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Chapter 31
I Became the Sister-in-Law of the Young Villain
“Ha….”
First the heir, now the Duke himself.
The faces of the laborers, who suddenly found themselves face-to-face with two of the empire’s highest-ranking nobles, turned deathly pale, but no one dared to pay them any attention.
Calvados, who had been sensing the nature of the magic stone’s energy with his hand hovering near it, curled his lips into a bitter sneer.
“As I thought.”
At his muttered words, his aide’s face stiffened.
“Don’t tell me…”
“That’s right. It’s a good thing we didn’t request outside aid.”
Calvados rose from his seat and murmured coldly.
Hatred flickered in his silver eyes as he spoke:
“Let’s head to the Marquis of Babylon’s estate.”
Renald Babylon was once called a peerless genius, a budding great mage.
In his youth, he was hailed as a prodigy. Even up until his marriage, that reputation followed him.
But that title was snatched away from him in an instant.
Because the true genius, Cedric, appeared.
Cedric was a man so extraordinary that it was hard to believe he had grown up roaming the streets and living in a shabby orphanage.
Was that all?
The sheer amount of mana he possessed made him the real peerless genius, the real bud of a great archmage.
When Cedric restored the long-lost weather magic, he even copied Renald’s spell in the process.
“It was only once. I only showed him once.”
It was ungentlemanly to crush a child’s spirit, yes—but it was also infuriating to have his title stolen away.
So he had shown Cedric the Babylon family’s hereditary spell as if to say: No matter how talented you are, there are things you can’t do.
The Babylon family’s hereditary magic was Mana Transfer, the ability to grant one’s own mana to another mage.
“But that damned brat copied even that.”
It was unbelievable.
It felt like the world itself was playing a cruel joke on him.
With just one demonstration, Cedric had fully mastered Mana Transfer.
And then, as if to rub salt in the wound, Cedric pointed out its fatal flaw with perfect accuracy:
“If you transfer mana, it leaves a trace. If there’s even a single magic stone nearby, it’ll become undeniable evidence against you.”
Renald bit his lip hard.
“As if I didn’t already know that.”
But even so, since he had found no way to fix it, he was still forced to use the flawed spell.
And Cedric’s audacity didn’t stop there.
“If it were me, I’d do it like this.”
Right before his eyes, Cedric sketched out a complex mana-transfer formula in midair and reinterpreted it within seconds.
“Instead of relying on resonance, you double-inject the mana.”
Cedric had effortlessly solved the flaw of the Mana Transfer spell.
But there was a problem.
His solution—the Dual Mana Injection Formula—was an intermediate technique of weather magic.
“In short, it required a mastery high enough to handle the supposedly ‘lost’ weather magic with ease. Far beyond my reach.”
So even though Cedric had handed him the answer, Renald was powerless to use it.
The humiliation and frustration were maddening.
What stung worse was that, because he couldn’t use that technique, he had been caught red-handed.
Now Renald was forced to his knees, forehead pressed to the ground, unable to move.
Cedric’s gravity magic was crushing him with five times the normal gravity.
“The mana supply line…”
Renald managed to open his mouth, but the words never made it out.
“What in the world!”
“M-Mother…!”
The Marchioness and Jeril were suddenly floating helplessly into the office from their rooms.
Using his gravity magic, Calib had placed them in zero-gravity and carried them in.
Thud!
The moment they reached Renald’s side, the immense gravity pressed down on them too.
“Khuk…!”
The suffocating weight drained the color from their faces.
Then—
“Cedric! Calib! I found the passage to the basement!”
It was Elia’s clear, ringing voice.
Grinding his teeth, Renald cursed inwardly.
“Her again…”
It was that woman again.
That wretched Elia.
He didn’t know how she had discovered his kidnapping of Daphne, but—
“It has to be that lowborn witch scheming behind the scenes!”
Otherwise, how else would she have thought to search the under-construction main mana supply line?
“I confirmed the laborers were gone. I confirmed the work was nearly finished…!”
The thought that a commoner had outmaneuvered him made Renald feel like he was losing his mind.
Cedric and Calib immediately rushed to where Elia’s voice came from.
Even after they left, the gravity spell remained, pressing down harder on the Babylon family.
“Look at this!”
Elia called from Renald’s study.
She pointed to a hidden passage behind the bookshelf.
“Would you believe there was a secret passage here?”
“How did you know?”
“Well, standing nearby, I noticed only the books on this shelf were worn and weathered. As if they’d been exposed to the elements. It seemed suspicious.”
“No, I mean—how did you move such a heavy shelf?”
At Cedric’s question, Elia blinked innocently as if struck by starlight.
“Huh? Oh, I just… pushed it because I felt something was behind it. And it moved.”
Cedric and Calib fell silent at once.
Smashing a wolf monster’s skull with a single kick, subduing muscular maids with her bare fists…
They had known Elia possessed unusual strength.
“…You really are a woman of monstrous strength.”
“No kidding…”
To move a bookshelf so heavy that even a grown man couldn’t budge it—that was beyond belief.
“Come to think of it, wasn’t superhuman strength one of the traits of fairies?”
Cedric began to suspect that Elia had fairy blood in her lineage.
Unconsciously, both men made a silent pact: Never face Elia barehanded.
The three of them hurried down the underground passage.
From Calib’s fingertips, a white light illuminated their way.
The passage wasn’t as damp or foul as expected, but the darkness was oppressive.
How far had they descended the spiral staircase when—
“Mmph, mmph!”
A muffled cry came from deeper inside.
They stopped, then dashed down.
And just as expected—
“Lady Daphne of the Marquisate of Marinnest!”
There she was, the original heroine, Daphne, bound tightly.
“Mmmph! Mmph!”
Her silky sky-blue hair was disheveled, and her holy silver eyes brimmed with tears.
Tear-streaked, she looked at them pleading for rescue.
Elia’s face darkened with uncontainable fury.
“To think they dared imprison a child here…!”
Remembering the trussed-up Renald above, she rushed to Daphne’s side.
“Hold on just a little longer!”
Elia’s monstrous strength once again shone through.
Before Cedric or Calib could act, she ripped apart the ropes binding Daphne with a sharp snap.
And those ropes weren’t ordinary—they were enchanted to seal magical power, impossible to tear with mere force!
Cedric and Calib could only gape in silence.
“Hhhwaaah!”
The moment Elia tore off the cords around Daphne’s wrists, the girl flung herself into Elia’s arms, sobbing.
Overcome with pity, Elia fell back but held Daphne tightly, stroking her back.
“You must have been so scared. It’s alright now.”
“Hic… huuhh…”
Daphne clutched Elia’s waist with trembling arms, as if terrified that letting go would see her thrown back into that dreadful underground prison.
Elia soothed her for a long while.
When they finally started back upstairs—
“M-My legs…”
From crouching in fear so long, Daphne’s legs had given out.
Without hesitation, Elia turned her back to her.
“Get on.”
“Ah, but…”
“Hurry.”
At Elia’s firm gesture, Daphne hesitated, then wrapped her arms around Elia’s neck and climbed onto her back.
Elia lifted her effortlessly, not even grunting.
“Let’s get out. No one wants to stay here a moment longer.”
She spoke for Daphne’s heart.
Indeed, Daphne felt she would faint if she lingered even a second more.
The underground cell was too similar to the prison where she had awaited death in her previous life.
“I was terrified… that misfortune from my past life would repeat.”
The darkness without a single ray of light had been suffocating.
“…But this is warm.”
Resting her cheek against Elia’s back, she heard the steady thump of her heartbeat.
Through the thin fabric, she felt Elia’s warmth and the soothing scent of herbs.
Exhausted, Daphne sagged and closed her eyes, a single teardrop falling as her silver lashes shut.
Elia, feeling Daphne’s grip tighten on her neck, steadily carried her up the spiral staircase.
Behind her, Calib’s crimson eyes sank into a cold, quiet fury—unnoticed by anyone.
Elia took Daphne to another room, while Cedric and Calib returned to Renald.
But there, an unexpected guest awaited.
“…Duke of Marinnest?”
Calvados Marinnest stood before Renald, his face chillingly cold.
At Cedric’s call, Calvados slowly turned his head.
Despite being the father of a six-year-old, he looked impossibly youthful.
His deep blue hair, nearly navy, and the silver eyes so like Daphne’s, were cold as glacial water.
And in an icy voice, he said:
“What sort of play-acting is this supposed to be?”
“Play-acting?”
Cedric matched his frigid tone without faltering.
After all, murderous intent was radiating off Calvados in waves, as if Cedric and Calib themselves were the kidnappers.
For him to direct such killing intent toward those who had saved his daughter—it was infuriating.
Calvados sneered.
“I knew your house was ruthless, but to think you would frame your vassals the moment your own crime threatened to be exposed…”
“Exposed? Framed?”
Cedric’s brow furrowed.
“Don’t play dumb.”
Calvados gestured at the Babylon family, crushed flat to the ground.
“They’ve confessed: it was you who ordered them to abduct my daughter, Daphne.”
