Chapter 30
“Who else knows?”
Lord Juno’s voice was sharp, directed at Master Fatima.
The air between them was tense.
No—perhaps that sense of pressure came from Lord Juno alone.
“My, my! Even your wary expression is adorable. But if someone else knows—what then? Don’t tell me you plan to kill them to keep them quiet?”
The woman’s tone was light, but she seemed to have caught on to Juno’s true intent.
I just wanted to mediate the situation somehow.
Threats wouldn’t work on this woman anyway, and now that things had come to this, we needed to coax her and find out what she knew.
“N-no! That’s not what he meant at all! Rather—”
I hurriedly cut in, but Master Fatima calmly soothed me.
“Don’t worry, Lady. Holy Beast. I understand how serious this secret is. It was only my own guess—one that I just confirmed moments ago.”
Even at her words, Juno’s aggressive posture didn’t change.
I pressed on anyway.
“Um, h-how did you find out?”
“You summoned my son, Karim, to the prison, didn’t you?”
“Ah—yes, I’m sorry about that. I was in a hurry and grabbed him. It must’ve startled you?”
“Oh, no. What surprised me was that my son went to rescue you himself. Has he fallen for the charming young lady, perhaps? Hoho.”
You’re mistaken, ma’am.
It’s because of your gift.
She spoke in exasperated bursts that would make her son fume if he heard, then broke into laughter.
“Hoho. Anyway, when I went to fetch my son from the prison, I found that all the moss that had grown so thick had suddenly withered. That’s when I knew. Rapid growth of life like that is a miracle only a druid can perform.”
She muttered, “But those bloodstains didn’t seem to be the lady’s doing…”—and then looked up when Juno’s sharp voice cut through.
“You know an awful lot about druids. So—what is it you want?”
“Oh my. Are you saying you might let me off depending on my answer?”
“Answer me.”
“Of course—it’s business. I’m a merchant.”
She pulled a small box from a drawer and opened it.
Inside were tiny, sparkling, multicolored gems.
“Jewels? Why—”
[No, they’re seeds.]
“What?”
At the beast’s murmur, Fatima’s lips curled.
“It seems the Holy Beast has realized it. Yes. These are traces left behind by spirits who chose to disappear.”
She went on to explain:
For spirits—beings untethered by time—there is only one way to vanish: by choosing their own death.
But to spirits, who are the cycle of nature itself, that death is merely another form of life.
The seeds left behind become potent medicinal herbs—ten to a hundred times more effective than ordinary ones—when they sprout.
Wow… Incredible. These tiny things…
I couldn’t take my eyes off the seeds.
Then her next words left our mouths hanging open.
“This was the only means I had to rise to my current position. And the person who helped me on that path was none other than the former Lord of the Claive family.”
“What? My grandfather?”
[The twentieth head of the family?]
She nodded with a smile and began to tell her past.
After being abandoned by a man, she fled the Empire and tried to start a merchant guild with what remained of her family’s legacy.
But things didn’t go well, and she soon fell into hardship.
The last of her possessions were these seeds. One day, the previous head of the Claive family saw them by chance and proposed a partnership. That was how she rebuilt her business.
“So that’s how you came to know about druidic powers.”
“Exactly. When I heard from Karim’s guard that the lady had silver hair, I wondered if she might be his granddaughter—but I didn’t expect you to visit in person today. Hoho.”
“……”
I wondered what her true intention was.
No matter how fond she was of my grandfather, she was revealing too much too easily.
She must want me to grow those seeds for her… But that could get troublesome.
Her assumption—that I was the granddaughter—meant she would naturally think the Duke knew about my powers too.
If Master Fatima even hints to the Duke about making a deal with me…
I wouldn’t be able to deceive him again.
A lie repeated to someone precious becomes harder and harder to take back.
“Is something wrong?”
Perhaps noticing that I was growing uneasy, she asked.
Then Juno spoke for me, having already read my thoughts.
“This ability was discovered only a few days ago, right after we emerged into the world. Even the 21st head of the family doesn’t know. We intend to keep it that way.”
Oh. So my worry was for nothing.
That was actually a pretty good excuse.
Fatima quickly accepted it.
“So that’s why you were startled. Of course—many would covet such a gift. It’s fine by me if you keep it secret. It would make me your sole business partner.”
As expected of a merchant.
Thankfully, it seemed her interests went no further than business.
“Well then, my lady, shall we make a deal?”
Her gray eyes glimmered enticingly—the same kind of allure that must’ve made Karim so popular.
“You might be disappointed, Master Fatima.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“It’s only just sprouted, you see. Is that still all right?”
But instead of disappointment, Fatima looked astonished.
“Heavens! I wasn’t even expecting we could start work this soon! And it’s already at that stage? My lady, you’re truly a genius!”
From her words, I gathered that druids had many powers, and bringing life to bloom was among the most difficult.
No wonder—it had been exhausting, to the point of making me feel like I needed to… well, run to the bathroom.
After that, the deal progressed smoothly.
We discussed communication methods, new aliases, age, trading regions—all tailored to my situation.
Her questions came so fast my head spun.
And then—the final step: the contract.
Scratch, scratch.
Her quill danced swiftly over parchment, so deftly that both Juno and I found ourselves watching in quiet fascination.
Then her words snapped me out of it.
“My lady, do you have a seal?”
A seal…?
I thought of the precious seal the Duke had made for me himself.
That one word stirred something deep inside—a familiar spark of professional instinct.
After all, wasn’t I a veteran of the art of contracts myself?
I carefully read the document she’d handed me.
Seeing us as equals, I found plenty that needed revision.
A top merchant versus a swindler disguised as a child.
Let’s see who really takes control of this negotiation.
At last, I raised my chin, crossed my arms, and met her gaze head-on.
* * *
That night, in front of the Axius Ducal Estate in the Northern Principality—
Prrrrr…
Horses panted hard as they galloped through the harsh, frozen path of snow, ice, and bare rock.
Even the coachman’s eyebrows were white with frost, yet his expression was one of satisfaction.
His smile had something to do with the brand-new wheels on the carriage.
Soon, the carriage door opened.
A man stepped onto the frozen ground—his long, silvery hair glinting like the snow around him.
He was the handsome Duke Eberhardt.
As he appeared, a small side door beside the great gate creaked open.
A servant, holding a lantern, motioned for him to enter—but the Duke didn’t move.
The coachman, too, seemed confused by such discourteous treatment—being told to use the servants’ entrance.
Without hesitation, Dane drew his sword.
Shrring.
Light flared along its edge with a pulse of aura—it was clear he meant to cut the main gate down.
At that, guards stationed behind the small door rushed out.
“How dare you behave so rudely before a noble of foreign rank!”
The Duke replied coldly,
“I don’t have time for your games. I’ve come to see Killian. Open the gate.”
“How dare you speak His Highness’s name so lightly! You’ll pay for that insolence!”
Just then—
BOOM!
The frozen gate groaned open with a deafening rumble, and a towering man emerged.
With wild, dark curls and a bearskin draped over his shoulders, he looked every bit the savage warrior.
A corner of his mouth curled as he spoke in a deep, rumbling voice:
“Heh… If you wanted to see me so badly, you should’ve crawled in through the dog hole, Ares.”
At that name, the nearby knights’ eyes widened.
Ares—the legendary ace of the strongest mercenary group, Lux.
A swordsman so unrivaled that even his liege, who trained with him during succession drills, could not surpass him.
“My name is Dane, Killian.”
“Do I need to remember that? It’s not like we’ll be seeing each other again.”
When he sneered and refused to let them in, the Duke spoke only one line:
“Honor your oath.”
At those words, the expression of Killian—the ruler of the Northern Principality—hardened.
His pupils trembled faintly, filled with disbelief.
He turned to his soldiers and commanded:
“Let them in.”
Only then was the unexpected guest from another nation permitted to enter the fortress.
