Chapter 66: The Baron at That Time

Chapter 66: The Baron at That Time The Baron at That Time

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Going back to around when Emi began battling the topopolock stampede.

Baron Martz was working to repair the barrier stone in the study room along with his butler Sneigen.

The study room faced the meadow used as Sara’s magic practice area...in other words, the battlefield where Emi clashed with the topopolock stampede.

The cries of the topopolocks, louder than the rain, shook the windows with a buzzing sound.

Earlier, when the alarm had rung throughout the mansion...

(Could it be that someone destroyed the barrier stone!?)

That’s what the Baron had thought.

That it may have been the work of someone targeting his wife and daughter.

With the string of incidents and accidents that seemed aimed at his wife and child recently, it wasn’t strange to think that way.

However, upon examining the barrier stone’s condition, he had to reject that idea.Fôll0w current novÊls o/n n/o/(v)/3l/b((in).(c/o/m)

A single crack ran through the crystal orb portion of the barrier stone.

This prevented the magic power output from functioning properly, disabling the barrier...

But the barrier stone had been securely stored in the study room’s safe.

As the key to the mansion’s defenses, it’s standard to install the barrier stone where only authorized individuals can access it.

And the code to open that safe was only known to the Baron and his wife Emma.

Since there was no way they could be the culprits, the Baron had to conclude that the barrier stone had simply cracked at this ill-timed misfortune.

Moreover, the spare replacement barrier stone they also securely stored had issues as well, preventing them from generating a normal barrier.

(What could this mean...it’s as if we’ve been abandoned by fate itself.)

The Baron’s face paled as he broke out in a cold sweat.

However, there was still hope of restoring the barrier.

The barrier stones had a method prepared for such situations to gradually repair the crystal orb, albeit time-consuming.

This crystal orb had a self-repair function built-in.

By infusing it with magic power, the damage would slowly mend itself.

He refused to accept the Mades bloodline that had spread somewhat against the family’s wishes, seeking to eliminate it.

Such speculation was not unreasonable given the circumstances.

And if instructed by the Mades Duchy, Sneigen would likely go so far as to try eliminating Sara as long as Emma’s safety was assured.

Sneigen had objected to the very end about Emi becoming Sara’s bodyguard.

As for the carriage attack, if he was in league with the bandits, rescuing only Emma afterwards would be easy.

The roof incident put Emma’s life in danger too, which is one point against Sneigen’s involvement, but it could also be explained as him making a mistake.

Hence, the Baron kept Sneigen by his side under surveillance, ready to cut him down at the slightest suspicious move to keep him away from Sara.

However, these were just the Baron’s suspicions without any actual proof.

Even with this barrier stone issue, he had initially suspected Sneigen’s involvement, but it turned out to simply be a cruel twist of fate rather than sabotage.

Bringing disharmony to the household based on mere speculation during this crisis would be unwise.

For now, he needed to focus all efforts on restoring the barrier.

The Baron shook off his distracting thoughts and tried to further channel magic into the barrier stone.

Tried to, until...

Creak......

The sound of the study room door opening.

“!?......Emma?”

The one entering was the baroness herself, Emma.

“Please stop...restoring the barrier immediately.”

With a pained expression, the baroness said those unbelievable words to her husband.

Her face was ashen, her voice trembling.

“Wha...what are you saying...!?”

The Baron was dumbfounded, his mind going blank when he saw who entered next.

It was his beloved daughter, Sara.

And accompanying her, holding a knife to Sara’s throat, was the servant Mauve.