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Chapter 47
Chapter 8. The Only Spring Sunlight That Melts Winter
Success!
It was a sight I had never seen before, yet I could be certain.
For the past several months, I had examined and investigated every corner of this villa.
Naturally, Edmund must have been doing the same for seven years.
And yet, this was a phenomenon that no one had discovered even once during all that time.
Now I understood why.
Right. Blood from someone who inherited the bloodline of House Cohen had to be shed in the library.
In the original story, Edmund had been unable to enter the library because of Moretti’s interference.
There was no secret passage that led directly into the library.
The moment Edmund was finally able to enter it was after Willes arrived and helped him with magic.
And at that time, it was not long after he had been gravely injured in an assassination attempt, so it must have been easy to notice the secret of blood.
They said blood had continued to flow from the wound left after he lost one eye.
Naturally, it would have been much easier to realize than now.
The reason Edmund discovered this magic later than in the original story, despite coming and going from the library earlier, was also simple.
Unlike the original, he had fewer injuries and fewer occasions to bleed.
That, too, was the result of my efforts.
It was a little ironic.
I tried to protect Edmund, and because of that I almost failed to find the seal ring.
But I decided not to dwell on it.
Still, I figured it out before it was too late.
That was enough.
Edmund was just as quick as I was at grasping the situation.
“Yes. So that’s how it works!”
With that exclamation, Edmund snatched the paper knife from my hand and cut his own hand again.
Drip. Drip.
With every drop of blood that fell, the red glow grew stronger.
The light, which had been like a tiny spark, gradually grew until it filled my entire field of vision.
But—
It’s still not enough.
When I first noticed Edmund’s blood glowing, I had thought the light was so faint that I must have been mistaken.
Now I understood why.
The amount of blood had been insufficient, and so the light had been too weak.
The more Edmund’s blood flowed, the stronger the light became.
At this rate, we’ll soon be able to obtain the seal!
The ever-growing light soon began to move on its own.
From a dot to a line. Lines intertwined with one another, drawing a magic circle.
Once that circle was completed, it seemed the seal could be found.
However, each stroke of the formation required quite a lot of blood.
And it would be impossible for the weakened Edmund to endure this.
“Ugh!”
After spilling a great deal of blood at once, Edmund staggered.
“Edmund!”
I caught the wobbling child.
“I—I’m fine…!”
“No, you’re not fine at all! Your lips are completely blue!”
But Edmund did not budge.
“Even if it kills me, I have to do this.”
The boy’s eyes burned like flames.
The red eyes that had sunk into despair from abuse and pain were shining more brilliantly than ever before.
As if he were someone standing before a destiny he had to fulfill, even if it meant burning himself to ashes.
“Aunt is already nearby, and she’ll torture me if she has to in order to find out where the seal is. I have to obtain it before that happens.”
Even with a pale face, the child spoke in a resolute voice.
“This is my duty.”
“……”
Shaking off my support, Edmund stood upright again and drew more blood from his hand.
As though to say he would have no regrets even if he drained every last drop and died.
And I couldn’t turn away from that desperation.
Yet at the same time, I was so worried about Edmund’s safety that it was unbearable.
Will this really be okay?
At that moment, I saw something strange.
Blood from the wound I had made on my own hand earlier was dripping down onto the blood Edmund had spilled.
It was easy to distinguish my blood from Edmund’s.
Edmund’s blood was glowing as it met the magic.
Mine was just blood.
But then—
What?
When my blood mixed with Edmund’s glowing blood, something strange happened.
As if the magical light had transferred, even my blood—which had merely fallen onto the floor—began to glow as well.
Why is this happening all of a sudden?
Puzzled, I looked down at the wound on my hand.
Unlike when I had first cut myself earlier, now my blood, too, was glowing red with magical light.
Could it be…?
I immediately tested the idea that came to mind.
Taking another paper knife, I deepened the wound on my hand and sprinkled my blood over Edmund’s.
Splash!
“Cassia? What are you doing?!”
Sure enough.
Compared to the magic circle that fed only on Edmund’s blood, the circle that now included my blood began to expand much faster.
Anyone could see that the magic was activating far more rapidly.
Maybe while the magic was activating, my blood mixed with Edmund’s and caused some kind of interference.
That might be why my blood was also being recognized as the blood of “Cohen.”
Or perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I was officially “Cassia Cohen.”
Either way, I’m just glad I don’t have to stand by and watch a child collapse from excessive blood loss!
I smiled at Edmund as if it were nothing.
And truly, it was.
To the boy staring blankly at me—
“Don’t forget, Edmund. I’m Cassia Cohen.”
“Cassia……”
“It seems the magic passed down in House Cohen acknowledges that too.”
“But—”
“So let’s do this together. We’re husband and wife.”
“……”
Edmund’s lips parted several times.
But he couldn’t tell me to stop.
Right now, activating the blood magic circle alone was far too difficult for him.
In a very small voice, the boy whispered,
“I didn’t want you to get hurt anymore.”
I pretended not to hear, smiling as I added more blood to the magic circle.
And finally—
The magic circle took on a perfect and intricate form.
Edmund and I stared at the scene, seized by a strange sense of awe.
Paaaah—!
The enormous magic circle filled the entire library.
Every single brick in the place, and even a great number of the books, were components of the magic circle.
They moved on their own, finding their proper positions.
At last, the completed magic circle began to activate.
Rumble—!
With a grotesque sound, the wall at the very back of the library began to move.
Several bricks engraved with the magic circle interlocked and rotated like a complex mechanical device.
The glowing bricks formed what looked like a bookshelf.
And within it was that.
A single book glowing red.
That’s it! The Seal of Cohen!
I had assumed it would naturally be a seal ring, so I hadn’t expected it to take the form of a book.
In the original story, it had only ever been described as a ruby ring that was always worn on Edmund’s hand.
As if possessed, Edmund stepped forward and reached out his blood-soaked hand.
The red book came free into Edmund’s hand with almost anticlimactic ease.
Then it vanished like smoke.
“Huh?”
“Ah?”
But there was no need to worry.
The book that melted away in Edmund’s hand hadn’t disappeared.
Its collapsed red form was absorbed into Edmund’s body, then emerged again, taking the shape of a ring fitted onto his finger.
A ruby ring that cradled a strange red light like a beating heart.
With trembling, reverent fingers, Edmund stroked it.
“At last…!”
I, too, was swept up in intense emotion as I watched the scene.
The birth of the new head of House Cohen, at long last.
Edmund was filled with ecstasy.
He had finally obtained it!
From the age of seven, barely clinging to life, there had been only one thing a boy like him could set as his goal.
No matter what it takes, I’ll obtain the seal of the family head and become the true head of House Cohen!
To Edmund, the seal ring was another name for survival and revenge.
He had gritted his teeth and endured, gazing at nothing but that goal—
Yet recently, he had almost given up.
It was just too hard. And too lonely….
Days upon days of loneliness and horror, with no one looking after him, no one giving him affection.
They were days more than enough to shatter the soul of a seven-year-old child.
And so, every day in hell, the boy questioned himself.
Was my choice wrong?
Wouldn’t it have been better to just give up from the start?
At least then, it wouldn’t have hurt this much. And… I wouldn’t have been this lonely.
And then—
A girl appeared before him.
Like a single moment of spring sunlight shining down in an endless, bitterly frozen winter.
Holding the seal, Edmund slowly turned his head.
There stood a girl with a pallid face.
Both her hands were drenched in blood, she limped on one leg, and with an expression that was both crying and smiling, she approached him.
The boy’s spring wrapped him in her slender arms.
