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~Chapter 24~
People standing before the shattered statue of Arnes felt a strange fear and fell silent. The air was cold, as if everything had frozen.
“The Belmour family’s heirloom…?”
Someone spoke in a fearful, uneasy voice.
The statue of Arnes was a symbol of the first promise and contract between the Spirit King and the founder of the Belmour family.
For the symbol of that promise to be broken meant the Spirit King had turned his back on the Belmour family.
The marquis’s eyes shook as he realized the downfall of the Belmour family, who had relied on spirits for so many years, had begun.
A sigh broke the silence, and soon chaos spread among the relatives.
The duchess was the first to raise her voice and blame me.
“This is all because that impure child has returned, isn’t it?”
Other branch relatives nodded in agreement.
“Marciella must have used a black mage from Udes to do something!”
“To calm the Spirit King’s anger, we have to punish that child!”
These people, they can see the heirloom is broken, but they can’t see that I summoned a spirit? I was about to say something to these people who covered their eyes and ears and made up their own stories, but Edell pointed at Kkami, who was licking his paw.
“Wow, it’s a cat spirit.”
He spoke like a child, which was unusual, but his voice sounded empty.
After hearing Edell, the marquis and the relatives finally looked at Kkami.
“That black cat is a spirit…? It feels ominous.”
Even Lerazie, who had been quietly watching, spoke up.
“But I’ve never heard of a spirit like that.”
The marquis frowned as he looked at Kkami, while everyone waited for him, the master of the spirit temple, to say something.
What should I do? With Arnes’s statue broken, they couldn’t check my spirit or measure my power. They could just accuse me of trickery or black magic and dismiss everything.
“It’s a spirit of darkness that made a contract with me.”
At least I had to explain. The marquis looked at me and at Kkami with suspicion.
“…A dark-attribute spirit hasn’t appeared since the first head of the family and the Spirit King.”
Basilie finally looked certain and sneered.
“You’re calling that a spirit? Who are you trying to fool?”
Suddenly, a blue magic circle appeared, the sign of someone using spirit magic. Basilie grinned slyly.
“Let’s see if you can use your power in front of a real spiritist.”
With a splash, globes of water formed in both his hands. Was he really going to attack Kkami? If he used high-level spirit magic, Kkami could get seriously hurt. I quickly stood in front of him.
“Basilie, this isn’t necessary. I just summoned my spirit to prove the contract.”
Basilie snorted and pointed at the broken statue.
“How do you explain the statue breaking? You tried to fool the Spirit King with black magic, didn’t you?”
At that moment—
“Peep! Peep!”
Dusik came flying in, flapping his little yellow wings.
“Hey, you! Is that any way to talk? That’s incredibly rude!”
Dusik chirped strictly and circled above Basilie’s head.
“Ah! It’s hot!”
Basilie panicked, waving his arms as fire caught on his head.
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. I didn’t know where Dusik had been, but he landed proudly on my shoulder.
“I am a fire spirit. I made a contract with this child along with the dark spirit.”
That should have been enough to convince them, but the relatives still didn’t want to believe it. Only some neighboring nobles looked unsure.
“Fire spirits sometimes show up in new forms…”
“But making contracts with two spirits of different attributes? That’s impossible.”
That was what most people seemed to think.
Basilie, who was still fuming, stomped over and shouted at me.
“You unlucky girl! What is that chick, anyway? Are you trying to use a demon to hurt the next heir of the family?”
He looked like he was about to use spirit magic again, but then suddenly stepped back.
The water magic swirling around his hands vanished as if it had evaporated.
Basilie’s magic had been canceled, and he swung his fists angrily at the air.
“Undine! Damn it, if you made a contract with me, do your job!”
But his contract spirit, Undine, gave no reply.
Seems like they’re really not getting along. If you fall out with your spirit, you can’t use your powers properly, and you might even lose the contract.
“Even earlier… How could the heir of the spirit temple be like this?”
My aunt, Duchess Arses, looked at Basilie with a sad expression.
Her words sounded caring, but I could sense her real intentions underneath.
The reason for gathering relatives and nobles and throwing this banquet was to show off that someone had been chosen by the Spirit King, to show off the family’s strength.
“All I did was ask it to make me some drinks last night. Was that so bad?”
Basilie muttered, licking his lips.
To ask a high-level spirit for something like that… No wonder their relationship was ruined.
The marquis must have believed Basilie would be chosen. But now, Basilie was only losing his trust.
Watching the nobles, Lerazie pulled Basilie back and tried to calm him down.
‘Brother, please, shut your mouth. Everyone’s watching.’
Her voice was quiet, but I could tell what she meant.
The marquis hurried to end the situation.
“Let’s end the banquet here. Because the source of the disaster has returned, bad things have happened.”
He just wanted to escape the situation.
Even if Arnes’s statue had been fine, he probably would’ve made up an excuse to avoid testing me. He’s always been stubborn and avoided things he didn’t like. That’s why my mother got sick.
But even knowing there wouldn’t be a clear result, I still came here for a reason.
“I understand you want to make those children the heirs. But I can’t accept being falsely accused as an illegitimate child and exiled.”
I raised my voice so everyone in the big banquet hall could hear.
The relatives would always side with the marquis, blocking their ears and eyes to the truth, but this wasn’t just relatives—there were nobles and lords, too.
“Marquis Chase Belmour, everyone knows that baby fire spirits look like chicks. Are you sure that child is the cause of the disaster at the spirit temple? Are you sure she’s impure?”
One of the lords asked seriously.
Just as I thought, the lords and nobles looked confused.
They saw things differently, thinking about their business with the spirit temple and money.
Now they wondered where the Spirit King’s anger had really started.
Besides, the marquis probably promised them he’d get rid of me—the “source of the disaster”—by any means, even assassination.
The marquis, looking exhausted, sighed and said,
“I’m sure. I believed she summoned spirits and tried to give her one last chance…”
No one gets everything they want right away. You have to start somewhere.
Today, it was enough just to shake the marquis’s stubbornness and make people question who caused the disaster.
Just then, a deep, heavy voice spoke out.
“So you’ve finally ruined everything, foolishly.”
At the entrance stood an old man with snow-white hair, clear blue eyes, a strict and stern face, and a tall, sturdy build.
He looked strong and upright—nothing like the usual image of an old man.
Everyone fell silent, tense.
The marquis looked completely shocked.
He whispered,
“Grandfather…?”
I turned to look at him, startled.
Could it really be—my great-grandfather, Grand Duke Isaac Belmour?
He had passed on his title and left for the provinces long ago, but now he had suddenly appeared.
My great-grandfather, Grand Duke Isaac Belmour.
He had used the Spirit King’s power to help the empire flourish, and even after the central government was formed, he secured the family’s place.
Before the contract with the Spirit King ended, he was as powerful as the first head of the family.
