Chapter 132

“This is enough evidence. But I need a trigger.”

Curtis, who had been looking through the documents Carthia Family had handed over, had said so. It was an arrogant voice, fearing that someone might not be the Crown Prince who will lead the Empire.

“You know what’s the most important thing about this? Evidence? Testimony? It’s all wrong. The most important thing is the reason.”

So, it was said that the knights of the imperial family, more precisely, Curtis’ subordinates, needed an excuse to forcibly open the gate of the Marquisate De Flon and enter.

Despite being educated at the Carthia House and raised at the Royal Crohn Academy along with Aiden, Nathan and other nobles, Raynard couldn’t understand Curtis’ words.

There is already evidence, so why should we go to such trouble when we can arrest them? Even though the truth is clearly visible in front of your eyes, do you need a cause for that? Wouldn’t it just be enough to bring the evidence in?

Curtis added, as if he had read his mind.

“Do you think that all those who were executed for treason in the history of the Empire really conspired against it? There must be more victims of political strife than those who actually plotted treason. It is more important to have a justification to convince the aristocrats than the facts.”

Even after hearing additional explanations, Reynard was still not convinced. Frankly, he wanted to come alone after De Flon and wring his neck, even if he was alone.

As long as he could protect Yurina like that, if he could make her feel at ease, he could do anything.

However, something told him that he wouldn’t be able to be with Yurina if he did something like that.

What would he do if, by chance, he cut off Marquis De Flon’s breath as per his instinct and ended up as a fugitive? It didn’t matter if he was being chased, but he didn’t want to see Yurina’s disappointed face and hurt her because of himself.

So, in order to remain by Yurina’s side, he must adapt perfectly to this aristocratic society.

So, instead of questioning Curtis’s words, Reynard exchanged opinions with Yurina and the people of Carthia to create the ‘moment’ he said.

At that time, the person who unexpectedly helped was Karion.

“The child being held in Carthia will hold Marquis De Flon’s ankles.”

According to Karion, the child who aimed at Yurina was the only warlock disciple of Marquis De Flon. It was he who cast black magic on the wolf that was targeting Yurina during the hunting competition.

Karion said that the boy is quite talented, but he is still young and has a lot of self-importance, although he doesn’t know much about the world, because he was on the run from a young age. In a good way, he is naive, and in a bad way, he is a fool.

Marquis De Flon thought the plan was perfect and sent a disguised child to Yurina, but he was captured in Carthia House.

Will Marquis De Flon really move to save his one and only disciple? Neither Yurina nor Reynard thought so. If it was Marquis De Flon’s personality, he’d rather kill the boy to get rid of the evidence and not give him an excuse to save him and get caught.

So, before Marquis De Flon moved, it was decided to strike first. They wanted to use the boy to prove that he was being ordered by the Marquis.

It would have been a difficult plan without Karion, who was well aware of Marquis De Flon’s circumstances , but thanks to Karion’s help,  the plan went relatively smooth.

The main plan was to surround the boy’s hideout as if they were hunting a rabbit and force him to move to a location that indicated his connection to Marquis De Flon.

Thanks to Karion’s remark, everyone found out exactly where the villa was located, which the De Flon family hid from people.

Curtis found out that the butler of the De Flon family was the formal owner of the villa, and that the butler had bought the villa on the personal orders of the Marquis.

Tonight, when Curtis sent the signal, when Reynard and Yurina went to visit the boy, he fine-tuned the restraints that restrained his mana, so that the boy would not suspect it. The boy had to use the maximum amount of magic to barely break it.

The reason why the boy wasn’t handed over to the Imperial Knights and still kept in Carthia Mansion was for this goal.

Whether he was naive or stupid, the boy moved as Reynard intended. He broke the restraining sphere and ran away, then used a magic to move to the hideout where the imperial knights were waiting, but when that didn’t work, he came to the villa where Reynard and Carthia’s knights were hiding.

If he hadn’t moved as intended, he’d have been able to catch him by the tail, but the stupid boy made things a little easier.

“You, you, you! You bastard!”

Realizing that he had fallen into a trap, the boy contorted his face and collected mana in his hands. Unlike when Reynard used magic, he gave off an ominous sensation, swept across the boy’s palm.

Sensing danger, the knights separated from the boy and took a few steps back. Only Reynard approached the boy.

Every time he took a step closer, the magic power gathered in the boy’s hand weakened. And when he came close, the black whirlwind disappeared without a trace.

Reynard muttered in a low voice to the boy who was widening his eyes.

“I told you. Your magic doesn’t work anymore.”

“You bastard!”

When the magic didn’t work, the boy jumped directly at Reynard. Reynard grabbed the boy’s outstretched arms and threw him to the ground.

Pressing the boy’s chest tightly with his foot, the boy wrinkled his face and let out a groan.

The boy struggled, scratching the floor with his nails. Every time that happened, Reynard gave more strength to the foot that was stepping on the boy’s chest.

When the mana was blown into it, restraints began to form again on the scarred wrists and ankles of the boy.

When the restraints were completely filled, Reynard withdrew from the boy. In the meantime, the boy passed out due to the shock of his magic colliding.

Reynard winked at Edwin, who instructed him to bind the boy, then came out of the villa and fired a beam of light into the black sky with magic.

All that was left was Marquis De Flon. He looked at the place where the Marquis De Flon was located in the distance and used a movement magic.

* * *

A quiet tension lingered in the mansion of Marquis Carthia, as if a rat had died. Silence hung over the bedroom where Yurina, Betsy, and the Marchioness Carthia were.

As Reynard had requested, Yurina didn’t move a single step in the Marchioness’ bedroom. This was the only place in Carthia Mansion where Reynard cast a defense magic that will protect from black magic.

It would be nice to use defensive magic all over the mansion, but black magic wasn’t so easy to resist, so he had to limit it to just this bedroom.

Yurina looked out the window, touching her necklace nervously.

‘Are you okay?’

By this time, Reynard should have seized the warlock boy again, and Curtis’s knights were moving towards Marquis De Flon. It’s already thoroughly planned, so it won’t be much of a problem unless something in particular goes wrong.

At least the people she cares about, including Reynard, will be safe.

Yurina sighed as she remembered Riggs and Edwin, who were involved in the operation with the Imperial Knights, and Marquis Carthia and Justin, who were left behind to defend the Carthia mansion.

It was pitiful that the people he loved the most were moving at such a risk, while he was safe in the bedroom of the Marchioness, where Reynard had cast a defensive magic.

‘If only I had more ability.’

Yurina could hold a sword or use magic, so it would be nice if she helped Raynard. This thought haunted her all this time.

In fact, even if she had that ability, Reynard and the rest of her family wouldn’t have let her move. She was what Marquis De Flon was looking for the most. If he makes her final push, his first target will be her.

So, it was better to stay calm here than to be taken hostage or harmed by Marquis De Flon for nothing.

Yurina was well aware of this, but thinking about the people outside, her heart was heavy, as if a stone was sitting on top.

“Everything will be fine.”

Marchioness Carthia rubbed Yurina’s back affectionately.

“You don’t have to worry because you have a mother.”

Seventeen years old. Even though she was not yet an adult, but not a child who needed the absolute protection of her parents, her mother, the Marchioness, took care of Yurina as if she was a child. She seemed to have the idea that as her mother she had to protect her daughter.

However, Yurina rather had a sense of mission to protect her mother too.

‘I will never lose her again.’

Peaceful daily life spent with loved ones. Seven years ago, she didn’t want to lose that precious treasure that she had missed overnight.

“Yes. Everything will be fine.”

Yurina forced a smile and looked out the window again. The mansion of Marquis Carthia and the mansion of Marquis De Flon were in the same capital, but so far away that it wasn’t visible to the naked eye.

Even though there was no way to hear the sounds of Marquis De Flon’s mansion, it seemed like there was some commotion outside. Yurina tightly gripped her necklace with her slightly sweaty palms.

Reynard said he would come back to her when everything was over. So she couldn’t be relieved until he returned.

At that moment, when Yurina couldn’t breathe deeply and her eyes flickered here and there, an explosion was heard in the quiet mansion, and it felt like the ground was shaking like an earthquake.

Obviously there was nothing, but Yurina fell off the bed in shock as if she had been pushed by something.

“Yurina!”

Starting with the Marchioness’ shrieking scream, the surroundings of the mansion started to become noisy.