Chapter 129
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Dear, I believe you may be misunderstanding.
Chapter 129
With a face devoid of emotion or thought, he commanded her death.
At the very least, she was to be driven from this island so thoroughly that she could never set foot here again.
Neither condition was remotely simple to fulfill.
There were preparations necessary before one could swear a binding oath.
The Royal Palace was already prepared for all such rituals, so there were no particular constraints—but this place was different.
This was the isolated Witch's Island, Contana.
Unlike the Royal Palace, there was no crystal sphere here, so a magical circle was required to inscribe the oath that would mark one as a witness to the covenant.
Preparing it alone would take an entire day.
For the witness ceremony to be conducted properly, Lucas Black and Grace Oellin would need to remain on this island for at least two days.
Yet that man had ordered them expelled from this island immediately.
So he had issued them a somewhat forced ultimatum to leave at once.
In his agitation, he had acted without forethought, but it mattered little.
Either way, they had to be driven out.
'...If I had known this would become such a headache, I should have simply gone to the Capital.'
But such regret was futile.
Since Giselle's condition had manifested three years ago, Wale had never once left this island.
Every ten days, his younger sister would suffer seizures accompanied by high fever.
If the fever could not be controlled, hives would erupt across her body, and unable to bear the itching, Giselle would scratch herself raw.
Until she bled, while weeping.
When her limbs were bound to stop her, the seizures would intensify.
No medicine had any effect, and with each passing day, her condition worsened.
As he found himself consumed by the agonizing thought that perhaps he should end his sister's suffering with his own hands—
He remembered it.
'The Primordial Cave.'
The cave of the witches, said to exist somewhere on this island.
Though Contana was not particularly vast, the 'Primordial Cave' spoken of only in legend remained impossible to find.
According to the records passed down, only those who were permitted could discover it.
Yet Wale, for the sake of Giselle—his only remaining blood—searched endlessly for the cave.
'Those who were permitted.'
He did not know whom this referred to, but he believed that Contana, who had endured their curse for centuries, deserved to be counted among the permitted.
What fortune it was that he had glimpsed that cave within his own hallucinations.
And the small lake within that cave as well...
Could it even be called a lake?
It was too large to be called a pool, yet too small to be called a lake.
But that water was extraordinary.
Brimming with vitality, it was where the witches soothed their weary bodies and spirits.
Young witches also immersed themselves in that spring upon their awakening.
Doing so would leave their bodies renewed—healthy, pure, and overflowing with strength.
'...If it's that water, it will heal Giselle.'
Wale wandered aimlessly through the eastern forest.
Fearing the cave might vanish without a trace, he ventured into the forest alone, forgoing sleep for days as he searched relentlessly.
He retraced the paths he had already covered, and wherever something seemed amiss, he staked out the area for days, watching for any sign of movement.
After three full days of searching.
His exhausted body had reached its limit, and he began to worry about his young sister left alone at the castle.
What if something worse had happened? What if disaster had struck in his absence? Consumed by such fears, he descended from the forest's peak.
It was then.
Near the cliff, he discovered the entrance to a cave cunningly concealed behind an enormous boulder.
It was peculiar.
He had searched this very spot days ago, yet the cave had not been there—now it stood plainly before him.
'Could it be...'
With trembling steps, he entered the cave.
That very day, he encountered that man.
Rudiger—the man known as the guardian of the Witches.
'...You cannot enter here. Cursed one.'
'Please, could you not spare just a little of the spring water from the cave? My sister is gravely ill. I beg you.'
Wale was desperate, and for the sake of his only sister, he willingly fell to his knees.
He had lost his parents early and had raised her almost single-handedly.
At times she was troublesome, and they quarreled, yet because of Giselle, he was never alone.
Burdened by the weight of the household he had inherited at such a young age, he had pretended not to notice her loneliness.
He had consoled himself that as her brother, not her parent, he could not care for her as their parents would have.
But...
He was not so heartless a brother as to allow her to waste away so futilely, to suffer so painfully without intervention.
If there was even a single way to save her, even a single way to ease her suffering, he had to find it.
Because that is what family does.
Yes, we are family, after all...
'I cannot give you the spring water. However... I can tell you a way to save your sister.'
'What is it?'
'Go deep into the sea below the cliff, and you will find golden seaweed. Grind it raw and feed it to your sister.'
'...!'
'After all, your curse has made the sea your ally, has it not?'
Rudiger raised his hand, pointing toward the sea.
'Go. The Curse will save your sister.'
* * *
Whoooosh—!
The clouds and wind had felt ominous, and sure enough, a torrential downpour unleashed itself upon the world.
Watching the rain intensify with each passing moment, I sensed that a full storm would soon descend upon us this night.
Wale gazed out at the sea churning in darkness, his brow furrowing deeply.
Deep creases formed across his wet, refined brow.
'Sigh.'
Like the sea drowning in darkness, his pale blue eyes—once gleaming with clarity—shifted into a deep, impenetrable black.
"...It's already done, so there's no helping it."
He muttered the words aloud, exhaling a heavy sigh.
Then, brushing back his wet hair, he turned and walked toward the castle.
The sea breeze and rain cooled the fevered thoughts that had been burning in my mind.
I felt sorry for bringing them here, but tomorrow it was right to send Lucas Black and Grace Black back home.
'I should tell them I'll head to the Capital soon instead. They'll be angry at being sent away so abruptly, but.... I've already committed to this mad course—I need to see it through.'
My heart felt heavy and conflicted.
Especially when I thought of his wife who had come with Lucas Black—that woman.
How should I describe this feeling?
The feeling of meeting a woman who resembled my first love, someone I had parted with in childhood.
But that woman was already another man's wife, and worse still, she was the daughter of an enemy I had to kill—I imagined this was precisely what such a heart would feel.
'I'm mad. This is the kind of setup you'd only see in a trashy novel.'
Wale mocked himself for his futile fantasies and erased all thoughts of Grace.
She was a woman I would not see again after today.
Even if she were a witch....
No, she was almost certainly a witch, which made it all the more imperative that I not see her here.
If my suspicions were correct, she almost certainly was one.
That must be why that man had ordered her eliminated.
Wale's expression darkened.
It felt as though a lead weight had settled in one corner of my heart.
Was this what it felt like to have a stone clogged with mud lodged in one's throat?
Suffocating and oppressive.
With each breath, I felt a dull, heavy ache.
"Jayden! The wind is getting dangerous. Double-check all the windows. And inspect those pillars standing outside the castle gates again!"
The moment I returned to Weil Castle, I shouted for the head butler.
But strangely, the castle felt eerily quiet.
A servant came rushing down from the second floor, crying out urgently.
"Master! The young lady has collapsed! She has a fever—a terrible fever! What do we do?"
"What? Giselle collapsed? Now? That can't be...!"
"Please, go at once!"
The pale yellow seaweed from the ocean, Deathgrass, had an efficacy of roughly twenty days, and it was always precise.
After twenty days passed, Giselle would need to consume the seaweed again, but the troublesome thing was that Deathgrass could not be stored—it was a plant that could not be preserved.
If seaweed is not fed to her within an hour of harvesting, it turns white and withers. After a day, it dries completely.
Once transformed in such a manner, the seaweed possessed no efficacy, no healing power whatsoever.
It became nothing more than a shriveled, twisted fallen leaf.
Giselle's last seizure had occurred approximately a fortnight ago.
Five days still remained, yet a seizure had struck suddenly.
Wale Contana rushed up to the Second Floor and burst through the door.
"Giselle!"
Giselle's condition as she lay upon the Bedroom was dire.
Just as it had been when the seaweed could not be obtained, her entire body burned with fever, and a rash had already erupted across her face and neck.
'This cannot be. This cannot be happening...!'
Wale was seized by panic.
Based on his previous experience, it typically took approximately a fortnight for her condition to deteriorate to such severity.
Yet in merely an hour since he had stepped outside, she had deteriorated to this state—it was incomprehensible.
"Giselle, Giselle...! What in the world is happening? How did this occur!"
It was Grace, who had been keeping vigil at her side, who explained the situation to the alarmed Wale.
"Immediately after the Duke of Contana stepped outside, she suddenly collapsed in the Dining Room. The fever rose in an instant, and the heat rash appeared."
Despair flickered in Wale's eyes.
His gaze, darkened by anxiety and despair, fixed upon Giselle as she lay limp, breathing in ragged gasps, and his bitter expression twisted as he seized Lucas Black by the collar.
"Leave at once! Leave this Island immediately!"
I knew this was not his fault.
"Master! Oh no! Please do not do this! The young lady will recover!"
"Lucas!"
I understood that these two were not the cause of this deterioration.
And yet.
"Wale Contana, Duke of Contana."
"Leave! Now, leave! Go!"
A low rumble echoed.
The ominous sky cracked with a thunderous boom, lightning tearing through the air.
A brilliant white flash illuminated Wale's face, contorted with anxiety.
Lucas Black stared at Wale, whose fists had turned white as he gripped his own collar, and exhaled slowly.
Whatever the cause, I understood that his agitation stemmed from his family's affliction.
That one could lose reason over matters concerning family was something I could comprehend entirely.
"Once the storm subsides, I shall depart immediately. Please, calm yourself."
"No. It cannot be. It cannot. I must leave now.... I must leave at once."
He muttered like a madman.
Yet the torrential rain visible through the window made clear that such a thing was impossible.
"...Even if you wished to leave now, it is impossible."
'Damn it!'
Wale released Lucas Black, his teeth clenched.
There was only one course of action remaining.
He rushed out with eyes devoid of reason.
Plunging beneath such furious waves into the sea was perilous, even for a creature as colossal as a whale.
But, but... if I do not retrieve the seaweed now, Giselle may perish.
That premonition seized me.
"Master! You cannot! You must not, Master!"
"Oh no! You there, what are you doing? Chase after Master!"
"Lona! Hurry, run!"
The servants and maids, reading Wale's intent, turned ashen and rushed after him.
Lucas, Grace, the head butler Jayden, and Giselle remained.
Jayden watched over Giselle, who wept and clawed frantically at her bound wrists.
In his aged eyes, as he gazed upon the young lady, sorrow pooled deep.
"...I am truly sorry. In his concern for the young lady, my master acted somewhat rashly. It is my failure to serve him properly, so I beg your forgiveness for him and ask that you reprimand me instead."
Jayden bowed deeply toward Lucas.
His loyalty resonated with both Grace and Lucas.
Grace gripped Lucas's hand tightly.
Lucas exhaled softly once, casting aside his personal emotions.
"I am fine. Rather... Miss Giselle's condition is grave. Where has the Duke gone?"
Jayden sighed and gazed anxiously out the window where torrential rain pounded.
Then, slowly, he parted his lips and explained the situation briefly.
"My master has likely gone to the sea. To retrieve the seaweed from beneath the waters."
"Seaweed from beneath the sea?"
"Yes... In the depths of these waters lies a golden seaweed. With it, the young lady can be saved. However, it dwells in waters so deep that ordinary diving cannot retrieve it. Only my master possesses such capability."
Golden seaweed dwelling in the deepest waters.
Upon hearing this, Grace's expression became peculiar.
She knew of this.
'Deathgrass.'
Not long ago, she had read those exact same words in her mother's diary, which Lucas had returned to her.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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