Chapter 22

Lianrius got out of his room after he got himself out of bed.

It had been a long time since the Spirit of Water came out of the room after being angry.

The place where Lianrius, who had been walking, had arrived at was the Duke’s office.

Before he could schedule the coming of age ceremony, he had a job to do.

‘I have to get rid of Michael Birce.’

Five days remained in the one-month period the Duke of Elheim gave Michael to stay.

However, Michael Birce was very annoying.

As if it was not enough to easily take away the silver fox that Lianrius was pursuing and to go back with it leisurely, he had also danced with Liarte.

A dance with the Liarte and the silver fox.

In Lianrius’s perception, Liarte and Michael had met only once at a dinner banquet.

Strangely, he thought that Michael was going to take Liarte away.

So he had to get rid of him.

“Father.”

After knocking, Lianrius opened the door.

“Lian?”

The Duke of Elheim put down the documents he was looking at right away, and he walked towards him.

“You came out of the room.”

The Duke slowly hugged Lianrius.

“Don’t be heartbroken. Even if you aren’t the owner of Spirit Stone, aren’t you the next duke of Elheim? I’ll be right under you as the former duke to guide you.”

“Yes, I decided not to mind what happened that day.”

“I’m proud.”

Elheim was a society thoroughly based on the power of water.

At the top were the awakeners, in the order of direct line, and below them were people in the order of how strong the power of water they possessed was.

And at the bottom were ordinary people.

The fact that Lianrius, who wasn’t identified as the owner of the Spirit Stone, reigns over the others, remained unchanged.

“I have something to say.”

“What is it?”

“I would like to get Birce’s successor straight out of Elheim.”

“Lian, I, the Duke, promised a month in front of people. I can’t break it.”

“Won’t he find out about the existence of the Spirit King?”

Lianrius shot back quickly.

There were plenty of ways to move the Duke’s resolve.

“Even if he can’t see and doesn’t know about the Spirit King, he’ll think it’s strange that there was a sudden lightning storm at night and water in the mansion.”

“That’s,”

The Duke’s hesitation was not missed by Lianrius.

Finally, he came up with the name the Duke would be most angry with.

“What will you do if Carmen Birce, the current Duke of Birce, notices something about the Spirit King?”

The Duke passionately hated the Duke of Birce. It was easy to incite.

As soon as he heard the name, the Duke’s complexion changed and the veins on his hands stood out.

“That guy, how dare he.”

“It would be better to be laughed at for breaking public promises than to have the secret about the existence of  the Spirit King be caught.”

In the end, the Duke nodded.

“You’re right, Lian. I left Birce’s successor alone too much because he was blind.”

“Why don’t you send him back today?”

The Duke was brittle and weak to his beloved youngest son.

“Yes, I’ll do as you advised. I’ll have them go back this very day.”

The duke picked up a pen and wrote something on the paper.

Lianrius, who stood still until the moment the duke tried to send the paper outside with the power of water, continued.

“And I want to hold my coming of age ceremony as soon as possible.”

“It’ll take at least two months to get ready.”

The awakening ceremony was a ritual.

He didn’t know what it was held for, but a child who held it or celebrated it on the 17th birthday had stronger abilities than before.

“I don’t care.”

Lianrius replied.

“I want to have power quickly.”

When it was announced that he was the next Duke, Lianrius was given power.

It was the way to be able to treat Liarte better than before.

* * *

The dazzling sunlight lit up the residence of the Duke of Elheim.

Walter laughed in a faint manner in the cool breeze.

“Are they really telling us to go like this?”

He was notified that the Duke of Elheim would like them to go back five days earlier than expected because the Duke was busy with his youngest son’s preparations for the ceremony.

Today, the Duke of Elheim had sent a message to him.

“Even if they ignore Birce, we’re still a powerful faction. I’ve never seen such an idiotic family in my life.”

“You didn’t have anything else to do, did you?”

The Duke, who noticed the presence of Walter, who wandered around the mansion every night, strengthened Elheim’s security.

In particular, the surrounding of the Room of the First Owner, was covered with numerous water awakeners, so it was no longer possible to enter.

“That’s true. Still, it’s a rude deportation order.”

Walter scratched his head.

“It must be because you were sweet too.”

Michael laughed as if it was funny.

He did not explain further to Walter, who seemed to be unable to comprehend.

‘The Duke of Elheim is not the kind of person people would deem as rude just because he made us leave in such an abrupt manner.’

Someone encouraged the duke to throw Michael out. There was only one person who was close to the duke and had a strong voice.

“I’m here to see you off because you’re leaving.”

Lianrius appeared with the energy of the water.

“Thank you for seeing me off.”

Michael frowned at the fishy scent. It was different from when he encountered Liarte, it seemed that he was quickly repulsed by the scent of Lianrius’s power.

Lianrius walked toward Michael, who was about to get into Birce’s carriage.

In Michael’s arms, a silver fox, whom Liarte had asked Lianrius to catch, was being embraced.

Lianrius asked with a cold, stiff face,

“Do you have any plans to sell that fox?”

“Silver foxes are not common in the world. It’s not something that the Young Master, who has everything in his hand, without trying, would hope for.”

In harmony with the words of the smiling Michael, the silver fox let out a small cry.

“By the way, thanks to you, I’m doing well. The Young Master makes my life here less boring.”

The eyes covered by the eye patch were eerie and murderous.

When he thought about the story he had heard from Liarte, it was abominable.

Since when had he been interested in his twin sister?

The most unpleasant thing was that attitude of his that considered Liarte as his possession.

The state of mind, which did not regard his unawakened twin as a person, was also contemptuous.

“My twin sister and the heir will never meet again.”

Lianrius clenched his fists invisibly.

Michael understood that this was Lianrius’s point, and raised his lips to ridicule.

“The Young Master must see the world more broadly.”

It was the sound of mockery.

A mockery of the heavenly beings who did not recognize the awakeners in front of them, and who do not know that there was more to the woman named Liarte.

Lianrius answered hard.

“I’ll take care of it.”

“I hope so.”

Whether early or late, Elheim, who has only relied on the power of water, would self-destruct. As the water’s capacity had weakened throughout the generation, their ending was even more destined.

He hoped that one day they would clearly realize what the existence of Liarte, whom they had trampled upon with their own hands, was like.

It wouldn’t be bad if they didn’t know until the end.

“I hope not to see you again.”

“Who knows.”

At Lianrius’s words, Michael bid him goodbye in an elegant manner.

“Maybe the Young Master will see me at least once more.”

Lianrius dismissed Michael’s words as bullshit.

Even though he came all the way here, he was insulted and could not regain his sight, so he thought he was venting his anger.

Michael got into the carriage with the help of Walter.

The black carriage with the design of Birce gradually drifted apart.

‘It’s all over now.’

Lianrius erased the afterimage of Liarte, who was dancing comfortably with Michael.

The two will never meet again.

He hoped so.

In the future, there would be only Lianrius, the twin and blood, next to Liarte.

* * *

Michael left.

Liarte looked at the small window with a bar. It seemed like a white little bird was coming through the window.

Birce’s white birds had also left with Michael.

“I’ll be back for sure.”

Liarte had to be patient and wait until her coming of age ceremony. There was nothing different from her previous life.

Only after midnight did she realize that her meetings with Michael had disappeared. Strangely, life felt more monotonous than before.

At that time, the lock was opened.

Liarte, who thought that Lianrius’s maid was opening the door today, felt a change.

There were too many people outside.

Quad deuk!

The lock on the door was completely ripped off by the tool.

“What’s going on?”

There were faces she’d seen from afar.

Aynias’s attendant, the attendant who attended the Duke, and Lianrius’s maid.

“I was ordered to escort you.”

The Duke’s attendant said, trying not to make eye contact with the unawakener.

“To where?”

One of the reasons Liarte was executed in the future was because unlike Lianrius, who was the same age as her, she was able to use her water powers on her own.

At this time, Lianrius was still unable to use his abilities without Liarte.

She was useful, so they didn’t kill her just yet.

“If you come with us, you will know. Please follow me.”

There was an attitude that seemed to say, ‘I will not allow Liarte to reject.’, and so, Liarte quietly followed them.

It was the main building of the duke’s residence.

The space where Elheim’s immediate family lived, where the duke and his sons lived in the bedroom.

‘Did Lianrius call me?’

Liarte, while thinking about it, stopped at the door of the first room on the first hallway on the first floor.

The attendant opened the door.

“You’ll be staying here from now on.”

It was a room that would be used by female members of the household.

It wasn’t located on the highest floor like the bedrooms of other direct bloodlines, but it was obviously a grand bedroom.

“Here?”

“Yes, you will live here in the future.”

The people of the Duke of Elheim, Aynias, and Lianrius nodded.

It was not Liarte’s concern as to why the members of Elheim, who had told her to remain invisible for life, were now doing this.

And so, several months had passed by.