Chapter 51
“Wh-Where did you even find the ring?”
Creel Ellsia, who likewise couldn’t hide his shock, seemed to decide that he couldn’t let things continue like this and quickly asked a question.
“I picked it up.”
“What?”
“I said I picked it up.”
At Ceres Drow’s calm response, Chaian de Devrica, who had been quietly standing behind, let out a short sigh.
Just how many important things are lying around on the road? Beggars would be full of hope.
“Ah, a-anyway, thank you for finding the ring. Hand it over. That ring belongs to me.”
If things just passed smoothly like this, there would be no problem.
His master was already dead, and the forged document naming him as the successor had been accepted as genuine. Now that the ring had returned, there was nothing left to be concerned about.
“Do you know?”
As Creel stepped toward him, Ceres slowly spoke.
“Even if it had been left lying around, the Spirit King of Fire sealed within the ring shares everything with the master it chooses.”
“What do you mean…?”
“It means this guy has seen and heard everything the former head of the family experienced.”
“W-What?!”
Creel’s eyes began to shake as if an earthquake had struck.
Keeping his gaze fixed on him, Ceres quietly spoke again.
“Jubellios.”
[Why are you calling me? You told me to keep my mouth shut.]
…Act your age.
Ceres firmly pressed down on the head of the red bird that was grumbling petulantly.
“There’s only one thing you need to say here.”
[And what is that?]
“What you saw. What you heard.”
The Spirit King of Fire, Jubellios, turned his head toward Creel.
Was it just an illusion?
Or did flames really seem to rise from his eyes as he looked at him?
[It was him. Ezzly, he’s the one who killed him.]
The moment Jubellios casually threw out that statement, the conference room fell into an icy silence.
Everyone looked as if they were questioning their own ears, unsure of what they had just heard.
“What is the meaning of this?!”
“What did you just say?!”
“Who killed the former head of the family?”
But the silence didn’t last long, as loud voices erupted from all around.
“T-That’s a lie!”
[A lie? Are you saying that I, the Spirit King, am lying?!]
Whoooosh!
“Ugh… Uaaaagh!”
As a wave of intense heat surged forward, Creel found himself unable to breathe properly. He collapsed into his seat, trembling in fear.
[Even Ezzly knew that you were poisoning his food, you fool. Of course, by then, it was already too late.]
After the former head of the family, Ezzly, collapsed, it was Creel who had completely blocked access to him.
Under the pretense that the family head needed to rest, Creel had personally overseen all contact with him.
Because of that, the already weakened Ezzly was unable to send any word to others.
He had been imprisoned in his own home.
[Had I not been sealed away, I would have burned you to death myself.]
If only, at that time, when he first consumed the poison!
Realizing that his body felt different from usual, Ezzly had secretly hidden the heirloom ring in a secure place and sealed it away.
It was a location only passed down to the head of the family.
And that was exactly where Ceres had found the ring.
‘The fountain.’
Not the large fountain in the center of the Ellsia Count’s Estate, but the small, insignificant one tucked away behind the mansion.
‘Of course, just knowing the location wasn’t enough to retrieve the ring.’
Only the head of the family acknowledged by Jubellios, or the person acknowledged by that head, could retrieve the ring.
No matter how much someone without that qualification searched the fountain, they would never be able to find it.
‘And how did I retrieve it?’
[Gasp! G-Grace? How are you alive? And what is with that appearance? Did you steal someone else’s body? I knew you were ruthless, but at least you used to understand the value of human life…!]
‘Shut up.’
I had a hunch, and sure enough, he recognized me instantly.
‘What was it again?’
Spirits have the Eyes of Truth and can see through to the essence of a person, or something like that.
In any case, the moment Jubellios realized I was Grace Ellsia, he revealed himself, and I was able to retrieve the real hidden ring.
And then…
“I-I…”
Creel Ellsia, still trembling on the ground, looked up as Ceres Drow took a step closer and handed him something.
“Take it.”
“N-No… I…”
“I said take it.”
What Ceres handed to the half-dazed man was a letter.
A letter that had been left with the ring.
It was a handwritten letter from the former head of the family, Ezzly, addressed to his disciple, Creel.
“……”
Creel, unable to hide the confusion in his clouded eyes, accepted the letter with trembling hands.
As he slowly unfolded the neatly folded paper and began reading, his eyes started to shake more and more, and soon, his mouth fell open.
“T-This is… impossible…”
His hands trembled as he read the letter over and over again until he finally screamed in despair.
“Lies… It’s all lies!”
“Don’t turn away from it. It’s the truth.”
“No! They said I wasn’t the successor…”
They? What is he even talking about?
Having already read the letter, Ceres looked at Creel with a more disdainful gaze.
The letter contained various words of advice from a master to his disciple, affectionate nagging asking him to take care of the family.
That’s right. The former head of the family, Ezzly, had never intended to pass on the title to anyone else.
‘Creel misunderstood all on his own.’
In fact, the letter even contained these words:
Herion, that child’s abilities are exceptional, so when you take over as the head of the family, keep her by your side.
She will be of great help.
The reason the former head of the family had taken an interest in Herion and taught her was because he had determined she would be a great asset to his beloved disciple, Creel.
But Creel had completely misunderstood his master’s actions.
“This can’t be… Then why the ring…!”
“Why do you think?”
A master is still human.
If a cherished disciple tried to kill them, wouldn’t they feel betrayed?
He had planned to pass down the position, but upon realizing his disciple’s betrayal, he must have been too disgusted to reveal where the ring was hidden.
‘If my disciple had done that to me…’
If Enoch had done such a thing, I would have shattered every bone in his body, no matter how much pain I was in, before dying.
“Lies… Lies… Lies…”
Creel, still muttering the same words absentmindedly, no longer held any interest for Ceres. Instead, he turned to look at Herion, who was watching everything unfold with wide, shocked eyes.
“Jubellios.”
[Why are you calling me?]
“You decide.”
[Decide what?]
“The owner of the ring.”
When a head of the family dies suddenly without naming a successor.
When the position of family head becomes vacant.
The Ellsia family follows a particular tradition.
The decision is left to the Spirit King of Fire, Jubellios.
No matter how many candidates the elders propose, if Jubellios does not acknowledge them, they remain only a half-formed head of the family.
Because without the ring’s power, they hold no true authority.
[Why are you even asking? My choice is Gra—!]
“Shut it, you damn bird.”
Say one more word and I’ll pluck every last one of your red feathers, just like before.
[……]
Faced with Ceres’ murderous gaze, Jubellios’ eyes shifted to the side.
And in his sight was another person.
Herion, who had finally understood the situation, was sniffling as the reality of her master’s murder sank in.
[It should be her.]
The child whom the former head, Ezzly, had cherished so much.
No one knew that better than Jubellios.
If not for his attachment to Creel, Ezzly would undoubtedly have passed the title to Herion.
[You take the position, head of the family.]
“M-Me?”
Herion’s tear-filled eyes widened in shock, and Ceres gave a nod in response.
This was exactly the outcome he had expected when he brought Herion here.
Jubellios may have a rotten personality, but when it comes to the head of the family, he acknowledges and obeys their decisions more than anyone else.
“Lies… Lies… Lies…”
Meanwhile, Creel continued muttering to himself in a daze.
***
“Lord Kainel hasn’t eaten anything again today?”
“No, he hasn’t touched a single bite.”
The maid carrying the tray out held dishes that remained completely untouched.
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