Chapter 153

“The ending of the story will be left to your imagination.”

Penelope said her last words and smiled. People applauded without laughter, but the mood had sunk.

Penelope and the Marquise seemed to be the only ones who were excited.

Luciel felt a sense of abnormality in the bizarre puppet show. It reminded her of the story of the Soul Eater, which Rupdell told her.

‘This is how you make a magic sword into a soul eater. The hole for the jewel you mentioned is a sign that it was made by swallowing someone’s soul.’ 

‘Simply put, it means an object that absorbs the soul of a person.’

Taken together, the puzzle seemed to fit.

‘Dead queen and baby, a special object, twelve disciples.’

Strangely enough, isn’t everything a perfect fit?

When speaking of the twelve disciples, Penelope paused and hesitated. It must have been ‘sacrifices’, not ‘disciples’.

If the queen is the deceased Queen Kayla, the baby is the Prince, and the special item is the Blue Execution.

The twelve grooves on the Soul Eaters sword were the disciples who were sacrificed…… There will be twelve of them.

Since the wicked prince does not have it, it will be in the possession of the Marquise.

If so, is it because of her skills that Penelope is moving like a doll right now?

I thought there must be someone behind the Prince, if that was the Marquise of Baluk…

‘That means…….’

Luciel watched the Marquise, who had been silent on a serious matter.

‘Then the real identity of that woman is the dead Queen Kyla? Or is she using that body for a while?’

Then, is the Queen’s purpose to fully awaken the power of the sword? She herself had already died, but to think she went this far for the prince. No, there may be other purposes.

While Luciel was rolling her brains creating many deductions, a thick fog rolled around her.

Surururu.

A hazy fog covered all directions.

Luciel looked around for a moment. Her family was nowhere to be seen. Neither the hosting Empress nor the other nobles were seen.

Luciel closed her eyes slightly and felt the flow of mana around her. There was mana mixed in the air. If it were normal, she would be able to feel the flow of air that should have been floating around and circulating.

‘That…does that mean something has changed?’

Luciel narrowed her eyes and repeated the inspection.

With the scent of thick perfume, she could feel a draped black cloth lightly touching her body.

She has never felt this way. When she was exposed to hunger and severe mental and physical pain, she experienced the bizarre phenomenon of seeing the unseen and hearing the unheard.

Even the sense of smell and touch had vivid illusions.

Some even described it as going crazy. A coolness that resembled it, but more unpleasant, swept Luciel’s body. Soon, the Marquise, who covered her face with a black veil, approached with a gentle gait.

A cold sense of fear pressed down on Luciel’s small body. But Luciel bit her lip.

‘Calm down. If you are afraid, you will lose. Obviously, my family is here.’

Having removed the veil, she approached Luciel and shook her nose.

“…Lovely child. You smell sweet and pure. But it’s hidden by something.…… What did you do? Huh?”

The twinkling eyes didn’t look like those of a human. What the hell is it? Luciel overcame the fear and said.

“……Who are you? Why are you with that face?”

“Fufu……oh, well, it looks like a face you know? I see. Then you should look closely.”

Madam Baluk, who answered with her horribly pale face, rolled her eyes and circled Luciel again.

“…….”

“Here, let’s take a closer look.”

‘You can’t be scared or fall for it, Luciel. After all, this must be all an illusion.’

Hiding her nervous heart, Luciel said.

“You better not touch me!”

“Ha, this little one is not afraid of anything. You. What are you hiding?”

When the Marquise was about to comb through Luciel’s outfit, she shrank back, trying to gather mana, but quit doing so.

She couldn’t feel the flow of air earlier, so she can’t use mana now.

‘I can’t use magic here anyway. If that’s the case then…… I have no choice.’

Luciel bit her lip, staring intently at the woman, and changed her posture.

“Do you wonder what I’m hiding? Catch me and find for yourself.”

Then she started running away with her small body. As she ran, Luciel thought.

‘What am I hiding? This is an illusion, but Grandma’s dragon mana amulet seems to work even here.’

The Marquise felt some of Luciel’s pure mana, but it was obscured and stuffy.

If so, the various protections spells and magic shields on me will be effective as they are. Because the mana amulet was also something made with Grandma’s magic.

To put it simply, it was difficult to use mana, but the shields hung on her body were still working.

‘That woman, I think her ability to read energy is very refined. If I stay in one place, she might notice that shields were cast on me. I have to make her touch me without hesitation. If I stay still, she will think it is rather strange, so let’s move as much as possible.’

As Luciel evaded her while stalling for the cue, the Marquise who was on the last of her patience, said:

“You move around like a mouse.”

She followed diligently and grabbed Luciel out of nowhere with long arms.

At that moment, when Luciel’s protection spells and magic shields were simultaneously activated, dazzling light was emitted.

Taaah!

Ting! Ting! Ting!

Ddodon!

Chaw! Chaw! Chaw!

Woohoo!

“……Hm? How many are there?”

There were five different types of protection and shield magic cast on her. While the magic was being exercised, it seemed that there were some that bounced the opponent away and blind magic that dazzled them.

Alas, the Marquise who caught her sight was thrown far away. Then all the illusions around her cleared and the thick fog was gone.

When Luciel opened her eyes, she made eye contact with Kizef.

“You must have been tired. To fall asleep so quickly…….”

“What? Did I fall asleep?”

Luciel blinked her eyes slowly in surprise.

“Yes, you dozed off during Penelope’s presentation.”

“……Huh? no. I watched it all. The content of the puppet show presented by Penelope was very strange…….and…….”

After listening to Kizef’s story, Luciel started looking for the Marquise. She remained calm and unmoved as if nothing had happened.

“What? Was it really a dream?”

Luciel muttered as if possessed by something. Penelope walked over to her, pouting her lips.

“Princess? What about my puppet show? The story of the ash girl is a famous fairy tale, but what’s so strange about it?”

“A girl full of ash? No, you announced a different story. The queen died while giving birth and killed her twelve disciples…….”

“What, why would I tell such a bad story?”

Neither Penelope nor Kizef seemed to be lying.

‘Was it really a dream?’

Around the time Luciel was thinking with a dazed face, she met the eyes of the Marquise. She gave a faint glare filled with veiled hostility.

Luciel was sure.

‘It wasn’t a dream.’

When the Duke saw changes in Luciel’s mood, he approached and wrapped her in a protective embrace, tucking her fine hair from her forehead behind her ear.

He seemed to have noticed something. As if worried, he sharply narrowed his brow.

“Luciel, are you okay?”

“Yes, I must have been tired for a while.”

Luciel didn’t say anything about it, because there were a lot of eyes around.

Soon as she looked around the crowd the Empress said.

“It was a delightful time in which my eyes and ears were filled with the precious writings and rich attractions bought by all the seven families. Today’s literary salon will never be forgotten.”

“Will you tell us whose writing presentation won the heart of the Empress?”

Princess Claudia asked with a smile. She knew it, but she dared to ask because she wanted Luciel to have more attention.

“Everyone has prepared great articles, but the one that touched my heart the most……It belonged to Princess Bellstein. So did the stained glass craft that she brought.”

The Empress warmly said as she looked at the glass craft. Everyone congratulated them with applause, and Luciel greeted back even though she was shy.

“It is an honor, Your Majesty.”

The lively salon came to an end. The first to disappear without greetings was Marquise Baluk and Penelope. The Duke, who greeted the other participating nobles, also told his family.

“Let’s hurry up and go back. It’s pretty late.”

There were many people who regretted when Bellstein was about to leave their post.

“Brother-in-law, you haven’t even enjoyed the dinner party yet, are you leaving already?”

Lariet’s husband, Count Serian, spoke politely. Claudia and Dana also approached and said to Luciel.

“How about if Luciel stays at the Imperial Palace today too? In my room.”

It was a pleasant suggestion, but Luciel shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Princess Claudia. I’m tired today, so I’ll go back now. I’m staying in a townhouse instead, so why don’t you come over?”

“That would be nice too. Is this Luciel’s friend?”

“My name is Dana from Marquisate Marande, Her Highness the Princess. Oh, it’s an honor… …!”

As Claudia and Dana greeted, Luciel thought for a moment.

Her heart was still pounding and disturbed by what had happened just before. Moreover, the longer she stays in the Imperial Castle, the more time the Dragon Mana Amulet will be used up.

Although the Marquise Baluk and Penelope disappeared, Prince Reynold was still in the Imperial Palace.

If the Prince’s deceased mother was the Marquise, they would somehow make contact again.

Come to think of it, when the Marquise first arrived, she appeared together with Prince Reynold.

‘Ah, then, did they already make contact?’

As Luciel stiffened with a serious expression on her face, an unexpected opponent approached her with an-ahem cough.

“I became a fan of your impressive writing, Young Lady. Oh no, can I call you Princess?”

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