COARV Chapter 39

Even inside the manor, I could feel my frozen cheeks beginning to thaw. I removed my cloak and rushed to the stairs, reaching out toward the hardened demonic energy.

At least purification works.

At this rate, it would take about a thousand years. A dehumidifier would be faster.

I walked slowly through the estate, feeling through my memory of the original story. Lina hadn't purified the solidified demonic energy like a vacuum cleaner either, removing it piece by piece. The hardened energy had a source, and when Lina purified it with the saint's power, the thick, sticky demonic energy had vanished as well.

Though my purification power was considerably weaker, I was still a Stern, so I tried searching for the source. At some point, I could detect the demonic energy growing minutely stronger. It took nearly two hours, sweat beading on my skin despite the cold.

"This place..."

I blinked. The first floor, the hall visible from the main entrance. Unlike usual, a massive tapestry taller than me had been pulled up over the railing, and in the exposed wall, a jet-black door stood wide open.

"Lady Seria? What are you doing?"

Linon appeared suddenly, startling me. When I stumbled backward, his body was abruptly lifted.

"Ah! Susan!"

Susan... the chambermaid of this green estate. She lifted Linon's collar lightly with just one hand and set him aside. Wait, Linon wasn't short either—how could she lift a fully grown adult man so easily?

"You startled My lady, Linon."

"Ugh, really! Treating the Grand Duchess like a sugar doll is definitely a persistent epidemic—! Ah!"

Linon couldn't say more. He went limp. In Susan's grip.

"Did Sir Linon... faint?"

"Please speak casually to me, Lady Seria."

"Did he faint?"

I immediately dropped formality. I was frightened by Susan requesting I speak down to her. Susan smiled, but it wasn't an entirely warm, gentle smile like Masha's. It was sharper... oddly reminiscent of Abigail's smile.

"My lady, the sorcerers are here, but would you like to go down below? Ah, His Grace..."

Susan asked with concern.

"His Grace did give permission."

"Then, since the manor is quiet and boring, I think it would be fine for you to go see. I'll escort you."

I'd never seen sorcerers directly, so curiosity stirred. I nodded at Susan's suggestion. She extended her hand like a knight, and accepting her escort, I entered the open door beneath the tapestry.

The damp smell characteristic of basements. Flickering lights of various colors from below. Voices chanting like spells. An intangible energy on a different wavelength from divine power.

Those are Nesla's sorcerers.

The problem was the strange smell. The scent of burning herbs. I pulled out a handkerchief to cover my nose and mouth. This herbal smell was definitely imprinting grass. For people with divine power, it was practically a sedative. In other words, it would knock me unconscious. The fragrance wasn't that thick, but if I inhaled it for too long, I would certainly lose consciousness.

Though not to the extent I would, Lesche was also a head of one of Gleick Empire's Seventeen Families who possessed divine power in his body. I approached the sorcerers and crossed my arms.

"You can't burn imprinting grass when His Grace is here."

A sorcerer standing alone among the group holding something like a grimoire glanced at me. He was an emaciated man about my height, with unique patterns drawn on his face and hair cut in a strange shape.

"Revered one, His Grace the Grand Duke has left the estate temporarily. There is no problem. Rather, this is a necessary procedure to drive out this ominous darkness."

The arrogant voice grated on my ears. If the real Seria had been standing here, these bastards would be dead... When I didn't answer, thinking I was frightened, the sorcerer's voice grew even more arrogant.

"Revered one, who are you to—"

"Hmm."

"Revered one, answer—"

"Shut up. How dare you demand an answer without knowing who I am?"

I made the expression the old Seria would have made. The sorcerer immediately flinched and closed his mouth. I turned my gaze from the sorcerer to look at the distinctive box placed at the head position of this basement. With its striking gold trim, that box alone glittered in this otherwise gloomy basement.

Is that the Case of the Azure Sea that Linon mentioned this morning?

Inside was a lock of reddish-brown hair. No matter how I looked at it, that seemed to be the source of the demonic energy. That's why the sorcerers were burning imprinting grass profusely on this side while reciting from strange grimoires.

I tried to reach toward the Case of the Azure Sea, and the sorcerers were so shocked they nearly fainted, trying to strike my hand with a staff before Susan caught it.

"Are you insane? Where do you think you're putting that staff?"

Her growling momentum was serious. Susan's presence was threatening, but trained by Abigail's presence, I was unfazed. Rather, the sorcerers lacked immunity and immediately cowered. In the meantime, I withdrew my hand from attempting purification.

As expected, it won't work.

But this was definitely the root of the demonic energy. The closer I brought my hand, the thicker that gloominess became. The sorcerer gritted his teeth and warned.

"Revered one, if you interfere with the ritual any further..."

"I'm leaving."

Even in this situation, it was ridiculous. Seria was also a Stern, so she knew quite a bit about rituals. They weren't drawing a magic circle, and a purification ritual wouldn't collapse just because someone spoke briefly in the middle. It was exactly the attitude for exploiting ignorant people...

I left the basement without regret, Susan accompanying me.

"My lady, you were startled, weren't you?"

"No, I'm fine. Thank you for coming with me."

Susan's eyes widened slightly, then she smiled. Perhaps because I felt not malicious sharpness from her, but loyalty meant to protect someone. Though still sharp, it was a smile that kept reminding me of Abigail.

That evening, my table was set with a new placemat embroidered with a single flower. The tea cozy beside it was also adorably hand-knitted with yarn. Hearing that Susan had made it, I smiled. She sewed remarkably well for hands as calloused as Abigail's.

And I had to admit it.

I was attached to this Laurel Manor. No matter how I thought about it. Though perhaps I was more attached to the people inside this green estate than the building itself... still, no one would dislike this place that offered such certain peace.

No one has ever treated Seria this well to begin with.

I swallowed a sigh looking at Masha, who had warmed the blankets with steam to make them fluffy. Tonight I would sleep alone in the Grand Duchess's bedroom while sorting through these complicated thoughts one by one...

Or so I thought.

Why am I in Lesche's bedroom again?

Masha wore an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry, My lady. The shadow has infected even the Grand Duchess's bedroom. Though it's not much, I cannot put a precious young lady to sleep in a place where one wall has turned completely black."

"..."

I looked at Lesche. Unlike usual, his face was slightly tired. Even so, having circled the snowy boundary line all day alone without other knights, it was natural he'd be exhausted. Perhaps he'd even hunted demonic beasts alone.

I discreetly offered him silver laurel branches from a box in the luggage carriage. On the surface, there were no signs of demonic energy contamination, but just in case.

"Why this?"

"Keep it with you."

"With a Stern beside me, stars—"

"I can't hold and purify Your Grace like Linon."

"That's a bit strange. Technically, since I'm the lady's husband, shouldn't you be the one holding me, not Linon?"

"Are you asking me to hold you? Hmm... if it's not the bedroom but the first floor hall, that's fine. Shall we go out?"

"The hall is acceptable?"

Lesche burst into laughter with an amused expression.

"You're innocent sometimes, my lady."

"...?"

Even as he said that, Lesche tossed and caught the silver laurel branch lightly on his hand like a dagger. I sat on the bed and watched Lesche's back as he tended the hearth fire. As befitting a male protagonist, his shoulders and back were broad while his waist tapered elegantly. Honestly, his handsome face aside, women would fall for him just looking at his physique.

Come to think of it, shouldn't I visit the capital once winter ends? Though Lesche rarely showed his face in capital society, Gleick Empire's nobles were required to stop by the imperial palace at least once a year to request an audience with the Emperor.

Of course, not all nobles could see the Emperor's face. But whether they met him or not, requesting an audience was an obligation for nobles. Moreover, as Lesche was the Grand Duke of House Berke, his audience requests would be accepted every time.

'Since we're married now, I should show my face in society too.'

"Your Grace, I went down to the basement today."

"The sorcerers?"

"They were a bit arrogant, but Susan stopped them."

I heard him chuckle softly. I swung my feet back and forth. The slippers Masha had personally put on me the first day here dangled.

That wasn't all.

On the bedside table was a cup of steaming milk Masha had brought, and fresh flowers had been placed in the previously empty vase.

These flowers were also gifts from Susan. They weren't real flowers, of course. Plants died quickly here. They were flowers woven from yarn, handicrafts requiring tremendous effort. Yet they were as beautiful as any real flowers. Truly.

"You know, Susan. At night..."

Thinking of what I'd secretly told Susan earlier, I absently touched the soft, fuzzy flower.

In the original story, neither Masha nor anyone else appeared again. While only Masha's death seemed certain from what I'd heard, did the others choose to die with her rather than leave her alone in the estate? My heart felt complicated.