Chapter 25

“Why did you come so late?”

“I’ve been waiting.”

In a wide dark drawing room with thick curtains, four people dressed in robes, sat together at a round table. They turned to the man’s presence.

The man greeted them with a brief nod and went to the only vacant seat. Then, the man in the smallest chair looked at the man and called out to him.

“You’re a little late today.”

“There was a reasonable situation.”

“Oh, can I ask you what the hell is more urgent than this?”

At the man’s reply, one of the men opposite him sarcastically said his words in a thin voice. At the sight, the man laughed faintly, and spoke sarcastically at the character of the charismatic voice.

“Well, I don’t think it’s an obligation to answer that to Lady.”

The woman in front of the man bit her red lower lip, which appeared beneath her robe with vexation.

The man looked at the woman, who stared at him coldly, with disdain in his eyes. For him now, such a threat from a woman was nothing more than a mouse baring its teeth.

“Now, now, both of you, let’s stop the war of nerves.”

As the two exchanged cold glances, another man sitting next to them interrupted.

Then the woman, who had been staring coldly at the man, turned around. Another man slightly frowned at the figure and immediately looked back at the man sitting next to him and said,

“Make sure you leave a little early. You should not be so late every time.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll be careful.”

At his rebuke, the man smiled shyly and apologized. At the sight, he hardened his mouth unpleasantly, but soon asked the man next to him in a calm voice.

“By the way, how’s everything going?”

When asked, the other man twisted the corners of his mouth, smiled and replied.

“As you wish, things are going smoothly.”

“……That means.”

“Yes, I think the monster is beginning to give his heart to the offering.”

“Oh, is that so? I’m glad to hear that!”

In response to the man’s answer, a person who had been sitting silently so far raised his voice as if he was pleased. The man bowed slightly to him to show courtesy and continued to look straight at the person sitting next to him.

“If this continues, I’ll probably be able to proceed with the ‘work’ in a few months.”

The man smiled insidiously, saying so. Then one person, whom the man had been staring at all the time, turned his head in an uncomfortable way. Instead, another person sitting next to him carefully asked the man.

[T/N: AGH… There are so many people…. It’s so confusing◉‿◉]

“Do we have to wait that long? Can’t we quicken the timing?”

The man replied, shaking his head.

“I’m sorry, but that’s a problem.”

“….Why? Wouldn’t your magical powers be enough?”

“There’s a reason for everything. The curse has only sprouted, and we need a little more time to get things done.”

“……Is that so?”

“Yes, in fact, if the monster hadn’t opened his heart to the offering sooner than expected, it wouldn’t have gone this quickly and smoothly,” he said.

“You know, right? How cold and demanding the monster has been to offer the offerings so far. If we tried to do it hastily, we would have wasted too much time and magic on finding the right offerings and giving them to the monster.”

At the man’s answer, he sighed and nodded as if he agreed.

“….As you say. If the Duke of Alberton hadn’t helped, he would have had to find the right one among the illegitimate children of the royal family or the nobility.”

“Yes, and it would have taken time to make the illegitimate woman mimic a noble child. It would have been very troublesome without the Duke’s incompetent daughter.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry….I’m just getting impatient because I don’t have much time left.”

“No, as you said, it’s true that there’s not much ‘time’ left now. It’s not too much to be impatient.”

The man comforted him in front of him with an insidious smile. His sweet voice was enough to soothe the listener.

The man continued in a more subtle voice, still looking at him anxiously.

“But the more that happens, the more slowly and reliably we have to proceed. It’s like when a spider eats up a butterfly caught in a spider web. The foolish butterfly, who has no idea that it has already fallen on a spider web, stumbles and struggles, before tiring and gives up resisting anymore.”

“……!”

At that moment, the man smiled as if he was genuinely happy, took out a skinny hand from his robe that had covered his fingertips, and spread it out into the air.

Then an eerie green flame burned intensely from the man’s empty hands, and beyond that flame a man with an odd eye and a pretty young woman’s face flared up.

“That will be the day when the long-cherished desire will come true.”

It was Duke Arthur Felix, his new bride, and Duchess Grace Felix. The man seemed amused at the ugly, distorted, burning couple in the green flame he created.

And the eyes of the people in the drawing room turned to the two people in the flame. Their eyes glistened coldly and brutally like hungry vipers on the brink of prey.

4. The Awakening Curse

The sky of Felix Castle looked stunning as it was not snowing anymore. Grace held Leon tightly, who was hanging from her arms like a cute cat, came out of the annex and looked up at the blue sky.

Perhaps because she didn’t sleep well last night due to work with Arthur, she was dizzy in the intense winter sunshine. So as Grace gently frowned and staggered, Leon, who was in her arms, asked anxiously.

“What’s wrong, sister-in-law?”

“Are you sick?”

“No, it’s because I’m a little tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

As if it was nothing, Grace replied with a light smile. Leon’s expression became even darker in response. Leon looked at Grace with a sullen face and soon tapped her shoulder with his small hand and begged her to get him off.

Then he hesitated and said to Grace, looking down at him with a strange face.

“…Are you so tired that you can’t take a walk with me?””

Grace replied, shaking her head.

“No. I think I’ll be less tired after taking a walk with Leon.”

The disappointed child’s face brightened at the answer. Grace reached out her hand in front of Leon, who smiled broadly. Then, holding Leon’s hand tightly as if she had been waiting, Grace went down the stairs.

Standing in front of a small garden at the annex, Grace said to Leon, who was holding her hand playfully.

“Sally said she’d bring tea and cookies, so let’s wait here.”

“Yes!”

As they waited in front of the garden for a while, Sally, holding a large picnic basket, followed them.

Grace asked Sally as she waddled down the stairs carrying a seemingly heavy basket.

“It looks heavy. May I help you?”

“What are you talking about? I can hold it, so don’t worry. Haha. By the way, where are you going for a walk today? Shall we set up a seat in the central garden in front of the main building as you always go?”

“……Uh, yes…”

Grace tried to answer Sally’s question, but stopped half-heartedly. When she thought of it, she suddenly wanted to take a closer look at other places in this mansion. In the meantime, she didn’t really want to live here for a long time, and she didn’t want to attach herself, so she deliberately limited the radius of her actions.

But that was no longer necessary. Now this is the place she was willing to live at for the rest of her life if she could.

With that in mind, Grace smiled gently and said to Sally.

“Today, let’s go somewhere else”.

“Oh my. Shall we?”

“Leon, is there any place you want to go?””

Grace’s gaze moved towards Leon, who stood beside her, Leon pondered for a moment, before soon uttering a short exclamation of admiration, waving Grace’s hand and shouted with excitement.

“Let’s go to the secret garden at the north gate”.

“Secret Garden? Was there such a place?”

“Yes! The ice fountain and snowdrops, they are really pretty!”

“Really? Shall we go there?”

Grace with a smile, looked down at Leon, who was flailing about with excitement, then she asked Sally about it. But Sally’s expression was a little strange. Sally frowned slightly and did not answer Grace’s question.

Grace tilted her head and called Sally again.

“…Sally?”

“What!? …. Ah.”

“What’s wrong? Is it a place I shouldn’t go?”

“Oh, no. No way. There is no place in this mansion that the Lord cannot go.”

Grace asked Sally with a suspicious look, waving her hands with a slightly embarrassed face.

“…Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Absolutely. Then I’ll set up a seat in the secret garden. You two follow me.”

Then Sally returned to her usual expression and politely replied to Grace. Then she waddled and walked with the basket in her hands. Grace tilted her head as she gazed at her back.

‘What’s wrong with her? She’s a little different than usual.’

Something bad might have happened in the secret garden before.

Grace was somehow bothered by Sally’s seemingly dubious behavior.

“Hurry up and let’s go!”

“Oh? Yes! Okay!”

However, Grace’s thoughts, which had been complicated by Leon’s urging by waving his hand by her side, suddenly stopped. Grace smiled affectionately at Leon, standing next to her, and took steps as Leon wanted.

‘…It must be just an illusion.’

Maybe she saw it wrong, and Sally maybe was just thinking about something else for a moment, but she is being sensitive for no reason. Thinking so, Grace shook off her lingering thoughts.

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