The emotion in his eyes when he first looked at her was unmistakably tender affection. His actions only reinforced that impression. He had even given her a room reserved for the most honored guests.
Not to mention letting me go anywhere I please within the residence.
Even his closest aide, the person most trusted by Grand Duke Persia, was surprised by his behavior. That alone showed how unusual it was.
They say he’s kept her body for three centuries.
Everyone knew that Grand Duke Persia had preserved the body of someone precious to him after her death.
No one knew the body had disappeared, though.
There were never any rumors about it.
“Wait, you’re telling me to go to the Grand Duke’s residence looking like that when her body is still right there?”
“It’s gone.”
“What?’
The body is gone.”
Yuness didn’t know how Veilks had learned that, but if the body was no longer at the Grand Duke’s residence, it was worth a try. If someone with that face appeared after the body vanished, even he might believe it was a reincarnation.
“Even if you don’t find the Black Egg, wouldn’t it work in your favor if you became close to Grand Duke Persia?”
“It certainly wouldn’t hurt.”
Veilks’s familiar, easy smile finally returned.
If Grand Duke Persia let himself be swayed by Yuness, that would be enough. Keeping one of the Empire’s, no, the continent’s strongest men in check would make his plans much easier.
Grand Duke Persia had spent three hundred years longing for one woman. There was no way he could ignore that face. The little hints she dropped, like fragments of memories, would only draw him in further.
Of course, there were still many things he had to take care of before Yuness could pass as Grace’s reincarnation. The biggest obstacle was...
Jubelios.
The Fire Spirit King was one of the few who remembered Grace perfectly. As her contractor, he could even recognize her soul.
That’s why I tried to seal the ring away forever.
Setting up a fake patriarch in House Ellesia was part of the plan, but in the end, everything fell apart.
Because of that woman, Ceres.
Veilks clicked his tongue as he looked at Yuness sitting before him. If she could get Grand Duke Persia on her side before facing the Fire Spirit King, there would be nothing to worry about.
No matter what anyone around the Grand Duke said, it would be useless. He trusted only his own judgment.
“But there’s one thing that’s bothering me.”
Yuness, who had been smiling the entire time, frowned slightly.
“There’s another woman...”
“You’re talking about Ceres.”
Veilks said the name first, as though he already knew the answer. Yunes’s eyes widened before she nodded.
“There’s just something about her that bothers me.”
There was no doubt that Grand Duke Persia treated Yuness differently. Even when she casually called him “Kai” in front of others, pretending it had slipped out by accident, he would simply smile back at her.
But...
The way Grand Duke Persia treated Ceres was different.
On a day when snow fell heavily, Yuness went for a walk with Grand Duke Persia. Of course, she was the one who had coaxed him into it, and he had willingly gone along.
“Whoa, the view here is so beau—Ah!”
“Careful.”
As they walked through the garden, Yuness lost her footing and nearly slipped. Grand Duke Persia reached out and caught her.
Blushing slightly, she took the opportunity to lean on him and link her arm through his.
“Thank you. It’s so slippery here...”
“This way.”
“Yes.”
Yuness’s face lit up when he made no attempt to pull away. She already knew that he went out of his way to avoid physical contact with others.
Once again, she felt certain that she was becoming someone special to him.
“Big sis, behind you! Look! Uncle Del is going that way!”
“Ah, that’s cheating, Miss Julia.”
“But she and I are on the same team.”
“...Since when? You didn’t even tell me. Wasn’t this supposed to be an individual match?”
Just then, a commotion caught Yuness’ attention. When she looked over, she saw Ceres, Julia, and the aide Del having a snowball fight in one corner of the garden.
Watching them throw snowballs at each other, Yuness chuckled in amusement.
“I didn’t know the aide had this side to him.”
Yuness only ever saw Del as a kind man who never lost his smile, though he still kept people at a certain distance. Seeing him happily playing in the snow with the two girls was quite a surprise.
Whoosh!
“Ah!”
A snowball Del had thrown suddenly came flying toward Yuness. She was startled, but Grand Duke Persia stepped in front of her and caught it with his bare hand.
“Are you all right?”
“Ah, yes. Thank—”
Thwack!
Another snowball came flying a moment later and hit Grand Duke Persia squarely. Snow burst into the air. Yuness quickly covered her mouth with her hand, while Del looked just as stunned.
“Pfft!”
A small laugh escaped from nearby. Yuness turned to see Ceres giggling.
“Are you oka—”
Swish.
Yuness had just reached out to brush the snow off Kainel when he walked past her and headed toward Ceres instead. He sighed in exasperation as he caught Ceres’s hand.
“Why?”
“Your gloves.”
His brow furrowed while looking at her reddened fingertips.
“I don’t need them.”
“Put them on.”
Grand Duke Persia took off his own gloves and slipped them onto Ceres’s hands. Looking a little bewildered, she stared at the gloves and tilted her head.
“Since when did you start wearing gloves?”
...What is she talking about?
Yuness barely managed to keep her expression composed. Ceres’s words gave her the unsettling feeling that she knew more about Grand Duke Persia than Yuness did.
“Don’t stay out too long. Go inside before you catch a cold.”
Instead of answering Ceres’s question, Grand Duke Persia simply told her to be careful before turning away.
“Let’s go.”
“Ah, yes...”
Unlike before, Kainel now walked several steps ahead of her. Yuness couldn’t shake the strange uneasiness.
She’s bothering me.
That uneasy feeling refused to leave Yuness alone. She soon realized the reason was that woman.
“Is there any way to remove her?”
Veilks chuckled as he continued watering the white flowers.
“It won’t be easy.”
Ceres had shown him something unexpected every time he observed her. Even he had yet to fully understand what kind of person she was.
“Hmm.”
Veilks paused as he tended to the flowers, sinking into thought.
“Perhaps this is a good chance to find out.”
How much power did she have? What other abilities was she hiding? After coming to a decision, he looked at Yuness.
“There’s a place in the Principality that would be suitable.”
“A suitable place?”
“I heard the master of that place is an S-rank monster.”
“Ah.”
Yuness immediately knew where he meant.
The Forest of Ice Trees, a place where all kinds of monsters gathered. The creature known as its master was even rumored to be an S-rank monster.
“Sending her there might not be a bad idea.”
Understanding his intention, Yuness frowned. He was suggesting that they lure Ceres to the Forest of Ice Trees and leave her at the mercy of the monsters there, including the forest’s master.
But the problem was how to get her there.
She isn’t stupid.
She would never go to such a dangerous place just because someone told her to.
“When it comes to luring someone in, all you need is something small.”
Veilks approached Yuness and handed her something. It was a small stone with a reddish tint.
“A single weakness is enough.”
“...A weakness.”
Repeating his words softly, Yuness’s eyes sharpened.
***
“...Ceres is going where?”
“To the Principality of Persia.”
“......”
Cheion dropped by the stew shop for the first time in a while.
He had spent days locked away in his laboratory, examining the blue stone Ceres had given him. If not for Ceres’s warning before she left, he might have collapsed in bed from hunger by now.
“If you don’t eat now, I’ll contact Miss Ceres and have her take the mana stone back—”
“I’m eating! I’m eating right now! Why do you keep trying to give my stone away whenever you want? Think about how hurt it would be!”
“....Please eat slowly. You’ll get sick.”
“If I get sick, does that mean I can stop eating?”
“Yes. You can stop eating. But you’ll have to leave the laboratory too. There’s no point in researching when you’re sick.”
“...Luka, you’re great in many ways, but your lack of flexibility is your biggest flaw.”
“Yes, and Master, your biggest flaw is having far too much flexibility.”
“......”
After finishing his research on the mana stone, Cheion immediately went to find Ceres. But she was nowhere to be found.
“Why would she go to the Principality of Persia...?”
Cheion murmured in a daze. While he had been lost in his research, Ceres had already left the Empire. And of all places, she had gone to the Principality of Persia.
“I don’t know the details either...”
Seeing Cheion looking completely lost, Jay hurriedly added.
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