Chapter 20: The Marquis’s Intervention

Bliss awoke with a frown. Though it was his usual headache, after a few days of comfortable sleep, the pressure in his head this morning felt even more unbearable. His mother exacerbated his headaches, making proper guiding desperately necessary, yet today, the pouch had not appeared.

“…It’s not even proper guiding.”

To feel such disappointment over failing to find a mere small pouch was absurd. Bliss chuckled bitterly, then haphazardly dressed.

“Are you awake now? You said you were recuperating, but your waking hours have become quite late. Do dress properly.”

Annabelle, waiting for him in the dining room, was impeccably dressed. With light makeup already applied, she appeared ready to receive guests or embark on a casual outing at any moment.

Bliss largely ignored her words, taking a seat and rinsing his mouth with cold water.

“Are you leaving right away?”

“It seems both your father and you, after associating with commoners in the military, often forget what ‘nobility’ truly means.”

“I will instruct Dale to prepare the knights.”

“Lady Vanessa of the House of Winston is eagerly anticipating her meeting with you.”

“…Mother!”

Bliss, who had tried to avoid engaging with her, finally reacted in a low voice, causing Annabelle’s lips to curve upward.

“I never imagined Seth would depart so early, but isn’t it time for you to gradually inherit the title?”

“Grandfather is still hale and hearty.”

“Your grandfather is already eighty. As someone who married young and bore you, I wish to see you receive the title while you are still young.”

“I don’t even have a Guide yet. Surely, my own mother, who gave birth to me, doesn’t harbor the ridiculous wish for her child to become a Center’s test subject, does she?”

Annabelle elegantly picked up a napkin, dabbing at her pristine lips, then ordered black tea from Dale.

“Bliss. His Majesty the King himself assured me that the Center would never do anything to harm the Empire’s finest Espers. However, seeing your apprehension, I decided not to insist you go to the Center. I thought it might be some kind of psychological trauma from your childhood.”

“Mother!”

“But there’s a very simple solution, isn’t there? You can receive guiding from His Highness Devon Green, the Head of the Center. I hear two of the Empire’s few S-rank Espers are already receiving his guidance. I simply don’t understand why you refuse him, even after he personally designated you, and put yourself through such hardship.”

The air around him trembled uneasily as he gritted his teeth. It was a distortion of energy that an Esper or Guide would have keenly sensed, but as an ordinary person, she remained oblivious.

“Even in an era where the average lifespan is 100 years, I don’t understand why an ordinary person, not an Esper, with an Esper grandson, would go to such lengths. Once you receive stable guiding and take a wife, the faction leaders within the family will pressure your father on their own. You don’t need to worry.”

“There are Espers and Guides within the family factions. Do you truly think it will be that easy?”

“That’s perfect, in fact. It will make them even more displeased with an ordinary person leading the Moore family.”

Bliss let out a long sigh.

“Mother, you shouldn’t forget that you are also an ordinary person.”

“I was born of royal blood and gave birth to the Empire’s most exceptional Esper. But your father is simply an ordinary man.”

A scoff escaped him.

His hand, which had been reaching for salad, dropped, and the soft clink of cutlery echoed faintly in the quiet dining room.

“Grandfather, born of the legitimate Moore lineage, surpassed his Esper brother and proudly became the family head. But Mother, you—!”

Bliss, who had roared lowly, swept his hair back, lowered his gaze, and offered his mother a sardonic smile.

“Before becoming a member of the Moore family, you were raised in the royal palace, but weren’t you ‘Annabelle White,’ not ‘Annabelle Green’?”

CRASH—!

A beautifully curved teacup shattered. Annabelle’s face, having dropped the teacup, flushed crimson with fury.

“You, you… how dare you say such things to me…!”

“I heard you monopolized the affection of His Late Majesty, the King, but Mother, why did you—”

“That is enough, Bliss.”

Bliss quickly turned his head at the grave voice that cut through the now tense air.

“Grandfather!”

The moment Marquis Douglas Moore appeared, Annabelle’s furious momentum, which had seemed ready to strike her son, receded. Her flushed face turned stark white.

“Ma-Marquis. What brings you here…?”

“If Annabelle Moore can come here, why couldn’t Douglas Moore?”

“…That’s not what I meant. You are such a busy man, after all.”

Annabelle bit her lip. According to her intelligence, Douglas Moore should have been in Qura, on the southern continent where a conflict had erupted.

She had deliberately come here, knowing he still had engagements to attend to important contracts with other continental nations that seemed on the verge of war. Yet, for some reason, he had appeared.

While Morapolio City in Qura was relatively closer than the capital, Asyliton, it was still across continents, a distance that would require an overnight flight on the fastest private jet.

“I made a brief opening in my schedule. It will be even harder to see Bliss once he returns from his vacation.”

Douglas Moore, offering the same excuse as Annabelle, casually accepted a teacup from Dale while subtly pressuring Annabelle.

“Annabelle, you are the surprising one. Is it permissible for a central figure in Asyliton’s high society to be absent from it like this? Even if not for countless gatherings and parties, you must be busy with patronizing artists and charity work.”

“…I haven’t surrounded myself with people so incompetent that things would fall apart if I were gone for a few days. Besides, I rarely get the chance to see my son’s face.”

Douglas stroked his neatly trimmed beard and chuckled.

“Haha. Bliss. It seems you’re at fault. To think your family would travel to such a distant province just to see you, when you have a perfectly fine main residence in the capital. Even after you return, make sure to visit the main house occasionally.”

Bliss nodded, a hint of genuine apology on his face.

“I will endeavor to do so.”

“Well then, I’ll have a late breakfast, stop by Asyliton with your mother, and then head back to Qura.”

“Ah, Father-in-law?!”

Annabelle stared at Douglas with wide, surprised eyes, but he continued to press his daughter-in-law with a gentle tone.

“I just heard that the King of Qura is madly fond of artworks from vanished ancient kingdoms, Annabelle, and I’d appreciate your help. What kind of gift should I present him?”

“Oh, if it’s for something like that, my newly hired curator would be quite helpful. They happen to be well-versed in ancient art…”

“And I’ll need to conduct some pest control. Perhaps it’s because of the ancient artworks, but it seems there are some ‘rats’ around. I’ll also have to check if any mold has grown within my company where those pieces are displayed.”

…!

Douglas’s eyes, though smiling benignly at Annabelle, were chillingly cold. Annabelle, barely suppressing an urge to step back, forced an elegantly concerned smile.

“Marquis, the artworks displayed in Moore Company’s building are masterpieces I personally selected with utmost care. There could be no such thing as mold.”

“It seems you’ve been too busy to oversee their care. I trust you’ll choose well this time, as these pieces are for a foreign royal family, not just a company.”

“…I will try.”

Ultimately, Annabelle was forced to accompany Douglas upstairs to select artworks. Bliss, who had silently thanked the Marquis with a glance, exited the room to avoid disturbing his meal, and Annabelle reluctantly followed him out.

“You knew I wasn’t on good terms with the Marquis, yet you contacted him the moment he arrived. How childish of you.”

Though it wasn’t he who had contacted him, Bliss remained silent, knowing her tenacious nature would lead her to harass the servants relentlessly if he denied it.

“If you travel by the fastest private jet, you’ll arrive in Asyliton in no time. The Marquis is a very busy man, so it would be best to pack your bags quickly before he finishes his meal.”

“…You!”

Annabelle glared at Bliss and cried out.

“I am your mother who gave birth to you! You are Seth’s son and mine! You shouldn’t treat me like this when I strive for the family and for you!”

Bliss offered a bitter smile. All her actions were for her own satisfaction, yet she alone remained unaware of it.

“…Farewell, Mother.”

****

After Annabelle and Marquis Douglas Moore departed, Bliss slumped onto a garden bench, his headache intensifying into a throbbing pain. If this state persisted for another day or two, he would inevitably be confined to a bunker.

He pulled out painkillers and chewed five pills at once. Doctor Sera would be furious if she found out, but Bliss had already begun to disregard her advice frequently.

“Are you crazy?”

Through his painkiller-muddled vision, a pair of beautiful blue eyes came into view. Black hair swayed above them, looking down at him.

The young man’s blue eyes were like a clear autumn sky at noon, and his black hair like the darkest night.

“…You possess both day and night.”

Ethan’s brow furrowed, not understanding what he meant. Bliss chuckled and raised a hand.

“What—!”

Ethan’s movement, poised to flinch back, froze. The warmth of large, gentle fingers softly touched his temple.

“Day…”

The hand brushed past his hair and fell away.

“And night.”

The odd eyes, said to be the most beautiful in the Empire, curved into a long arc. Ethan, his face unknowingly flushing, recoiled as if burned and exclaimed,

“A fox spirit, charming people, was here all along!”

Still dazed, Bliss tilted his head slightly.

“A fox spirit?”

“Oh, seriously, don’t go around taking medicine like that with a face like yours. Just take this!”

Bliss’s eyes widened as he instinctively accepted the object thrust before him.

“This… where did you get it?”

‘Ah. I’m insane. Absolutely insane. I was going to say I found it inside the mansion!’

Ethan screamed silently, then furiously racked his brain. ‘I received it in the garden initially, so he won’t find it strange, right? No, then do I have to scatter lucky pouches in the garden for the remaining week? That’s quite a lot of money!’

“Ethan Prescott.”

Bliss urged him in a voice much clearer than before. Unable to delay his answer any longer, Ethan closed his eyes tightly, thinking, ‘Oh, what the heck,’ and replied,

“Ah, I just picked it up on the way!”

…

Ethan’s gaze drifted toward the distant mountains. He almost imagined he heard Chilbok’s scream somewhere.