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~Chapter 23~
I placed my left hand over my heart and looked at the statue of Arnes, raising its right hand toward the sky. I remembered my mother holding me as a child and explaining the statue.
“Spirits are the beings that move all things in the world. It means that human hearts follow the will of the heavens. It’s called karma. In the past, the first spiritist and the spirits swore to always speak the truth in front of Arnes’s statue.”
Children my age and the young boys and girls of the family stepped forward.
Everyone was nervous, hoping they would be the one chosen by the Spirit King.
All I needed was to have my powers confirmed and my status restored. I smiled at Edell.
“Edell, once I’m no longer an exile, let’s think about where we’ll move.”
“Okay.”
Edell, with his arms crossed, answered stiffly.
I stood tall and walked forward. With every step toward Arnes’s statue, I felt people’s scornful and mocking stares.
“Did she come here to embarrass herself on purpose?”
Lerazie glared at me proudly. My cousin Elizabeth giggled and asked with a dull face,
“What was my next line again? ‘Bangchooja’? Is she working hard for nothing?”
“Exile.”
Lerazie corrected her, annoyed, as if she’d suggested they should gang up on me.
Elizabeth really wasn’t cut out to be a villainess.
“Sometimes the Spirit King hides his true form during contracts, so first we’ll check in front of Arnes’s statue to see who he has chosen.”
As the ceremony began, William, the son of my aunt, Duchess Arses, stepped up. I saw the magic circle drawn on the marble floor. He stood on the circle, and Marquis Belmour began the spirit ritual.
“Spirit, old friend who connects the spirit world and human world, I call on the spirit contracted to William Celeb Somerset, descendant of Belmour. Please reveal yourself.”
It was the spell to show the spirit a person had contracted.
Bzzzt.
As soon as William touched Arnes’s statue, a blue light shimmered in the magic circle, and the air turned icy cold.
While I was shivering in the chill,
a sparkling snowstorm swirled around William, and a white fox with shining fur appeared, waving its tail.
It was a mid-level ice spirit.
The marquis asked,
“Flow, is this child the spiritist chosen by the Spirit King?”
The pretty white fox called Flow closed its eyes and shook its head.
“My name is Flow, but I am not the Spirit King.”
Disappointment appeared on his mother’s face, the Duchess, and on William’s as well.
“There’s no way the child of an outsider would be chosen.”
Relatives with children waiting their turn whispered in relief.
Next, my cousin Elizabeth’s high-ranking rainbow spirit, then a forest spirit from another relative, and finally it was Lerazie’s turn.
The marquis looked at Lerazie kindly.
“Lerazie, don’t be nervous. Daddy is watching.”
Lerazie, who was stiff with nerves, managed a smile back at him. I pretended to be calm watching them.
If I’d had a family like that, I wouldn’t have needed to become a great spiritist. I would have been happy just as I was.
When her ceremony started, a gentle breeze blew over Lerazie’s head, and a small fairy with colorful hair and floating silk appeared—a low-level wind spirit.
“Sylph, is this the child chosen by the Spirit King?”
“No.”
Disappointment crossed Lerazie’s face. The marquis comforted her, saying again and again, “It’s all right.”
“It’s all right, you’re still a proper spiritist.”
I was never told it was all right.
I was chased out, treated like a criminal, as if my very existence was a sin.
I sighed and turned away, feeling a strange sense of loss.
Most of the other tests ended in disappointment or tears. The parents looked disappointed but tried to encourage their children.
Soon, it was Basilie’s turn—the family’s main hope.
The marquis looked at him proudly and raised his chin.
“Will the real spiritist chosen by the Spirit King finally appear? Even if he’s not the son of the official wife, if the Spirit King chooses him…”
“Well, if that’s what the Spirit King wants, there’s nothing we can do.”
The banquet hall trembled, and everyone stopped whispering.
With a splash, water circled Basilie’s feet, and a transparent mermaid spirit made of water appeared. It was a high-level water spirit.
“Undine, is this the one chosen by the Spirit King?”
Before the marquis finished his hopeful question,
the water spirit flicked its tail and scowled.
“That’s ridiculous. Even if it were true, I would never allow it!”
Undine, the water spirit, got angry, splashed water everywhere, and disappeared. The marquis was left soaking wet, looking dazed. The banquet hall fell silent.
“The spirit might break the contract. The marquis’s son has a bad reputation.”
“Well… He’s always gambling, drinking, and chasing women. Water spirits hate that—purity is important to them.”
“Grand Duke Isaac was so upright, but after that, no other descendant has been chosen by the Spirit King.”
I heard people behind me whispering. Spirits liked good and upright people and hated dirty deeds. Sometimes, a spirit would break a contract out of anger or disappointment.
Judging by the smell of alcohol, Basilie probably used the water spirit to make alcohol.
Using noble spirit magic for something like that—no wonder the spirit hated it.
Finally, it was my turn.
No one had been chosen by the Spirit King so far.
Maybe the light from Arnes’s statue meant something different. It seemed like others were thinking the same.
“Well, let’s just enjoy the banquet.”
“Tired? Want to go back to your room?”
People who had been watching began to drift away.
The only ones left were those eager to laugh at me and feel superior.
“Ciella, show them what you’ve got!”
Keia appeared out of nowhere, waving as if cheering me on. Did he think I was going to a boxing match? Is he my coach?
Edell just watched me seriously, saying nothing.
Even if it was just the two of them, I was glad I had people on my side.
“Let’s end it here. Put Arnes’s statue back.”
Before I could even start, the marquis tried to finish the ceremony.
“Marquis. I haven’t even had my turn yet.”
“This is my last bit of mercy. Go back before you embarrass yourself.”
He didn’t believe me at all.
Was he trying to avoid admitting I was his child, or was he afraid of being embarrassed in front of everyone?
“Do you just want to ignore the truth because you can’t admit you’re wrong? What about me and my mother, who have lived all these years with shame and blame?”
The feelings I’d tried so hard to hold back burst out. This was too cruel.
I could still remember my mother’s thin hands, her dried tears, and her sad face.
The marquis stared at me firmly.
“No, I’m not wrong. You can’t be my daughter.”
Like waves crashing against a cliff and then falling away, my anger and sadness suddenly faded.
“I’m not asking you to be a loving father. I just wanted to hear you say you’re sorry.”
But I knew he would never say it.
My anger and resentment calmed down, replaced by a kind of acceptance. Maybe it was resignation.
I smiled sadly and raised my hands.
“Come out, everyone.”
I called my spirits.
It’s all right if they’re only low-level.
It’s all right if I’m not chosen by the Spirit King.
If I want to bring someone into the light, I have to step out of my own dark, hateful past first.
“Look at that!”
Someone shouted in surprise, pointing at Arnes’s statue.
From the statue’s kind and gentle face, black tears were streaming down.
The marquis’s face turned pale, sensing something was wrong.
“Th-this is…”
Suddenly, Arnes’s statue shone with a blinding light, filling the whole hall.
CRACK.
The statue split apart in all directions with a loud noise and collapsed.
On top of the broken statue, a black cat sat elegantly, calmly waving its tail.
“Karma…”
In the silence, I heard a familiar voice whisper.
Uncle Alec, who had come in late, was looking at the marquis.
Everyone turned to look at him.
The right hand of the broken statue, lying on the floor, was pointing straight at Marquis Belmour, the lord of the spirit temple.
