Chapter 8
When Balthazar was young, he had known he would never inherit the family.
So instead, he devoted himself to the Temple.
There, he had risen to a position of considerable influence.
After Balthazar became Duke of Rothwell, the relationship between the Temple and House Rothwell grew remarkably close.
Though I’ve always wondered…
Why did he return to the family immediately after Father disappeared?
In truth, it was equally strange that the Temple welcomed Balthazar back so readily.
They openly displayed their close relationship before high society.
They had effectively made Balthazar the Temple’s representative, entrusting him with the exclusive rights to distribute suppressants.
At present, the Temple held a monopoly on producing the highest-quality suppressants for ability backlash.
Because of that, House Cardian had gone without a proper supply for a very long time.
The Mage Tower produced suppressants as well, but theirs were noticeably inferior.
They simply weren’t powerful enough to cleanse the darkness dwelling inside Duke Cardian or Barkan.
No wonder Barkan despised House Rothwell.
And yet…
He had still chosen to help Diena.
In her previous life.
And now, once again.
Silence settled inside the carriage.
It was Diena who finally spoke.
“So…”
“What are you going to do with me now?”
Barkan tilted his head.
“Why are you asking me?”
Meeting his gaze, Diena answered quietly,
“If you’ll allow it…”
“I’d like to go with you.”
Barkan narrowed his eyes.
His expression clearly questioned her sanity.
“…You do know who I am, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“You’re Barkan Cardian.”
His voice turned deliberately colder, almost threatening.
“If you know that…”
“You should think a little more carefully.”
Crossing his arms, he looked out the carriage window.
“I only helped you because Duke Rothwell pissed me off.”
“Don’t mistake me for a good person.”
“I see.”
“The Cardian family lives in the North.”
“It’s freezing there.”
“Powerful monsters appear all the time.”
“I understand.”
Seeing that she seemed entirely unfazed, Barkan frowned.
“I honestly don’t know what use a kid like you would be.”
“And I’m not exactly responsible.”
“I’m not the type to grow attached to people, either.”
Beside him, Malakar nodded emphatically.
“He’s telling the truth.”
“House Cardian isn’t a suitable place for a young girl.”
“It’s outside the Purification Zone.”
“Unlike the other Four Great Houses, we can’t expect the Temple’s protection.”
Diena shook her head.
“I’m not that young.”
“I’m only three years younger than you, Lord Barkan.”
“And I’ll probably be more useful than you think.”
“I don’t need the Temple’s protection, either.”
“Hm?”
“I can cook.”
“I get along well with animals.”
“And I’m good at difficult chores.”
Looking up at him with pleading eyes, she added,
“I barely eat anything.”
“So I won’t be much of a burden.”
Instead of softening, Barkan frowned even more deeply.
“You don’t need to do any of that.”
“I don’t care whether you’re useful or not.”
“And eating very little isn’t something to be proud of.”
“Then…”
Seeing that she still hadn’t given up, Barkan let out a long sigh.
“Do you have a death wish?”
His voice was low.
Measured.
“If you grew up in House Rothwell…”
“There’s no way you haven’t heard about House Cardian’s weakness.”
Every member of House Cardian carried immense darkness within them.
It was the inevitable consequence of wielding abilities rooted in darkness itself.
It wasn’t always this bad…
But with every passing day, that darkness only grew stronger.
“You said you don’t want to die.”
“So why would you choose to follow me?”
“My ability could lose control at any moment.”
But Diena knew the true reason behind his fears.
It’s because of Uncle’s ability.
No one else knew.
Balthazar possessed not one…
But two supernatural abilities.
Everyone thinks his only power is manipulating gravity.
But he has another one hidden from the world.
An ability that amplified darkness.
For ability users, it was nothing short of a nightmare.
Using both that power and the Temple’s suppressants, Balthazar had manipulated the Cardian family for years.
Worse still…
When an ability user lost control and their darkness erupted, the people around them would also become infected by that darkness.
For ordinary people who had never awakened abilities…
Darkness corruption was essentially an incurable disease.
Without regular suppressants, death was inevitable.
And…
That’s why Barkan’s younger sister, Lady Bianca, fell ill.
Bianca had never awakened an ability.
Two years earlier, Barkan’s darkness had spiraled out of control.
The incident had killed the Duchess of Cardian…
And Bianca had been consumed by overwhelming darkness.
My purification ability might have been able to heal her…
In her previous life, Duke Rothwell had exploited that fact.
Using Diena as bait, he had extorted countless concessions from House Cardian.
He took everything he wanted…
And in the end, he never allowed me to use my power on Lady Bianca.
That was how Barkan’s sister died.
Diena had never once attempted to heal an ordinary person afflicted by darkness.
She didn’t know if her ability would work.
That’s exactly why I have to go to House Cardian.
She had to find out whether her power could save Bianca.
Diena quietly exhaled.
She didn’t want to persuade Barkan by promising to heal his sister.
If her ability failed…
She would only give him false hope.
He might even call her a liar.
I’ll have to convince him another way.
Having made up her mind, she spoke.
“You’re right.”
“I really don’t want to die.”
“That’s exactly why I want to follow you.”
Barkan blinked.
The timid girl from moments ago had vanished.
Determination now filled Diena’s eyes.
“Everything I said before…”
“I was only testing you.”
“…What?”
“Then why bother saying it?”
“I thought…”
“If I looked pitiful enough, maybe you’d take me with you.”
“So I decided to try.”
“And I also wanted to see what kind of person you really were.”
The Barkan from her previous life would have fallen for it.
Whenever Diena acted even slightly vulnerable, he had always given her whatever she wanted.
“But now I know for certain.”
“Emotional appeals don’t work on you at all.”
“Glad you figured it out.”
“I’m not that much of a fool.”
With that, Barkan folded his arms confidently.
Watching him, Diena felt it once more.
The hopelessly soft-hearted Barkan who had indulged her every whim…
Didn’t exist anymore.
“Diena.”
“Why are you crying?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Just tell me.”
“I’ll fix everything.”
“It’s just…”
“I got dust in my eyes…”
It’s all right.
I was prepared for this.
She steadied herself before speaking again.
“I know House Cardian’s weakness.”
“And I know that if that weakness disappeared…”
“The Cardians would become far stronger than they are now.”
“…That’s true.”
“But that’s impossible.”
“My purification ability can do it.”
“It purifies darkness.”
“That’s why I said I don’t need the Temple’s protection.”
This time…
Even Barkan couldn’t hide his surprise.
An ability capable of purifying darkness?
He had never heard of such a power.
He immediately turned toward Malakar.
“…Is she telling the truth?”
Malakar nodded.
“She is.”
“Isn’t my condition proof enough?”
“…You’re right.”
“Now that I think about it…”
“You’ve gotten noticeably better.”
“That’s an insane ability.”
He wasn’t exaggerating.
Only moments earlier, Malakar had been on the verge of needing another suppressant.
Now, his complexion had visibly improved.
Unable to make sense of it, Barkan turned back to Diena.
“If you possessed an ability like that…”
“Why did you hide it from Duke Rothwell?”
