked again to the man before me.
This man who absolutely didn’t fit into this manor.
Logan.
With his legs crossed, he drank his tea leisurely.
The proper posture was elegant.
There was no resemblance between their looks, but somehow, Bianca’s image seemed to overlap him.
Was it right to say that the right-hand man usually resembled their master?
“I didn’t expect you to enter my household.”
Beyond the thin gla.s.ses, his green-gray eyes turned to me.
As he sipped his tea, he replied casually.
“I managed to stop the Madam herself from coming here personally.”
“Ah, then thank you very much.”
I was being sincere.
If Blanca had come here, then life would have been tough.
With a s.h.i.t-eating grin on her face, I’m sure that woman would have wanted to tease and make fun of me all day long.
‘Oh gosh, Milady~!’
Unintentionally, I imagined Blanca wearing a maid’s uniform while waving towards me. I shook my head and sipped my tea.
Lukewarm sweetness soaked my tongue.
“Well, you’re in already, so that’s that. I didn’t expect you to take that position though.”
“You didn’t?”
“Yeah. I thought you were something like a personal a.s.sistant. But… You’re a doctor after all?”
Here at the Valentine residence, Logan was a ‘doctor’.
Back when Katie was still abusing the two sisters, that woman’s underling—the knight order’s exclusive doctor—consistently gave them a prescription.
It was the ointment that Alicia and Rosetta used.
A prescription like that, which went on for more than a decade, might arouse suspicion, so the doctor didn’t properly write it on the records, let alone report this to the higher ups.
Wasn’t that much too suspicious?
Of course it was.
A staggering amount of gold coins and jewelry from G.o.d knows where had been found in the doctor’s room, and the ensuing investigation revealed that they were all from Katie.
The doctor’s a.s.sets were seized and he was promptly kicked out, and in his vacancy, Logan was hired.
Considering that it was a fake job, the position itself required specialized knowledge. If he was found out to be a quack, then suspicion would soon be directed at him.
So then, he really must be proficient in medicine…
Wasn’t that too unexpected?
However, contrary to my thoughts, Logan replied with a calm tone.
“Yes, I am proficient in the field of medicine. When working at a guild, many guild members get hurt, as you know.”
“Aha.”
Of course, since they were dipping their toes in dangerous business.
“We also get some requests to treat patients whose ident.i.ties cannot be revealed.”
That guy, just like him.
Angular eyebrows rose and fell as he added this wordlessly.
I turned to where his gaze was directed.
And I saw Ca.s.sion’s side profile as he sweated during the spar.
“Then you’re the one who treated Maxwell?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Ah, I can rest in ease then. Certainly, there’s no other person who can guarantee secrecy compared to you.”
All I knew was that it had been a doctor called by the Larrington Hotel, so I knew that they’d stay quiet, but I still had my reservations.
It wasn’t a commissioned request given to ‘Blanca’, so that matter had been up to the hotel’s discretion.
But if it was Logan who treated Ca.s.sion, well.
I wouldn’t have to worry about the secret leaking out.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“It’s a compliment, so of course you have to take it graciously.”
When I replied like so to the blunt acknowledgement, Logan’s expression was tainted with incredulity.
“…I understand why the Madam likes you so much.”
“Because I’m pretty?”
“No, because you two resemble each other.”
“What the…”
Hearing the nonsense answer, I blinked dazedly.
I resemble Blanca, he said.
Which part though.
“But I think you resemble Blanca more than me.”
“…Absolutely not.”
Both people rejected each other’s claims.
If Blanca had been here to see this, she would have beat the table with her hand and laughed.
The atmosphere became awkward, and we were left to sip our tea once more.
“By the way, aren’t you in the middle of work? Are you allowed to have tea time with me like this?”
I said this only to change the subject, but as soon as the words left my lips, I really did want to know the answer.
Right now, the place we were in was ‘that clearing’.
It was at the open s.p.a.ce where people rarely came, where Ca.s.sion and I sparred in the evenings.
That night.
After the midnight encounter.
A table was also set up here so that I could watch Ca.s.sion’s training in earnest.
Being that it was a place where people rarely came, one disadvantage to it was that it’s far from the buildings.
It was quite far from most of them, like the lateral mansion where Alicia and I resided, the central mansion, the servants’ lodgings, and the knights’ training hall.
Logan’s station was between the knights’ training hall and the lateral mansion.
Yet he’s all the way out here drinking tea…
“Yes, it’s fine. There are a total of three infirmaries in this ducal residence, and the staff in each one work in shifts at a fixed time. I’m currently on my break.”
It was a clear answer.
If they weren’t working in shifts, then it would undoubtedly be difficult to be in charge of so many knights and servants.
There’s not just one or two people getting hurt while they’re working or training.
Besides that, Logan’s job in this house wasn’t just to be a doctor.
“I was wondering how Ca.s.sion’s magic would be supervised, but now…”
At the mention of ‘magic’, the pupils of those green-gray eyes spun.
They glinted with a certain brilliance, and the gray flashed like silver.
Silver eyes.
It was the characteristic feature of a ‘witch’ or like Blanca.
Of those born with unique magic.
I remember reading in the novel that it’s rare to have eyes that were pure silver like Blanca’s, and that they’re usually mixed with other colors just like Logan’s.
‘A warlock… a doctor… a personal a.s.sistant…’
For a moment, I had to ask myself if the most competent person in this world was the man sitting in front of me.
Truthfully, the real purpose of Logan’s entry into the residence was to teach Ca.s.sion magic.
No matter how talented Ca.s.sion was, there’s a limit to being self-taught.
At this point, I needed to find a magic teacher for him.
So I requested for someone to teach Ca.s.sion magic along with the timing of servants pouring in through the open recruitment…
‘Looking back now, he even said that the Madam was supposed to come in person.’
Blanca tried to come in as the magic teacher herself, but Logan dissuaded her from doing this.
And instead, it was Logan who entered the manor.
Even without seeing this, it’s obvious.
I tapped my teacup with a fingernail and spoke.
“Then, what do you think of Maxwell? Is he following your lessons well?”
In fact, I already knew the answer, but I pretended not to know and asked anyway.
I was aware of Ca.s.sion’s inherent talent, but I wanted to hear another person’s a.s.sessment if they saw the same thing.
As Logan chose his words, his expression was very serious.
“Maxwell is…”