Approaching him with a grave expression, Cullen seemed to have urgent news, significant enough for the aged Cullen to climb up to the capital.

But Bellige was not in a state to deal with different matters right now, so he passed by Cullen.

“Let’s talk tomorrow; I am not in a condition for anything right now.”

“It’s about the family curse, Marquis.”

Bellige’s steps halted abruptly at Cullen’s words.

“The family curse?”
It was a truly astounding timing. At this moment, filled with doubts about the curse, Cullen’s words arrived.

The Marquis, who had been silently gazing at him, whispered lowly, “Follow me.”

As Bellige and Cullen entered the study together, Cullen, after making sure the door was closed, handed him something with an ominous feeling.

“It was something I’ve been keeping to present to you someday, Marquis.”

“What is this?”

What he presented was a worn-out journal bearing the traces of time.

“It’s the diary of the 12th Marquis, Lord Yorkshire Fermanness. It contains records of his investigations into the curse that befell the family in the past.”

“A record of the curse…?”

Bellige had heard about it sometime before. An ancestor of the Fermanness family in the past had uncovered important clues while investigating the curse.

However, the diary containing those clues had disappeared.

“Where did this come from?”

“We found it while organizing things in the warehouse to prepare for winter. We hadn’t cleaned it for quite some time, so we decided to clean it, and while moving the furniture, we found it wedged between the wall and the cabinet. I’ve heard about this diary from my grandfather before, so I brought it to you immediately.”

The household of Steward Cullen had long been in charge of the stewardship of the Fermanness Marquis family through generations.

Cullen’s father and his father before him were reliable aides to the successive Fermanness Marquises. Perhaps they, too, would have searched the mansion to find this diary.

At that time, there was a moment of doubt about the diary that had not been discovered then but was found now. However, it quickly vanished. Now, the truth about what Lina had said was more critical.

After handing over only the diary, Steward Cullen left the room. With the sound of the closing door, Bellige slowly unfolded the diary.

[For some reason, no longer are children with sacred power born into our household. And even more dreadful is that those who inherit the blood of the Fermanness family die before reaching thirty. Initially, I thought it was a coincidence, but when my healthy father closed his eyes, I realized. Our family has been cursed. Are we truly abandoned by God?]

Seeing what was written at the beginning of the diary, it seemed that he became aware of the curse from around this time.

Bellige quickly turned to the next page.

On the next page, there were records neatly organized of Lord Yorkshire Fermanness meeting with magicians and priests from across the country to discuss how to lift the curse.

After gazing at it for a while, a phrase caught his eye.

[I finally found out. The beginning of the curse.]

‘The beginning of the curse…’

[The beginning of the curse starts with the death of a saint.]

Thud. For a moment, Bellige’s heart seemed to plummet. His hand hesitated on that phrase.

With fear, he slowly read the following words.
[The curse was related to sacred power. Therefore, after a long investigation of the temple, I discovered one noteworthy fact. In the year 245 of the Imperial Era, the healthy saint Madallia suddenly faced an inexplicable death. And shortly after the saint’s death, the Marquis Fermanness at that time went missing. As a result, the next Marquis was his brother, Levern. However, Marquis Levern died before reaching the age of thirty. Looking at these facts, it is undoubtedly clear that the death of Saint Madallia and the disappearance of the past Marquis are related to the curse.]

The Imperial Era of the year 245 was four hundred years ago.

[400 years ago, I killed them all. Everything you love, including the saint.]

Lina’s words flashed through his mind like lightning.

[I killed your father. And his father’s father… I killed them all. It was their lives that I lived for four hundred long years. And now, you too will die.]

‘No, that can’t be.’

But.

This was a fact that even he, the victim of the curse, didn’t know. Yet, how did Lina know about it?

‘Really, Lina…’

Even though his hands trembled, he couldn’t stop flipping through the pages.

But as he went further, the pages were filled more with fear of death than efforts to uncover the facts about the curse.

The diary clearly described at what age his ancestor started showing symptoms, how much he suffered, and how he desperately wanted to live.

He wanted to live. Very desperately.

Thud. He dropped the arm holding the diary. And at the same time, the face of his father lying in the glass coffin in the past came to mind.

A peaceful face that could be thought to be fortunate to have returned due to the carriage accident.

His face even seemed somewhat happy.

As if rejoicing at escaping from a hellish life.

The screams of his father, heard every night, still echoed vividly in his ears.

“Father.”

Did you suffer like the owner of this diary?

[The guilt of committing such a terrible deed makes it even difficult for me to breathe. Marquis.]

What face did you have, hidden behind the black veil?

[Please abandon me.]

His body collapsed to the floor.

If all of Lina’s words were true.

“Father, I…”

A sob mixed with despair and frustration echoed through the room.

Lina’s poignant voice and the screams of the dead father intertwined.