Are MZ Shamans In Trouble In Romance Novels? - Chapter 42
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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42.
***
“Hey goblin. Go play somewhere else.”
Calisia, lying on her back on the training ground floor, poked at the baby goblin that had occupied her stomach.
-Kyaang! Kyaawang!
The baby goblin opened its mouth wide and hopped up and down trying to bite Calisia’s finger. Its short, chubby body bouncing up and down looked utterly pathetic.
“How dare you! Where do you think you are, trying to bite your heaven-like master.”
Calisia raised her eyebrows and flicked the baby goblin’s round forehead.
-Kyaang?
The goblin held its forehead with both hands and blinked its eyes while making a dazed sound.
-Kyawaaaang!
A few seconds later, the baby goblin buried its face in Calisia’s stomach and burst into pitiful tears.
“Turn off the BGM. Your master is already mentally chaotic enough.”
She glanced at the goblin with indifferent eyes and clasped her hands behind her head. The fear and anger toward the Second Wife still remained, tormenting her.
-This is all because of you, child. So you shouldn’t have seen what you shouldn’t have seen.
What was it that young Calisia had seen? Was it something valuable enough to warrant such brutal slaughter?
“I took this household too lightly, thinking I’d leave anyway.”
The Second Wife would definitely try to kill her someday. Her past actions proved this. She had desperately driven the powerless young Calisia to the Castle of Ash. This was despite the considerable strain that came with relocating an uninitiated direct family member. So what about now that she had gained standing within the family?
“She’ll try to kill me before I gain more influence, to silence me.”
Of course, that time could be right now or in the distant future. The important thing was that she needed to build power within the family to prepare for it. And currently, Cain was the only thread she could grasp. But even that wasn’t easy.
“Should I just go and ask him directly? Ugh- that crazy Cain really isn’t easy to deal with.”
She still hadn’t figured out his hidden abilities or what was in his heart. She had completely lost the initiative.
“I told you not to meet him.”
Ian, who had been doing his dawn training, had somehow approached Calisia’s side.
“What can I do when there’s no other way? Whether Cain lied or not, and what his reasons are. There’s nothing I can find out right now.”
“Why do you care so much about him? Wasn’t what you originally wanted to know about his hidden abilities?”
“That’s exactly why I’m doing this.”
“Get up.”
Ian suddenly stood up and pulled Calisia to her feet. Not knowing the reason, she complained as her wrist was grabbed, asking why he was acting this way too.
“Why are we suddenly here?”
The place she was dragged to without understanding was the sparring arena located on one side of the training ground. Ian, who had been walking silently, only released her wrist after reaching their destination.
“What. What’s the problem now.”
Ignoring her words, Ian headed toward the long display rack filled with various weapons. Then he picked up a relatively light-looking wooden sword.
“Pick up a sword.”
Ian threw the wooden sword to Calisia, who was standing there looking drained.
“What is this really!”
She barely caught the flying wooden sword and burst out in irritation. It was already a sensitive time because of Cain and the Second Wife – uncontrollable variables. In a situation where Ian was the only person she could trust, she was angry that even he was being unreasonable.
“Here I come.”
Ian, who had given an incomprehensible warning, kicked off the ground and shot forward. It was a speed too fast for the eyes to follow. All Calisia could perceive was the sound of wind being cut.
Shweeek-!
In an instant, her silver-violet hair fluttered in the sharp sword wind.
“…Huh.”
Calisia let out a dry breath mixed with admiration. In the blink of an eye, a sharp sword tip was aimed below her neck. If it had been just a little closer, her skin would have been cut.
“How was that.”
Ian withdrew his sword with precise movements.
“How was what. I almost died. Please give advance notice for things like this…”
“Remember that sensation well.”
Without giving her a chance to speak, Ian raised his sword once again. The difference from before was his blazingly bright eyes.
“…”
Calisia’s hair stood on end at those gleaming eyes, as if he had become a different person. Did she know Ian could make such an expression?
Shweeeeeek!
But her thoughts didn’t last long. The sword tip, bathed entirely in moonlight, rushed forward with fierce momentum.
“…Huh, urk.”
What followed was the chilling sensation of her throat being cut. Calisia, who had stopped breathing, fumbled at her neck with trembling hands. It was an unpleasantly sticky and eerie chill. Just like when her hand had been thrust into the gratin.
“Calisia Valus. Magic swordsmen, knights, battle mages. Do you know what they all have in common?”
“…What did you just do?”
Calisia, whose shoulders were trembling, stared at Ian intently.
“They’re all accustomed to crossing between life and death. They’re the types most often deployed to wars and subjugations.”
“How did you do that?”
“Then do you know what they’re most keenly aware of?”
Ian, who had asked a question in return, reached his hand toward Calisia’s neck.
“Killing intent.”
The thin neck caught in his large grip trembled faintly. A light but rapid pulse. Feeling that fierce beating, Ian’s eyes sank below the surface.
“You felt killing intent. Valus.”
He, wearing another person’s skin, pressed gently against Calisia’s neck.
***
“Soettong. I wasn’t detecting poison. I was sensing the lingering aura.”
Calisia nodded as if she finally understood. There was a crucial difference between the gratin Cain had offered and the food she had the prisoner make. It was their resentment and killing intent.
“They had no reason to harbor murderous intent or resentment toward me. So what about these things.”
Calisia and Ian, bowing their heads side by side, looked down at the objects placed on the table. Rope, scarf, sword, perfume, glass bottle, hammer, pillow, bread. These objects, which seemed to have no connection whatsoever, had one thing in common. They were all murder weapons used in killing cases.
“I even seem to be able to distinguish between different auras.”
Calisia muttered as she picked up the silk scarf and perfume. She couldn’t exactly explain it, but she could feel the same person’s malice. Just like how she could distinguish the causes of death of spirits by their ghost scent.
“But how did that crazy Cain figure this out.”
It was an ability that even she, borrowing this body, hadn’t easily noticed. Of course, young Calisia might have said various things to her brother.
“He’s not the type to readily believe talk about auras or energy.”
Invisible things like shamanism and superstition have been looked down upon regardless of the era. Moreover, who would seriously listen to what a five or six-year-old kid says?
“There must have been some convincing evidence. At least that’s how it was for me.”
Ian, who had been crossing his arms, spoke with a meaningful look.
“In my case, it was the eyes.”
He didn’t seem to want to talk about the deeper circumstances, so he didn’t add any other details.
“Even if he saw something, he’s not the type to easily believe such vague nonsense.”
“Isn’t the Grand Duke’s Son in a position where he’s investigating his mother’s death? When people are cornered, they usually make one of two choices. They either desperately want to believe in something, or they completely turn away from it.”
“Cain would be the former?”
“Well. What I can say is that people rely on and obsess over what they see more than you’d think. Overlapping inevitabilities and accumulating situations are clearly different from seeing something directly with your own eyes…”
Ian, unusually trailing off his words, moved his dry lips. It was because his own choice from long ago came to mind.
“Different.”
After a moment, he firmly finished his words and shut his mouth tight.
***
Deep night-.
“What kind of wandering spirit has possessed that crazy Cain? He won’t stay in one place.”
Calisia, who had spent the entire day searching for Cain throughout the castle, grumbled while tapping her aching legs. He was even quick on his feet. No matter how much she hurried following the servants’ testimonies, she couldn’t catch him. He was like Hong Gil-dong, appearing here and there.
“Ah….”
Calisia, who had been walking unsteadily, stood in front of the palace called Blue Flower Palace. This was a Separate Palace that Cain had often used as a playroom when he was young. It had been closed after the Grand Lady passed away. The castle gate that had been sleeping for many years was shut tight without even a crack. As if strictly forbidding outsiders from entering.
“Phew- this is way too high. Of all places, why did he have to come to a place like this.”
There were quite a number of large and small separate palaces within Valus Castle. But none had outer walls this thick or castle gates this high. The appearance of Blue Flower Palace was closer to a fortress than a separate palace.
“I should have brought Soeddongi with me.”
Calisia, who had been regretting Ian’s absence, soon shook her head. She remembered the face that had threatened her never to meet Cain again. Having eliminated that option, Calisia looked up at the castle gate once more.
“Even if I’d been doing high jump since the time of Dangun, this wouldn’t work.”
Calisia, whose head was starting to ache, scratched the bridge of her nose. There was no Soeddongi to help her, and she was far from being good at high jumping. In that case, there was only one thing left.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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