Tia’s fingers interlaced with Bell’s.
The temperature of the liquid Mithril seeped through her skin.
Bell did not stand up.
Elisk’s longsword was still pointed at Thorne’s throat.
The tip of the blade was a mere two inches from that thick, fleshy neck.
Thorne stopped.
It wasn’t because he was afraid.
It was because he hadn't expected Elisk to actually dare to draw his sword.
After a brief pause, he let out a laugh.
“Lord Duke.”
Thorne raised two fingers and gently pushed the tip of the sword away.
“Are you planning to rebel?”
Elisk’s arm didn’t budge.
The blade pressed back into place.
“Your Highness.”
Elisk spoke with grit, each word heavy with weight.
“Please stay away from my daughter.”
The guards’ swords all cleared their scabbards.
The white uniforms with silver trim shimmered under the candlelight.
The maid standing in the corner covered her mouth, her knees going weak as she sank onto the carpet.
The butler pushed himself halfway up from the floor, the bruise on his chest from the kick already turning a deep purple.
Everyone in the dining room was being pushed to the edge of a precipice.
Just one more move.
The Lucas family would completely tear their relationship with the royal family apart.
Bell picked up his goblet and took a sip of red wine.
The liquid had already grown cold.
It tasted bitter as it hit his tongue.
He set the glass down.
“Father.”
Elisk did not look back.
“Bell, stand down.”
Bell stood up.
His movements were slow.
It wasn’t a provocation.
He was making sure everyone could see he wasn't holding a weapon.
“His Highness has come from afar, bearing royal documents.”
He walked around the long table and stopped half a step behind Elisk.
“The Lucas family will not be discourteous.”
Thorne’s laughter stopped.
His small eyes moved from the tip of Elisk’s sword to Bell.
“At least you have some sense.”
Bell bowed slightly.
“Your Highness overestimates me.”
Cecilia sat in her chair, her body stiffening from her spine outward.
Just moments ago at the table, Bell had said he approved of the marriage.
Now, he was stepping forward to speak on Thorne’s behalf.
Her stomach tightened again.
Acid rose in her throat.
She gritted her teeth, forcing the churning sensation back down.
It shouldn't be like this.
Brother shouldn't be like this.
Even if he hated her, he shouldn't hand her over to Thorne.
That was a death slower than being killed.
Eleanor held Cecilia’s shoulder.
“Bell.”
Her hand was trembling.
“What exactly are you doing?”
Bell did not answer immediately.
His gaze fell upon the parchment Thorne had slapped onto the table.
A purple wax seal.
The double-headed eagle seal.
A supreme royal command.
If the document was real, Elisk drawing his sword was a grave crime.
If it was forged, Thorne’s intrusion into the Duke’s estate was a capital offense.
The most tempting option was to have Tia act right now.
The Mithril blades would deploy, and the dining room would be cleared within three seconds.
Thorne would die.
The guards would die.
Then the royal family would mobilize troops, the White Tower Society would use it as a pretext, and the Lucas family would be sent to the gallows.
He couldn't fight it like that.
This wasn't a battlefield.
This was a card table.
Thorne thought he held a royal command.
The White Tower Society thought Bell would only struggle within his emotions.
They had all miscalculated one thing.
After Moon Phase City, Bell could already read the underlying circuits of blood source magic.
What Leila had left behind wasn't some absurdity in bed.
It was an inheritance.
“Your Highness.”
Bell reached out his right hand.
“Please allow me to verify the document.”
The fat on Thorne’s face twitched.
“You, verify it?”
“Yes.”
Bell remained in a bow.
“This is the duty of the Lucas family. If the document is genuine, my father will sheathe his sword and apologize to Your Highness. If there is an error in the document, it will prevent Your Highness from being used by treacherous people.”
Thorne stared at him.
“Are you saying my document is fake?”
“I do not mean that.”
Bell spoke steadily.
“I am merely protecting Your Highness’s reputation.”
As he said this.
Someone in the guard squad moved slightly.
It was subtle.
But Bell caught it.
That guard’s right shoulder flinched back half an inch.
It wasn't a movement before an attack.
It was a sign of a guilty conscience.
The neutral ground was starting to shift.
Thorne didn't see it.
He only saw Bell bowing.
He only heard Bell speaking every word with extreme politeness.
This allowed him to regain his sense of security.
“Verify it then.”
Thorne pushed the parchment forward.
“I want to see what you can possibly find.”
Bell didn't touch the document immediately.
He turned to Elisk.
“Father, please lower your sword first.”
Elisk looked at him from the side.
“Bell.”
Bell met his father’s gaze.
“Please trust me this once.”
A few seconds passed.
Elisk’s arm slowly lowered.
The longsword didn't return to its scabbard.
It simply left Thorne’s throat.
Thorne immediately took half a step back.
The movement was too fast.
So fast that two people in the guard squad were momentarily stunned.
Bell saw it all but didn't point it out.
He walked to the table and picked up the parchment.
The wax seal was intact.
The paper was clean.
The copperplate script was standard.
On the surface, it truly appeared to be a royal document.
Bell raised his left hand.
He lightly drew his index finger across the edge of a table knife.
Blood seeped out.
Tia immediately stood up.
“Bell.”
Her hand was already reaching for her waist.
Mithril squirmed at her fingertips.
Bell turned to look at her.
“It’s fine.”
Two words.
Tia stopped.
She didn't return to her seat, instead standing half a step behind Bell.
That was the shortest distance for protection.
Thorne watched this and scoffed.
“Can even dolls sit at the table in the Duke’s estate now?”
The temperature in the dining room dropped a degree.
Tia didn't move.
Bell, however, looked up.
“Your Highness, please watch your words.”
Thorne tilted his chin up.
“What?”
Bell pressed his blood-stained finger against the edge of the parchment.
“Tia is my partner.”
“Not a construct.”
“And not someone you are permitted to humiliate.”
As he spoke.
Tia’s shoulders gave a slight shudder.
She didn't say anything.
She just stood closer.
Eleanor’s hand loosened for a moment from Cecilia’s shoulder.
She looked at Bell’s back, and the weight pressing on her chest suddenly eased a fraction.
This son of hers had become cold since returning home.
He had become difficult to approach.
But when it came to Tia, he didn't back down an inch.
The scales of the righteous faction tipped back in Bell’s favor.
Thorne’s face darkened.
“You dare lecture me?”
“It is not a lecture.”
Bell lowered his hand.
Beads of blood spread along the edge of the parchment.
“It is a request.”
The blood didn't drip.
Dark red patterns emerged from beneath the surface of the paper.
One ring.
Two rings.
Three rings.
The parchment began to grow hot.
The double-headed eagle seal in the purple wax seal distorted.
Thorne’s smile froze on his face.
“What did you do?”
Bell didn't answer.
The circuits of blood source magic unfolded at his fingertips.
It wasn't an attack.
It wasn't control.
It was a traceback.
The traces of the spell remaining in the paper were peeled away bit by bit.
The first layer was the royal ink.
The second layer was the magistrate’s confirmation mark.
The third layer—
A dark red rose pattern suddenly burrowed out from beneath the double-headed eagle seal.
The petals were edged with dense incantations.
The candles in the dining room dimmed simultaneously.
The butler, lying on the floor, swallowed hard.
He didn't understand magic.
But he saw it.
Another mark was hidden beneath the royal seal.
This shouldn't exist.
The knights in the front row of the guard squad took half a step back.
Armor clattered.
Thorne suddenly reached out to snatch the parchment.
“Enough!”
Tia moved.
She didn't draw a blade.
She simply took a step forward.
Her Mithril fingers pressed against Thorne’s wrist.
Crack.
The sound of bone dislocating was faint.
Thorne let out a scream and collapsed to his knees.
The guards were about to rush forward.
Outside the dining room, a flurry of orderly footsteps drowned out their movements.
It wasn't the Royal Guard.
The steps were lighter.
The guards at the door were blown aside by a dark red current of air, crashing against the wall as their weapons flew from their hands.
Lilian walked in.
Her black gown hugged her body.
The dark red rose tattoo on her left arm glowed from beneath her sleeve.
The Crown of Thorns sat perfectly on her head.
It wasn't crooked.
It wasn't broken.
When she entered the dining room, she didn't look at Thorne.
Nor did she look at the guards.
She walked straight behind Bell and stopped.
“Master.”
Bell nodded slightly.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Lilian tilted her chin up.
This time, she no longer bowed like a guard.
She stood in the center of the dining room.
Dark red mana spread along the carpet.
Everyone touched by that mana felt a dull throb in their chest.
It wasn't oppression.
It was a proclamation.
Thorne knelt on the floor, clutching his dislocated wrist.
“What kind of thing are you?”
Lilian finally looked at him.
“The current Queen of Moon Phase City.”
Thorne was stunned for a moment.
Then he laughed loudly.
“Moon Phase City is gone. What kind of queen do you think you are?”
Lilian raised her left hand.
The rose tattoo glowed brilliantly.
A dark red royal seal condensed before her.
Inside the seal, three roses rotated in an interlaced pattern.
The blood source mana was no longer a scattered fluctuation.
It arranged itself into a sovereign crest.
【Blood Source Royal Seal: Night Rose Sovereignty Confirmed】
【Holder: Lilian】
【Authority: Blood Source Magic Judgment, Blood Contract Abolition, Royal Seal Traceback】
The visualized text hung in the air for three seconds.
Then it shattered into dark red points of light.
In the guard squad, two knights’ knees buckled, and they fell directly to the floor.
They weren't vampires.
But their ancestors had received the blood contract blessing of Moon Phase City.
The memory had been erased.
The old contract in their bodies remained.
The moment the royal seal appeared, the contract reacted before their brains could.
With this, Thorne’s psychological defenses shattered.
The guards he had brought had knelt.
They weren't kneeling to the royal family.
They were kneeling to the woman he had just insulted.
The tip of Lilian’s shoe stopped in front of Thorne.
“Look up.”
Thorne gritted his teeth and didn't move.
Lilian’s royal seal pressed down an inch.
Thorne’s neck was forced upward.
“You took a contaminated kingdom document, broke into a Duke’s estate, and tried to forcibly take a noble lady.”
“You also insulted my master and my master’s partner.”
“Your Highness.”
She spoke the last two words with a flat tone.
“Who taught you your etiquette lessons?”
No one in the dining room dared to respond.
Elisk looked at Lilian.
Minutes ago, this girl was just a guard Bell had mentioned.
Now, she stood before the Second Prince, performing a royal judgment.
It was absurd.
But that royal seal was the real thing.
Even he, who didn't remember the history of Moon Phase City, couldn't deny the power pressing down on the bloodline contract.
The neutral faction completely fell into silence.
Bell continued to peel away the third layer of the parchment.
After the dark red rose pattern was torn away, a line of small text appeared beneath it.
It wasn't royal copperplate script.
It was a spell notation from the White Tower Society.
Bell read it aloud.
“After the target is transferred, deliver her to the White Tower basement on the seventh night.”
Thorne’s body stiffened.
Cecilia looked up abruptly.
Eleanor covered her mouth.
Bell’s finger continued to press down.
The blood source traceback pushed to the final layer.
In the center of the parchment, a gaunt, red-robed phantom emerged.
A red-robed councilor.
That wrinkled face appeared in the air.
Its mouth opened and closed.
The command fragments stored in the document were forcibly played.
“His Highness Thorne only needs to get the person.”
“Cecilia has no mana now.”
“She cannot resist.”
“The Lucas family won't dare to move against the royal family.”
“After taking her away, let His Highness play for two days before handing her over to us.”
“The things in her head are worth more than her body.”
The image stopped.
The dining room was so quiet that only Thorne’s heavy breathing could be heard.
Cecilia’s hand pressed against the edge of the table.
One of her fingernails snapped.
The pain kept her from collapsing.
She looked at the red-robed phantom in the air and squeezed out a short, sharp laugh.
After laughing, she dry-heaved.
This time, she brought up stomach acid.
Eleanor immediately supported her.
Bell didn't look at Cecilia.
His attention was still on Thorne.
This man wasn't the mastermind.
He was just the foulest glove.
The person who had actually reached out was in the White Tower basement.
But the glove had to be chopped off too.
Bell placed the parchment back on the table.
His movements were gentle.
“Your Highness.”
He bowed to Thorne once more.
“It seems now that you were used by the White Tower Society.”
Thorne looked up sharply.
“Bullshit!”
Bell didn't back down.
“I am willing to give you a dignified choice.”
“First, you admit that you were misled by a forged document and leave the Lucas estate immediately. The Lucas family will submit a complete record of tonight’s events to His Majesty.”
“Second, you insist the document is valid.”
Bell paused.
“In that case, you are complicit with the White Tower Society in forging a royal command, trespassing in a Duke’s estate, and attempting to kidnap a noble lady.”
Thorne’s teeth chattered.
“You dare threaten me?”
“It is not a threat.”
Bell was very calm.
“It is the legal process.”
As these words fell.
Leon’s voice drifted in from outside the dining room.
“That is very accurately put.”
Everyone turned at once.
Leon stood at the door.
His left arm was still in a sling, and although the outer bandages had been changed, bloodstains were still seeping through.
Two knights from the Wolfgang family followed behind him.
And behind them was Margaret.
The Headmaster had changed into a new cloak, and the green light of healing magic still lingered on her shoulders.
Leon stepped into the dining room and bowed to Elisk.
“The Wolfgang family can bear witness for the Lucas family.”
Margaret walked to the other side.
“The Ventus Branch can as well.”
Thorne’s face began to turn ashen.
He hadn't expected this.
He hadn't expected there were more than just Lucas family members in the estate.
Nor had he expected that Bell had already invited the witnesses to wait outside.
The information gap had completely flipped in this moment.
He thought he was the hunter.
In the end, every step he took after entering the door was on a line Bell had laid out.
Fear began to brew within the ranks of the antagonist faction.
The guard captain looked at Thorne, then at the parchment on the table.
Finally, he slid his longsword back into its scabbard.
“Your Highness.”
The guard captain lowered his head.
“This matter needs to be verified back at the palace.”
Thorne turned around sharply.
“You’re betraying me too?”
The guard captain didn't speak.
He simply took a step back.
That step left Thorne standing alone in the center of the dining room.
Bell raised his hand.
“Tia.”
Tia released Thorne’s wrist.
Thorne recoiled in pain, crashing into a chair. The chair legs scraped against the carpet with a dull thud.
Lilian withdrew the royal seal.
The dark red points of light didn't dissipate.
Instead, they condensed behind her into the semi-transparent silhouette of a throne.
The Queen’s majesty weighed on the dining room.
No one treated her as a guard anymore.
Cecilia leaned into Eleanor’s embrace, her fingertips still trembling.
She looked at Bell.
This time, there was no madness in her gaze.
Only a kind of blankness after being forcibly torn open.
When Bell had said he approved of the marriage earlier.
It had truly pushed her to the edge of a breakdown.
Then, just as Thorne was at his most triumphant, Bell had flipped the entire table.
She couldn't tell if this was him saving her, or another form of punishment.
Worse yet.
She had no right to ask.
Bell walked up to Thorne, stopping two steps away.
“Your Highness, please return.”
Thorne looked up.
The flesh on his face twitched.
“Bell Lucas.”
“You think this is over?”
“The White Tower Society won't let you go.”
“And neither will the royal family.”
Bell bowed slightly.
“Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness.”
“I will include those words in the report I submit to His Majesty.”
Thorne’s throat hitched.
He used the edge of the table to push himself up.
None of the guards helped him.
He staggered toward the door.
As he passed Lilian, his steps slowed for a split second.
Lilian didn't make way.
Thorne had to skirt along the wall to get around her.
His purple robe brushed against a splinter on the broken door frame.
It tore a hole.
He looked down at it, and the flesh on his face twitched again.
The Royal Guard followed him out of the dining room.
The sound of horse hooves soon echoed in the front courtyard.
They grew further and further away.
Only wood splinters and the trampled carpet remained at the dining room entrance.
Elisk sheathed his longsword.
After the sound of metal clicking into place, he turned to Bell.
“When did you arrange this?”
Bell rolled up the parchment.
“Before dinner.”
“You said you approved of the marriage... that was also part of the arrangement?”
Bell’s movements paused for half a second.
“Yes.”
Cecilia’s hand tightened on Eleanor’s sleeve.
Bell didn't avoid the subject.
“If Thorne thought the Lucas family would resist to the death, he wouldn't have come in personally.”
“He needed to see us torn apart from the inside.”
“He needed to be certain he could take the person without paying a price.”
“So I gave him that illusion.”
The dining room fell silent again.
Leon looked at Bell, his right hand resting on his sword hilt.
The cold noble heir didn't offer an evaluation immediately for the first time.
Bell’s methods weren't clean.
They were even cruel.
But they were effective.
Thorne, the White Tower, the royal document, the witnesses, the blood source traceback.
Every link was pressed against the rules.
It wasn't done with fists.
He had made the enemy put their own neck into the noose.
Leon’s competitive spirit was lightly pricked.
He suddenly realized that the target he wanted to surpass was no longer just Cecilia.
This man, Bell, was also becoming difficult to calculate.
Margaret looked down at the parchment on the table.
She didn't ask where the blood source magic came from.
Nor did she ask about Lilian’s royal seal.
After experiencing Moon Phase City, she had learned to ask fewer questions.
Some questions wouldn't yield answers one could bear to hear.
Eleanor helped Cecilia stand up.
“Bell.”
Her hand was still shaking.
“You should have at least told me in advance.”
Bell lowered his head.
“I’m sorry, Mother.”
The apology was soft.
But it was complete.
No excuses.
No shifting of blame.
Eleanor looked at him, and in the end, she simply held Cecilia more firmly.
“Let’s get her back to her room first.”
Cecilia, however, didn't move.
She pushed her mother away half a step.
She staggered toward Bell.
The two of them were separated by an overturned chair.
“Brother.”
When she spoke, the taste of acid still lingered in her throat.
“You really wanted me to be afraid just now, didn't you?”
Bell looked at her.
He didn't answer immediately.
The scent of blood from the secret chamber ruins rose from his memory.
Valentine’s sleeve.
Tia’s broken body.
The weight of Cecilia pressing down on him.
Those things hadn't vanished.
They were simply suppressed beneath his reason.
Now, they all surfaced together.
Bell reached out and righted the overturned chair.
The wooden legs hit the floor.
“Yes.”
Cecilia’s shoulders gave a slight shrink.
Bell continued.
“But I wouldn't have handed you over to Thorne.”
“Not because you deserve forgiveness.”
“But because the Lucas family cannot let the White Tower Society take anyone from here.”
Those words were colder than hate.
Cecilia stood where she was, tears rolling down her face.
There was no sound of crying.
They just fell.
Tia walked to Bell’s side and touched his sleeve with her finger.
Bell turned slightly, letting her stand half a step in front of him.
Cecilia saw this small gesture.
Her body swayed again.
This time, she didn't dry-heave.
She simply lowered her head and wiped the moisture from her face with the back of her hand.
Just then.
The sound of hurried horse hooves came from outside the dining room.
The Royal Guard that had just left had doubled back.
It wasn't a squad.
It was only one person.
The guard captain rushed through the foyer, not even taking the time to remove his helmet.
He knelt on one knee amidst the wood splinters.
“Lord Duke!”
“An urgent order from the palace!”
Bell turned around.
The guard captain pulled out a second roll of parchment from his chest.
This time, the wax seal was gold.
The seal of the First Princess, Alice.
The guard captain held the scroll up with both hands, his forehead touching the floor.
“His Highness Thorne was attacked on his way back to the palace!”
“All twelve attendants are dead!”
“His Highness is missing!”
“The mark of the Seventh Seat of the White Tower Society was left at the scene!”
Bell’s hand, which had just reached out, stopped in mid-air.
The gold wax seal of the parchment cracked open a tiny slit under the candlelight.
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