Chapter 13……………………………………..
Come Visit
As he had expected, getting into the Heinstein estate was no easy task. Protective magic enveloped the entire mansion, so Leon was only able to step inside after holding the access pass Lowell said he’d received from Aria—though in truth, it was less a pass and more like a small stone.
“But if this keeps happening over and over, doesn’t your mistress know already? That someone threatening will show up?”
Leon asked Lowell that, though he wasn’t in a particularly good mood. Setting aside the fact that Lowell had followed him out of concern, Leon felt as if he were abandoning his knightly principles by sneaking into someone else’s estate.
Still, watching Lowell peer around like a cat in the tall grass oddly eased his mood a little.
“Yes. I’m sure she knows. But the methods have been getting more and more cunning, and in the meantime, my lady has grown very listless. At this rate… something bad could happen to her.”
After looking around a bit longer, Lowell looked up at Leon, his eyes shining with deliberate seriousness.
“I just want to protect my lady from every possible danger, as much as I can.”
“That almost sounds like you’re saying you’d save the young lady even if it meant sacrificing yourself.”
Leon said it without much thought—half as a joke. He didn’t believe in things like sacrifice or devotion in the first place, and the reason he was here now was precisely because there was no one around him with that level of altruism.
“If it means saving my lady, I’d gladly do it.”
The reply, however, came without the slightest hesitation.
“That’s why I made a contract with you, Sir Leon.”
The words didn’t sound like a joke at all. As he added that, Lowell gave Leon a bright, gentle smile.
“……”
For a moment, Leon clearly read in that smile how deeply Lowell cherished someone precious to him. And with that realization came a strangely unsettling feeling—
“Oh! Hide!”
But before Leon could examine his emotions, Lowell was faster, grabbing at his clothes. Pulled by the sleeve, Leon dropped down beside him.
“What—”
Leon’s mouth, opened to ask a question, immediately lost its purpose as Lowell’s hand pressed lightly over his lips.
Rustle.
Only then did Leon turn his gaze away from Lowell’s face, toward the grass where the sound had come from.
There, standing by the mansion wall and carefully scanning the surroundings, was a man with light brown hair.
He was holding a stone similar to the one Lowell had earlier. After looking around for a while, he eventually vaulted over the wall without incident. Judging by that, he too must have been granted access to the estate by someone.
“Viscount Davis….”
Watching him, Lowell ground out the name through clenched teeth.
Seeing how Lowell’s once-innocent eyes flared up in an instant, it wasn’t hard to infer that this “Davis” was the one who repeatedly put Lady Heinstein in danger.
“Let’s go.”
Once the man disappeared into the estate, Lowell stood first and held out his hand.
Following him inside, the two leaned against a wall and watched as the man tied a rope directly beneath the window of Aria’s room.
His impatient muttering, laced with curses as things failed to go smoothly, made his agitation obvious.
“At that level, we could just—”
Leon thought it would be easy enough to subdue him. But before he could finish the sentence, Lowell had already dashed out.
“Stop right there.”
Bursting out of the bushes, Lowell stood in front of Andy and pulled his hand from beneath his cloak. The sudden movement caused the cloak to slip off and fall to the ground.
“Ah!”
Clearly not expecting anyone to appear, Andy nearly jumped out of his skin at Lowell’s sudden emergence. Lowering his head to see who it was, he soon recognized Lowell’s face and let out a hollow, incredulous laugh.
“What the hell. You’re that maid who was with Aria back then, aren’t you? How dare you order me around—do you even know who I am?”
Perhaps embarrassed that he’d been startled by a mere servant, Andy spoke in clipped phrases as he walked closer to Lowell.
“You came to steal my lady’s magic power. I know. You do it every time. So this time, please just leave quietly.”
Lowell didn’t back down, continuing to glare straight at Andy.
“And if I don’t?”
Andy sneered as he closed the distance between them.
Shhk.
In that instant, a magic circle was drawn beneath Andy’s feet, and all his movements froze. It happened so quickly that not even a gasp escaped his lips.
“It’s a paralysis spell.”
Finishing the incantation he’d been murmuring, Lowell stepped closer to Andy.
“Mmph—”
“Be quiet. You’ll wake my lady.”
With eyes gone cold, Lowell looked down at Andy. Just as he reached out to take the magic orb from Andy’s hand—
Thud!
The weakly applied spell broke, and Andy shoved Lowell away and bolted.
Lowell had failed to restrain him.
“Huff, huff… what the hell was that?”
Having just escaped from Lowell, Andy gasped for breath as he hurried over the duke’s estate wall.
‘What was that—did that woman use magic? Good thing I brought a magic orb with an attack spell prepared. What in the world….’
He forced his legs to move faster, trying to get more oxygen to his brain.
Bang!
That was when it happened—Andy’s body was flung into the air and slammed back down onto the ground.
“Ghk….”
A half-formed groan burst from his mouth, mixed with blood.
“Andy.”
At that moment, someone came into his field of vision.
“You really never change. Since this happens every time, it’s not even surprising anymore.”
Looking at him with eyes full of contempt was Aria.
“I have no intention of dying at the hands of trash like you. My death will be used somewhere far more meaningful than for the likes of you.”
Those words were the last thing Andy heard before he lost consciousness. The coldly sunken eyes of Aria became his final memory.
Right after Andy fled, Lowell slowly opened the eyes he had tightly shut against the incoming magic.
As his vision gradually cleared, he saw Leon holding him close by the shoulders.
For a moment, Lowell couldn’t process what was happening and stood there blankly. Then he noticed a sharp, acrid smell in the air, and following it with his eyes, he saw black smoke rising from Leon’s shoulder.
“Gasp—are you all right?”
Leon had taken the magic orb Andy threw as he fled.
“The spell is still unstable. That’s why accidents like this happen.”
Unlike Lowell, who was so shocked he’d even lost his breathing rhythm, Leon spoke calmly, still holding onto his shoulder.
“……”
At those words, Lowell’s trembling gaze lingered briefly on Leon’s face before dropping to the ground.
Leon, feeling a strange sense of guilt at the sight of Lowell like that, was just about to offer some comfort—no, advice—when—
“Lowell?”
A voice cut in between them.
Aria, on her way back to her room, had spotted Lowell. Her eyes quickly moved to his hunched shoulders, and in an instant her voice rose sharply.
“What is this? Don’t tell me Andy attacked you? Are you hurt?”
Exhaling a breath heavy with anger, Aria rushed toward Lowell.
“N-no. Thanks to this gentleman, I wasn’t hurt.”
“What?”
At Lowell’s words, Aria took a step back and looked at Leon.
It felt to Leon as though she’d only just realized he was there.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Leon Riefman.”
Since their eyes had already met, Leon removed his hand from Lowell’s shoulder and greeted her properly.
“…So you’re the man who’s to become Lowell’s husband. I’m Aria Heinstein.”
After giving Leon a thorough once-over, Aria lowered her eyes slightly and returned the formal greeting.
“……”
An oppressive silence followed—though to be precise, that was how it felt to Lowell. He had never intended for the two of them to meet like this, and caught in the unexpected situation, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen.
“I was wondering why Andy was running away. So it was because of you. Thank you.”
Thankfully, the silence didn’t last long. Aria, her guarded expression noticeably softened, extended her hand to Leon first.
“Well, that’s—”
Leon glanced down at the offered hand, instinctively about to correct her. The magic that had restrained that man hadn’t been his, after all.
“……”
But then he noticed Lowell’s fingertips trembling slightly with tension, and he changed what he was about to say.
“No. I merely happened upon signs of an intrusion and barely managed to stop it.”
Taking Aria’s hand, Leon helped conceal what Lowell wished to hide.
“Is that so? More than anything, thank you for protecting Lowell.”
Aria said warmly, worry evident in her eyes as she looked at Lowell.
“You must have been really scared, Lowell. Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. What about you, my lady?”
“Hm? I’m fine. See? Perfectly fine.”
Holding Lowell’s hand, Aria smiled brightly to make sure her reassurance came across.
Watching the two of them, Leon glanced around before adding,
“I happened to run into that man while taking a night walk, and somehow ended up inside the estate. I apologize for the intrusion.”
“Oh, not at all. You’re the husband of my dearest friend.”
Aria tightened her grip slightly and turned to Leon.
“If anything, I’m sorry I couldn’t formally invite you. Ah—soon I’ll be staying at my winter villa for a few days. Would you like to come with Lowell?”
Smiling, Aria looked back and forth between Leon and Lowell.
“Pardon?”
At the sudden suggestion, Lowell’s mouth fell open.
“Come visit, just the two of you.”
On Aria’s face was a gentle smile that Lowell would find impossible to refuse.
“Great sovereign of the demon race, at last… that power has begun to be sensed again.”
In the darkness, a figure cloaked in black robes bowed deeply.
“Again… you say.”
A low voice, like pitch-black night, descended from the highest place.
“The capital of the humans—Akintia. There is one there who possesses that power. However…”
The speaker hesitated, leaving a brief pause before continuing much later.
“This time, the humans have stationed troops around the border, so we cannot remain long.”
At those words, the one standing highest slowly inclined his head downward.
“It doesn’t matter. Even if only for a fleeting moment—so long as I can confirm it.”
“……”
“This time, I must bring that person’s scent back to me, no matter what.”
