CH 94

Episode 94

‘What, where is this?’

When I woke up, I was in the forest.

It was a forest of green trees, mossy rocks.

‘I don’t think it’s near my mansion.’

But I’ve never seen a forest like this near the Academy.

There was no such atmosphere in the woods around the Academy.

“Huh?”

Looking closely, I could see a white object in front of me.

‘What the hell is that?’

The light wind fluttered the object slightly.

Only then did I know that it was human hair.

And at that moment the man turned his head.

‘Wow……….’

A woman with white hair and white skin like snow.

She was wearing a thin white robe with a gold band, with a slight shine on her sleeve.

Perhaps if the mythical fairy of the forest exists, it might refer to such a person.

[Hi.]

I flinched in amazement at the soft voice I could hear in my head.

When I raised my head, the woman smiled at me.

A veil on her head covered her face half-way.

Nevertheless, her smile shone brilliantly.

“Oh, uh….”

Apparently, the voice in my head belonged to that woman.

I felt like she was talking to me, but somehow my head was stiff and I couldn’t think of an answer.

As I rolled my eyes, the woman laughed, covering her mouth with her hands, as if she were having fun.

Her charming red eyes painted lines.

[If anything bothers you, come see me anytime.]

For more,

Nodding my words, Cassius turned to the carriage.

The horseman opened the door for him, and Cassius trudged toward the door.

“Ah.”

But he uttered a single sigh and came back to me.

“Cassius? The carriage…”

It was a momentary moment.

Soft lips touched my forehead and then fell off.

I opened my eyes wide in surprise and looked up.

“I was so happy to be here with you.”

His golden eyes were growling before my eyes.

“Thanks for giving me such a precious memory, Yerine.”

The moment I saw his eyes, the vacation with Cassius passed through my head.

The frivolous jokes. The story we shared in front of the fireplace. His eyes glowed like the sun at night.

Something was popping up from the throat.

“I had fun, too.”

For some reason, my voice seemed to be hoarse.

“Thank you, Cassius.”

Only then did Cassius smile broadly.

“I’ll be in touch.”

Then I waved my hand at him quietly.

I didn’t leave the seat until the carriage carrying Cassius had left the gate.

“Come in now, Duke.”

“Yes.”

There was only cold air in the parlour room of the mansion when I got back.

I used to live alone.

How can it look so lonely just because someone came and went for a while?

“I liked the noise.’

I looked at the fireplace, feeling the bitter aftertaste left in my mouth.

***

“So, you’re saying that a great deal of mana was detected inside the monster’s body, Duke of Spade?”

I nodded to the question of Duke Joker.

“Yes, it is.”

“And some of the mana has been identified to belong to the nobility, right?”

“Yes. The Duke of Jacqueline here could confirm.”

In my words the Duke of Jacqueline regrouped his voice, coughing in vainly.

Then he got up from his seat and looked around the conference room once and said,

“The Duke of Spade is right. The owner of the mana found on the body of a monster was Count Krat, who died in my estate a few months ago.”

The Duke of Joker nodded with his arms folded when he heard the Duke of Jacqueline.

“This proves the theory of the Duke of Spade, isn’t it? I don’t know exactly what the monster is, but I think it’s clear that the monster is stealing people’s mana.”

The Duke of the Ale club nodded at his remarks.

“Mr Trump, may I speak?”

When the Duke of Jacqueline raised his hand and asked, the Duke of Ace nodded silently.

It was a sign that he could speak.

“I suggest that the agenda be to review the opinion of the Duke of Spades, which was dismissed last time. How is it?”

“I’m for it.”

The Duke of Ale club and the Duke of Joker said at the same time.

“No, isn’t there something you have to do before that?”

The Duke of Leonhart snapped.

“We should ask for the fault of being irresponsible by letting a monster break into your estate even with the royal family and the heir of 7 imperial families on your own land, let alone the centre of the territory.”

“Duke Leonhart.”

At my call, the Duke looked back with an unpleasant face.

“Let’s start with setting the agenda. After this, I’ll be damned with criticism.”

“Shameless, Duke of Spade.”

The Duke of Leonhart said, putting his index finger on the table.

“Did you say you’d take the criticism sweetly? Wasn’t there a death in the Duke’s estate last time?”

It was already expected.

I wasn’t surprised at all. Rather, it would have been more surprising if the Duke of Leonhart and the Duke of Ace had not attacked me.

“Yes, it was.”

“So you concluded that the Duke’s estate would enhance security?”

The Duke of Leonhart said in a crooked voice.

‘Oh, I really want to hit him once.’

I had to grind my teeth inside, but I did not show it on the outside.

“Yes.”

“Where on earth did you reinforce? Does it make sense that an unidentified object breaks into the mansion of the lord of the land, the core of the territory, so easily?”

“We have strengthened security forces around the castle and in the suburbs. Even at the time of the incident, the security device was working properly.”

The Duke of Leonhart snorted openly at my protest.

“A security device that can’t stop an outside intruder, that’s a proper security device.”

The Duke of Leonhart spoke with thin eyes.

“You don’t know the meaning of ‘properly’ differently than I do, do you?”

I’m getting angry at this point.

‘No, how could the device even detect the monsters when the monsters come through the wall?’

And that Duke, he’s talking very annoyingly.

“It looks like you were having guests at the time, but aren’t you throwing security away and enjoying yourself?”

This is useless.

I didn’t feel the need to listen any more.

“Have you tried to raise the wall or strengthen the shield? Not even that–”

There you go. This person seemed to have no idea what the problem was right now.

“Duke Leonhart, may I ask you a question?”

My voice rang out in the spacious Sacred Hall.

“Do you know what can kill those monsters?”

The Duke hesitated at the remark and said with a frown.

“Don’t change the subject, Duke. Walls and defence magic systems………”

“I’m sure I wrote it in the report.”

A silent voice echoed through the Sacred Hall.

“Up to now, the only way to kill a monster is definitely light and heat. And those monsters go through all the walls and shields.”

At my words, the Duke hesitated and put on a puzzled look.

‘No wonder you’ve been saying weird things for a while.’

With my sharp eyes, I glanced at the Duke of Leonhart, who had no idea what he was talking about.

“Duke Leonhart, how many monsters broke into my territory this time?”

“……….”

Yeah, there’s no way he can answer that.

The Duke of Leonhart couldn’t speak for a while to my question and kept rambling.

His stupid face gave me a sigh.

“He, I mean, was it four, was it five?”

“Eight, Duke. There’s eight this time.”

I put my hand on the desk and said in a steady voice.

“Duke, you must have read the report properly before the meeting, right?”

I patted on a pile of papers in front of me.

“I wonder if the great Duke of Leonhart doesn’t know the meaning of ‘properly’?”

A monotonous voice filled the conference hall, and the atmosphere quickly cooled.

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