A fireball flew towards the knights of Embly, threateningly grazing Anton’s head. It wasn’t an ordinary flame.

“Lord, are you alright?”

“It’s magic. Catch the mage first.”

It was difficult to identify where the enemy was due to the darkness. Anton tried his best to assess the situation. Of course, it would be hard to consider them bandits. No sane group of thieves would try to rob a group with armed knights.

Once again, arrows rained down with the sound of cutting through the wind. The knights hurriedly raised their shields.

“Protect the lord!”

There was no need to ponder long about who they were.

“It’s Atilei! That person is surely a mage under Atilei’s command!”

As if reading his thoughts, Maximilian provided an answer. Following Maximilian’s finger, Anton could see a brown-haired man muttering something while looking this way.

“Capture that man immediately. Hurry!”

At Anton’s shout, the knights advanced.

The mage tried to run away but was quickly caught by the knights after just a few steps. Anton walked towards him to get a closer look at the mage’s face.

“You dare attack Embly? Did you think you would get away with this?”

“It is the Grand Duke who should stop this foolishness. Maximilian himself is a disaster. To protect him, his seed must surely be erased from this world!”

“Seed?”

After saying those words, the mage curled his body into a ball. One of the knights tried to straighten him up but hesitated. A strange light emanated from the mage’s body.

Maximilian realized the nature of that light faster than anyone else.

“You must take cover!”

He embraced Anton’s body and ducked to the ground. Simultaneously, the light emanating from the mage’s body exploded, enveloping the entire forest.

The trees all shook with a strong pressure. Those who directly faced the light fell with agonizing screams.

Only after several more minutes did the light begin to fade. Anton opened his eyes long after that.

The surroundings were in chaos. One of the surviving subordinates hurriedly ran to Anton and supported him.

“Lord. Are you alright?”

“Ugh.”

He barely stood up, putting strength into his knees. Turning his head, he saw Maximilian collapsed, groaning in pain. Not just him, more than half of the soldiers they had brought were unable to open their eyes.

The mage who had emitted the light was, of course, dead and in pieces.

Although an unpleasant man, if it weren’t for Maximilian, Anton would have surely been harmed as well. Anton extended his hand to Maximilian on the ground. Maximilian grabbed his hand and stood up, staggering.

“Th-thank you, Grand Duke. More importantly, is Daniel alright?”

“Daniel. Daniel!”

The grandson he had forgotten about due to the light explosion suddenly came to mind. At the same time, he realized what the mage’s meaningful words meant. Anton shook off his subordinate’s support and ran to the carriage.

“Oh, no!”

Hurriedly opening the carriage door, he found the nanny dead. Anton felt as if his toes were crumbling. Even an adult woman had died, so there was no way the child could have survived.

“Daniel, Daniel…”

“Lord. Daniel is alive.”

At the end of despair, Maximilian pulled Anton back. He carefully extracted the child from the nanny’s arms and showed him to Anton. Thankfully, there wasn’t a single scratch on Daniel’s body.

“Ah, God. Thank you. Thank you.”

Anton hastily received the child and prayed to the heavens. Maximilian watched this scene and then burst out in anger.

“What sin could a newborn possibly have committed for them to try to kill him?”

“Are you certain it was Atilei’s mage who did this?”

“Yes. Judging by the magic used at the end, it’s clear they intended to kill everyone here. Including Daniel.”

Anton felt a sudden fear, even knowing the child was safe. This is the only child his daughter left behind. He can’t lose this child too. Maximilian seized upon this moment of weakness.

“They won’t give up. Even if I die, Atilei will try to kill Daniel as well.”

“…I suppose so.”

As long as they know whose blood Daniel carries, it’s difficult to ask them to see this child purely as an Embly. Anton’s brow furrowed deeply. He had suspected they might get involved with Daniel, but he didn’t know they would act so quickly.

“So, Grand Duke, we must first hold his leash.”

“Leash?”

“I mean Cordelia Vasquez, whom I mentioned before. How about exchanging her life for Daniel’s?”

“How do you propose we use that woman?”

Anton listened closely to Maximilian’s words while holding Daniel tightly. Normally he wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but he was in a state of half-lost reason, gripped by fear and terror.

“I’ve heard that in Embly’s records, there’s an extreme poison called Tarsia. If one doesn’t take the antidote once every ten days, they die in agony as their internal organs are torn apart.”

“How do you know about that?”

“Rosalyn told me about it once.”

It was a bit suspicious, but Anton let it pass. Rosalyn did know about Tarsia after all.

“Give that woman the poison and exchange it for Daniel’s life. As long as you hold the antidote, Daniel will be safe from Atilei’s hands.”

Embly’s records contain not only paintings and jewels. They also include the deadly poison called ‘Tarsia’ and its antidote, which is passed down only through the head of Embly.

“What if Atilei abandons his disciple?”

“Recently, he named Vasquez as his successor. For a mage, a successor is like a part of themselves that they wouldn’t trade even for their life. Atilei will never abandon her first.”

Anton fell into deep thought. Although it’s not directly wielding a blade, it means directly confronting Atilei. Even though Embly is one of the sacred eight families, the chances of winning in an all-out war against Atilei are slim.

At that moment, as if chiding Anton’s hesitation, Daniel burst into tears. Anton hurriedly stroked the child’s back to soothe his crying.

Maximilian added words as if driving in a wedge.

“Leave it to me, Grand Duke. I will kidnap her.”

“Kidnap? Wouldn’t it be enough to just poison her? Is there a need to make such a big fuss?”

“Vasquez is within the Magic Association, so it’s difficult to bribe someone to poison her, and above all, that woman knows how to use discrimination magic. If we put it in her food, she’ll notice immediately. It’s better to kidnap her and make sure she ingests the poison.”

Maximilian presented a detailed plan as if he had been waiting for this day. Even so, when words of permission didn’t easily come from Anton’s mouth, he mentioned Daniel again.

“Grand Duke. We were lucky this time, but who knows when Atilei will try to take Daniel’s life again. Isn’t Daniel now the heir who will inherit everything from Embly?”

The last sentence struck a chord in Anton’s heart. If Daniel dies, his bloodline will end here.

He can’t lose the only child Rosalyn left behind.

And even if the plan fails and things go wrong, he can always pin it all on Maximilian’s solo action and cut him loose.

He was going to kill him anyway, so it wouldn’t be bad to use him fully and then dispose of him.

Anton, while constantly soothing the child, pondered and pondered before finally making a decision.

“I’ll provide the money. Use it to hire people. If you get caught by them first, take your own life. Don’t let Embly’s name cross your lips.”

“I will do as you say.”

Maximilian bowed his head deeply. Because of this, Anton didn’t see the expression Maximilian was making.

* * *

It hadn’t even been an hour since parting with Rosenblur, but no matter how much she looked, she couldn’t find him. Cordelia poked around Rosenblur’s lab and, on a hunch, even went to Caenon’s lab.

When Cordelia knocked on the door, Caenon greeted her with a bright smile.

“What brings you here, Cordelia? Have you eaten? You look a bit thin.”

“Hello, Master Caenon. Have you seen Master Rosenblur by any chance?”

“I saw him this morning. Here, sit down. Would you like some candy?”

“Candy, yes. Thank you.”

Unable to refuse his kindness, Cordelia put the candy in her mouth and asked while chewing.

“Why are you looking for Rosenblur?”

“I have something to tell him about Lydia.”

“Lydia? Come to think of it, I think they said they were going out together.”

“Out? Outside the Magic Association?”

“Yes. Would you like this too?”

Caenon rummaged through his drawer and brought out a sweet snack, placing it in front of Cordelia. Cordelia politely declined. Caenon put it back in the drawer with a disappointed look.

“Master Caenon. About that collapse… Was anything discovered?”

“Hm? Are you interested in that? Well. According to Matilda… Hmm. This is a secret, so don’t tell anyone else.”

“Of course. I’m very tight-lipped, you know.”

Cordelia nodded, clasping her hands together. Caenon chuckled and said,

“They say traces of Maximilian were found in that collapse.”

“What? Maximilian?”

Not Lydia?

Cordelia was unfamiliar with this unexpected name. It was even more so because she hadn’t expected to hear it here.

“Hasn’t he already lost his magical power?”

“That’s right. So they say the contractor probably isn’t Maximilian. He might have helped with the summoning ritual, but the actual contractor is someone else.”

“Who is that contractor?”

“Well. It seems that hasn’t been revealed yet. Now, would you like this?”

Caenon offered another sweet snack. Finding it difficult to refuse twice, Cordelia put the snack he handed her into her mouth.

“About that collapse. Is it possible that it grew larger due to a descent occurring?”

“Descent? How do you know about that?”

“I heard it from Master Candias.”

Caenon tapped his desk with his finger. He didn’t seem to readily agree with her words.

“Hmm. Of course, that’s a possibility. But making a contract with a demon is not easy, let alone a descent? It requires an enormous amount of magical power, so you’d need at least a high-level mage, and probably even sacred artifacts.”

“That, that!”

“That?”

‘Moreover, I found out that Lydia took several sacred artifacts shortly before she disappeared, but the artifacts were not found anywhere in the mansion.’

Rosenblur’s words flashed through her mind like lightning. Cordelia sprang up from her seat.

Everything is rushing towards a single point. Maximilian, a high-level mage, the sacred artifacts Lydia took, and the changes that appeared on Lydia’s body.

Cordelia asked urgently,

“Do you know where Master Rosenblur went?”