After Melkith had made her decision, they immediately finalized the contract. The contract wasn’t simply written down on paper, but created by magic, so that even an Archwizard like Melkith couldn’t get out of it.
“What happens if I somehow destroy the cloak?” Eugene asked out of curiosity.
Melkith was the one who answered him, “You’ll just have to recompense me for the value of the cloak. You don’t need to worry since I won’t ask you to give your life for it.”
Frankly, she wasn’t really in a position to even request something like that. Although Eugene might not be an heir, the opposite party was still an adopted son of the Lionheart’s main family. If she made such an unreasonable request, it was obvious that she would be making an enemy of the Lionheart clan, and Melkith wouldn’t want that to happen.
“Though that sort of thing couldn’t happen in the first place,” Melkith said as an afterthought. “The Cloak of Darkness was specifically designed to be a top-notch defensive artifact. If the Cloak was destroyed while you were wearing it… then you’d probably be dead. Kid, do you get what I’m trying to say?”
“You meant that if I don’t want to die, I should be careful?” Eugene confirmed quizzically.
“That’s right. Don’t swagger around while trusting in its defenses, and keep it low-key. It’s okay if you want to wear it to a fancy party, but don’t go fighting in it.”
If he was only allowed to use it like that, why would he even need a cloak like this? Eugene snorted and swung the Cloak of Darkness onto his shoulders.
“Its design is impressive,” Carmen spoke up from her window seat. She still kept the unlit cigar in her mouth as she said, “I especially like the thick fur around the collar. It reminds me of the symbol of our Lionheart clan, the lion’s mane.[1]”
“I guess it does resemble that,” Eugene politely agreed.
“But it’s a shame that the fur is colored black. If the fur was dyed white like the flames of the White Flame Formula or… if it was dyed gray, it would look much more impressive. The current fur color seems to suit someone from the Knights of the Black Lion much better,” Carmen critiqued.
“...,” without saying anything, Eugene faced Carmen with a blank expression.
Carmen also stared at Eugene without saying another word. After they exchanged stares like this for a few moments, Ciel, who was sitting next to him, poked Eugene in the side.
“Hand it over,” she hissed.
“Why should I?” Eugene asked petulantly.
“Didn’t you hear her say she wants to try it on?”
“But I don’t think she said something like that.”
“She doesn’t necessarily have to put it into words for you to get what she meant.”
What kind of nonsense was Ciel spouting now? Although Eugene didn’t really understand, he was feeling an annoying pressure from Carmen’s gaze.
“...Please try it on,” Eugene reluctantly offered as he took off the cloak, and Carmen immediately walked over.
While putting on an expression of blatant indifference, she took the cloak that Eugene had offered her and wrapped it around her body in a flourish.
“It’s not bad,” Carmen said as she glanced at her reflection in the window and slowly went through a series of poses.
Eugene eyed Carmen’s back as she did this. Although he’d seen a lot of elders in both his past and present lives, this was his first time seeing such a unique elder like Carmen, who seemed unable to act her age.
“I think it would be even better if you used a lion-shaped brooch to clasp it across your chest. You could also have the Lionheart sigil embroidered on the back,” Carmen suggested.
“From the way you’re talking, it’s like I’m giving it to you. Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m only lending it to you, remember? Don’t mess around with my cloak,” Melkith, who had been gazing down at Wynnyd with greedy eyes, shouted in protest.
However, Carmen didn’t show any reaction to Melkith’s cry. After continuing to be absorbed with her reflection in the window for a few more moments, she finally took off the cloak after Naishon pointedly coughed several times.
“It’s about time. Let’s go,” Carmen declared.
“Yes, sir,” Naishon said with a sigh of relief as he rose from his seat.
He had been worried that Carmen might head off without first taking off the cloak, but fortunately, it seemed like Carmen wasn’t about to do something so shameless and embarrassing.
“Ciel,” before leaving the drawing-room, Gion called out Ciel’s name.
“Yes, I’ll make sure to wait with Eugene,” Ciel readily replied with a grin, as if she had been waiting for this.
Unlike Ciel's smile, Gion had a somewhat reluctant expression. However, Eugene wasn’t able to ask him his reason for this because Carmen immediately exited the drawing-room without giving them a chance to chat.
After Carmen and the other Knights of the Black Lion had left, Melkith leaped to her feet and said, “I’m also heading off.”
She was hugging Wynnyd to her chest and smiling so widely that her cheeks were twitching.
“It definitely won’t take as long as you expect,” Melkith gloated. “Maybe half a day at the most?”
“Then I’ll also go with you,” Eugene proposed.
Melkith refused, “No way. Who said that you could do that? Kid, this is about a contract with a spirit. Although the summoner’s affinity with the spirit is important, the location and the setting are also important. Therefore… if you had to compare it, you could see it as a meeting with a prospective spouse.[2]”
“Huh?” Eugene grunted in confusion.
“Just think about it. How would you feel if you arrived at the appointed meeting place all excited, only to find some unknown scrub hanging around with the person you’re supposed to meet?”
“I don’t think it would make that much of a difference. Maybe they’ll just consider me as the person who arranged the blind date?”
“Don’t you have any experience with such things?”
“Huh?”
“Experience with meeting prospective marriage partners.”
“I’m only seventeen.”
“Don’t prestigious families often arrange such meetings at a much younger age than that? That’s what I’ve read in romance novels.”
“Please don’t confuse fiction with reality.”
“You really haven’t? As always, reality fails to live up to fiction,” Melkith stopped mumbling and turned to face him. “In any case, there’s no way you can come with me. Now that I’m about to seduce the Spirit King of the Wind, what will I do if he sees that you’re there as well and refuses to make a contract with me? Wouldn’t that be impolite to the Spirit King?”
“But I also want to see the Wind Spirit King in person,” Eugene complained.
Melkith boasted, “Don’t worry, once we’ve signed a contract, I’ll let you see him when I return Wynnyd.”
Eugene nodded in agreement. Just as Melkith had said, it seemed unlikely that Tempest would appear if he was with her. To be honest, it was hard to understand her simile about it being like meeting with a prospective marriage partner and whatnot, but Tempest was already aware that Eugene was Hamel yet refused to answer his summons.
‘That son of a bitch, he’s definitely hiding something from me.’
When they had met four years ago, Tempest had claimed that he didn’t know anything, but Eugene definitely couldn’t trust those words.
‘Although he might not know anything about the Oath of Peace, he should be aware of what happened before the fight with the Demon King of Incarceration.’
Eugene decided that he at least needed to ask Tempest about that.
After Melkith left, the only ones left in the drawing-room were Eugene, Lovellian, and Ciel.
Lovellian belatedly realized, “...Ah, apologies for my late greeting, Miss Ciel. Hasn’t it been four years since we last met?”
Ciel smiled politely, “Yes, sir.”
When Eugene had seen her a few months ago, she had definitely been caught in the throes of puberty, leading her to self-isolate in her room. But she seemed to have gotten over that phase as Ciel nodded at Lovellian with a bright smile.
While looking at the seventeen-year-old Ciel, Lovellian keenly felt the passing of time. Although he had also felt this when he reunited with Eugene, children seemed to grow up very quickly these days. Ciel showed hardly any traces of the childishness he had felt from her four years ago.
“Did you say you’ve come here to pick something out for Lady Ancilla’s birthday?” Lovellian asked.
“Yes, sir. Oh, and every single one of the gifts you have sent me over the years, Sir Lovellian, is decorating my room beautifully,” Ciel reported as she smiled charmingly.
“Haha, I’ve always enjoyed reading the letters of thanks you sent me, Miss Ciel. I had just been thinking that it was strange you haven’t sent me one this year… perhaps you didn’t like the gift I sent you?”
“No, it’s nothing like that.”
Though it had been an awkward question, Ciel just shook her head while maintaining a smile.
“Although it’s embarrassing for me to admit this myself… since the beginning of this year, my personality has become sensitive in various ways. The gift you sent me was beautiful, but strangely I just didn’t want to pick up a pen and write you a letter,” Ciel explained.
“Ah… I understand. At your age, young lady, the days for those things can come quite suddenly,” Lovellian readily accepted her excuse without feeling offended.
Lovellian had never had any children of his own, so he couldn’t understand a father’s grievances, but there had been several times when he was forced to listen to Gilead’s sorrows of having to watch his only daughter go through puberty.
“And by this point, I felt it would be rude of me to write a letter and send it to you,” Ciel continued. “But even so, I would feel sorry to have taken your gift for granted… especially since it feels like you won’t be sending me any more gifts from next year onwards.”
Ciel smiled mischievously as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out what seemed to be a neatly wrapped gift box and said, “So I’ve picked out a gift that I thought would suit you, Sir Lovellian. It isn’t much, but I bought it after saving my allowance.”
Lovellian sucked in a breath of surprise, “Oh….”
“Please open it up quickly,” Ciel urged with a soft smile.
Lovellian felt an unfamiliar yet warm feeling deep in his heart. Was this why people got married and had children? He hadn’t thought anything of the idea when he was listening to Gilead gush over how proud he was of his children, but now that he was receiving a gift like this, Lovellian felt like he was becoming overwhelmed with emotions.
“This is…,” Lovellian’s voice and eyes trembled when he opened the gift box.
Inside the box was a tie pin with a neat design. As Ciel had said, it couldn’t really be called anything amazing. It seemed well-crafted enough that it might be a bit expensive, but an item like this could easily be bought as long as you had the money.
However, Lovellian sensed a sentiment that far exceeded the price of this gift. He had never received a gift like this before in his life….
Ciel commented, “At first, I thought I should give you a gift that has something to do with magic since you are a wizard. However, after thinking about it some more, I felt that you would already have a lot of stuff like that.”
“...,” Lovellian remained silent.
“But then, after a lot of thought… I realized that you are always wearing robes. However, I thought that just because it’s you, Sir Lovellian, there’s no way that you will always be wearing robes—”
“I’ll be right back after I’ve changed my clothes,” Lovellian said as he leaped to his feet, interrupting Ciel, who immediately giggled and shook her head.
“Please, don’t do that. Instead of showing me how it looks on you right now, please wear it for my birthday party next year,” Ciel requested.
“Why do I need to wait until next year?” Lovellian asked sulkily. He really wanted to try it on immediately.
Hearing Lovellian plead in a trembling voice, Ciel continued speaking, “Because it’s a gift that I gave you. Although I’m not sure if you’ll be attending my mother’s birthday party, please don’t wear it then either, and instead, wear it to my birthday party. That way, I’ll be able to brag about it to Cyan and the other guests.”
‘Even after going through puberty, you’re still as wicked as ever,’ Eugene thought with a grin as he glanced over at the smiling Ciel.
Although Eugene was also quite confident in dealing with adults, he was absolutely sure he couldn’t compete with Ciel in this.
Lovellian gave in, “Um… alright, I understand. Miss Ciel, by any chance, are there any gifts that you would like to receive next year?”
“I’ll be happy with anything you give me, Sir Lovellian. Ah, but please don’t be too generous with any present you give me. My brother gets jealous.”
So what if he gets jealous. Lovellian had no intention of paying any attention to that.
Following the Bloodline Continuation Ceremony, he had sent a gift to the twins at the main estate every year, and like Ciel, Cyan had also sent him thank-you notes. However, Cyan’s letters had always been so formulaic that even now, Lovellian couldn’t recall their contents if he tried.
“...Hmph,” Lovellian came to his senses with a grunt after staring at the tie pin with a fascination for a bit.
He looked up at the clock hanging on the drawing room’s wall and smiled disappointedly.
“It looks like I’ve been holding you two up for far too long,” he apologized.
“Please don’t say such a thing,” Ciel begged. “Really, saying that you’re the one holding us up…. Instead, we should be the ones apologizing for stealing your precious time.”
How was she able to speak in such a charming manner? Lovellian shook his head in amazement as he stood up.
Lovellian waved off her apology, “No, not at all. I would much prefer to continue enjoying our chat a bit longer, Miss Ciel… but since you have affairs to see to, let’s end our talk here.”
“But I’m fine with staying a bit longer…,” Ciel trailed off hesitantly.
“I’m afraid not. I, too, must return to work,” Lovellian admitted.
In order to confirm the Knights of the Black Lion’s claims, it looked like he would need to show his face at the council for once. Since Lovellian had said this, Ciel could no longer refuse him.
Eugene slowly began, “...If that’s the case, then I’m also head—”
“Where do you think you’re going? You need to come with me,” Ciel demanded.
“Why should I do that?” Eugene protested.
“Because this is my first time in Aroth. As such, don’t you think that you should show me around?” Ciel pointed out.
“I’d also appreciate it if you could do so, Eugene,” Lovellian added.
Having gotten his hands on the Cloak of Darkness, Eugene had hoped to go down to the laboratories to test its performance… but Lovellian had already added his support to Ciel’s words. Eugene smoothed out his furrowed brows and helplessly nodded in agreement.
1. This refers to the white flame-like aura that appears when the White Flame Formula is activated. ☜
2. Readers might be more familiar with the term omiai. A meeting where prospective partners in an arranged marriage meet to see if there’s a connection. ☜
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