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Chapter 20
“What did you say? Say it again.”
The quill, which had been busily gliding over the paper, came to a halt.
Two candles—one long, one short—flickered on the desk. Outside the window, the dusk began to settle in a hazy veil.
Obed bowed deeply and repeated himself.
“She summoned a spirit. A mid-tier water spirit, to be exact.”
Duke Desmier, Laphatus, set down his pen and leaned back deeply in his chair.
“A spirit, huh…”
The face of the child who had barged in early that morning demanding he be her guardian came to mind.
A gaunt frame that didn’t match her age, and eyes that held an inexplicable intensity.
Though he had thought nothing of the crazy fire demon’s offspring, something about those eyes—those flames—had lured him into accepting her outrageous request.
“Blood can’t be hidden, can it?”
A spirit summoner, and not just any—one who had supposedly received no formal training?
“Did the former Count Estel ever teach spiritism to his child?”
“I’m sorry, Your Grace. There’s no record of that.”
The old butler lowered his head in apology.
“From the time Lady Estel was born until she was seven, the Count was at his most violent. It’s difficult to know what went on inside. And so much time has passed—everyone who knew anything back then is either dead or gone.”
“However…”
From his downturned lips came additional information.
“According to those who were around them, the Count showed no affection or interest in Lady Estel. They say he rarely spent time with her. It’s believed he either never taught her spiritism or didn’t pass on anything meaningful.”
“Then she must’ve taught herself.”
The Duke crossed his arms, lost in thought.
Anyone who had seen—or even heard rumors of—the 200-hectare farmland turned to ash by a fire spirit would have to be insane to teach Kalia Estel spiritism.
‘Did she really master spirit studies on her own? Without a teacher?’
“She summoned the spirit during a meeting with her grade advisor. Originally, the meeting was for scheduling adjustments since she hadn’t enrolled in the first-year spirit classes, but upon summoning a mid-tier spirit, she was permitted to take upper-level courses for fifth-years and above.”
Obed’s voice snapped the Duke out of his thoughts. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple with his fingertips.
“There’ll be a stir. Keep a close eye on that child.”
“Yes, sir.”
The cursed count’s daughter—heir to the monster who had cast out the uncle who raised her for seven years overnight.
Kalia Estel was already a hot topic because of that alone.
Currently, she was the most talked-about figure in the capital.
And now, before the semester even began, she had summoned a mid-tier spirit—an unprecedented event.
Everyone would soon be scrambling to decipher what it meant.
Eyes everywhere would be watching, waiting to see what this chain of events would lead to.
At this moment, all of the Empire’s top figures shared a single burning curiosity:
“Will the demon’s daughter seek revenge for her father?”
“Does the blessing of a spirit—beings who know no good or evil—run in her blood, too?”
It’s easy to label the lowborn as filthy and wicked. But when that “filth” picks up a sword, things change.
Among the many eyes watching, one pair belonged to the mighty Emperor.
The Emperor, Tearnon, had accepted Kalia Estel’s unexpected audience request without complaint the night she visited.
He had listened to the situation and immediately granted the request that the Duke become her guardian.
But what he was thinking now—no one could say.
Though he and the Emperor had been friends since childhood, no ruler ever fully exposes his heart to his retainers.
‘Regardless, I was the one who helped that child.’
Whether it was a sense of responsibility or because her appearance reminded him of someone who once hanged himself with his own hands—something in him had been stirred.
Whatever the reason, he had played a major role in the current turn of events.
Had he not ousted Baron Varden and become Kalia Estel’s guardian, things may not have escalated this far.
‘Or… maybe it would’ve happened anyway.’
The Duke lifted his tired eyelids.
Even if he had rejected Kalia outright and ignored her plea to be her guardian, she would’ve returned to the academy on the first day of the semester all the same.
And just like today, she would’ve summoned a spirit and thrown the academy—and the Empire’s political world—into chaos.
‘This is all too sudden.’
In hindsight, her actions had been strange.
Kalia Estel hadn’t caused any significant trouble until just a month ago.
She simply lived up to her title as “the devil’s daughter”…
‘But didn’t she say the Baron failed in his duties as her guardian?’
Suddenly, her words from the day she first visited surfaced in his hazy memory.
Thinking it a lie at the time, he hadn’t paid it much attention. But now those words lingered.
‘She also said the Baron’s words were false.’
The Duke’s brow furrowed.
Up until now, his assumption about Kalia had been simple: “Kalia Estel is evil, just like her mad father.”
Everyone in the Empire who knew the Estel family thought the same.
It was considered common knowledge—an indisputable truth.
So much so that no one thought to question it.
Kalia Estel was gloomy and showed no remorse for her father’s crimes. She insulted his victims.
She was stingy with compensation to those who had lost property, land, or even lives, and had never once visited the territory to apologize.
After enrolling in the academy, rumors spread that she spoke with ghosts and saw spirits—people called her a witch.
The only relative who had cared for her until adulthood, Baron Varden, who had worked to restore the land in her stead, had been treated poorly—especially his kind daughter, Helena, whom Kalia was rumored to torment.
She had even opposed the orphanage project in Estelia, proving her selfishness.
‘Though… she did start acting a bit differently after entering the Ducal house.’
After moving in, she immediately proposed several support plans for restoring the territory.
She overhauled poorly run businesses and requested aid in cutting taxes, financial support, food supplies, and strengthening public order.
‘However…’
Even as he listened to her explanations at the time, the Duke’s heart remained cold.
‘This must be a short-term ploy.’
He had threatened to kill her if her wicked ways didn’t change—of course she would scramble to survive.
After being so arrogant, she had suddenly changed her demeanor once she was under the Duke’s roof—it seemed like a blatant show of repentance.
‘No one changes that drastically unless they have an ulterior motive.’
He didn’t care how much money she poured into restoration efforts.
If her actions lacked sincerity—if she just threw around money without any genuine remorse—then all she was doing was trying to deceive him and claim she had changed.
She dared believe she could fool Laphatus Desmier?
‘I was so sure of that…’
His eyes wavered. Something didn’t sit right.
As a Duke of the Empire, he had no reason to associate with a 14-year-old girl who hadn’t even debuted in society.
Let alone talk to her, the heir of that Estel.
Before becoming her guardian, he had dismissed everything he heard about her. But that morning, when they met—she had felt… different.
‘Almost as if those rumors…’
“Your Grace?”
The butler, patiently waiting, called out gently. The Duke finally raised his head.
Obed was watching him with concern.
By now, only the last streaks of scarlet remained in the sky. The items in the room had begun to cast long shadows.
“Shall I continue the report?”
“…Yes.”
He rolled his neck and shoulders to ease the stiffness.
“Lady Estel got caught in a commotion at the dormitory yesterday. It involved Young Lord Readmore.”
“With Rydym?”
“Yes.”
“Explain in detail.”
A throb pulsed behind his eyes. His son, who lately had been acting increasingly willful, now caused yet another headache.
The Duke pressed his eyes and sank deep into his chair.
“Young Master Readmore intercepted Lady Estel’s dorm application. As a result, the dorm staff refused to assign her a room, telling her to retrieve the missing document while her belongings remained spread across the hall.”
“…And then?”
“Coincidentally, the maids had been cleaning the servant quarters that day, and one of them found the application in the trash. It was quickly returned to Lady Estel’s maid, who passed it on to her. The room was then assigned.”
“Her maid is the daughter of Viscount Blaney, isn’t she?”
“Yes, sir.”
Obed nodded. The Duke rested his elbows on the armrests, fingers interlocked beneath his chin.
He knew Readmore resented his decision to take Kalia Estel into the Ducal house.
He also knew the boy had harassed her persistently before she returned to the academy.
But to interfere in official procedures?
“He needs a warning.”
“Shall I deliver it?”
“No. I’ll handle it myself.”
He waved a hand dismissively.
After all, he had chosen to bring her under Desmier’s roof.
He would not break that promise. Excessive behavior would not be tolerated.
“More importantly—about that Blaney maid.”
“You mean Lady Aila Blaney?”
“Yes. While watching Kalia, keep an eye on her, too.”
“Is there anything specific I should be looking for?”
“Even if she was assigned as a personal maid, it’s only been a short time. Anyone thinking clearly could’ve figured out Readmore was behind the incident. But the fact that she went straight to Kalia with the document—it suggests a deeper connection.”
He tapped the desk with a thick knuckle.
“There’s no need to act yet. Just observe their interactions—how they communicate, how they behave both at the academy and here. Record everything about Aila Blaney’s actions.”
Tap. Tap. Thud. A final tap struck with a heavy hand. At that moment, one of the candles, burned down to a stub, fizzled out.
“No one takes what belongs to Desmier. No matter what it is.”
“I’ll obey your orders.”
Obed bowed obediently.
“And…”
In the shadows, the Duke’s red eyes gleamed.
“Tell me everything about House Varden.”
