Chapter 28
The girl’s small head slowly tilted to one side.
It was already the second time today she had heard something like that.
The compliments were too specific and trivial to be dismissed as mere niceties, yet they didn’t feel entirely sincere either.
Still, Erika honestly didn’t understand.
She hadn’t given the animals anything special. She hadn’t tried to tame them either.
So why did they keep coming to her?
“Hm, is that so?”
When Erika gave a vague answer, Walter immediately nodded and voiced what he had been thinking.
“The military horses too—and now even this wild squirrel is following the young lady.”
He laughed heartily, noting how these animals were known for being difficult to handle.
Meanwhile, Erika wiped her freshly washed hands with a handkerchief.
As she did, the squirrel that had climbed onto her body disappeared into her curly red hair, only to climb down again as if it had lost interest.
Just before it returned to a nearby tree, it looked back at Erika with a lingering glance.
The girl gave a tiny wave, barely noticeable.
‘Was it always like this before?’
Honestly, she couldn’t remember. She barely even remembered meeting any animals.
She hadn’t had the freedom to go anywhere back at the Blanche Marquess’ estate.
If Erika caught the eye of the Marquess’ daughter, the entire household would be in chaos for the rest of the day.
“I’m stuck in my room and she gets to wander around?!
It’s all her fault! I’m weak and can’t walk because of her—because we share the same name!”
It was a ridiculous excuse.
Everyone knew it, but no one dared speak up.
The Marquess’ daughter was the little tyrant of the Blanche family, and those who didn’t follow her whims lost their jobs.
So all the blame was always thrown at Erika, the weaker one.
The servants wished Erika would stay confined in her room. If she wandered around, they’d scold her and drive her to the attic, worried she might cause trouble.
Because of that, Erika had very few opportunities to interact with people—let alone animals.
If she hadn’t come to the Grand Duke’s residence and heard Joanna and Walter talk, she might have never realized it at all.
Quietly folding the damp handkerchief, Erika murmured,
“I’m just glad the animals at least like me…”
Her voice was so small it seemed like it would blow away in the wind.
Naturally, Walter didn’t hear it.
“Pardon? What did you say, young lady?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s nothing.”
Erika smiled sheepishly and gently shook her head.
Her red curly hair bounced lightly.
Watching her from not far away was Sebastian.
He had just returned from the training grounds, dressed in a light shirt with his sleeves rolled up. His hair, damp with sweat, clung to his forehead and nape.
“…Strange girl.”
Slipping his sword over his shoulder, the boy turned back the way he came.
* * *
Despite it being midday, the room was dark—like the early hours before the crescent moon even rose.
A man sat slouched deep in the middle of a large bed. In his left hand was a cigarette, and in his right, a stack of documents.
His long black hair reached past his shoulder blades.
He was well-built, but his slightly gaunt face gave off a sharp, sensitive aura.
With a frown between his brows, the man took a drag from the cigarette.
Laziness and ennui clung to him like a second skin.
He exhaled slowly, the bitter smoke filling the room.
Then came a knock, followed by the door opening.
“Your Grace.”
It was Vincent.
“I’ve brought today’s documents to be reviewed. The young master has already gone through them—just awaiting your final approval.”
A groan escaped the man’s lips at Vincent’s explanation.
Clicking his tongue irritably, he muttered,
“Will this only end when I die?”
“Please don’t say such things.”
Though he was clearly joking, Vincent’s expression hardened immediately.
The man gave a dry laugh at the butler’s serious response.
“It’s a joke. Why the grim face? You know me.”
The man—Felix Acliffe—chuckled as he took another deep drag of his cigarette.
Vincent set another bundle of documents in front of Felix, then pulled out a small envelope and placed it down gently.
“And this as well.”
“What’s this?”
Without touching it, Felix frowned and gestured at the card.
The cigarette between his fingers burned with a red ember.
“It’s from the young lady.”
Felix’s brow furrowed.
He pondered for a moment who Vincent would refer to as “young lady,” then it hit him.
“That little girl from the Blanche family?”
“Yes.”
“She hasn’t given up yet after all that cold treatment? Tireless, isn’t she.”
Clicking his tongue again, Felix took a long drag of the nearly burnt-out cigarette and flicked the ashes into an ashtray.
He stubbed it out, then picked up the card.
Vincent thought silently that at least this time, curiosity seemed to have won.
Felix tore open the envelope with a smooth motion and read its contents. His lips twitched.
Then—he let out a faint, dry laugh.
“…So, what do you plan to do?”
“I wonder. Is it even worth doing anything about?”
Felix’s voice was light, almost amused.
But his eyes scanning the card were sharp and piercing.
“Where’s Sebastian?”
“No particular movement.”
“He’s my son, but I truly can’t read him.”
Felix clicked his tongue quietly, then muttered,
“A daughter-in-law, huh…”
A hint of a smirk hung at the corner of his red lips.
What to do, what to do.
His fingers idly tapped the edge of the card, exuding boredom.
* * *
Sebastian’s office.
Having finished a brief shower and changed clothes, the boy sat slouched in his chair.
A mountain of paperwork was piled on the desk, but his mind was elsewhere.
“…Rift. Monsters.”
He muttered in a displeased tone.
The “Rift” was the term for the strange phenomenon recently plaguing the Angelica Empire.
It appeared as a dark purple vortex, spewing out monsters as if it were a gateway to another dimension.
The size varied each time, but the larger the rift, the more dangerous the monsters that emerged.
And that wasn’t the only strange thing.
These cursed “Rifts” only appeared near the Holy Kingdom’s land—bordering the Acliffe Grand Duchy.
Monsters in the land blessed by the gods?
If the public found out, it would be a scandal of epic proportions.
The Angelica imperial family and the Holy Kingdom held a secret meeting and reached an agreement:
Keep the Rifts a secret.
The Empire didn’t want mass panic. Monsters appearing would be tantamount to declaring a national emergency.
The chaos and fear that would follow couldn’t be easily controlled.
So only a select few in the Imperial family, the Acliffe household, and the Holy Kingdom knew of the Rifts.
But lately—damn it all—one more person had learned the secret.
Jonathan Blanche.
The richest man in the Angelica Empire. A shadowy figure who held the underworld in his grip.
The moment he learned about the Rifts, he used that information to blackmail the imperial family into arranging a marriage between the Blanche family and the Acliffe family.
‘What is he planning?’
It was hard to guess Jonathan Blanche’s true intentions.
Sebastian had even asked the Emperor for an explanation, but was only told it wasn’t the right time.
“Don’t worry, young Duke. Everything will turn out fine. Jonathan Blanche is still a citizen of Angelica, is he not? He wouldn’t do anything to harm the Empire.”
The Emperor’s vague reassurances only frustrated Sebastian further.
But since the Acliffe family served the Empire, he had no choice but to endure it—for now.
At least the Rifts only appeared in limited areas: the Holy Kingdom and the Acliffe Grand Duchy.
The Holy Kingdom placed powerful holy barriers around known Rift sites.
The Grand Duchy evacuated the nearby villages and relocated the residents.
Whenever a Rift appeared, the Acliffe knights dealt with it in secret. But recently, the frequency of these Rifts had been increasing.
It was a dire situation, and Sebastian’s nerves were sharper than ever.
Rifts and monsters.
Why were they appearing? No one knew.
With a heavy sigh, Sebastian began reviewing what he did know.
After sealing a Rift and killing the monsters, a yellow-orange crystal always remained.
‘What is this? And what is Jonathan Blanche planning to do with it?’
Sebastian rolled two of the amber-colored crystals in his hand, deep in thought.
