CH 8

*******

Alone, Eristella ran swiftly down the hallway in search of something.

Heinricion had caught onto her true identity. She had no idea how much longer she could remain in this mansion.

So now that she was alone, she had to get as much information as she could. But the information she wanted to know now wasn’t about black magic.

‘If I could have found it in just a few hours, I wouldn’t have to worry.’

That was impossible. The fox knew exactly what was realistically possible and what was impossible.

Thus, the information she needed now was a way to negotiate with Heinricion. She had to show him that when she’s with him in her fox form, there was value.

‘So, now I have to figure out what Heinricion needs.’

In Eristella’s sight, who was running non-stop, there were probationary aides who were gathering and talking with serious faces.

Among them, Eristella was aiming for Anessa, who had shown favor to her from the beginning. As she deliberately approached her, Anessa embraced Eristella in her arms.

Polk. Ung. The fox could hear the conversation of the employees without much effort.

“I don’t know why the Grand Duke is holding in.”

“Every time I hear it, it makes me uncomfortable.”

“I can’t believe they are asking the Grand Duke to be held accountable even for the things that the Princess had done.”

The eyes of Eristella, which were half-closed as she was listening, flashed opened. Huh? What’s this sound?

‘What did I do?’

However, it didn’t take long before she understood what the employees were talking about.

‘Aha. I know what it is.’ Certainly, she had met Patrick Haveling and Leighton before. And then…….

‘Are you striking like this since I’m not around?’

Eristella’s eyes grew cold.

“Why did Her Highness the Princess break a person’s leg for no reason?”

Eristella nodded her head quietly at the employee’s bitter lament. Of course, it was true that she broke Patrick Haveling’s leg.

‘But it was worth it.’

Even if she had gone back in time, she would still have broken Patrick’s leg.

No. Maybe not.

She might not be able to finish with just one leg, she didn’t know if he would be able to fix it pretty well here and there for half a year.

Half a year ago, Eristella met with a request to check Leighton Haveling’s magical powers. He was also accompanied by his guardian, Patrick Haveling.

Eristella, an archmage, recognized the child’s magical powers wavered because of his unstable emotions, and found that the cause was Patrick.

Leighton’s guardian, Patrick, was abusing him. Eristella noticed this and left him a warning.

‘That was the bridge.’

She was to go straight to the Prouthu region; hence, doing so would mean that Patrick would lie down and do nothing until she returned.

She was going to deal with Leighton’s problem as soon as she got back from work.

‘But I couldn’t come back.’

She forgot because she was dealing with an unexpected situation (which was, staying in fox form).

In addition, when she had disappeared, Patrick was rather full of energy and stirring. Even if he was quietly reflecting on it, she wouldn’t forgive him, but he was even more violent.

‘I definitely warned you back then, but you’re still out of your mind.’

‘Hold still and wait.’

Eristella started running hard with her short legs, her eyes fiery. The mansion’s employees watched the fox run down the hallway, but no one cared.

Thanks to this, Eristella was able to get to her destination without any interference.

Doong, doong.

The place she went to was a room that was not currently being used.

‘Where would you be here?’

This was the place Eristella knew best in the residence of the Grand Duke of Adelasia.

‘When she was a child, whenever she came to the grand ducal mansion to learn applied magic, this was the laboratory she shared with Heinricion.’

Except when she was taking classes, she used to come here and do research on making new magical items.

Most of them were bizarre and weird, and some were banned because they were dangerous to actually use.

‘I secretly hid what I was told to dispose of at that time.’

There, Eristella diligently searched for one item that was perfect for this situation.

*******

Heinricion, who was meeting Patrick and Leighton, was in a difficult situation.

Heinricion’s half-brother had little talent as a wizard.

Since it was impossible to do anything other than a little practical magic that could aid him in his life, he expected for magic to disappear completely from his child.

But unexpectedly, his son showed remarkable magical powers.

Wizards were a national power. Naturally, among them, children with visible buds received special care.

The problem was that the Marquisate of Haveling was a traditional knight family that has never had a wizard before. Even before the marquis and marchioness had not faded away in death.

Among the nobles who, in general, had bad relationships with their half-brothers, Heinricion had a good relationship with his half-brother.

That was why Heinricion wanted to protect his nephew, Leighton.

However, his nephew was clearly a person of the Marquisate of Haveling, and was scheduled to become the head in the future.

Whenever he tried to do anything for Leighton, Patrick, his guardian, vehemently refused.

“This is the body that will become the Marquis of Haveling. It is natural for him to be raised in Haveling. No matter how close you are by blood, the constant interference of Adelasia seems to be doing nothing more than trying to place Haveling under the influence of the Grand Duchy when Leighton succeeds the title.”

Patrick had been spreading this logic whenever Heinricion tried to step forward a bit.

Should this misunderstanding grow, it could have a negative impact not only on Heinricion, but also on Leighton. Because whenever he later becomes head of the Marquisate of Haveling and tries to do something, the Grand Duchy of Adelasia would be mentioned and questioned.

So even though Patrick dared to be rude to him, Heinricion only watched the situation.

“But why don’t you reconsider? Magic is not a talent one can have just because one wants to. If you send him to the academy and he learns it systematically, it will be of strength to the Marquisate of Haveling.”

Leighton showed a gift for magic. Thus, he should at least be sent to the Magic Academy. That was much better than staying put in the marquisate.

But Patrick never backed down.

“Magic is the talent of Adelasia. The sword has been protecting Haveling until now. He will do well in the way of Haveling, so I hope you will stop overtaking your authority.”

Patrick’s only concern was the prestige of the Haveling. He had no interest in Leighton’s talents or what he wanted.

“But Leighton…….”

He was not fit to be a knight.

Leighton had a gift for magic, but was naturally weak. If Heinricion thought of his half-brother, it was unreasonable for Leighton to become a knight.

Additionally, it was seen that Leighton’s body, which was being trained as a knight due to the coercion of his guardian, was getting worse and worse.

Heinricion couldn’t watch it any longer, so he tried to convince Leighton so as to be able to send him to the Magic Academy. Therefore, Patrick came to protest fiercely.

It seemed that Patrick had no intention of negotiating in the first place, so Heinricion was left with two options to choose from.

Respect the opinions of the Havelings and resign, or take Leighton by force and arbitrarily send him to the Magic Academy.

Rowen was trying to stop him, saying, ‘Absolutely no’, but Heinricion’s heart was inclined to the latter.

“Sir Patrick, are you really unwilling to change your mind?”

“The one who needs to change his mind is not me, but His Highness the Grand Duke.”

“It’s difficult.”

It was the last time Heinricion tried to confirm.

A small animal could be seen through the gap in the door that an employee had left open for a while to bring refreshments.

“What is that? That fox…….”

“…….?”

It was Patrick who first discovered the appearance of the fox.

Hearing that a fox suddenly appeared, Heinricion’s head turned as well.

There was a fox with a really innocent face approaching this way.

While waving its tail in a really annoying way.

Heinricion looked at Eristella with a face asking what she was up to.

‘My goal now is over there, not you.’

Eristella glanced at Heinricion once triumphantly, then suddenly changed direction and leapt towards Patrick.

“?!”

Heinricion never thought that a fox could have such a suspicious smile.

She was acting so unexpectedly that he had no idea how to deal with it.

Meanwhile, Eristella was making a deliberate move.

Most of the people of the Leonian Empire had a social climate that loved animals. Therefore, there was a prejudice that people who were not followed or obeyed by animals for no reason had personal problems.

Patrick was exceptionally unpopular with animals. It was an odd complex from before.

So she knew that even if a fox jumped up and pretended to be close, he would be happy rather than upset.

That alone could improve his reputation in the social world.

Hence, Eristella boldly embraced Patrick and acted friendly.

“Haha. The fox likes me very much.”

Patrick wanted to show off that the grand duke’ fox followed him, not its master.

At the same time, the hand that was stroking the fox was very rough and unkind, so much so that she wanted to shake him off right away.

‘I can see why the animals avoid him.’

Eristella glared at Patrick sharply, then swiftly, she gently wagged her tail with a sweet expression as if she had never done so.

“…….What are you doing?”

Heinricion, seeing this, could not bear it and muttered.