Chapter 46
“Cough, are you out of your mind?”
“Say that again! The Duke is what? Missing? Are you saying he’s not in the duchy?”
“How would I know! That’s just the rumor going around!”
The man shook off Frank’s hand roughly and rubbed his sleepy neck.
When he saw Frank’s half-crazed black eyes, he swallowed hard.
“…Well, they say it’s been about three months now. Since he didn’t show up for the princess’s coming-of-age ceremony, that’s probably how the rumor started.”
“The Duke is gone? Then right now…”
Muttering to himself, Frank suddenly pushed through the crowd and bolted out of the gambling den.
He had just left the den when—
“Frank Kurz.”
At the sound of someone calling his name, Frank turned around.
A person dressed head-to-toe in black was walking toward him.
Only a slender hand and sharp jawline were visible beneath the robe.
They looked suspicious at first glance.
“I heard you’re Lady Winter’s uncle. Is that correct?”
“I am. And you are…?”
Frank’s face said plainly: I don’t have time for this, so what do you want?
The person soothed him with a gentle voice.
“May we have a quick word? It’s about the young lady.”
“Siena?”
“It won’t be a waste of your time.”
Frank’s interest was piqued. The eyes hidden beneath the hood gleamed dangerously.
“Siena, I’m bored.”
Ban whined and flopped down across my lap.
His constant squirming made it hard to concentrate.
“Ugh! Ban, don’t distract me. I’m trying to study right now.”
“What do you mean ‘study’? You’re drawing!”
“This is very important work!”
I gripped my pen and stared at the paper.
A complex geometric pattern made my vision spin.
It was a magic circle Herace had given me to copy.
Can a normal person even draw this?
It was hard enough already, but Ban’s whining made my head throb.
“That’s it. Ban, come here.”
I picked him up from the floor and placed him on the desk, handing him a colored pencil.
“If you’re bored, then draw too.”
“What? Do you think I’m a kid? I’m a mighty demon—!”
“I’ll buy you that cake you like if you sit still and draw.”
The mighty demon was weak to sweets.
“What should I draw?”
“Whatever you want. Something you like.”
“Something I like?”
After thinking for a moment, Ban decided and began scribbling beside me.
“What are you drawing?”
“Strawberry cake.”
“…I see. A strawberry cake from hell…”
“Does it look like that? Then I must’ve done a great job!”
Ban wagged his tail proudly, saying that ‘hellish’ was the highest compliment for a demon.
It wasn’t really meant as praise, but I couldn’t say otherwise to that bright smile, so I nodded stiffly.
“Yeah… You did really well. Let’s draw cakes with other flavors too.”
“Okay!”
With peace finally restored, I turned back to the magic circle.
As I carefully copied the pattern—
A finger suddenly entered my field of view and pointed at one part of the paper. It was Herace.
“See-see. You messed up here.”
“…Herace, this is too hard. My eyes feel like they’re going to fall out.”
“You should be able to do this much. If you just focus, you can do it. Stop whining.”
Herace scolded me strictly and urged me to continue.
“Come on.”
“Fine. I’ll do it, okay?”
I couldn’t even ask for a short break.
Grumbling, I followed Herace’s instructions and infused mana into my pen to draw the lines.
I was getting used to handling mana now, so it wasn’t too difficult.
It hurts my eyes, but it’s kinda fun, too.
Doing this made me feel like I’d gone back to childhood.
Scratch, scratch.
Rustle, rustle.
Scribble, scribble.
The sound of my pen moving, Herace flipping pages, and Ban coloring quietly filled the room.
Listening to it all made me feel peaceful.
So calm. I love this.
With a relaxed smile, I finally threw down my pen and raised my arms in triumph.
“Done! I finished it!”
“Well done.”
Grinning at Herace’s praise, I waved the paper and asked:
“What kind of magic circle is this?”
“A scroll.”
“A scroll?! So I can use this to teleport if I tear it?”
I actually completed such a valuable item?
My heart pounded at my first magical achievement.
Just as I twitched, ready to rip it, Herace took the scroll from my hand.
“Not yet. The coordinates aren’t set—it’s just an empty shell.”
“How do I set the coordinates?”
“You have to infuse the location into the mana. Basically, you have to draw the circle while focusing only on that place.”
That meant it required not just stamina but intense concentration.
“That’s hard…”
“Which is why it’s expensive.”
But I couldn’t give up now!
“Herace, give me any coordinate. I’ll try drawing it.”
“Then try drawing one that leads to your room.”
I carefully began drawing the circle, repeating the coordinates Herace gave me in my mind.
That’s when—
Someone knocked at the door.
“Come in.”
It was Rina.
“Young miss, you have a visitor.”
“A visitor? I have one of those?”
Spinning my pen between my fingers, I asked, and Rina replied with a troubled expression.
Clatter—
The pen slipped from my hand and rolled across the floor.
I asked again in a quiet, sunken voice.
“…Who is it?”
I nearly tumbled down the hall as I ran and threw open the parlor doors.
Bam—!
The door, made from famously strong northern wood, rattled as if it might shatter.
“Siena. Come sit down.”
Noah gestured for me, but I didn’t go to him.
Instead, I glared coldly at a certain person.
“Siena!”
Frank stood up with a wide smile on his face.
Frank Kurz.
He was my maternal uncle.
“It’s been a while.”
“Dear, have you been well?”
And my maternal grandparents too?
Why are they in my house…?
They were my mother’s family, but I wasn’t happy to see them.
Especially Frank Kurz.
He was someone to be wary of.
The only brother of my late mother, and the current head of the now-ruined Kurz Barony.
His loves included gambling, alcohol, drugs, and every kind of indulgence.
He was greedy to the core, and chronically obsessed with business schemes.
In short, a thoroughly rotten man.
And the biggest reason I disliked Frank was because—according to the original story—he was the one who gave me the cursed demon bracelet.
Don’t tell me he’s here to give me that thing?
Reluctantly walking over to Noah, I sat on the sofa and turned my head.
Just seeing his face made my instincts reject him.
What the hell is he thinking, coming back here now?
As I bristled with suspicion, Frank blinked, looking flustered.
“S-Siena? Didn’t you miss your dear uncle?”
“No.”
Miss you? I wish you’d disappear from my life forever.
Frank cleared his throat, embarrassed by my cold reply.
“Ahem. Siena, back then I—”
“If it’s about the past, I don’t want to hear it. Why are you here, Uncle?”
“…I heard. That the Duke has disappeared.”
“What?”
“I heard everything. It’s been three months with no word—he’s missing, right?”
What is he talking about?
“Missing…?”
I looked at Noah in disbelief. He shook his head tiredly.
So they barged in after hearing rumors about Father’s disappearance.
What a weasel. Hasn’t changed a bit, even after a year.
The thing I had feared had finally happened.
“I heard he didn’t attend the princess’s coming-of-age ceremony either.”
As expected, even Grandmother joined Frank in backing him up.
“I believe there’s been a misunderstanding. My father is currently away. It’s true he couldn’t attend the ceremony, but he sent word beforehand saying he was too busy.”
Anticipating this visit, Noah pulled out a stack of letters exchanged with Father and placed them in front of them.
Seeing the steady correspondence, the three exchanged uncertain glances.
Grandfather was the first to speak.
“…Then when do you expect him to return?”
“He’ll be home soon.”
“Then until he returns, we’ll stay here to look after things.”
“We can’t leave Siena here alone without a guardian.”
Following Frank’s lead, my grandparents brought me into the conversation.
Unable to bear any more, I cut in coldly.
“Alone? Can’t you see Noah is right here?”
“Siena, Noah is busy with work. A sickly girl shouldn’t be left alone. I, your uncle, will stay by your side.”
“Even if Noah isn’t around, there’s the butler, the knights, and Chester. What’s the problem?”
What’s this obvious ploy to freeload?
“They’re not blood relatives.”
If I had to trust the blood of House Kurz, I’d rather go outside and make a blood pact with a stray dog.
“And what makes you think I’d let you stay near me?”
“We’re family—”
“If you’re going to spout that worthless ‘we’re family’ nonsense, save it. I don’t want to hear it.”
“Siena! How can you speak that way!”
Grandmother scolded me for being disrespectful. She clearly couldn’t stand seeing her son insulted.
“This isn’t the time to lecture me about manners. And if you had any shame, you wouldn’t have shown your faces here. I’m not a goldfish—you didn’t really think I forgot what happened that day, did you?”
When I brought up the incident they tried to ignore, the three of them fell silent, as if on cue.
