I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 188

Albrecht was even more agitated than when the beam of light shot up from his castle not long ago.

‘What kind of confidence does this woman have to come here?’

No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t understand.

Did she really think that just a few days ago, that incident would bring him down?

Even if her counterpart was the master of the Robeheim Family, he himself was the master of a family just as notable.

If she thought she could intimidate him with power, that was quite a naive assumption.

‘She doesn’t seem like a foolish woman who wouldn’t know that. Is there something else going on?’

Albrecht was aware that they were hiding Kelrag’s presence.

However, even if he were to reveal that fact now, it wouldn’t benefit him; it would only raise suspicion about how he came to know it, which was why he hadn’t spread the word.

Nonetheless, it was equally impossible for the Robeheim Family to mention Kelrag’s existence first.

Albrecht didn’t know the circumstances that led to the Carvita Tribe and the Robeheim Family’s alliance, but any reason they could present would inevitably attract negative public scrutiny.

Anyway, as long as neither side drew their swords against each other, the situation was bound to become stagnated.

That was why Albrecht had been at ease, never expecting them to come first.

This was an unexpected turn of events.

“As I previously mentioned to Your Majesty, I would like to request an explanation regarding the beam of light that erupted from the Bertus Family’s castle a few days ago. Marquis Bertus.”

“We expressed our confusion and clearly stated that we have no idea. Are you suggesting there’s some error regarding that matter…?”

Albrecht feigned ignorance and responded in kind.

He didn’t know what tricks they might employ, but should their demeanor suddenly change, it would only raise more suspicion.

‘It’s annoying that I’m dealing with someone whose dominion magic doesn’t work on them.’

Not just anyone from the Robeheim bloodline, but those born with immense magical power were generally resistant to others’ dominion magic.

Their natural resistance to magic meant that they would resist before any spell could take effect.

Until now, Albrecht had been able to manipulate a significant number of people through this magic and operate from the shadows, but in contrast, he had to deal with characters like Ariel through conversation and other means.

If he had his way, he would kill her before she spoke, but even that was difficult with so many eyes watching.

As he moistened his parched lips, waiting for her words, a faint smile appeared at the corners of Ariel’s mouth before she finally opened her tightly sealed lips.

“That beam of light was a spell I had placed on the body of an intruder when I invaded the family. I’m curious how it could have coincidentally erupted from the Bertus Family’s castle.”

“That’s beyond my knowledge. It could merely be a coincidence, couldn’t it?”

Shamelessly, Albrecht felt that sometimes this kind of response worked better than trying to piece together an explanation.

It could just be that an unidentified intruder, who had invaded the Robeheim Family, was hiding near the Bertus Family’s castle, and the magic activated to produce light— it was a forced explanation, but it was possible.

“I simply cannot fathom why Your Grace suspects me. I have no reason or motive to hold a grudge against the Robeheim Family.”

Albrecht raised the strongest shield he could to counter Ariel’s words, wearing a victor’s smile.

Without an explanation for this point, even if what happened that day was a reality, he could easily dismiss it as just an unfortunate accident due to coincidence.

“I thought so at first too, Marquis. But what if there is a valid motive?”

But with Ariel’s subsequent comment, Albrecht’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

A motive? Did this woman really intend to mention Kelrag’s name out of madness?

In fact, if she spoke his name, he would only be thankful.

He had already developed a plan in case that came to pass, so this could turn out to be a perfect opportunity to corner the Robeheim Family.

“…A motive, you say? What do you mean?”

However, he pretended to be puzzled, hiding his eagerness to know, as he asked.

Deep down, he was fervently hoping she would mention his name, but he did his best to conceal that excitement as he awaited Ariel’s next words.

Praying for his victory to be confirmed soon.

“The Symbol of Dominion.”

“……!?”

“Isn’t that what you desired? Marquis Bertus.”

However, with her continued question, Albrecht felt the blood drain from his face.

How did this woman know about that goal of his?

The wish he had held for so long.

* * * * * * *

There exists a long-held desire among wizards.

To uncover the source of magic. To dig up and comprehend every detail of it.

But life for humans is far too short, and that held true even for the greatest of mage.

Therefore, most wizards wish to explore that source, yet often feel disillusioned with their short lives, turning their gaze elsewhere.

This was no exception for those known as wise people in the Mage Tower.

However, with the passage of time, there always appeared those who sought change.

A man born as a son of the marquis family had shown promise as a wizard from childhood, and even being a member of the marquis family, he had stepped into the Mage Tower, sharing lodging and meals there as he explored the knowledge.

At first, it was merely a pure desire for learning.

He would uncover that source, and become the first wizard to master all magic.

In that sense, it was a primal desire of humanity, whiter than pure white.

Yet, pure white is always easily stained by something different.

No, to be precise, it wasn’t stained.

That desire to see the source of magic remained intact, but instead, everything else around him became invisible.

For that, the man needed power.

He didn’t want everyone bowing to him, but to truly see the end of this research, he needed a massive screen to hide behind.

That was why, after long years, he seized control of the imperial bloodline through this power.

He cast an unshakeable curse on them, operating from the shadows, quietly waiting for the right moment.

If the imperial bloodline had been prepared to lose everything, he might not have known, but they preferred to maintain their current lives over erasing the brand stamped on their bodies, and thus submitted to Albrecht.

He lost track of how much time had passed.

He transferred his soul to a new body of his offspring, devouring the blood of maidens and the flesh of children to continue his existence.

He sifted through various ancient texts in this land and sometimes even unearthed the autobiographies of other scholars buried alongside corpses to find any clues.

“Pursue the acts of heroes. The essence of knowledge is there.”

Then, he finally discovered a clue about the source of magic in an ancient text.

It took a while to understand what the acts of heroes were, but when he realized that it was rather close, he was overwhelmed with joy.

At first, he tasked someone with retrieving it.

Even if he were to wage war against every last person in the empire, he couldn’t muster that kind of power, so he devised various plans to secretly bring it back.

During that time, a girl caught his eye.

The young lady of the Robeheim Family. He’d heard that due to her mother only being able to bear one child, she was currently the only bloodline left in the family.

The moment he realized that, his goal was set.

He knew that the master of the Robeheim Family deeply cherished his family, regardless of his situation.

Thus, if he could take her and exchange her for his desired goal, that would be the best method.

“The prophecy spoke to me.”

And in the future he foresaw, that girl was in his grasp, and at last, he saw the moment he reached the source of magic.

Although the prophecy was not always convenient enough for him to see whenever he wished, it had never been wrong until now.

Through it, he had overcome many dangers and sometimes even eliminated the traitors hiding within.

“Forgive me, my lord. We failed the operation.”

But lo and behold.

The moment had come when that prophecy was wrong for the first time.

As he looked at his trembling subordinate bowing before him, Albrecht couldn’t hide his frustration.

Where did it all go wrong?

He had guaranteed that the trick using the flaw of the barrier would work in some manner.

Later, he heard that a boy had dealt with an intruder who had infiltrated the chamber, but he thought it was simply a coincidence.

And as he couldn’t reuse a failed tactic, he decided to plan for a future opportunity.

With the target identified, he felt no need to rush.

Thus, during the second plan, he expanded the scale.

It was common knowledge that the other races were struggling for food, so he leveraged that information to propose negotiations.

This time too, the prophecy pointed to his victory.

“I’ve lost Yulken.”

However, when news of yet another failure reached him, he felt himself growing faint.

Upon hearing that the man who had sabotaged his operation was the same individual as before, he couldn’t shake the idea that it was more than mere coincidence.

“Was it Edgar Billhark?”

He was an existence that hadn’t appeared in his prophecies at all.

Even trying to discern his future through the stars meant that he simply couldn’t find his star.

“An outsider, perhaps?”

That meant the only possibility he could fathom was one thing.

He didn’t know the precise method, but he had come from another world.

An existence capable of twisting not only prophecies but even the movements of the stars was none other than this.

Ultimately, prioritizing eliminating him by any means necessary became his first thought.

That was the thought that implanted itself in Shepard’s mind after returning to the castle.

“The most crucial point wasn’t the Grand Duke nor the Emperor.”

Gritting his teeth at realizing this far too late, Albrecht devised a plan.

To figure out the best way to eliminate that man.

And today was the day when the Grand Duke and that man visited the Imperial Palace together.

It struck him that this might be the opportunity to kill him.

For that, he first needed to deal with the woman glaring at him right in front of his eyes.