Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 276

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 46.
Not All Children Are Angels (46)
In the early hours of that same day, lights still burned on the third floor of the Mansion on Arcnoie Street, east of Jade Ring Castle.
Every window of the Mansion was sealed shut, the shutters even bolted. Two figures sat facing each other in the living room—or rather, only Anistan sat. Aneli, consumed by anxiety, kept rising and falling back into her chair.
“This is absurd. Absolutely preposterous. This cannot be happening. I never saw this coming.”
A messenger had delivered a note just moments before. After waiting until dawn, they had only just finished reading it. Now they found themselves utterly unable to sleep.
“What do we do now?”
Finally, Aneli collected herself and asked the question as though they shared equal responsibility.
“….”
Anistan did not answer. Not intentionally. Ever since the messenger had left, he had been half-absent, his face drained of color and showing no sign of recovery.
Aneli looked up at the ceiling again, then at her nephew’s face. Half an hour ago, her own expression must have been identical. But someone had to return to reality and devise a new strategy. That burden fell to her alone—something her fragile nephew could never manage.
“Ani. Snap out of it. We need to think about what comes next.”
Anistan’s gaze flickered in and out of focus as he spoke.
“We… killed her.”
Aneli quickly nodded at the word “we.” It was precisely what she needed to hear. In truth, Anistan had done nothing in this affair—at most, he bore only the most indirect responsibility: his failure to actively prevent it.
Two years ago, after Theo’s request, they had labored to create a “substitute,” but ultimately could not solve the problem of insufficient magical power. As each attempt failed one after another, Aneli, frustrated and seething with anger, abandoned her original position and declared it would be better simply to kill her instead.
Anistan had protested, insisting he would not help with such a thing. But his assistance was not truly necessary for this task. Anistan, true to his Nenyaple upbringing, preached ethics, while she, unburdened by such concerns, could handle it with a mere touch.
Aneli had crafted a poison for Theo. It resembled a lump of beeswax, but once applied, it would dissolve after a set time—from the rim of the glass to its base. Colorless, odorless, utterly tasteless.
She then took control of a single servant—one of those who repeatedly traversed the same path carrying food plates—for exactly five minutes. Just long enough for Theo to retrieve the white beeswax-like poison he had placed atop the flower pot gravel in the Banquet Hall, apply it to the rim of a champagne glass being prepared in the Kitchen, and return it to the pot.
The vanished gardener had nothing to do with this. He had simply fled in terror upon hearing that the Duke knew of his gambling debts. He had long been stealing and selling expensive seeds to pay them off. It was not difficult to know his secret in advance and engineer his flight on the very day of the banquet.
Such misdirection was necessary to conceal that a Mage had been involved. A Mage trained at an official institution like Nenyaple would never involve herself in such matters, as her identity and magical signature would be recorded. Within a dozen days, another Mage would arrive to detect the traces of magic, and the culprit would be nearly certain to be identified. If it became known that a Mage had lent her power to assassination, expulsion from the Mages’ world was tantamount to a death sentence. Once expelled, the protections afforded to Mages vanished, and she would be immediately tracked and imprisoned under the Kingdom’s law.
But Aneli had never studied at an official institution, so no record of her existed. Relying on this, she had committed this act, yet there remained a small possibility that a sufficiently skilled Mage could expose her. Therefore, it was safer to eliminate suspicion of Mage involvement from the start. If the gardener remained hidden for merely a fortnight, all traces of magic would disappear completely.
Despite all these preparations, Ivnoa had drunk the poisoned cup meant for Joshua.
Neither Aneli nor Anistan could have imagined such an outcome. When rumors spread of misfortune befalling House of Arnim, they had naturally assumed Joshua was dead and waited calmly for Theo’s next message. Only upon receiving the note at dawn did they understand why Theo had not contacted them immediately.
“We must leave this place at once. Theo is certain to be under suspicion from the Duke, and though unlikely, he might suspect Mage involvement. It would be best to disappear for at least half a year and cut off all contact.”
Anistan stared at Aneli as she spoke, then shook his head vigorously.
“Theo must be in tremendous shock, and if no one is there for him….”
Aneli threw her head back in exasperation, letting out a sound of disbelief.
“Have you lost your mind? What are you saying? Are you afraid Theo might attempt suicide? Come to your senses. That won’t happen. Don’t you know Theo at all? The one who died is an idiot. And she’s been an absolute nuisance to Theo for over a decade. Would Theo even blink if such a person died? The only thing is that twelve years of enduring that Family have lost their meaning, so he’ll be furious. Our temporary absence is what helps him.”
“And after that….”
“After?”
Aneli’s expression hardened. In truth, she too had accepted that this plan had failed catastrophically. Though Theo had made the final decision, it was she who had first suggested simply killing her.
Now she had to take responsibility for those words. Aneli was not a sentimental person, but she had always despised the irresponsible.
“Our work isn’t finished. The heir of House of Arnim we were supposed to eliminate is still very much alive. But since things have gone this way, we won’t get another chance to touch this, and the plan returns to square one.”
Anistan’s face twisted strangely.
“Square one?”
“Did you forget? We’ll create a substitute.”
“But….”
How could they suddenly reverse what two years of effort had failed to accomplish? Then Aneli continued.
“We’ll have to resort to the final measure.”
Anistan’s eyes widened as he grasped the meaning behind Aneli’s words.
“But Aunt has always said that one thing must never be touched, no matter what….”
“That’s right. If I hadn’t bungled things this badly, I wouldn’t have dreamed of breaking the taboo either. Do you know how many centuries it’s remained forbidden? I understand far better than you do. At first, I couldn’t believe you’d accepted Theo’s request while thinking of that. But what can we do now? We owe Theo an enormous debt. That child endured twelve years of humiliation and suffering, and we’ve squandered it all. I’m telling you, we cannot even die without repaying this. Do you understand?”
Aneli sprang to her feet, pulled her hand bag toward her, and unfolded a scrap of paper from within. She tapped a portion of the magical formula with her finger, her eyes blazing.
“All I need to do is amplify this section about tenfold. Just the gentlest touch. Let’s go to Belvedere. We won’t even need to take it outside, so no one will know what happened.”
Aneli closed her hand bag and gripped it tightly, glaring into empty space.
“Wait just a little longer. I will complete it and repay this debt to you.”
4. The Man from the Painting
When I thought nothing could be forgiven, he came to me.
I confessed to him, and received absolution. I knew then that he was truly a priest.
He was my friend and my guide, the lamp that lit my voyage.
Because I believed he would protect me forever, my heart breaks so.
Joshua’s eyes opened with a start, as though someone had shaken him awake.
The lamp hanging from the familiar ceiling swayed gently. Both window and door were closed, with no breeze to account for the movement, yet there it was. He watched the lamp. Once, then again, and again…. Then it stopped.
When he turned his head, a figure came into view.
The man sat in a chair beside the bed, gazing intently at Joshua. Joshua wondered if he was a physician, but the face was unfamiliar. Had something happened to his regular doctor, necessitating another to visit?
Yet something felt wrong. The man showed no awareness of Joshua’s awakening. Even when their eyes met, he gave no sign of noticing. It was as though he believed Joshua could not see him.
The man wore a loose dalmatica like a monk’s robe, with a short semicircular cloak draped over it—an uncommon garb for this era. His long hair, bound in a single knot, was a golden hue touched with red, and his face was gaunt to the point of appearing somewhat plain. His calm navy eyes held the quality of both a mage and a scholar. A subtle smile played at his lips, like that of one fascinated by some curious study.
“Who are you?”
The moment Joshua spoke, the man’s eyes flew wide open. Astonishment flooded his entire face. Why such shock at merely one sentence?
“You….”
While the man struggled for words, Joshua pushed himself upright. He descended from the bed and slipped his feet into his slippers. Watching Joshua move away from him, the man finally spoke in a hushed voice.
“So… you can actually see me. That’s hard to believe.”
“I don’t understand what you mean. Did Mother send you to look after me?”
The man smiled. At the same moment, a faint light spread from between his brows, radiating left and right. As though a milky veil had been drawn back, the surroundings grew brighter.
“No. But it is true that I came to see you.”
Children of the Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Month’s Books
The rights to this book belong to the author and 14 Month’s Books.
To reuse all or part of the contents of this book, written consent from both parties is required.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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