Chapter 400: Gold and Silver (5)
Chapter 400: Gold and Silver (5)
Delphine let out a deep sigh and allowed her body to relax.
She felt the plush touch of the backrest against her spine, but her mood remained utterly foul.
Reflected in the woman’s blood-red irises was the sight of her half-destroyed office.
It was a scene of devastation wrought by an exchange that had lasted only a few minutes.
The room had once been filled with elegant, antique furniture, but now, it was hard to find a single piece left intact.
It was only natural.
Both Delphine and Seria had been dead serious.
They weren't just anyone; they were two swordsmen who had reached the level of Expert. It was only to be expected that their clash would yield such a result.
Nevertheless, Delphine couldn't shake the bitter taste in her mouth.
It wasn't for any grand reason.
It was simply the fact that she had ended up getting 'serious' in the first place.
She hadn't intended for things to go that way at the start.
As she had proclaimed before, Delphine had no particular intention of binding Ian.
He was a man who couldn't be tamed anyway, and the circumstances under which Delphine and Ian had become involved weren't exactly something to be proud of.
A night of pity, or perhaps a momentary impulse.
She didn't know how Ian viewed that night. However, that was how Delphine had defined their relationship.
She was the one who had pounced on him while he was hesitating until the very end.
Delphine wasn't shameless enough to demand a price for her purity based on that.
Therefore, she didn't care what kind of relationship Ian and Seria formed.
No, she had even been inclined to help Seria.
Yes, that was the plan, so why?
Delphine exhaled a long, slow breath as she retraced her memories.
What flickered through her mind was the conversation they had just shared.
In front of the vassals, Delphine had leaned down and whispered into Seria’s ear.
“Smile, Seria.”
The venomous gaze of a wounded beast turned toward Delphine.
But Delphine merely curled the corners of her lips as if finding it pathetic.
“For your information, my husband has received an imperial decree. He’s to decide the fate of our Yurdina family… So, if his relationship with me is revealed, it will put him in a very difficult position. You wouldn't want that, would you?”
The sound of teeth grinding reached her ears.
The moment she heard the word 'husband,' Seria’s grip tightened. A desperate murderous intent bled from her face as she glared at Delphine with bloodshot eyes.
She likely wanted to stab Delphine with the sword in her hand right this second.
But she couldn't.
The larger the incident became, the more complicated the subsequent cleanup would be.
And that process would surely include a meticulous investigation to examine the circumstances.
It meant the relationship between Ian and Delphine could be exposed.
Though she was frustrated and trembling with rage, Seria could not bring herself to put her beloved senior in jeopardy.
However, a smile was the one thing she absolutely could not force.
Seria chose to remain silent.
Forced to take Delphine’s outstretched hand, the girl’s body rose unsteadily.
To any observer, the atmosphere was anything but warm.
The temperature in the room was so frigid it brought to mind a blizzard howling across a snowfield.
Even the vassals who had rushed into the office in surprise couldn't manage to utter a single word.
Only Delphine wore a faint smile.
“My apologies, sirs. I got a bit carried away while sparring with my sister for the first time in a while.”
The vassals’ gazes turned toward Seria, as if asking if that were true.
Yet the girl offered neither denial nor affirmation.
She simply took a single step forward with a frozen expression.
With every movement, a palpable chill seeped from her.
Because her aura was so savage, the vassals didn't even dare to stand in Seria’s way.
However, Seria had to stop her steps before she had gone far.
A small voice had drifted from behind her back.
“No matter how much you plead, nothing will change, Seria.”
Seria’s blue eyes flickered toward the rear.
There sat Delphine, her face cold and impassive.
“If there is something you want, put it into action. And fight to win.”
“Sister.”
Words crossed like clashing swords.
Seria offered her final advice with an utterly expressionless face.
“You should have killed me.”
Then, a moist whisper followed.
“I’ll make you regret this soon.”
The subordinate who had offered her final counsel departed just like that.
The next time they met, Delphine and Seria might no longer be in a master-servant relationship.
Perhaps they wouldn't even be sisters.
As Delphine ruminated on the events that had passed, she recalled the final look Seria had given her.
Dark blue eyes where even hostility had frozen over.
It was a gaze in which not a single grain of respect or affection could be found.
Delphine let out a hollow laugh, as if finding it absurd.
“They say there’s no use raising a daughter…”
She gets enchanted by one man and ends up like this.
A series of lamenting grumbles followed. Had the Marquis of Yurdina, currently imprisoned in the dungeon, heard them, he would have expressed his violent agreement.
Though Delphine herself was in a position not much different from Seria’s.
The woman’s sighs continued to deepen.
There were several reasons why Delphine had gone out of her way to provoke Seria.
First, it was to stimulate Seria, who was showing weakness, and second, it was to bring the conflict between Delphine and Seria to the surface.
It was because Ian was deeply entangled with the Yurdina family.
The fact that he was close friends not only with Delphine, the head of the family, but also with Seria was widely known at the Academy.
So, she would split the Yurdina family in half.
They didn't actually need to separate. Simply showing that conflict existed within the family would make Ian’s movements much easier.
Because even without Delphine, he could borrow Yurdina’s power through Seria.
In any case, the Imperial Household didn't seem to have any intention of erasing the Yurdina family.
If that had been their intent, they wouldn't have deferred the judgment to Ian in the first place.
Erasing the name of Yurdina was an incredibly arduous process.
A massive undertaking that even the Imperial Household had to be cautious about.
There was no way they would commit the folly of leaking such information in advance.
Ultimately, what the Imperial Household wanted was to save face.
To completely break ties with the Dark Cult, to offer unchanging loyalty to the Empire, and to stand at the very front in the coming war.
If they received those promises, they would back off.
Therefore, the punishment for Yurdina was bound to stop at an appropriate level.
This was because Yurdina was still useful as one of the Empire's Five Great Noble Families.
That was why Seria was the person Delphine was considering as one of the points of compromise.
Though lowborn, she carried the blood of Yurdina, and her talent was undoubtedly the real deal.
Was she not a truly appropriate choice for a force that could keep the head of the family in check?
It was a sufficient warning to a family head who might otherwise wield absolute power.
At the same time, it was an opportunity to strengthen the Imperial Household's influence over the Yurdina family.
What she liked even more was the fact that Seria couldn't actually pose a decisive threat to the head's authority.
In truth, she carried the bloodline of a vampire.
As long as this weakness existed, there was no worry of Seria taking the position of the head of the family.
Now, all that remained was patience.
She only hoped that Ian would notice this and make the right decision.
Delphine’s part was now done.
Seria harbored resentment toward Delphine.
The vassals were suspicious of the relationship between Delphine and Seria.
She had achieved her goals, so why did her chest feel so heavy?
Delphine unconsciously bit her lip.
Yes, the truth was, she had provoked Seria more than necessary.
Was it because her timid younger sister was pathetic?
Or was it because she couldn't control her own heart, which had grown so large before she knew it?
“Stupid girl…”
Whether she was talking to Seria or herself.
Without knowing who the words were for, Delphine sat there for a long time, chewing on her sighs.
“Why are you still alive?”
It was a question asked with total sincerity.
It wasn't exactly the thing to say to a friend you hadn't seen in a while. Even if we were relying on communication magic to talk.
My face immediately soured.
“Did you expect me to be dead?”
“It wouldn't be strange if you were… Honestly, if someone held a knife to my throat and told me to bet my entire fortune? I’d bet on you being dead.”
“Lucky for you, then.”
I let out a chuckle and added, “You always lose more when the stakes are high.”
“Ahem.”
A handsome man with impressive curly brown hair—my friend, Reto—mimicked a solemn voice.
“I’m just waiting for the final victory. As you know, to gain something, you must lose something of equal value.”
“That’s typical gambler’s logic.”
“I do enjoy a bit of gambling.”
I spent some time laughing and chatting with Reto like that.
Of course, it didn't take long for me to get to the main point.
Communication magic required more mana than one might imagine.
Because of that, I had to explain my situation as briefly as possible. It made the time we spent talking nonsense feel like a lie.
Reto let out a low hum as he listened to my short story.
After his light green eyes drifted to the side for a moment.
My most trusted friend showed that annoying smile of his, as he always did.
“Not bad. Your meddling might actually be of some help.”
“…Meddling?”
At my dumb question, Reto clicked his tongue.
His true thoughts were bleeding through that look of pity.
Swordsmanship students, honestly…
I secretly clenched my fist and trembled.
I would pay back this insult with interest as soon as I returned to the Academy.
But Reto was Reto.
As he laid out his clever moves one by one, I had no choice but to nod quietly.
It was a relief. The future where my friend’s blood stained my fist had vanished.
Only after I had even taken notes on what we discussed was I able to leave the communication room with a satisfied expression.
It wasn't a complete plan yet.
However, for the time being, there shouldn't be any major problems if I conducted myself this way.
I was able to walk away with a much lighter heart.
At least, until someone came running toward me in a frantic rush.
Dark blue hair and silver-gray eyes—it was a familiar girl.
Cien, the 5th Princess of the Empire.
In a manner unbefitting her noble status, she flailed her arms and shouted.
“I-It’s an emergency, Sir Ian!”
I had no choice but to stop right there.
She looked quite desperate, squeezing her eyes shut and raising her voice.
The urgent news delivered by the princess, who had run so hard to reach me, was as follows:
“Yurdina… I mean, Senior Seria has become strange!”
The news that something was wrong with my sweet junior.
After a moment of being stunned, my body immediately kicked off the ground and shot forward.
Please, Seria.
I hope I’m not too late.