Chapter 17 Part 5
Rather, he was holding my hand with proud eyes. The ring on the same place of his finger looked extremely satisfied.
Am I crazy for liking Hyle when he acts so childishly…? Yet I found his behavior simply adorable.
“Hyle, I think we should get going now.”
“Although it’s still before the announcement… it’s getting risky. Let’s hurry.”
Unfortunately, there was no time to continue enjoying the joy of getting engaged in front of everyone.
There were less than thirty minutes left until the official announcement of the Holy Maiden.
Without any time to spare, we had to leave the party venue immediately.
Celi’s regretful cries followed us sharply as we, the key figures, departed early, but there was no time to respond.
All that remained for me now was to leave Laté, safely receive divine power by Hyle’s side, and complete the purification of the remaining part of my heart.
How eventful it had been until this peaceful treatment today! I felt unexpectedly emotional.
“Rosiel, since we don’t have time for a carriage, come here. I’ll fly directly to the Laté mansion.”
Hyle spread his arms and shrugged his broad shoulders, as if inviting me into his embrace.
On another occasion, I would have smiled and nestled in, but… today, for some reason, it was difficult to do so readily.
“Are you sure it’s okay? It’s quite a distance, it might be too much.”
“It doesn’t matter, as long as you’re safe. Besides, can you come to the villa as soon as you’re done?”
“Certainly. It shouldn’t take too long.”
Upon hearing my confirmation, Hyle lightly lifted me into his arms and immediately rose into the air.
As we headed toward the Laté mansion at a rapid pace, I felt my heart pounding while being held in his arms.
Everything was resolving so easily that I felt somehow uneasy.
Somehow… usually after such smooth developments, something bad tends to happen.
…It’s probably just my paranoia.
“Rosiel, should I just wait for you out front?”
“You know there are surveillance creatures roaming around. You’re now the head of House Feros. If you’re caught and there’s a problem, it would be difficult to handle.”
Above all, Mattio knew that my meetings with Hyle were frequent.
Under these circumstances, he would absolutely not be pleased to see Hyle lingering around Laté.
Moreover, since Hyle was a family head, if he were to clash with Mattio, it would undoubtedly escalate into a conflict between families.
After reluctantly sending Hyle away, I immediately entered the mansion and went up to my room.
I also needed to release all my magical power bound to the breeding grounds and send the magical beasts back.
There was much to do… and the problem was that there wasn’t much time left until the official announcement.
Let’s take care of Entrie first.
“Entrie, where are you?”
Tweet!
Entrie’s wings fluttered busily, welcoming my return.
Skillfully grabbing Entrie by the back of the neck, I cast a simple sleep spell to keep him quiet for a while, then placed him in my arms.
The next task was to go to the breeding grounds and reclaim the magical power I had given to the magical beasts.
“Miss…!”
As I hurriedly opened the door, Lynn was unexpectedly standing in front of it, calling my name.
…But why does she have such a pained expression?
“Lynn? What’s wrong?”
“Miss, quickly, run away…”
“Lynn? What…!”
I couldn’t hear the end of Lynn’s words.
Soon after, I was speechless at the sight of Lynn collapsing weakly with a thud.
Behind Lynn, someone was standing.
“Rosiel Laté.”
“…Father?”
Mattio Laté’s eerie red eyes glowed blue in the darkness.
He was dyed completely red from head to toe, as if covered in blood.
“While I briefly looked away, you’ve been up to something interesting.”
A Laté being the Holy Maiden.
His following murmur was unbearably chilling.
“Why did you kill Lynn?”
“She knew everything but hid it, so she deserved punishment. She knew you were conspiring with Feros but didn’t say a word. Losing such a loyal dog is entirely your fault.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Lynn never hid anything.”
Speaking calmly, I finally turned my eyes away from Lynn collapsed at my feet.
It was difficult to look at her with a clear mind.
More importantly, the announcement shouldn’t have been made yet, so how did he know?
He’s completely certain, which suggests more than just hearing rumors…
“You seem to have forgotten who handles the empire’s traitors.”
At Mattio’s words, a forgotten fact flashed through my mind.
Typically, imperial traitors were executed throughout the generations, and House Laté usually carried out these executions.
This was because feeding them to magical beasts was a form of capital punishment.
Of course, even otherwise, the management of major criminals was entirely entrusted to House Laté.
Given Laté’s characteristics of willingly taking on the dirty and ugly work of the underworld, it was the most suitable job for them.
Speaking of recent major criminals… there’s only one, isn’t there?
“Don’t tell me Xenoph…!”
“It seemed wasteful to simply kill someone who was a Cardinal. I was going to throw him to the magical beasts as a toy, but he started saying interesting things.”
Pausing briefly, Mattio took one step closer to me.
Sensing danger, I tried to step back to maintain distance from him, but unfortunately, there was only the door behind me.
“That you are the Holy Maiden directly chosen by the goddess, and that you have a very deep relationship with Hyle Feros.”
There was nowhere left to retreat.
“Gasp.”
Suddenly, my blacked-out mind snapped back. Reflexively opening my eyes, my vision was completely dark.
The surroundings, where I couldn’t see even an inch ahead, smelled musty.
“…What is this?”
When I urgently tried to move my body, I felt strong pressure on my wrists, accompanied by a violent rattling sound.
Though I couldn’t see well, I could tell that something cold and solid was firmly wrapped around my wrists.
“The basement…!”
Thanks to this, I could immediately recognize where I was without much effort.
This was the very basement where I had once confined Hyle.
What was on my wrists were magic shackles, thoroughly restricting all my movements.
“Fortunately, you’re only a Holy Maiden in name.”
Apparently, Mattio believed I was already the Holy Maiden.
Someone who uses divine power would find it difficult to break magic shackles.
Fortunately, I wasn’t yet a complete Holy Maiden.
Although not as abundant as before, I still had demonic power remaining, making it not too difficult to unlock the shackles.
Soon, with a cool, clinking sound, the shackles came undone.
As I burst a small light from my fingertips to illuminate the darkness, my surroundings finally brightened.
“Wow… he really went all out.”
The only iron door leading outside was tightly wrapped with powerful magic.
Facing its formidable appearance, a breathless exclamation involuntarily escaped my lips.
It seemed best not to consider escaping through the door.
Although some demonic power remained, it wasn’t robust enough to withstand Mattio’s aggressive magic head-on.
“Ugh, I can’t muster any strength…”
To make matters worse, the demonic power remaining in my body had also become quite faint. Perhaps this was inevitable.
Recently, the purification of my heart had been steadily progressing, and as a result, my frequency of using black magic had significantly decreased.
“But where’s Entrie?”
Belatedly noticing that Entrie, who should have been in my arms, was missing, I frantically looked around.
However, Entrie was nowhere to be seen in the basement.
