TOM Chapter 29

Minuet Bonetti was looking at me with an expressionless face.

Did she hear the story?

One question birthed another question.

Did this kid know about the Count's corruption?

Just looking at how she talked about cutting tails and whatnot during the Baron Genium incident, she couldn't be completely innocent.

Perhaps... she had been complicit.

Minuet opened her mouth.

"If you're done with your business, get out of the way."

"...Right."

I moved my stiffened steps.

As I brushed past Minuet, she asked.

"Is it true?"

A faintly trembling voice.

It seems she didn't know everything after all.

"Why don't you go find out for yourself."

I shrugged my shoulders and passed by her.

Until I left that spot, no sound could be heard.

Not the sound of Minuet knocking on the office door, not the sound of her entering inside, nothing.

"Aaaahhh!"

Count Bonetti let out a shriek and swept everything off his desk.

His eyes were red with burst blood vessels and the veins on his neck stood out rigidly.

Why!

How does Siora know his secret?

Why did the Duke carelessly run his mouth!

"Hah..."

No, reasons like that aren't important.

He clenched his fist until his veins bulged and slammed it down on the desk.

The Whitedesert Duke might be unavoidable, but Siora is not.

A young child who lived her whole life cooped up at home, ignorant of the world's ways.

She could fall for simple tricks and who knows when she might make a slip of the tongue.

To spill secrets to such a thing?

"Outrageous!"

The fact that she dared to blackmail him was also unbelievably infuriating.

He helped her when she was about to be thrown out on the streets, and this is how she stabs him in the back?

As expected, dirty bloodlines can't be helped.

"If I leave her be, her greed will only grow."

It was clear as day what demands she would make next.

Money, power, honor.

Isn't that just how humans are originally?

It would be simple to kill her and be done with it, but he couldn't do that either.

If Siora died, the marriage talks with the Whitedesert Duke would return to square one.

Having Bonetti's heir marry that man would cause even bigger problems.

But he also couldn't let Siora marry the Duke.

If Whitedesert gets attached to Siora's name, how could he, a mere count, dare to touch that family?

Thinking this way, the answer came to him.

Yes, then.

"The engagement ceremony day would be perfect."

If handled well, it would end without arousing any suspicion.

The Whitedesert Duke might notice, but that doesn't matter.

He's only enjoying himself anyway, so his interest will cool quickly.

The Count's eyes glinted with sinister light.

"We've set the date for the engagement ceremony."

Kruelo spoke calmly toward the old man.

The Grand Elder, Heorim, wrinkled his eyes.

"Didn't you clearly say last time that you would follow this old man's wishes?"

"You did as you wished. Though you failed."

"...What on earth is the reason? Don't tell me you believe those rumors about falling in love?"

"It's just as the rumors say."

"Hah, hah."

The Grand Elder burst into hollow laughter.

Then suddenly he hooked Kruelo's collar with his cane and pulled.

The old man lowered his voice like a growling beast and muttered.

"Get your head straight. The family head's marriage talks aren't some children's house games."

"Please understand."

"Stubborn fool!"

With barely contained fury, the Grand Elder irritably pushed away both his cane and Kruelo's body.

However, the young duke stood silently without showing any reaction.

Even when he glared at him, not in the slightest.

He wanted to read something from his face, but nothing could be read.

"Please think properly, Grand Elder. His Grace the Duke's brainwashing has definitely been undone."

Julian Minerva, was it?

When that youngster said such things, everyone in the council of elders snorted with laughter.

That was nonsense that could only be spoken by someone who didn't understand black magic.

Kruelo's history of being brainwashed was long.

It began when he was very young—he killed his birth parents and killed all the servants he had been close to.

Taking advantage of the child's greatly shocked and weakened mind, they seized control of his psyche and strengthened the brainwashing over several years.

It wasn't simply to torment the child.

Morion.

To handle that great power, not only inborn capacity but also conditioning had to be matched.

Endless misfortune and the negative emotions that followed, people's anger, contempt, fear—such things perfected Kruelo.

The brainwashing was a by-product obtained from that meticulous process.

But even if it was a by-product, its solidity didn't change.

To properly undo the brainwashing would require at least several years, which is why they strictly controlled him so that Kruelo couldn't even go to the temple.

So he hadn't believed that those restraints could have been released.

'Must I acknowledge it now?'

Kruelo's recent actions had been so strange.

What exactly had been the problem—his curiosity as a mage was piqued.

But right now, he had to solve a more important problem first.

'Even if the brainwashing is undone, it doesn't matter.'

He slowly stroked his beard and changed his tone to a calm one.

"If that's what you truly wish, then fine."

"Grand Elder."

"The family head has followed this old man's words so well until now. So this time, I'll trust the family head's judgment."

Kruelo stared blankly before bowing his head.

"Thank you, Grand Elder. I won't forget this."

"Then go."

The Grand Elder watched the departing figure's back coldly.

If the brainwashing has been broken, then just do it again.

What would be so difficult about giving him a shock to create new cracks in his heart?

Especially if he has someone he holds dear.

"I'll have to give the 9th Elder some work to do."

A final chance to make up for the Harvest Festival incident.

Well, it would be hard to fail anyway.

The old man let out a cold breath and turned his gaze to the calendar, his fingers tracing the dates with calculated precision.

The engagement ceremony day would be perfect timing.

For a while, I lived like an enthusiastic scholar.

The mansion, the imperial palace library, the mansion, the capital's grand temple library.

Except for sleeping time, it seemed like I only read ancient theological books.

I was bothered by the previous incident, and I also wanted to confirm the information about Phebula known to the outside world.

What I learned from this was that compared to other ancient gods, our sect's information was excessively scarce.

I briefly suspected whether they avoided mentioning it because they found it distasteful due to the sacrifice incident.

"Did you gain anything today?"

Someone whispered in my ear while I was looking into a book.

I don't even get startled anymore.

It's Kruelo.

"As if."

I halfheartedly closed the book.

This was the last one.

"It was the same at the temple library—"

"Shh, be quiet."

I firmly pressed my index finger against Kruelo's lips.

There's no need to remind me of stomach-turning facts.

He narrowed his eyes, but pretending not to notice, I put the book aside and left the library.

"You said skinship is only allowed up to murder, but aren't you being too casual with me?"

"Huh? Murder is the highest level."

"Is that so? Then can I do the same—"

"Sorry! I apologize, I'm sorry."

"...Do you hate touching me that much?"

Kruelo drooped the corners of his eyes sadly.

His acting skills keep getting better.

It's not that I hate it or find it disgusting.

Even with that kind of personality, Kruelo's appearance is what shines, isn't it?

It's more like, how should I put it, it felt ticklish.

I'd never had that kind of contact with the opposite sex, and the other person is Kruelo whom I've known since childhood, so it's somewhat...

It's contact with a purpose, but I feel guilty about it.

"So why did you come again today?"

Kruelo came to find me very frequently.

Half wanting to fuel the rumors, half wanting to prevent attacks.

Or even that might be for show.

The council of elders had been quiet so far, but with the engagement ceremony right around the corner, he's probably being more careful.

Yet his answer was always "Because I wanted to see you."

Today too.

"To ask you on a date."

Hm?

They say when a person does something they've never done before, it's time for them to die, but Kruelo did something ordinary.

The place Kruelo brought me to was a park on the outskirts of the capital.

Well-maintained but in a place that didn't suit money or power, we two stood out conspicuously.

Walking ordinarily alongside him, I tried to figure out the cause of Kruelo's behavior.

"By any chance, is someone supposed to be assassinated here?"

"No."

"Or is there a secret gathering happening?"

"No."

"Did you come to check if someone you buried here is still alive?"

"Darling."

Kruelo stopped walking abruptly.

"I understand your preferences, but today please follow my preferences."

"What?"

"I'd like to enjoy some peaceful time."

He definitely came to get cursed at.

Where he stopped walking was in front of a large fountain.

A white horse sculpture with wings had raised its front legs, and water streams shooting from its horn spread in a circle creating a water curtain.

"It's a fountain honoring Grandie, the god of love."

"Ah, the divine avatar was a white horse."

"There's a legend that lovers blessed by Grandie will love each other forever. Though that sect has actually disappeared."

Well now, treating an ancient god like a tourist attraction.

Grandie would cry.

The water droplets bouncing from the fountain look like the god's tears.

I watched that sight for a moment before turning my head back to Kruelo.

He extended his hand to me.

And in his opposite hand, purple light glinted.

"Kruelo?"

"You have to give me your hand, darling."

"Uh..."

I extended my hand in bewilderment.

Kruelo put a ring on my fourth finger.

An almond-shaped diamond sparkled with purple light.

I knew I was supposed to receive an engagement ring around this time, but the fact that Kruelo simply handed over the ring felt strange.

"Then will we also love each other forever?"

"...Kruelo, were you perhaps replaced? Tell me the password."

"To our eternal love."

It's a spy!

I glared at Kruelo and stepped back two paces.

He burst into laughter.

I was about to spit curses at his face when I suddenly felt something was off.

"...Kruelo."

"I know."

He smiled and pulled my arm.

Thunk!

An arrow stuck into the spot where I had been standing just moments before.

That was the beginning.

Swish, the sound of cutting through air brushed past my ears in succession.

Arrows flew in like rain.

Even trying to confirm where they were coming from, it was hard to tell without expanding my senses.

However, even while bringing me along, Kruelo dodged all the arrow rain with light movements.

If not for the deadly sounds, it would have looked like dancing, which was absurd.

That aside.

"Why are you just circling around the fountain? Is there something here you need to protect?"

"Do you trust me?"

Suddenly?

"I have no choice but to trust you."

Without even hearing my answer, Kruelo flicked his hand.

Like putting a large umbrella over the sky, the fountain's water swelled enormously.

Just as I thought he was trying to block the view with water.

"Hold your breath."

Kruelo, who had pulled my waist close, jumped into the fountain.