Chapter 208
“……”
Yurian stared at Christian with a hardened expression.
Was it because she had realized his true identity?
There was a different kind of tension in the air now.
‘Will she comply quietly?’
Yurian was holding back her power.
If she revealed her true nature, even Christian might find her difficult to handle.
‘But she won’t do that.’
To reveal her hidden strength would mean tearing off the mask she had worn all this time.
Yurian, who had been so careful to conceal her true self, wouldn’t suddenly throw it all away now.
“Sigh.”
Sure enough, Yurian showed no sign of resistance. Christian quickly pulled out a bracelet and fastened it around her wrist.
It was an artifact that sealed magical energy.
“You… even as a Grand Duke, doing something like this…”
“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. As I said earlier, I’m only trying to make sure my sister can rest comfortably. Please don’t take my kindness the wrong way. Once she’s had a good rest, I’ll make sure she can return to the mansion.”
Yurian scowled and glared at Chris.
Chris shrugged and clapped his hands.
“Marie, take good care of my sister. Be careful with her, okay?”
“Oh hoho, understood. If I marry the young master, I’ll be your sister-in-law, so of course I’ll treat you well. I’ll serve you with all my heart, so please come this way.”
Marie led Yurian inside the building.
Soon, a group of maids led by Melin appeared.
“Keep watch over Lady Yurian.”
“Yes, understood. But are you sure this is alright?”
Melin asked with concern.
“Even if Lady Yurian is suspicious, this kind of confinement…”
“It’s not confinement. It’s a special rest period.”
“……”
Melin gave a look that said this made no sense.
Chris shrugged.
“I know it’s a stretch. But it’s necessary.”
Melin’s eyes shifted.
“Have you found something?”
“To some extent.”
Yes.
Chris hadn’t detained Yurian without reason.
Throughout their outing, he had analyzed her every move and drawn a chilling conclusion that made this necessary.
‘The current Lady Yurian isn’t the real one.’
Swallowing hard, Chris silently repeated the answer he had uncovered.
‘Another soul is inhabiting Yurian’s body.’
An unbelievable story.
He had suspected Yurian was suspicious for some time.
But that her very soul had changed?
Yet it was true.
‘At the concert earlier.’
There had been many suspicious clues, but the decisive one was during the piano ensemble.
As explained before, even the children of noble families received some cultural education, even if they were maids.
But it was never at a high level.
Yurian had only learned basic playing.
In fact, during the ensemble, she only played accompaniment at a beginner’s level.
But Chris sensed a disconnect.
‘She’s a beginner, but not really.’
Her body was that of a beginner.
She wasn’t forcing herself to hide her skill.
‘But her mind wasn’t. It was clearly the mind of a skilled player.’
Think of Chris at the point when he had regressed.
His mind was highly accomplished, but his body’s skill hadn’t caught up yet.
That was the kind of disconnect Chris felt in Yurian’s playing.
Of course, it was subtle.
Yurian had even tried hard to hide how familiar she was with the music.
But Chris, a master-level musician, couldn’t be fooled.
He even caught every effort she made to conceal it.
‘No way… another soul was inside her.’
No one would believe such a thing.
It defied the laws of the world.
But there was a way it could happen.
The power of a demon.
‘Yurian is a demon contractor. She must have received a demon’s blessing to enter this body.’
The question was why ‘Yurian’ had possessed this body.
For what purpose?
‘I have to find out who Yurian really is.’
He had some guesses, based on hints from their date.
Lamo tea was rare.
Almost unknown in the Magic Empire.
Within the Union, only one group enjoyed Lamo tea.
And then—
I don’t like meat.
There’s a Yale tree here. I like those.
Lamo tea. Preference for vegetarian food. Yale tree.
Each alone might seem trivial.
But combined with Yurian’s usual behavior, it clearly pointed to one identity.
Chris swallowed hard.
‘An elf.’
Yurian had always shared many traits with elves.
Her skill with archery, the uniquely refreshing aura she gave off.
Until now, it had just been a feeling.
But if an elf’s soul had truly possessed Lady Yurian’s body?
The problem was still ‘why?’
Why would an elf possess the body of a noble lady in the Magic Empire? And why go so far as to offer her soul to a demon?
He had a guess about that too.
“…Melin, is there an elf settlement near the Dark Maga’s territory?”
“I’m not sure.”
Melin thought for a moment, then exclaimed.
“There was one. To the southeast, near the Union’s Gray Zone. But a few years ago, it was wiped out by monster attacks.”
“A few years ago?”
“Yes. About five or six years ago, I think.”
Chris narrowed his eyes.
It matched exactly the time Yurian had changed.
‘Originally, Lady Yurian was a cruel villainess, but after a severe fever about five years ago, she suddenly became gentle.’
Something smelled off.
A chilling scent of blood.
“Can you investigate exactly what happened to that elf village?”
“Yes, I will. But it might take some time. It happened in the Union’s territory, not the Dark Maga’s. Especially the Gray Zone is full of complicated places like the crime city ‘Escape City,’ so it’s hard to get information.”
The Gray Zone lay between Gold Cross and the Karn Empire.
As Melin said, many minor factions gathered there.
They were too busy fighting each other to pay attention to the Dark Maga.
“No, there’s no need to go to the Union.”
“Huh?”
“Investigate the main family.”
Melin looked puzzled, then her eyes widened.
“Do you mean…?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Chris nodded gravely.
“The one who destroyed that elf village was probably our Dark Maga.”
Her.
In other words, the current ‘Yurian’ had possessed the body of the Dark Maga’s noble lady by offering her soul to a demon.
Most likely for revenge.
‘First, I need to find out if the tragedy in the Gray Zone’s elf village is connected to our Dark Maga.’
But no matter how much he investigated, nothing came up.
In the end, Chris went to see his aunt, Merian.
As the commander of the Black Shadow Knights, the inspection corps, she might know something.
“The elf village in the Gray Zone? The main family hasn’t been involved.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The Gray Zone has never been a concern for the main family. Though there is one possibility.”
Merian lowered her voice.
“Your older brother.”
“!!”
Chris’s face hardened.
She meant Marquis Langham.
“Five or six years ago, he was traveling abroad, trying to find a way to surpass his limits.”
“……”
“He even took his close aides on a long trip somewhere. No one knows exactly what he was doing. Maybe he sacrificed the elves to strengthen his own power.”
Merian’s expression was full of contempt.
“It’s an open secret that your brother did terrible things behind the scenes to surpass his limits. He’s meticulous, so he probably left no evidence.”
It was a plausible story.
The outline was clear.
The elf village was destroyed by Marquis Langham’s greed, and a survivor made a pact with a demon, possessing the body of his daughter, Lady Yurian.
Of course, it was just speculation without proof, but Chris had a strong intuition it was close to the truth.
‘This isn’t good.’
He couldn’t treat Marquis Langham’s crimes as someone else’s problem.
If Yurian was only targeting Langham, it might not be a big deal.
But was that really the case?
‘No, if she only wanted Langham, she would have taken revenge long ago.’
Yurian had been hiding within the enemy’s family for over five years.
She wasn’t just after Langham; she was planning something far worse.
‘Just as her village was wiped out, she might want to drown the entire Dark Maga in blood.’
Revenge that wiped out an entire family was common.
Chris had seen many who made pacts with demons for revenge in his past life.
They held such deep grudges that killing their enemy’s life wasn’t enough.
They spilled blood as if they themselves had become demons.
‘I have to stop her.’
If Yurian really intended to bring bloodshed to the Dark Maga, as Chris suspected, he could never let it happen.
But then, something unexpected happened.
“Grand Duke! It’s an emergency! Lady Yurian has disappeared!!”
“!!”
Chris’s face stiffened.
“She’s disappeared?”
“Yes. Marie and our maids were watching her closely, but she vanished suddenly.”
Melin knelt down.
“I’m sorry we failed to carry out your orders!!”
“No, it’s not your fault.”
Chris shook his head.
“He definitely used demonic powers.”
If not, there was no way he could have vanished into thin air like that—especially after using relics to seal the magic energy and with countless demons and Mari keeping watch.
“This isn’t good.”
Chris bit his lip.
The fact that Yurian had forced his escape by tapping into demonic power meant he was likely planning something soon—something serious.
“What’s wrong?” Merian, who had been with him, asked with a puzzled look.
Chris hesitated but decided to share the gist of it.
There was no point in keeping secrets just to protect Yurian.
“Actually…”
Merian’s eyes widened as she listened.
“Are you serious? Yurian’s a demon contractor, and his soul’s a fake?”
“He’s definitely contracted with a demon. As for the soul being fake… that’s my guess, but I’m pretty sure it’s true.”
“Hah. I always thought there was something off about Yurian.”
Merian accepted Chris’s words without much doubt.
After all, it was Chris speaking.
Merian had already trusted Chris, but after recently receiving teachings through the spirit stone, her trust had only deepened.
Originally a six-star rank, she had reached the upper echelon of six stars in less than a month.
What was even more shocking was that after the spirit stone lessons ended, Chris checked her condition and gave her additional advice. Following that guidance, reaching the seventh star rank didn’t seem impossible.
It was almost unbelievable.
Now, Merian was ready to trust anything Chris said and offer her full support.
(Of course, she still held a grudge for tricking her into eating an illusion instead of baking cookies.)
“I’ll send the Black Shadow Knights to track Yurian’s whereabouts.”
“Yes, please.”
But Yurian was nowhere to be found.
Chris’s expression hardened, and Merian shook her head.
“It seems he’s completely vanished from the family’s territory. Otherwise, there’s no way he could hide this perfectly.”
“…”
“Well, don’t worry too much. Even if your suspicions are true, what harm could one person really do?”
Merian said, trying to reassure him.
“Even if Yurian is a demon contractor, there are limits. One person alone can’t pull off anything major.”
She wasn’t wrong.
What could Yurian possibly do on his own?
Still, an uneasy feeling gnawed at Chris.
Something terrible was bound to happen.
“At this point, I have no choice but to trust the trap I set.”
There was one small relief.
When Chris had imprisoned Yurian before, he hadn’t just sealed his magic energy with a bracelet.
Without Yurian noticing, he had also etched a faint, dark magical ‘brand’ on him.
(Of course, it was a very weak brand—nothing that could be detected.)
But if the worst happened, it might just turn the tide.
“This feeling… it’s bad.”
Chris stared grimly at the setting sun.
And, of all times—
The day of the ranking battle was fast approaching.