VFAI 17

Chapter 17

 Yansi’s True Face
August 28, 2022

The Angellos family’s capital manor.

The duke’s aide entered the office. The duke, who had just removed his glasses and placed them on the desk, spoke.

“Have you found out?”

“Yes, Your Grace. This is confirmed information from the spy we planted in Perdian.”

The question was simple: who was the real protagonist behind the recent military supplies incident that ended in Perdian’s victory?

“So. Who was it?”

At the duke’s question, the aide hesitated before answering.

“Lady Elodie Perdian—the youngest daughter of Duke Perdian.”

“…What?”

The Angellos Duke frowned.

“Elodie Perdian?”

The name felt unfamiliar, as if it rarely left his mouth. Then he recalled her.

Yes. Perdian had a youngest daughter. A child born out of wedlock, if he remembered correctly.

She was said to be extraordinarily beautiful—angelic, even—but had a notoriously vicious personality, leaving her isolated from others.

So the Angellos Duke had never paid her any attention.

“She was nothing more than a pawn for the First Prince,” he muttered.

If she was just a troublesome noble girl, she wasn’t worth his concern.

Besides, a great noble house without a “power” was nothing more than incompetence.

Power was the divine blessing of birth.

But now, unexpectedly, she had become a variable.

And he, a rigid man who hated unpredictable situations, could not tolerate that.

“Of course. She’s still a Perdian,” he scoffed.

Half-blood or not, still blood.

Then a thought struck him.

If she couldn’t even use her power, she would be easy to eliminate.

The alliance between the First Prince and Perdian was built upon the engagement.

If Elodie died, the public justification for that alliance would disappear.

It wouldn’t completely break their bond, but even a crack would be enough.

To him, Elodie herself was never important anyway.

The duke smiled faintly and put his glasses back on.

“We’ll crush it at the root.”

So it could never grow again.

—

Once every three years, a night when the moon was swallowed by darkness fell upon the world—the night of the eclipse.

It was when the power of the underworld goddess Irkala became strongest.

With no moonlight left after sunset, the protection of the goddess Ishtar did not reach the land. Because of that, members of the four great families and the imperial bloodline struggled to control their powers.

Especially those who were young or whose powers were newly awakened or overwhelmingly strong.

However, it didn’t apply equally to all.

The difficulty of control varied greatly depending on the nature of each family’s power.

My own ability—purification of poison—was unaffected.

At worst, I would just purify too much or not at all. And it only worked if something was actually poisoned.

So until now, I had survived every eclipse night without incident.

But things were different for the “Mutation” Crundel family and the “Destruction” Perdian family.

“Carlot was a disaster three years ago,” I muttered nostalgically.

Not an exaggeration.

He literally destroyed the mansion.

His power was ground collapse.

Every step he took swallowed the earth, to the point where servants screamed at him to stop moving. Even the sound reached the annex.

But that wasn’t my problem, so I just watched like it was happening across a river.

Compared to him, Yansi had always been better at control.

Except for the incident when his power first awakened, he had never once lost control—at least publicly.

Because he carefully maintained his image.

Yansi Perdian was someone even his own parents only vaguely suspected—they didn’t truly know his real nature.

On the surface, he was kind and gentle… but not entirely.

Without my knowledge of the original story and that “incident” six years ago, I would have been fooled too.

But I knew the truth.

Yansi Perdian could not fully control his power.

At age five, when his ability awakened, he had once used it on a servant and sent them into a coma. Since then, he had developed trauma.

He always wore gloves, avoided touching people, and kept distance from others.

Because of that, he couldn’t even swallow food properly when his power destabilized. Sometimes he would vomit immediately after eating.

At worst, he would experience extreme pain right before losing control.

And today—

Today was the eclipse night.

The sunset painted the sky in strange shades of orange and pink.

Night was approaching.

“I guess nothing will happen,” I said.

He had survived many eclipse nights since age five. There was no need to worry.

But what I couldn’t understand was why the Duke insisted on holding a family dinner today.

“Is this some kind of ‘grow stronger by enduring the eclipse’ lesson?”

But did he consider that his sons might destroy the dining room in the process?

Anyway, it was mandatory family dinner day.

“Miss, wear the dress you bought with young master Carl last time,” Masha said.

“It was just something we picked up… Does it even fit?”

“It’s a bit big, but it’s fine! You’re still growing!”

“It’s fine? Nothing about this is fine.”

After bickering with Masha while getting ready, it was soon time.

Outside the window, where no moonlight shone, the world looked pitch black—too dark to even step outside comfortably.

“Let’s go, Miss. Walk slowly, it’s hard to see.”

“Alright.”

Following Masha with a lantern, I headed toward the main manor. Surprisingly, not a single servant was seen along the way.

“They must really value their lives,” I muttered.

At that, Masha slowly stepped backward.

“I’ll… be going back to my quarters now.”

“…What about me?”

“Enjoy your dinner!”

“Masha!”

She ran off the moment we arrived at the banquet hall entrance.

So much for loyalty.

I entered the hall alone.

Naturally, I was the last to arrive since I lived in the annex.

“I apologize for being late.”

“It’s alright, Elodie. It’s an eclipse night—you made it here safely despite the darkness.”

The duchess greeted me warmly.

I sat down.

Amuse-bouche was served immediately.

As I ate, I observed the family.

The duchess—no power, irrelevant.

The duke—powerful and composed.

Carlot…

“Your control has improved, Carlot.”

“Thank you, Father. I have not wasted the past three years.”

Carlot smiled proudly.

The duke replied flatly.

“Yes. Destroying only your bedroom is quite an achievement.”

“Cough.”

Carlot pretended to focus on his food.

So he still broke something, huh.

And finally—Yansi.

He was eating as usual, smiling gently, responding politely.

But something was off.

“He hasn’t eaten much,” the duchess said.

“I had snacks earlier,” Yansi replied. “I’m not very hungry.”

“That’s unusual for you.”

He smiled softly, then put down his utensils.

“I’ll go wash my hands.”

“Alright.”

He left quickly after receiving permission.

Too quickly.

I frowned slightly.

“Is he sweating?”

No one else seemed to notice.

I bit my lip.

‘Why am I the only one who knows?’

I didn’t want to get involved.

But I couldn’t ignore it either.

I noticed the slightly bent knife on his plate.

He had been gripping it too tightly.

No.

I couldn’t leave this alone.

“I’ll go wash my hands too.”

“Go ahead.”

The duke nodded.

I left the hall.

‘I’m sure he’s somewhere secluded.’

Yansi wouldn’t go somewhere crowded in this state.

The only place was the abandoned garden near the annex.

I walked quickly with a lantern.

And then—

I heard it.

A low groan.

I already knew who it was.

In the dark garden, a large figure crouched in the bushes.

Yansi.

I had seen this before.

Six years ago.

Back then, I had accidentally found him in the same state.

“Brother…?”

“Cough… hngh…”

“Are you okay?”

“Go away.”

“…What?”

“I said go away!”

His voice cracked with pain.

The light of my lantern revealed his sharp blue eyes.

I had once admired him.

Unlike Carlot, who hated me openly, Yansi had called me “Riri” and treated me like a sister.

“Please… go away…”

“Ah—sorry!”

I dropped the lantern and ran.

That was his true face.

And after that night, he acted as if nothing had happened.

As if he didn’t remember.

Now I understood why.

But one thing remained unchanged—

He still hated me.

And now I owed him.

I stepped closer.

“…Ugh.”

His body was trembling.

I stretched out my arm as far as I could without getting too close.

“Hey.”

“……”

“It’s okay.”

“……”

“It’s fine.”

“……”

“You’re fine.”

“……”

“…Maybe fine?”

I kept patting his back awkwardly while repeating meaningless reassurances.

It didn’t matter if he remembered this later or not.

Then—

His trembling slowly stopped.

…Finally.