#58
The conviction that she couldn’t deny all the education she had received, the doctrine her master had given her, was evident in her expression.
However, she didn’t realize how much she was standing on the outskirts of boundaries right now.
“Because they are magics that can be easily swayed by uncontrolled human emotions.”
Rico took a step closer while lowering his gaze then raising it.
His eyes met exactly with Isabella’s eyes.
In that brief eye contact, he noticed that she was misunderstanding him.
The ignorant young lady might not know, but there is no ‘magic’ that is directly swayed by emotions.
Rico muttered briefly to himself.
Emotions becoming fuel for magic never happens in ‘general magic systems.’
Magic is structural and logical.
However, curses are different.
They take life force and emotions as their price.
Twisted beliefs, love, hatred, obsession.
That intense jealousy Isabella felt was the best igniter for curses.
Isabella maintained a sullen expression without saying anything.
She didn’t understand.
Rico could clearly feel that.
She was exerting power without knowing what she was moving or how far she was going.
Like a glass bottle floating in the sea, sometimes a pure form of destruction that advances without recognizing danger.
“So please, be careful. Black magic is a double-edged sword. Who knows if that blade will turn toward its master next time?”
He closed his mouth and quietly looked at her.
Though the words were a warning, they were actually his last euphemistic advice.
It was closer to a plea from a subordinate department member hoping she wouldn’t go any further.
When he whispered so, Isabella coldly raised her eyes.
Her eyes were like a sharp blade.
Her pupils contracted small and pierced through Rico, and her lips closed firmly.
She had returned to being a ‘princess’ again.
‘Should I stop here?’
Rico closed his mouth.
If he said more, she would completely reject him.
And if such a thing happened, that responsibility would return to the entire ‘noble management department.’
If stimulated too much, there was no telling which direction Isabella’s actions would bounce toward.
She was that unpredictable and simultaneously destructive.
Impulse was both her weapon and weakness, and those who didn’t know this were bound to get hurt someday.
Still, this young lady was a precious existence.
Rico recalled his nameplate.
Half-demon Noble Information Department Section 2.
He was the person in charge who had been observing Isabella Marsien for eight years, and had been reporting all her changes in real time.
Because among the figures that their department, which specialized in ‘noble-related affairs’ within the half-demons, had been managing for a long time, she was the most innocent and strongest existence.
Her strength didn’t mean simple mana levels or bloodline.
She was a ‘cultivated person.’
Thoroughly raised as a Crown Princess candidate, as a perfect tool.
That cultivated completion had wavered today.
That made Rico most uncomfortable.
‘Though using words like innocent is too arrogant.’
Rico corrected his thoughts.
Isabella isn’t innocent.
However, sometimes she deceives herself well enough to believe her own ‘pretense of innocence.’
That’s the problem.
The skill of deceiving oneself can be more threatening than the ability to deceive others.
The existence she believed in and followed as her master……
She was the real danger.
She was a high-ranking half-demon official older than Rico.
She was an existence whose name Rico couldn’t even properly call, and had been by her side since before Isabella was adopted into the Marsien family.
She was the drafter of ‘the plan’ and the designer of numerous strategies for Isabella.
That official had been educating and raising her through the Marsien family from Isabella’s childhood to today.
Her goal was one thing—to seat Isabella at the pinnacle of the imperial family.
And to change the position of all half-demons through the ‘ability’ Isabella possessed.
The department they belonged to was a department that specialized in noble-related affairs within the half-demons, and the personnel belonging to this department each managed one or more direct lineage or related figures of influential nobles for a long time.
That was the half-demons’ way.
Infiltrate silently, quietly dye them, then at some moment bring about decisive change.
Isabella was one fruit of that.
‘So I must treat her specially.’
Rico thought so and made an expression that understood everything.
A very careful and restrained kindness spread across his face.
It was a familiar and seasoned smile as if he could understand and embrace even the opponent’s arrogance.
That was truly an expression that showed how many ‘nobles’ Rico had dealt with over the long years.
There was the humility of someone who knew how to bow their head to the strong, and at the same time the attitude of a seasoned person trying to gradually manipulate that strong person.
And while speaking soothing words to Isabella, he held out something.
His hand quietly took out something wrapped in cloth from inside his waist.
It was a careful movement, but without hesitation.
A small square box beautifully wrapped in velvet.
The lid was fixed with thin silver thread, and half-demon unique patterns were subtly carved on the surface.
He held it out before Isabella as if unfolding it.
His fingertips had no trembling and were delicate, and though his palm was open, it was a movement that didn’t let down his guard.
“It’s only that you need to be more secretive, so please don’t doubt my heart. In that sense, here. Would you accept this?”
Rico’s voice was low and gentle.
He took a step closer and spread the cloth under the lantern cast over the dark terrace.
A red gemstone was carefully revealed, and Isabella instinctively drew in a breath.
“What is this?”
Isabella’s voice held suspicion and at the same time a bit of excitement.
She carefully grasped the edge of the velvet with her fingertips.
The thin cloth smoothly slipped from her fingertips, and the red stone contained within revealed itself.
As if something hotly alive, the stone emitted a strange energy even while still.
“Please take a look.”
Rico stepped back and put his hands behind him.
His gaze waiting for Isabella’s reaction was calm, but expectation was mixed in somewhere.
Isabella’s expression, having received what looked like a gemstone, instantly relaxed.
Her eyebrows that had been frozen solid slightly loosened, and a light smile brushed her lips.
Instead of the splendid ballroom’s magical lights, under the terrace’s dim lantern, only that stone was clearly reflected in Isabella’s pupils.
She looked at it and didn’t blink like someone enchanted by something.
What Rico had offered was a red stone the size of a palm. Carefully placed on velvet cloth, a subtle red light circled along its rough surface.
The grain of light was interwoven like thin glass layers, and beneath it, liquid resembling blood seemed to pulse in the stone’s heart.
That stone’s form wasn’t standardized, and it seemed to preserve a natural raw stone without cutting.
The surface had parts cracked like fractures, but the radiance flowing through those cracks rather doubled the stone’s charm.
It felt as if the blood of the living was pulsing from inside.
Isabella couldn’t take her gaze off that stone.
Her breathing became slightly rapid, and the tip of her nose was tinged red.
Whether that was due to emotional change or the influence of minute mana waves the stone emitted was unclear.
“Beautiful.”
She muttered almost in a whisper.
Those words were completely different from Isabella’s usual tone.
Above all, it sounded like the first words with sincerity.
“It was made in imitation of our lost treasure.”
At Rico’s words, Isabella slowly raised her head.
Her gaze still remained on the red stone, but slight doubt was mixed in.
“You say it’s an imitation?”
Her words were careful.
As if she feared she might be disappointed that it wasn’t genuine, or afraid she might abandon her expectations.
“Please don’t be displeased. Rather, you should be delighted. You know that even replicas of legendary treasures are treated as precious, don’t you? This is exactly such an item.”
Rico added without a moment’s hesitation.
His tone was a sincere explanation.
He wanted to convey that this gift wasn’t just a tool for soothing emotions, but an item with substantial value.
Rico added an explanation.
His voice continued calmly.
His characteristic eloquence that guided the flow of words to proceed naturally was displayed.
“It’s carved with half-demon unique patterns on high-purity magic stone from our land. First, it has the function of amplifying dark magic. If luck follows, there’s an extremely rare chance of awakening unique magic while using the stone.”
These words weren’t simple temptation.
He knew exactly what Isabella was weak to, what she craved.
The words ‘unique magic’ were words that directly stimulated Isabella’s heart.
Isabella’s eyes widened.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
