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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: A Secret Revealed
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“Alright, alright, that's enough for today. Go get some rest. We'll talk again tomorrow~.”
It was already quite late. Isaac ushered me and Yulia out by our backs, and we were helplessly shoved forward.
“Wait—!”
Click.
The door was locked before Yulia could say another word. It was clear that Isaac and Edmond had something to discuss between themselves.
Left alone in the hallway, we looked at each other and let out a sigh.
“How long are they going to treat us like children….”
“I know, right? We're twenty-three now.”
“Tsk.”
As annoyed as we were, we had no intention of forcing our way back inside. They had always managed the family's affairs, big and small, so perhaps it was only natural for them to handle this as well.
We walked slowly toward our bedrooms. The silent corridor felt especially long today.
“……You know.”
Yulia slowly began to speak.
“When did you find out? …About that power.”
She was referring to my black magic in a roundabout way. As if saying ‘black magic’ outright would hurt my feelings.
She always had this delicate side to her.
I gazed quietly at her face before answering.
“When I was seven. Remember the rabbit we kept in the backyard? The one we named ‘Ellie’ after ourselves.”
“Of course I remember! We played with her all the time.”
She was the first living creature outside our family that we'd both grown attached to. Under our parents' guidance, we took great care of Ellie.
“That winter, Ellie got sick and died. But I just couldn't let her go. I wanted her to be alive again, to hop around me just like before.”
“……”
“That was the first time. The first time I reversed death.”
That was the first time I remember using black magic. Of course, what I brought back was such a mess it could hardly be called Ellie anymore.
I decided to keep quiet about that gruesome result.
“Fortunately, our parents were the ones who witnessed it, and they made me promise never to use that power again.”
It was a relief. If a servant had seen it first, things would have been irreversible.
Yulia looked as if she'd just swallowed some bitter medicine.
‘She must be feeling guilty.’
I could easily guess what was on her mind.
Around the age of seven was when Yulia's own powers had awakened. It was also when, newly awakened to her abilities and full of arrogance, she often teased me.
At first, everyone just thought my awakening was a little late. But when I reached fifteen without discovering any powers, people began to question if I was truly a ‘Walker’.
They called me the ‘stain on the House of Walker’ and mocked me. Yulia's face grew pale as she tried to imagine the humiliation I must have endured all that time.
I could feel Yulia's pitying gaze on my cheek. I put on the smile I habitually wore whenever I was in a difficult situation.
“I used to resent receiving such a Divine Grace, but now I think I understand. Don't you think it was a provision meant for a time like this?”
“……”
“I actually think it's a relief. If it weren't for this power, we might have truly lost everyone today.”
Yulia's eyes widened at my words.
“You're really….”
“Hm?”
“You're a real idiot!”
Slam!
With that, Yulia threw open her door and stormed inside.
“Oh, dear….”
My twin still had her clumsy moments and often acted like this. It wasn't a problem, though, since I found it rather cute.
Just then, I heard the jingle of a bell.
-Divine Grace? A provision? Puhaha!
“Lev.”
A black cat appeared from the crack of the door. To others, it would have sounded like a cat meowing, but to me, every word was crystal clear.
-What kind of moron would think of black magic as some kind of Divine Grace?
In the darkness, the cat's piercing eyes shone alone. Glittering golden eyes were staring at me.
-Its very origin is different. And you, you speak such nonsense so shamelessly, even though you know full well.
“……”
-So, then. How does it feel? Now that you've experienced a fraction of that omnipotent power you possess, has your mind changed at all?
Lev.
This creature, disguised as a pet cat, was a demon I had a contract with.
He was inhabiting a cat's corpse, claiming that appearing in this world in his true form would violate some law of causality or another.
-For the contractor of my great self to be so indecisive. Instead of conquering this continent by sacrificing every last human in the capital, you choose to prolong your life hiding like a rat! How pathetic!
“Then why did you make a contract with me?”
-You're the one who summoned me!!
Lev hissed and spat. The fur on his back stood on end and his tail puffed up.
He had a point, so I just shrugged. That had happened when I was about eleven.
How I ended up summoning a demon is a long story. In any case, Lev had stayed by my side in the form of a cat ever since.
-You were the first human to summon me in a long while, so I was curious to see what kind of bloodbath you would bring to this continent. But once I got here….
He looked me up and down. Feeling awkward, I gave a slight smile.
-Don't smile! I might get attached!
“Still, seeing as a weak, novice warlock like me was able to summon you… I don't think you're in any position to complain about me, Lev.”
-Wh-wh-what?!
His jaw dropped as if he'd just heard the greatest insult imaginable. Then he leaped and landed right on my face.
-I have never been so insulted! Hiiissss!
“Wai—Lev, agh, Le—mmph, hey!”
As he threw a tantrum on my face, my mouth filled with black fur. He even scratched my forearm with his claws!
“Ouch! Ah! That hurts, that really hurts!”
I hurriedly pulled Lev off and rolled up my sleeve. The neatly wrapped bandage was now a mess from Lev's scratching.
A red stain was seeping through the bandage.
“You knew it would hurt… You're so mean.”
-Mean? What do you mean, mean! I'm breaking this contract today! Contractor, did you think I would stand for such humiliation!
“Okay, okay. I'm sorryyy!”
-Don't think a simple apology will suffice!
I had to scramble to get away from the cat as it pounced at me with a screech.
I said I'm sorry!
…But honestly, I wasn't wrong.
I held my tongue, knowing Lev would throw another fit if I said that out loud.
***
Isaac only turned around after he could no longer sense his younger siblings beyond the closed door.
Edmond, with a menacing air about him, made no effort to hide his cold, hardened expression.
It was a side of him he never showed in front of Yulia and Emily. Isaac perched on the sofa as if this were familiar.
“Whoa, whoa, brother. Lighten up a bit. The girls might burst into tears if they saw you like this.”
“Isaac. You must have already guessed.”
Isaac nodded obediently.
“They will come back.”
These were the kind of people who planted explosives in a carriage and then stuck around to make sure everyone was dead.
“Right. Now that they know we're alive and well, they won't just leave us alone.”
This meant the assassination attempt might not be a one-time thing.
“Who is it? House Acmon? The Bellond Imperial Family?”
They were all plausible. The tangled web of political relationships only broadened the list of suspects.
“It could be the Holy See.”
“Ah~. They weren't too happy with us either. Something about how Divine Grace rightfully belongs to the Holy See.”
Not being the devout type, Isaac found such claims to be absurd.
“In other words, it wouldn't be strange if it were any of them.”
Our political rivals: House Acmon, the Bellond Imperial Family, even the Holy See. At this point, it would be easier to count who *wouldn't* attack House Walker.
“Wow~. It's been a while. Ever since you established your position, brother, we haven't had any ‘night visitors’.”
“Your physical condition is one thing, but we don't know when another attempt might be made. It would be best to avoid going out as much as possible.”
“I'll submit a leave of absence through the butler tomorrow.”
Isaac had a knack for reading what Edmond left unsaid.
“We'll need to reinforce Andrea's security as well.”
“You mean double the knights?”
Edmond nodded in agreement.
“So much has happened today. I'm not… tired, though. I suppose fatigue is a luxury for the dead.”
Edmond suddenly realized that despite the long day, his body felt completely fine.
It was a completely different feeling from overcoming fatigue with mental or physical stamina.
It was as if his body had completely forgotten ‘fatigue’.
Only a faint memory that such a sensation ever existed remained.
“…This might be for the best. I should get some more work done before I turn in.”
He had far too much to take care of.
Even on the night he became a zombie.
“I'm starting to think you must have died once before, brother. Otherwise, where else would you find a human so perfectly optimized for being a zombie?”
“Stop with the nonsense and go to bed. Isn't it late?”
“It's late….”
The corner of Isaac's mouth twisted up. It was the expression he made when he was feeling perverse.
“Brother. Have you ever seen a sleeping zombie?”
