“What?”

His head shot up like a fish caught in a net.

For someone who had just been treating Elizabeth worse than a crawling spider, Rude’s eyes were unbelievably intense.

“…What kind of trick is this now?”

“That child was never meant to be your companion in the first place. It would be advantageous in many ways to officially hold a wedding ceremony and become a married couple.”

“You have a knack for making the obvious sound grandiose. Who doesn’t know that kind of thing?”

Rude, who had quickly turned his attention elsewhere, rummaged through the desk.

The neatly organized documents became a mess under his careless hands.

Ah, in times like these, I miss the wolf bastards. If the papers had eyes too and could disappear tactfully, wouldn’t that be nice?

Eventually, he shoved all the annoying papers onto the floor.

Only after stomping on them numerous times with the heels of his black shoes, leaving a myriad of dark marks, did Rude straighten his back with a look of satisfaction in his eyes.

The sapphire-inlaid cuff links.

A sapphire so brilliantly blue that it would make one’s eyes ache from staring at it for too long, and an enormously large gemstone at that, was set with minimal processing.

Rude silently gazed at the glowing blue for a long time, not even bothering to take a cloth to wipe it.

It resembled the woman who had abandoned him and ran away.

However… in the end, it wasn’t hers. It merely resembled her, that’s all.

The slightly excited mood plummeted back into the gutter.

As he was about to leave, kicking the now tattered papers with his feet, his steps were once again restrained by a conceited voice.

“Rude, have you received the report regarding the prophecy?”

“What prophecy again… Hah. Let’s give it a rest, Mother. How many times do I have to tell you to hold your tongue and read the mood of the person you’re talking to?”

“Venenum needs allies. Use that to entangle Merche.”

Merche. At the mere mention of the name, the hand that had been irritably rubbing his face suddenly stopped.

Rude may be overly impulsive, aggressive, and lacking in patience, but he’s not entirely dumb.

He was smart enough to realize that what Elizabeth was about to say would make for quite an appetizing bait.

“Well, what do you think? Are you in the mood to listen to me now?”

The posture of her son, who had turned towards her, was already his answer.

Elizabeth smiled graciously, looking at the sapphire clutched in her son’s hand.

She couldn’t let him wander forever, having lost his other half.

It was time to seat the real thing next to him, not an illusion.

Finally, after a whole year, a path had opened up before her eyes to return her son to that child.

Clack! A high-quality newsletter with sharp edges landed on the moonstone-decorated table.

As if throwing it with all her might out of spite wasn’t enough to relieve her anger, Carla gnawed at her nails.

“Iler! Come and take a look at this. What the hell are they trying to pull… What’s their ulterior motive?”

⌜The Final Prophecy of Widentia Finally Discovered, Foretelling the Birth of a New King!⌟

The letters were so bold and thick that even Iler, sitting across from her, had no great difficulty discerning them.

Iler first swallowed all the medicine he had been taking with the help of his attendant.

Lifting his heavy body to personally verify the newsletter came next.

“Isn’t this a newsletter with a much greater impact than the last one? It seems to be deliberately spreading the rumors more widely.”

“That’s what I’m saying, why are they disseminating your family’s prophecy so sporadically in the first place! No, that’s not it. Is that even true in the first place?”

After thoroughly reading through the entire article in the newsletter, Iler shook his head.

It meant something that couldn’t be spoken. A taboo. Upon receiving the clear signal, Carla stomped her feet again.

“Seriously, those damned taboos, they’re driving me crazy.”

The power of prophecy was originally meant to work that way. One must not carelessly divulge future events.

If a seer were to tell someone about the future they had seen, a corresponding price would be paid.

For example, like how Iler was now groaning in pain.

It had started back then. A year ago, when he was fleeing from the Lupinus territory with Merche.

Iler’s complexion had become noticeably sickly, as if he had contracted some incurable disease, and he would occasionally even vomit small clots of blood.

No matter how much she asked and urged him about what had happened, Iler’s answer was always the same.

– It’s because I violated a taboo. I’m merely paying the price for uttering what should not be spoken.

Carla thought it wouldn’t be a big deal since it was a prophecy he had always shared with her.

But a prophecy that required paying a price? It was a shocking statement she was hearing for the first time, and it had left the back of her head numb.

No matter how much she coaxed and persuaded him, Iler kept his mouth firmly shut, so she tried to ask Merche what had happened.

Alas, Merche’s condition was even worse than Iler’s.

Merche couldn’t even remember anything at all.

How she had safely escaped from the Lupinus territory, how she had survived the ambush.

She was in a state of complete blankness, not properly knowing any of it.

So for Carla, the truth of that day remained unknown and ended on an ambiguous note.

“…Still, thanks to her, we managed to push Yosef aside…”

It had been a year since bringing Merche to Venenum and establishing themselves there. It had been a few months since Carla had successfully claimed the position of heir with Merche’s help.

Yosef, a fellow heir candidate and cousin, had clung to her ankles until the very end, but in the end, Carla had emerged victorious.

It was all thanks to Merche.

She had simply been told to keep Merche by her side, and she had obediently followed Iler’s advice.

And lo and behold, the fierce snakes of Venenum had bowed their heads and gathered at her feet one by one.

The sight of Yosef, who had been standing there with his mouth agape like a statue, was still vivid in her mind.

That dimwit looked best that way.

With the corners of her mouth rising again at the entertaining reminiscence of the past, Carla slapped the sofa armrest and stood up.

“Alright, shall we go see our lovely cousin?”

At the time Carla had a change of heart and turned her steps, Merche was walking through a lush grove of trees.

The shade cast by the tall trees was deep enough to cover a person’s absence and then some.

The stillness of the surroundings without any sign of human presence, the sound of the passing wind, the thick mud being stepped on.

This gloomy atmosphere of the swamp, which the majority of Venenum’s territorial people feared and avoided, was incredibly serene to Merche.

Even the small snake that had been following her side for who knows how long.

The noise of scales rustling, rustling was pleasant to hear.

Merche walked at a leisurely pace with a smile on her face, simply leaving her fluttering golden hair as it was.

Thump, thump, it was then that the unmistakable galloping of four legs could be heard.

Seeing the house-sized black wolf turning towards her from the opposite path, Merche smiled even more brightly.

With a light gesture, the wolf came running to Merche with excitement.

“Shakar.”

Calling its name, it rumbled in response as if answering.

On the night they left Lupinus a year ago, Shakar had also become a companion and stayed with Merche.

It was unknown how it had escaped Genovefa’s control.

Breaking the rigid principle that all wolves of Lupinus could not escape the family head’s control, Shakar had protected Merche’s side with a few of its own pups.

After fawning and rubbing against the fur that was pleasant to stroke, Shakar suddenly bit Merche’s hem and gently pushed her back.

It seemed to be urging her to go somewhere.

Not refusing and following its lead, an unexpected figure slowly turned around and looked at Merche.

“Come quickly.”

Mariette Venenum.

The master of this land, whose wrinkles were full of the passage of time but whose overwhelming presence was difficult to conceal.

And the benefactor who had accepted Merche, who had fled a year ago, without any reprimand.

“You’re quite a clever child. It’s understandable why he keeps you by his side.”

“The snakes of Venenum are as clever as Shakar. And of course, as loyal as Shakar too.”

“Enough with the obvious flattery. Carla, that kid, is already overflowing with that kind of thing.”

Mariette reached out and stroked Shakar’s back. Shakar also accepted the touch with quite a docile attitude.

In the first place, it was a wolf that treated anyone Merche was favorable towards with generosity.

“Counting the days, it’s been exactly one year. Time has already passed so quickly since you came here.”

As if remarking on how fast time flies, Mariette’s eyes lengthened.

“And exactly one year. Within that time, a dreadful prophecy has spread. A dreadful prophecy that can’t be dealt with…”

The foot that had been walking just a step ahead suddenly stopped.

Before she knew it, Mariette’s eyes looking back at Merche were filled with a chilling air.

Brushing back her white hair, Mariette smirked.

“What do you think?… Do you really believe that the prophecy will come true? Do you think it’s possible for this so-called new king to walk from the sea and bring the six family heads to their knees?”

⌜775 years after the first era of the previous king, a new king shall be born among the six families.⌟

It didn’t take long for the problematic prophecy to spread throughout the continent through the mouths of gossipmongers.

If the source of the prophecy had been some obscure fortune-teller or a half-baked seer, the matter wouldn’t have escalated.

But alas, the source of the prophecy was all too clear.

Widentia. The family whose very grounds had been wiped out without a trace due to the wrath they had incurred from the royal family.

It was the last prophecy left by the executed head of that family.

The prophecy that had been desperately buried underground before the royal sword struck, surviving through noble sacrifice.

And now, it had finally been resurrected and emerged into the world.