Chapter – 14
The contract between the Ability User and the Controller was concluded smoothly.
They split the documents into two copies, each keeping one.
Since it was a contract sworn in the name of the Creator God, even in its simplified form, it held full validity.
And Evren was certain.
“Lirian Tillard really isn’t normal.”
He could tell just from how she openly declared she would say something crazy.
She was still very much at risk of losing control.
“If someone’s life is at stake, I can’t let her commit suicide, right?”
If someone was going to ruin things, it would be him.
Besides, a year would pass quickly anyway.
Until then, she’d just have to be watched thoroughly.
Evren nodded.
“Come to think of it, your cousin’s younger sibling is tied to a tree. They make a nice decoration.”
“Wow. Isn’t there an artist in our group? I can’t paint landscapes.”
“Unfortunately, we didn’t expect this to be an aesthetic journey.”
Evren sighed, unable to muster even a hint of regretful acting.
“Also, it’s annoying that feeding a truth serum doesn’t work. We need to find the source of the artifact that summoned the monster.”
“Would Your Highness handle it yourself—?”
“You saw it, didn’t you? I’m terrible at rough estimates.”
“Ah, I see. Then, Your Highness…”
Lirian smiled with composed competence.
“If you give me the chance to make your younger… sibling confess, I’ll get them to tell everything nicely.”
Evren had ordered that the Tillard family gather their captives in a clearing in the forest.
Ramius, in particular, had a lot to reveal, so the order was to tie him to a tree.
Elias and his subordinates carried out the command meticulously.
However, instead of tying him around the base of the tree, they hung him upside down from a sturdy branch.
“Ah! Let me go!”
Ramius struggled, blood rushing to his head.
Elias pointed his sword at Ramius’ jaw, still in its sheath.
“…You’d better confess before this gets any worse.”
“Hah! I’ve got nothing to confess!”
Buying an artifact that summons monsters was obviously illegal.
Yet Ramius felt proud of himself.
“Hmph, you can’t even kill me anyway!”
“….”
“Try touching a hair on me! Tillard will come, and it’ll be war!”
And the pretext would be that the First Prince and the Baltazar family had simply beaten him!
He was only trying to find his missing sister!
As Elias’ jaw tensed with irritation, footsteps approached from behind.
“Not making any progress, I see?”
“…Your Highness!”
Ramius swallowed dryly.
The First Prince’s faction was weaker than the Second Prince’s.
Ramius had always mocked them for that, thinking they were all bark and no bite.
But standing face to face with that man was frightening.
And…
“Why is Lirian with him…!?”
She clearly wasn’t treated as a captive like him.
Seeing the First Prince walking beside her in step gave him a bad feeling.
Lirian didn’t even glance at Ramius and turned her head to Elias.
“Sir, I know a way to make Ramius confess. Without taking off an arm.”
“…!”
“The Tillard family’s Controllers inscribe a spell on the inside of their wrist so that only family members can share sensitive information.”
“…If I touch it, will he be forced to answer questions?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Ramius gritted his teeth.
It was true.
The Tillard family used secret-keeping magic to prioritize internal communication for sensitive matters.
Truth serums or drugs couldn’t break it.
Elias dragged Ramius to the ground.
Still, Ramius, bloodied and dizzy, managed a bitter smirk.
“So, you’re trying to improve your fate by using your little sibling?”
“….”
“You won’t succeed anyway! It’s done with the Tillard family’s control magic, and you’re powerless.”
Lirian, however, smiled brightly.
“Even with blood rushing to your head, you got one thing right.”
“What?”
“Yes, I’m going to use you to improve my fate very carefully.”
Lirian turned Ramius’ wrist inward.
“What are you—!”
“So I could just finish it by having you drink a blend of sleeping herbs.”
Press.
Lirian pressed the golden hexagonal symbol inscribed there with her thumb.
At that moment, Ramius realized his life was ruined.
In the Tillard mansion in the capital, Quern was restless.
“Lirian incapacitated thirty knights and ran away.”
After that news, nothing more had come through.
“She must still be alive.”
The thought that she might be too injured to give to Pavilla was frightening.
It would have been a shame, but it would have been better if she died.
“She’s been useless all her life anyway…”
Still, there was a sense of relief.
A small communication artifact in the form of a brooch on his desk flashed with light.
Finally, the awaited contact had arrived.
Quern raised his voice in relief.
“Ramius!”
—…Uh, Brother.
“Why are you so late? Where’s Lirian?”
—I found her!
“Found her? Where?”
—Haha, well… she didn’t go far. I caught her before she could do anything.
“Tsk… Stop trying to grab attention like that.”
Quern scolded in a voice tinged with disgust.
As long as her marriage value wasn’t affected, it was fine.
Or at least, as long as it remained manageable by the family.
—Brother, uh… the artifact that summons monsters…
“Why that?”
—I broke it, but I need money to buy one more…
“Ramius, I told you to handle it carefully!”
It was Quern who had occasionally bought Ramius summoning artifacts.
He knew it was illegal.
But Ramius was destined to become the captain of the palace knights.
If he wanted to use them for “training,” why stop him?
“I’ll buy you another one. Come back in a reasonable time. Grandfather will also soon—”
At that moment, Iris took a ring from Quern.
“Brother. I want to talk to Ramius for a bit. I’m too worried…”
“Ah, go ahead. Take it and bring it back after.”
“Yesss.”
But as soon as Quern left, Iris’ tone changed.
“Ramius! Hurry up and bring Lirian back!”
—Iris? Wait—
“Do you know how much she has to do?”
Iris whispered urgently, showing no need to flatter her younger brother unlike with Quern.
There was no such thing as a sister who would speak nicely to her younger brother.
—Sis…
“If I’d known you’d sneak off to the North, I would’ve locked you in the basement!”
—Stop—ugh!
“I’m annoyed. The shop work is already a disaster…”
Iris bit her nails.
She had already broken a sweat just managing embezzlement.
And now it was almost time to plan a new project.
“…We need to assign the new project to Lirian quickly. If grandfather finds out, it’ll be a problem.”
—Sis…
“That’s her role, isn’t it?”
Iris recalled Lirian’s usual behavior and chuckled.
“She’s neither clever nor capable, right?”
—…
“Fine, just bring her back quickly.”
Iris ended the communication, her exasperation toward her brother clear.
‘She doesn’t even know how to answer properly.’
Still, letting out a pent-up burst of anger felt refreshing.
After finishing the communication with her superiors, Lirian observed Ramius’ facial expressions with amusement.
The way his face went pale, then red, within seconds.
“You… you…!”
“Sir Elias. Was it properly recorded in the recording stone?”
