YPDM 12

chapter 12

If the world hears about this, they’ll mock you and our family to no end.”

My voice trembled slightly when I called the viscount.

Maybe it was because I wasn’t the real Olavia.

Even in my previous life, words like “father” and “mother” were never familiar to me.

Though the viscount looked displeased, he couldn’t find anything to say back.

“You should think carefully. If rumors spread in noble society, it’ll be far more troublesome for you than it will be for me.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Wouldn’t your current business dealings take a huge hit?”

A pause.

Viscount Brien’s gaze wavered.

It was the reaction I had anticipated, but seeing it with my own eyes still made me sick to my stomach.

It was unpleasant, peering into the mind of a shameless man trying to sell off his daughter out of blind ambition.

Sensing the shift in atmosphere, perhaps—

“My lady!”

Suddenly, Michael knelt on one knee and pleaded earnestly.

“From the moment I first saw you, I fell in love at first sight. I’ve held you in my heart ever since. Putting all other interests aside, I truly love you.”

“I doubt that.”

I sneered coldly at the man who so lightly threw around the word love.

“I don’t know when your great love supposedly began, but if you were sincere, you would’ve stopped the Marquess of Belot when he proposed.”

“T-That’s—! There were circumstances!”

I’m sure there were.

But those “circumstances” were shallow and predictable.

“You were worried you’d lose your position as heir if you stepped out of line, so you kept your distance, and now you’re doing this….”

Sure, he was probably enchanted by Olavia’s beauty and glamour. But that was all.

Anyone could tell his feelings weren’t genuine.

“Don’t you think it’s pathetic?”

Michael’s face contorted with shame.

He turned to Viscount Brien with a pleading look.

But the viscount averted his eyes.

He must have calculated that this marriage wasn’t worth the trouble after all.

In any case, it worked out in my favor.

Perhaps realizing the situation was beyond salvaging, Michael stood up.

“You’ll regret treating me like this.”

Just moments ago, he was acting like a heartbroken lover, but now he glared at me with open hostility.

Oddly enough, it only reaffirmed that I’d made the right choice.

I gracefully lifted my skirt and curtsied.

“Take care on your way out.”

Late at night, the Cravant Ducal estate in the capital.

As usual, the lights were on in the duke’s office, but the mood was far from ordinary.

Lenox’s aide and shadow, Nisir, had just finished his mid-mission report, his expression tense.

“Voodoo?”

Lenox narrowed his eyes and repeated the word.

The wicked sorcery that had once triggered a holy war across the continent.

Eventually, after a large-scale purge of voodoo practitioners, the art had vanished from the continent.

And now, out of nowhere, the subordinate sent to investigate Kualum leaves had brought up that very topic.

“What kind of voodoo was performed using the Kualum leaves?”

In response, Nisir pulled out an old book from his coat.

“I found this in the secret archives of the imperial palace.”

The secret archives were strictly off-limits.

Only a very select few among the royal family had access to those texts.

But as always, that meant little to Lenox Cravant.

Legal or not, he had countless ways of obtaining what he needed.

‘So they really did hide this.’

During the holy war, every record on voodoo had supposedly been destroyed.

To prevent evil powers from harming people and disrupting the world’s order.

But that had only been the official story.

The records had never truly vanished.

‘They must’ve intended to use them someday.’

Lenox smirked crookedly.

No one knew the greed flowing through royal blood better than he did.

“Look here, Your Grace.”

Following Nisir’s finger, Lenox’s lips curled again.

“Interesting. So voodoo priests created evil spirits, huh….”

“According to the text, Kualum leaves were a key ingredient in the spirit-creation ritual.”

Nisir swallowed hard.

He knew how sharply his master reacted to anything related to evil spirits.

“There’s also a record that Kualum trees once grew across the former Shahar Kingdom.”

“Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while.”

The fallen kingdom of Shahar had been the last refuge of the voodoo priests.

Small and isolated, it was destroyed in the holy war and absorbed into the empire.

It was now part of the Cravant territory.

The Lutolu Forest at its center had once housed the royal palace of Shahar.

Now it was a dark forest, teeming with wickedness.

Lenox slowly closed his eyes and spoke.

“What do you think about the idea that evil spirits are ‘made’?”

“If it’s voodoo, I think it’s entirely possible.”

“Yes, I thought so.”

But something had been nagging at Lenox for a while.

Like a splinter under his nail.

“…Everything fits together too perfectly.”

“Is there an issue with the investigation, sir?”

“No. That’s not it.”

Lenox fell silent for a moment.

This warranted a deeper look later.

With his thoughts in order, he issued a command.

“Summon the shadows to the capital. Leave only the minimum in the territory.”

“But Your Grace, there’s been troubling reports about activity in the Lutolu Forest.”

“The evil spirits are moving toward the capital.”

At Lenox’s firm declaration, Nisir widened his eyes, then bowed without protest.

If his master said so, then it was so.

Especially when it came to evil spirits.

“I’ll send the message immediately.”

With Nisir’s answer, Lenox returned his gaze to the decaying, yellowed book.

“Voodoo priests fed victims tea brewed with Kualum leaves to turn them into evil spirits.”

Was it really a coincidence?

‘I told you—it was mixed in with the tea leaves. I didn’t even know what it was.’

He recalled the woman he had met a few days ago.

Surrounded by evil spirits, unaware of what was happening to her—her face was bright and innocent.

Lenox leaned back in his chair.

‘This isn’t like me.’

Olavia Brien, was it?

The woman who had babbled cheerfully in front of him with no sense of caution—she had been so careless.

She didn’t even realize the value of her own power.

‘Can I ask you a favor?’

Her voice, lively and clear, had a bright, hopeful ring to it.

Her eyes, shining with vitality even while being pursued by evil spirits and threatened with poison.

Lenox slowly closed his eyes.

The warmth of her soft hand was still so vivid that he could feel it even now.

Thinking back to that moment, his hand, resting on the armrest, clenched into a fist.

‘Is it because she’s an Ephure?’

A feeling like all the filth in his body had been washed away in an instant. He had never experienced anything like it in his life.

The ecstasy was so intense it had taken his breath away.

‘…I couldn’t even resist it.’

The purifying power he experienced was overwhelmingly powerful. He had been completely swept away.

Ephure. The Purifier. The Promised Holy One.

The savior of cursed blood.

His closed lashes trembled faintly.

A breath of heat slipped between his lips.

‘We probably won’t meet again, will we?’

She had asked that question offhandedly before they parted.

He hadn’t answered.

Why?

It was such a simple question.

He had a clear answer prepared.

“Nisir.”

“Yes, sir.”

Though everything felt out of character, Lenox acknowledged the strange urge rising within him.

“There’s somewhere I need to go tomorrow.”

Forget peace. Life at the Viscount’s mansion is officially over.

[Olavia.]

I was currently facing a serious and urgent crisis.

[Hey, are you okay?]

“Do I look okay?”

[No.]

Ash hovered beside me, nervously fidgeting while I sat with my head in my hands at the table.

‘I’m going crazy.’

I glanced between the tightly shut door and windows, then let out a deep sigh.

My room was a total wreck, like a storm had blown through.

‘I should’ve known when the wall lamp shattered out of nowhere.’

It all started in broad daylight.

I hadn’t even touched it, but a loud pop exploded and a chunk of the wall sconce went flying.

At the time, I’d simply thought, “I’ll have Mary replace it later.”

But things took a turn in the late afternoon, as shadows began to stretch long.

The canopy on my four-poster bed suddenly collapsed.

I was relaxing on the bed for the first time in a while and distinctly heard it.

Riiip—

A horribly unpleasant sound, like something being violently torn.

Then I heard Ash’s panicked screech through the open window.

[What are you doing?! You need to get out of there, now!]

‘What?’

[The energy is the same! Like those ominous things we faced before! The whole mansion is full of it!]

His words snapped me to attention as he darted into the room like a bullet.

But it was already too late.

As if it had been waiting for him to arrive, the windows and door slammed shut and locked tight.