Chapter 76

# 76

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Eselred had been busy since the morning.

But it was only a level of busyness where Solomon and Margaret were dressed in more formal attire than usual.

The items Solomon had ordered from a boutique for Navia’s clothes and shoes arrived early in the morning.

Margaret received the boxes from the boutique staff.

Given Solomon’s personality, it seemed unlikely that he had only ordered a couple of items, yet the quantity was modest.

"One winter dress, a pair of socks, and a pair of shoes? Is that all?"

The boutique staff member said,

"Not just us, but most boutiques of a certain level at this time are like this. We have to handle the backlog of orders first. This was barely managed to be pulled out."

The boutique where Solomon had ordered the clothes was not as premium as Ansee, but it was a place with good skills and was busy with the backlog of winter dress production.

Margaret nodded as she looked at the delicate sky-blue dress.

"I understand."

Since the compensation would be generous today, she could look around and buy clothes.

'Or I could buy fabric for Mina and commission her to make them.'

"Miss Navia should like it."

Margaret took the cake Solomon had bought yesterday and went upstairs.

'Miss Navia seemed to quite like sweets.'

A few days ago, she noticed that only one piece of candy was left in the basket of chocolate cookies Navia had secretly hidden.

It was cute that she enjoyed sweet snacks so much, but it was also a bit sad that she had hidden the basket.

'I should make sure to bring her snacks, of course, only enough to avoid cavities.'

"Miss Navia?"

But the child wasn’t in the room.

She had come early in the morning on purpose, so where could she have gone?

Margaret scanned the surroundings in confusion and then met Benny, who entered with a worried expression.

"Good morning, Count Romanov."

Benny greeted her with a very flustered expression, but his eyes swept around the room.

Navia was nowhere to be seen.

"Good morning. Wasn’t it Seline? Where is she?"

Benny stiffened for a moment and quickly tried to think of something.

Navia’s absence was probably because the assassins had succeeded yesterday.

If that was the case, he would soon be dismissed, and there was no need to mention that Seline had run away yesterday, which could give them a reason to blame him.

"Ah, that’s because... she’s not feeling well. I told her not to come so she wouldn’t infect the young lady."

"Is that so?"

Margaret put down the items she was holding on the table and approached the bed.

When she felt inside the blanket, it was cold.

This meant she had been away for quite some time.

Margaret’s expression hardened. She walked to the window and checked all the locks.

"Benny."

Margaret spoke in a low voice without turning around.

"Yes?"

"Why are all the window locks open?"

Benny put on a troubled expression and replied as if he didn’t know what to do.

"Ah... I must have forgotten to check yesterday. I’m sorry."

"Hmm."

At that moment, Margaret suddenly laughed.

'...Why is she doing that?'

Benny, already anxious about Seline, felt irritation rise as Margaret acted strangely.

Margaret was an aristocrat, a bit difficult, but much easier to handle than Solomon, a male aristocrat.

She was said to be a magician, but no one knew what her abilities were.

So, there were rumors that Margaret’s abilities and achievements were exaggerated or even fabricated.

"I really dislike getting angry, Benny."

Margaret slowly turned to face Benny.

She was always gentle, smiling, and using soft words.

But now she was smiling coldly, and a strange black ripple appeared around her.

Margaret spoke.

"When I get angry, someone always dies. Strangely, that’s how it is."

That’s why I dislike getting angry.

Chill!

Benny felt a deep sense of malice and froze, his teeth chattering.

"S-Save...!"

At that moment, a clear voice cut through the malice.

"Miss Margaret."

Navia walked in barefoot.

"Miss Navia!"

Margaret, as if the previous scene was an illusion, rushed to Navia with an incredibly gentle demeanor.

"What...! Why is your body so cold?"

"Something happened."

Margaret checked Navia’s body and noticed the paper knife the child was holding tightly.

'Could it be?'

"Did someone try to harm Miss Navia?"

Navia shook her head.

"No, nothing like that happened."

It couldn’t have not happened.

The child’s eyes were dark, clearly showing she had been up all night and was exhausted.

Margaret glared fiercely at Benny.

"Seline said she was sick, right? I need to check."

Yesterday, a dead mouse was found on the bed. Today, Navia appeared barefoot with a knife in her hand.

Something had driven the child outside.

And Margaret suspected Seline as the culprit.

Benny’s face darkened.

"Miss Margaret, Agnes will be here soon."

"But Miss Navia is more important."

Navia felt warmth seep into her cold body with those words.

She really felt better.

Somehow, her body, which had been plagued by anxiety and vigilance all night, felt fine.

Magic didn’t have to be about summoning dragons or causing explosions.

Perhaps words like these were also a kind of magic.

At that moment, Benny, who had been pale and trembling, confessed.

"I ran away!"

Confused by the statement, Margaret asked,

"Ran away?"

"S-Seline suddenly started talking about evil spirits last night and ran away! I don’t know what happened after that."

Navia knew Benny was telling the truth because she was the one who made Seline run away.

"But why did you lie? And why would a maid suddenly run away?"

"…Because there’s a curse here, and she thought she saw an evil spirit."

There’s a limit to absurdity, but a curse and an evil spirit? And she saw it?

"I don’t know how to interpret that."

Margaret lifted Benny’s shadow and choked him.

"Aaah!"

Benny fell to the ground, trembling as if he had seen something terrible.

"It’s best to stay still while I figure things out."

When Margaret said this with a caring smile, Benny nodded, trembling pitifully.

"Y-Yes, I understand!"

Navia watched this quietly and was inwardly amazed.

Margaret, who was always gentle, being a war hero seemed a bit out of place, but now she understood.

'Indeed, not just anyone can become a war hero.'

After Benny left, Margaret sighed and checked Navia again.

"I want to tell you to warm up in warm water, but it’s difficult with your injuries."

Margaret thought that if Navia didn’t want to talk, she wouldn’t force her.

Even if she didn’t, she didn’t want to interrogate the child who had returned to the room looking so exhausted.

Instead, she used her shadow to bring a basin of warm water and a clean towel.

"I’ll help you clean up."

Navia tried to say she was fine, but her body was lifted and laid on the bed.

"If the shadow scares you, tell me."

Margaret knew that her ability could be frightening to others, like an evil spirit.

So, she hadn’t used it until now.

Even if that wasn’t the case, she was getting older and found it tiring to use magic, which consumed a lot of energy.

"It’s not scary at all. It’s a wonderful ability."

Margaret smiled and dismissed the shadow at Navia’s response.

Children were especially afraid of shadow manipulation.

'Really, it’s not just a lie; it’s truly amazing.'

If Navia had to choose the most desirable magic ability she had seen in her life, it would definitely be Margaret’s shadow manipulation.

If she had the ability, she could create an army on her own.

'As long as there is light in the world, shadows will always exist. Everything has a shadow.'