Chapter 54
There were two coffins placed in the temple chapel. The music was solemn, and the priests stood with expressionless faces. It was a funeral. Katia’s brother James and her father, Count Schacht, had died shortly after going to the North. The cause of death was said to be the plague spreading through the North. The bodies had already been burned, so the coffins were empty.
“Rest in peace.”
When the priest said that, Katia’s mother — who had been crying the whole time — made a pitiable sound as if she wanted to say something.
“Ah, ahh!”
“Mother, you must calm down. If you fall ill too, what will I do?”
Katia grabbed her mother as she was about to collapse and comforted her in a gentle voice. But her mother shoved Katia away. Katia, pushed, fell backward onto her backside. Her mother opened her eyes wide and glared at her.
“How cruel, you — cruel…!”
Katia’s mother could not even finish the sentence properly. Katia picked herself up with a sad face and stood in her place. Seeing that, people began to whisper.
“The young lady must be in shock.”
“She looks spaced-out, not like herself.”
“Won’t the young lady inherit the countship?”
“Schacht is ruined in an instant.”
People loved talking about others. Even at a funeral, they couldn’t hold back their chattering; they knew they might be overheard but kept whispering among themselves anyway. Katia thought them pathetic inwardly.
‘What silly people.’
Schacht would not be ruined. If anything, it would have been worse if the old Count Schacht had kept full authority for a long time, or if her brother James had taken it — they would have fallen apart much sooner.
“A final farewell to the deceased.”
When the priest spoke quietly, Katia drew close to the empty coffin with a sorrowful, resigned expression and said her goodbyes.
“I will live as Father told me. Always, for the family.”
She meant that one hundred percent. For the family’s sake, she had to take everything herself, and her father and brother had to be removed. Countess Schacht vaguely seemed to think that all this was Katia’s fault, but there was nothing she could do about it.
‘If Mother goes mad too, I’d actually be more at ease. I could send her to the temple.’
After the funeral ended and they returned home, a servant brought a letter. Along with the formal document from the royal household recognizing her countship, there was a short condolence note.
“And?”
Katia asked the servant as if expecting there might be more.
“The Crown Prince sent this.”
The servant handed Katia a small package. When she opened it, a pair of large ruby earrings lay in the little box. Katia smiled faintly at them.
“He is really thoughtful.”
Hearing the servant’s remark, Katia laughed lightly.
“Thoughtful? Ahaha, thoughtful. This isn’t a gift. It’s a prize. Do you know why I got it?”
“I- I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
“No, I’m asking if you know why.”
“I don’t.”
“A lot of people have died in the North. Around fifty just last month.”
Katia, with the corners of her mouth forming a slight arc, supplied an unasked-for answer.
“Fifty is like a small village. You know? There’s nobody left to mourn them, so that’s fortunate, isn’t it?”
The servant thought Katia had gone strange from the grief of losing her father and brother. He could not comprehend her words. She spoke too fast, disjointedly, abruptly laughing then suddenly taking on a threatening manner.
“What are you afraid of?”
Katia asked the servant. The servant avoided her gaze, terrified.
“Am I frightening you?”
“No.”
Katia smiled down at the servant as if looking down on him.
“You may go.”
“Thank you.”
The servant hurried out, and Katia watched him go with a small laugh.
“People are so weak that they die from nothing but being frightened in advance. Pathetic and feeble.”
Katia wore an expression that made it clear she found the idea laughable. The curse she had set on the North was absurdly effective.
Curses normally only work if the person cursed accepts them. When Katia first suggested cursing the North, the Crown Prince had laughed at her.
“The Northerners are used to magic; they know about curses much better than the capital people.”
‘Besides, curses can be easily shrugged off. Just refuse them.’
The Crown Prince had said that. It was true. But people’s minds were frail in ways he hadn’t accounted for, and Katia could take advantage of that.
For example, if someone says, “I wish you were dead,” and you think, “What nonsense?” the curse vanishes. But if even a crack opens in your thoughts — “Maybe it would be better if I were dead” — the curse seeps in there.
So Katia set about making the Northerners anxious.
“What on earth happened?”
Once the boy came to himself, Leon immediately demanded, pressing him for the whole story.
“Give me a moment to breathe.”
The boy, only beginning to catch his breath, still looked exhausted. Even lying in bed he did not look comfortable.
“People are still dying in the North. If we knew what’s happening, we might be able to stop it.”
Hearing that, I didn’t try to hold Leon back any further. The boy, surprised, forced himself to sit up.
“I was going to visit relatives in the North, and someone asked me to deliver a letter. They said I must never open it… and because I’m curious, I opened it. It said that a monster in the North was sucking people’s life-force and that we should be careful.”
Leon reacted as if he understood immediately.
“Was the monster perhaps the Duke of the North?”
“How did you know? Sir Wizard? Is that… is that magic?”
The boy didn’t seem to imagine that the person in front of him could be the Duke of the North.
“What happened after that?”
“I delivered the letter. I told my relative because I was worried… back then it was very cold in the North, and the harvests were poor…”
“Do you remember anything about the person who gave you the letter?”
“He was just an ordinary-looking man. He paid a lot, so that’s the only thing I remember.”
“Do you still have that package?”
“It’s at home. I can bring it if you need it.”
Leon nodded and then beckoned to me to go outside.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“A curse only completes if the person cursed accepts it.”
“What do you mean?”
The Duke explained it like this. Katia’s curse was, in reality, that a monster would suck the people’s life-force until they withered away. People suspected the Duke might be the monster, and so they truly became drained of life-force as if a monster had taken it.
“How do we break that?”
“Either undo it one by one like before… or the belief must be thoroughly broken. But once people start doubting, they continually seek evidence to justify their doubt.”
If they believed the Duke was a monster, they would not seek his help.
“How frustrating. They believe anything.”
“Belief is what makes a curse possible.”
The Duke hesitated for a moment, then added something.
“Don’t think them foolish.”
“They aren’t.”
It’s easy to blame gullible people. But the one who tricked them is the truly wicked one. Especially in this case — what fault do those dying of fear and mistrust have?
“Hm. I know someone good at this sort of thing.”
“What sort of thing?”
“Someone who convinces others positively — especially people.”
The Duke let out a short laugh. It was somewhat self-mocking.
“Someone who has no charm to irritate others and only pushes right and wrong, is that possible?”
“What nonsense is that!”
Honestly, I was so surprised my eyes widened. If I could, I would have given him a good smack. What is he on about? He was still terribly handsome, as usual; his features were sculpted perfectly, and his slightly upturned eyes gave him a cold, stern look. At first his presence felt more frightening than handsome… Ah — that’s it!
“Shall we go this time? To the North.”
“You’ll be busy.”
“No, no. The Duke is assigning his house’s company in the capital to deal with the Northern problem.”
“What can you do?”
Why was he acting like this today? It would have been better if he’d just say “do this, do that” and leave. He seemed unusually weakened.
“Do you truly have no expectations at all?”
When I looked up at the Duke, our eyes met. He studied me quietly for a moment in that gaze.
“Sorry. I ask you formally.”
“Alright. I’ll solve this problem and follow quickly. Within this week!”
