CH 13

Outside.  

“An assassination attempt!”  

That was Roberick’s reaction after I told him what the spirit of fire uttered that night. He trembled as if he could not control his anger and left his seat to circle around the room. 

“Edith, are you sure you’re not hurt?”  

“Yes, Grandpa.”  

My relationship with my grandfather, which’d gotten so strained that we didn’t even exchange a word to each other, had returned to normal. It was an eerie thought to have, but I even thought it was somewhat good that the assassination attempt took place.  

I erased that thought right after.  

I clutched my grandfather’s hand and looked at Roberick. 

“Bring me a list of all fire-elemental spiritualists that exist in this city.”  

“Yes, sir.”  

When the Grand Duke’s knight retreated at Roberick’s orders, the mayor glanced at him. 

He cast a gaze to the doorway where the knight had disappeared into, looking pale enough that I was worried he’d faint just like that.  

“A-ah, your grace, I really did not anything about this… please, this incident is an accident that has nothing to do with me…”  

“That will be determined when everything is revealed. Save your words.”  

Roberick dismissed the mayor’s words and closed his eyes as if he didn’t want to look at him. 

“Yes, yes, of course.”  

“Edith.”  

Leaving behind the mayor, who bowed all by himself with a face damp in cold sweat, Roberick approached me and said with a dark look, 

“How long has it been since I promised to protect you? I’m sorry for making you go through such an unpleasant experience.”  

I tried to control my facial expression. 

“It’s okay, I didn’t get hurt at all. And thanks to that, I now know I’m a spiritualist.”  

I added, looking back at the Spirit kings who’d not left my side even though a while had passed.  

“But please find those who tried to hurt me.”  

“Yes, of course.”  

Roberick’s red eyes glinted as he looked at me. 

“I’ll make sure to find them and make them suffer the most painful death imaginable.”  

“…….” 

You don’t have to answer that. 

I thought, avoiding Roberick’s gaze. 

“You probably didn’t have a good rest, so go in and sleep now. And you…do you have something else to say?”  

Roberick, who’d been talking to me affectionately, changed to a cold tone as he spoke to my grandfather. 

“No. Just find out who is behind the assassination.”  

Grandfather, who openly expressed the displeasure of Roberick approaching him on his face, said, 

“What you speak of is only natural. Please do not intervene, I will handle it myself.”  

Being stuck between these two made me suffocate. 

I jumped down from the big chair and walked briskly. 

But when I looked back at the knights lined up in the big room, a man suddenly came to mind. 

“By the way, where did he go?”  

I asked, examining the faces of the knights. 

“Huh, who?”  

Roberick asked softly. 

It would seem a little awkward for me to readily say his name.  

“…the man with the weed-colored hair.”  

“Oh, Perion.”  

I’d referred to him as that with personal feelings, but fortunately, Roberick seemed to understand what I meant. 

All of a sudden, the close confidante who was always with Roberick was nowhere to be seen. 

Isn’t that a little strange? 

Such a serious incident took place, but he didn’t even show a speck of his hair. 

“He left a letter saying he’d go back to the Grand Palace early…it’s nothing for you to be concerned about.”  

He went back to the Grand Residence? So suddenly?  

Something about that was suspicious, but the look on Roberick’s face was so strange that I couldn’t bring myself to ask anything about it.  

I left the room with spirits kings following me. 

It still feels surreal, but apparently, I’m a very special spiritualist who’s succeeded Roberick and I’ve been blessed by the Spirit King-level spirits. In this world, most spiritualists are blessed by middle-grade and lower-grade spirits, and their number is significantly smaller than humans.  

Spiritualists are divided into four grades: 4, 3, 2, and 1 according to the rank of the spirit that blessed them. But even in the case of 1st grade spirits, there has never been a case where all three attributes are blessed by the Spirit kings. 

Therefore, Spiritualists like Roberick, who’ve had all of their attributes blessed directly by the spirit kings, cannot be graded. They are classified as unconventional spiritualists. 

Roberick told me that I, whose 2 out of 3 attributes had been blessed by the spirit kings, would be classified as a 1st-grade spiritualist – even though my other attribute isn’t known. 

I never imagined I’d become a spiritualist. 

I’m still confused. 

Meanwhile, the two spirits who blessed me continued to worry about me even though we’d escaped from the burned-out mansion. 

[Edith, if you measure the amount of Mana you were born with, even if you continue to summon spirits for all day long and every moment of your life, it won’t affect you negatively.] 

[It seems that there are many people around you who are trying to hurt you. Even if you don’t summon us, always keep the lower and middle spirits by your side.] 

Among them, Nyad was particularly worried about me. 

Ilipia had been kind to me from the start, but Nyad’s concerns seemed a little different. 

Nyad encouraged me not to be without spirits even if she herself wasn’t around. 

[I told you I found your mother, Mariette, to be interesting.] 

Nyad, who was also the spirit that had blessed my mother, told me various things about her.  

To me, the existence of a mother was always a place of curiosity, but it was also always an area that I couldn’t fully understand. 

What kind of person was the mother that died after giving birth to me? 

I now knew that Mariette was the villainess of the novel, but the more I knew about her, the more curious I became. 

So the appearance of Nyad, who’d blessed my mother, and seemed to care about her very much, was a great pleasure for me. 

[Mariette…what a beautiful child. Not only in appearance, but also in soul. There was no part of her that wasn’t beautiful.] 

…but I think I should take it into account that I’m listening to a very biased view.  

I thought as I nodded. 

Nyad spoke with a subtle time as if she was lost in her memories. 

[She learned several times faster than her peers, and she couldn’t pass by a sick and hungry person without helping. She always kept a fair and generous attitude with those who worked for her, and she had a merciful hand. Even though she had a father who’d grant her every wish that she asked for, she did not engage in excessive greed.]  

But this is a little…isn’t this too much? 

I listened to Nyad’s story while narrowing my eyebrows.  

In Nyad’s words, Mariette was a girl who was naturally wise, fair and rational with no regard for self-interest. 

The evil woman who’d arrogantly denounced Chastia’s status in the original novel was apparently a princess who treated those beneath her with generosity and fairness. 

The wicked woman who’d accused Chastia and her child of clinging on to Roberick and being worse than beggars on the side of the streets could not pass by a hungry or sick person without helping. 

The villainess who’d dress up in precious jewelry and expensive dresses to keep Chastia, who’d drawn the attention of high society with her fairy-like beauty, in check was a modest person compared to her social status? 

…that’s too contradictory.  

I didn’t know who to believe. 

“…you know, Nyad. I’d like to take your word for it, but many people say mother was not a good person. I don’t know if I should just believe your words…”  

So I said so. 

The fact that the villainess was such a wise and upright girl…that doesn’t make sense, does it? 

But Nyad answered my question with a cold tone.  

[I guarantee you on my status as one of the Kings of Spirits – Mariette was never a child dyed with evil.]  

Nyad affirmed with an expression on her face that said, ‘where did you hear such nonsense?’  

I could no longer refute her firm attitude. 

[But, I was only Mariette’s secondary spirit…]  

At that moment, Nyad opened her mouth again with a bitter smile. 

A spiritualist has three attributes. 

Only one attribute is called the main attribute, and the other two are classified as adjuncts. 

There is an indivisible gap between the spirit in charge of the main attribute and the spirit in charge of the subsidiary. The spirit of the main attribute was deeply related to the very birth of the spiritualist itself, and in metaphorical terms, it was like a pillar that supported the spiritualist’s existence.  

Therefore, most of the powers used by a spiritualist are those of the main attribute’s spirit.  

Hence, it was inevitable that the secondary spirits had to keep a distance from the relationship and intimacy between the spiritualist and its most important spirit.  

But Nyad, the spirit king of water, was not Mariette’s main spirit? 

It was a completely unexpected story. 

[It hurt my pride… the spirit that was always with Mariette and closest to her was not me, but the Spirit King of Wisdom. He was the spirit that blessed Mariette’s main attribute.] 

The Spirit King of Wisdom?  

‘Lore of Wisdom.’  

It was a name that’d appeared in the story my grandfather had told me. 

I can’t believe he was Mariette’s main attribute spirit. 

[All I know of Mariette’s childhood is limited to the moments she’d summon me when she needed me. Perhaps he knows all the stories that you are curious about.]  

There aren’t many things I want to know. 

Why was Mariette so blindly obsessed with Roberick when he didn’t even love her? 

No matter how much she hated Chastia, who’d taken him away from her, how could she order for her and her daughter to be thrown alive in a fire pit? 

Is that cold and cruel person really my mother? 

If that’s true, my mother is a villain. 

Even my grandfather, who loved my mother so much, couldn’t keep up with her antics and trust her like he used to. So I wanted to know. 

Why did my mother, Mariette Eidin Bastevan, do such bad things?  

Nyad said all the answers are most likely held by the Spirit King of Wisdom. 

It is said that attributes can be inherited in a spiritualist. 

Of my three attributes, Ilipia was inherited from Roberick, and Nyad was inherited from Mariette.  

Then, wouldn’t the spirit king of wisdom also be one of my attributes? 

“Um, Ilipia. Is there any possibility that the spirit king of wisdom that Nyad mentioned is my last spirit?”  

I asked with some hope, but Ilipia shook her head. 

[In principle, a child between spiritualists only inherits one of each parent’s spirits, no more.]  

Damn it. 

[The spirits that blessed you will appear in front of you themselves when the right time comes. So do not rush. You’re still too young, Edith.] 

Ilipia spoke as if to comfort me. 

Spirits other than those you’ve been blessed with since birth cannot be summoned.  

…I can no longer inherit Mariette and Roberick’s attributes. 

Then, how do I meet the Spirit King of Wisdom? 

The day passed like a flash as I pondered about this and that. 

Investigations into the assassination attempt were still ongoing, and it seemed clear that we would have to stay here for at least another week. 

“…oh, I’m tired.”  

Night had come.  

I lay on the bed and looked blankly up at the ceiling, thinking that nothing was going to work at all.   

For-  

“Huh?” 

[Hello.] 

While I was blinking my eyes in the darkened room, a little water-drop shaped spirit appeared out of nowhere with a pop sound.  

What is this? This…  

Little drops of water flew in with shy laughter and placed themselves on the pillow of my bed. 

…they look very different from what I imagined, but these seem to be lower-level water spirits.  

They were much smaller than Nyad. 

[I’m a fresh-born water spirit. I’ve come under the orders of Lord Nyad.] 

Oh, it’s because you’re a baby. 

I nodded when I realized why the Spirit had an unusually dainty body and unusual appearance. 

The spirit lifted its short arms and revealed the sparkling mineral crystals it was carrying in it’s chest.  

“Wow – it’s pretty. What’s this?”  

The transparent sky-lit minerals were emitting a lot of beautiful lights. 

They looked similar to aquamarine. 

I fiddled with the little mineral carefully. 

[This is the memory crystal of Edith’s mother, Mariette.]  

Flinch. 

My hand, which was fiddling with the crystal, loosened it’s grip at what the drop of water said.  

[Lord Nyad, who understood your suffering, ordered me to show you a bit of the memory crystals she’d collected containing the memories she had with Mariette. Now, close your eyes. I’ll be showing them to you now.] 

“Wait!”  

The drop of water that was trying to put the mineral crystal on my forehead stopped abruptly.  

I mean, of course, I was curious, but…  

“This is too sudden. Hold on – let me prepare my heart-”  

[No, I do not have time.] 

The drop of water spoke firmly and placed the crystal on my head. 

No way! 

Just as I was about to say something, my vision immediately went dark without a moment’s delay. 

I had a dream. 

The season seemed to be the middle of winter. 

A little snowflake was falling down from the sky like a feather.  

In my dream, I looked up at the sky for some time and then lowered my head.  

In front of me stood a little girl about my age.  

It seemed that her parents were taking good care of her, seeing that the pretty girl was wrapped tightly in clothes. The child had the same Lavender-colored hair as me tied with a blue-ribbon.  

However, the eyes that looked up at me were golden, unlike mine. 

They held the same light as my grandfathers’. 

So I could realise the true identity of the child. 

“Look over there, Nyad.”  

A clear voice came in. 

At that moment, my body moved on its own and stared at the direction the child pointed. 

A child sat leaning against a collapsing ash wall. 

The gray hood covered his head, and a hem of the same color wrapped his skinny body.  

Who is it? 

The cape prevented me from identifying his face.  

I could only vaguely guess that the child has blonde hair from the golden hair that leaked out. 

‘Please, would you give him some water?’  

The child’s subsequent words surprised me. 

[But Mariette, that child is the son of a noble family that committed treason.] 

I heard Nyad’s voice. 

That voice was exactly what I was speaking right now. 

Oh, I’m currently the Nyad of the past.  

At that moment, Nyad turned again and looked down at Mariette. 

[They finally came to the point of committing a taboo that they should not commit, and for that reason they were punished and had their names denounced forever. How can you help a child who has paid a reasonable price for his sins and lives alone?] 

Nyad asked softly. 

‘You are right, but this is what I think.’ 

A clear voice returned. 

‘The sins of parents cannot be the sins of their children. When a person loses everything and falls into the abyss, their fate changes depending on who reaches out their hand to them.’ 

The child, no- Mariette raised her head and looked straight into Nyad’s eyes. 

‘I will save that sinner’s child and prevent him from walking the same path as his parents.’  

Her big golden eyes shone as brightly as the stars. 

The dream ended at that point. 

“…….” 

I opened my eyes and lost myself in thought. 

Everyone in the world except my grandfather and Nyad says my mother was a wicked woman. 

But their words may not have been completely true. 

I wonder if there’s something hidden in my mother’s story.