Chapter 45

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Plots in Motion
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“Diello Argenta must be completely smitten with Croire Alloje.”

The Alloje informant spoke in a heated voice inside the swaying carriage.

“The atmosphere between them was exactly that of newlyweds.”

He didn't add that it was enough to make the infiltrator feel embarrassed.

But Duke Alloje and Pentas Alloje felt as if they could already read his mind.

This was because a blush had risen to the informant's face.

“The lilies?”

Duke Alloje asked about what was important.

Their relationship was so good that the disappearance of the lilies was only a matter of time, but he still had to check on the progress.

“One was definitely gone. I saw it clearly with my own two eyes.”

The Alloje informant said.

“Then that’s settled. You may leave.”

Duke Alloje gestured with his hand.

After the informant jumped from the slowly moving carriage, its speed increased.

“Now, once all the lilies are gone, we can just wipe out the Argentas.”

Duke Alloje said with a satisfied look on his face.

It is the law of nature that when fire and water clash, water holds the overwhelming advantage.

What more if it was the flame of a weak family head who hadn't even properly awakened?

It would be enough for Duke Alloje himself to step forward.

The problem was.

“Has the mark of the family head not yet appeared on you?”

Duke Alloje’s gaze turned to his son.

Pentas Alloje nervously scratched his dark blue hair.

“It seems to be a little late.”

“Hmph.”

Duke Alloje clicked his tongue.

Uncharacteristically, he was waiting for the mark of the family head to appear on his son as soon as possible.

Other family heads would have worried about the mark appearing on a member of a branch family, but he was different.

In the first place, there were few members in the branch families, and they possessed such pathetic talents that they were amazed just by seeing Croire's ability to control water.

“But Father, must we strike only after the mark of the family head appears on me? Wouldn't it be better for you to just wipe them out while you're still the head…”

Pentas asked then.

It was more convenient for him to become the head of a stronger Alloje family after pushing the Argentas out of the way, so he couldn't help but be impatient.

“You fool.”

Duke Alloje clicked his tongue.

Usually, current family heads did not like the mark of the family head to appear on the next generation.

This was because the head’s own power would gradually weaken afterward.

But Duke Alloje did not regret this. Rather, he saw it as an opportunity.

Wasn't it obvious that the mark would appear someday anyway?

The time of the mark's transfer.

When the succeeding head receives the mark, their power becomes overwhelmingly strong in that moment.

Furthermore, right after the transfer, the current head's power doesn't weaken much.

In other words, that is the period when they would possess their greatest strength.

Meaning it would be the perfect time to crush the Argentas.

He intended to achieve the great feat of extinguishing the Argenta's flame while he was still Duke.

“Tsk, it should be time for it to appear.”

Duke Alloje smacked his lips in disappointment.

Still.

Not all the lilies were gone, so there was plenty of time.

“There's no need to be impatient.”

Duke Alloje laughed silently.

And so, the carriage of the Duke Alloje family slowly moved away from Argenta.

* * *

“Diello Argenta's aura has changed quite a bit.”

Inside the Cartiel family's carriage.

Siete Cartiel's voice rang out.

His Pero, the Duchess Cartiel, who had been nearly silent throughout the banquet, looked at him.

“I felt it too. The force of his flame seems to have grown fiercer.”

If his Pero felt it, then it was certain.

Siete Cartiel was lost in thought.

He and his Pero had a relationship closer to business partners than a married couple.

A union forged solely to pursue the prosperity and power of the Cartiel family.

As such, the Duchess Cartiel also had a keen eye.

“Hmm…”

Siete narrowed his eyes.

He recalled the previous night.

‘The Allojes are making a move. They say the Duke of Argenta's ceremonial robes were stolen.’

The first thing that came to mind upon hearing that report was, of course, the lilies.

They must be trying to see if the black lilies have disappeared.

‘Then we'll send someone as well. Be discreet.’

Had Diello's personality truly changed because the lilies were disappearing?

Is that why the Argentas' belligerent nature had begun to surface?

He had sent a man to investigate the lilies.

And the one dispatched at that time was now standing before him.

“How was it?”

Possessing the ability to control the wind, the Cartiel informants naturally had sharper ears than those of other families.

He cleared his throat and then spoke.

“It was clearly a newlywed's… night. It was embarrassing to listen to.”

“He was that proactive?”

The Duchess Cartiel asked.

Her question contained no trace of embarrassment or any such emotion.

She was asking for pure information. Whether Diello Argenta had truly changed.

The Cartiel informant nodded his head.

“Yes. It was to the point I wondered if he was the same Diello Argenta I had seen until now.”

“It's common for one's personality to change upon awakening, but.”

Siete found it strangely grating.

He was a man with good instincts, and one who trusted them.

Was this really a change brought about by Diello Argenta meeting his Pero and the lilies disappearing?

Unaware of the Allojes' fake Pero plan, he could only think within the bounds of what he knew.

‘Croire.’

The voice of Diello Argenta, sweetly calling for his bride.

It was clearly the voice of a fool who had fallen in love and couldn't escape.

For a Diello Argenta so eager, the disappearance of all the lilies would be instantaneous.

What would Diello Argenta's abilities be like once the lilies were gone? How much stronger would he become?

I thought since he was a pathetically weak head anyway, a proper awakening would be useless.

“Hmph.”

Why did this feel so grating?

He recalled the look in Diello Argenta's eyes as he embraced his woman and glared at Pentas Alloje.

Wasn't it like a foolish beast trying to protect its family?

Siete Cartiel smiled faintly.

His Pero beside him, the Duchess Cartiel, flinched at the sight of that smile and lowered her eyes.

“Family.”

It was a word with next to no meaning in the Cartiel family, but the Argentas were different.

The Argentas were a family with exceptionally strong bonds.

But they were also a family that desired a strong head.

That was why the weak Diello Argenta was the most alienated among all the Argenta heads in history, and it had been that way until now.

And yet.

“He has changed…”

Putting aside what had become of Diello Argenta's power, the very fact that he was trying to protect something grated on Siete Cartiel's nerves.

This kind of change was not good.

And the one who brought about that change was.

“…Croire Alloje.”

The illegitimate daughter of Alloje with dark purple hair, held in his arms.

The woman who was now Croire Argenta.

“The daughter of Alloje playing at love with an Argenta, isn't it laughable?”

Ellin Cartiel seemed to believe in marriage for love, but Siete Cartiel did not believe in such words.

Of course, the Duchess Cartiel, who was listening to the story, felt the same.

In the first place, the relationship between a Pero and a family head was not so romantic.

No matter how much they said one had to connect with their Pero to awaken, there were too many kinds of love.

This meant that an awakening was possible even with a conditional love, like Siete Cartiel's, which loved not the Pero herself, but only the ‘Pero's ability’.

‘I will give you not love, but the position of the best duchess.’

‘Instead of something as absurd as love, how about a relationship that seeks practical benefits?’

As long as the head and the Pero's hearts were aligned.

Just as they, the Duke and Duchess of Cartiel, had done.

To consolidate power in the head, Siete Cartiel had eliminated all kin with no potential, to the point that he was only watching over Ellin, who was born with some talent.

As such a man, he couldn't help but be bothered by the change in Argenta.

The Duchess Cartiel, sensing Siete Cartiel's sensitivity, held her breath.

Her husband kept her by his side as an advisor and a Pero.

If he judged her to be worthless as an advisor, she might be reduced to a mere tool called a Pero and confined to the estate, so it was better to hold her breath at times like this.

“…”

And as she expected, Siete Cartiel was very displeased.

“I wonder how great of an amplifier Croire Argenta will be as a Pero.”

He said in a gentle but heavy voice.

It was necessary to find out just what kind of person this Croire Argenta was, to have changed a Diello Argenta who rarely confronted others so drastically.

She was supposed to be a trivial woman not even worth paying attention to, yet it was a mystery how she had changed Diello Argenta.

One thing was certain: contrary to his expectations, Croire Alloje was a useful Pero.

Even without discussing her amplification power as a Pero, if she alone was enough to change Diello Argenta…

It would be better to kill her off early.

He did not want the current political situation between the three families to change.

“Send someone to Argenta in secret. And.”

He commanded coldly.

“Eliminate Croire Alloje.”

“Understood.”

The Cartiel informant bowed his head deeply.

* * *

We returned to the main Argenta estate.

But starting from the day after our arrival, the atmosphere in the estate began to turn strange.

“I'd thought the atmosphere would change.”

Of course, I knew the other two families would make some sort of move now that Argenta had welcomed a Pero.

I had hoped it would be in a way that underestimated us.

And indeed, at the meeting, Diello did not show the proper image of a family head.

So I thought it was enough to make our enemies let their guard down.

The problem arose at a meal a few days later.

“Today, I told them to bring out things that Croire likes.”

Diello said with a cheerful face, his voice brimming with delight.

“Didn't you do that yesterday, too?”

Diello, who every day ordered them to prepare only my favorite things, was, from any angle, the very picture of a doting new husband.

Diello chuckled at my words.

“It's not like you only have one favorite food.”

I always want to find new ways to please you, Croire.

He said in an excited voice, pointing to a dish on the table.

“These are mushrooms that only grow on Tilla Pass. They say the strong aroma is polarizing, but you like them, don't you, Croire?”

I think I remember reading that the original Croire enjoyed mushroom dishes.

And in reality, I don't dislike mushrooms either.

I nodded.

“Yes. But this…”

But Croire only liked mushrooms that were difficult to obtain, didn't she?

“I picked them myself.”

Diello said with a bright smile.

…The mushrooms that only grow in the middle of a cliff?

I blinked blankly.

Seeing how large the mushroom caps were, he must have gone quite deep to find them.

“What would you have done if you'd slipped?”

“I haven't been that negligent in my training.”

Diello looked quite… proud as he said that.

“Goodness.”

Since he went to such lengths to get them, I couldn't not eat them.

Most importantly, the lusciously glistening mushrooms were topped with the sweet and spicy sauce I liked.

“Would you like to try some?”

It was when Diello cut into a mushroom.

“...?”

He paused for a brief moment, then tilted his head slightly.

Then, he suddenly popped the cut piece of mushroom into his own mouth.

“Diello?”

Did he smell something strange?

His brows shot up, and he abruptly pushed the mushroom dish aside.

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he rose from his seat.

“I ordered them to bring out something that Croire likes…”

The corner of his mouth lifted into a strange smirk.

“It seems the chef has made a bit of a mistake.”