41. Dishonest Coco
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In the original draft that Ayan read, [[The mistress is the woman Clayton saved from a purveyor of flesh two years ago. She was not a commoner as he thought she was, she was a fallen duke's daughter who sold herself to exchange for her cousin's freedom in the whorehouse.

In the story, Clayton took her and redeemed her sister. At first, the young marquess who is estranged from his wife kept her solely for her safety until sometime later, he was becoming fonder of the innocent girl’s tender care towards him.

He stood by her like a guardian, bought her a townhouse, bought her clothes and even assigned one of his trusted people to look after her. In their circle, this move is the same as taking in a mistress.

Clayton knew that keeping a mistress would cause further scandal thus he aptly offered her to be a maid. He told himself over and over again that it was only until she could stand on her own two feet.

But the lady’s charm is like a potent potion to the weary man.

In the manor, her devotion to the boys captured him and it deeply left a mark on the cold marquess’ heart. Their strange relationship started to develop little by little. The real lady of the house wasn’t aware of the fact--- or even if she did, she treated it with the same frigid tolerance and indifference as she usually would.  

Lady Rozenberg stayed on the sidelines as someone who is always quiet and travels most often to avoid the awkwardness in the house. Unlike her younger days where she was unruly, she became aloof and scheming this time.

It was mentioned that the kids were closer to the nanny than their mother.]]

….Alright enough. She had read the story for an entire day and her eyes were about to crack from dryness. 

“I knew you’ve been playing with me.” She pinched the fairy boy’s face until she vented enough of her grievances. “But I’m still thankful.” 

Coco blushed all of a sudden. 

No wonder she found a few things suspicious since transmigrating. One was Coco’s reluctance to clear up her confusion as to why the series of events deviate so much from the story she was presented with. 

In Coco’s defence, he did tell her earlier that she can investigate on her own if she found an anomaly. She knew that the fairies have their restrictions, it could be related to their origin or the Heaven’s Law he spoke of before. Ayan did not want to commit a blunder risking their little lives.

In fact, she thought about it carefully, if by chance Coco hid the story from her she would not know how to begin integrating with her family. So though the book was a faulty book, it did help her adjust and prepare. If he told her right away that she is Lady Elford herself only with missing memories, she was a hundred percent sure she would treat it as a trick. Who knows if she might not obediently accept the task considering how mule-headed she is.  

“Those things seem to describe the next half of your life. Thankfully, what was written is not set in stone, we are still investigating why the book appeared and how it can know so much about you and the other people involved.” 

More importantly, who sent it?

Ayan held her chin thoughtfully. “Maybe it was from someone with clairvoyant abilities. Everything in it seems to tell a story of an event that already happened. What if it appears to give us a warning?”

“I have the same thought like you,” Coco replied. But he gave up the idea as soon as it formed because although Diviners can make divinations about upcoming events the ability is not omnipotent as to tell a people’s fate. In the long history of humans, none was blessed with clairvoyance. 

Telling a story of an event that already happened… Ayan’s words lingered in his mind. Could this book be from the future? Or from a parallel time and space. It’s not impossible since he has proven that there are other worlds out there when he risked sending Ayan’s soul to the void.

The thought startled Coco. 

 

***

The Thorns Mercenary Group successfully established their name and position in Arpeggio after receiving two high-risk tasks with a hundred percent completion rate. The agency was built not long ago but merchants had started vying for a spot in their logbook.

Of course, the conflict about clients also begins to arise. 

However, no matter how big the offer, Thorns will only work with missions they judge as suitable, making the other agency that had negative opinions be relieved. Most of their tasks are very dangerous ones that others dare not accept. At first, none was optimistic for this newly founded agency, a rookie who doesn’t know moderation and wants to swallow bigger fish on their first mission was expected to fail but in the end, the spectators were proven wrong.

Thorns caught the interest of the knights' garrison, a good word was passed into the capital and reached Empress’s Delphine’s ears. Starting from there, Thorns had collaborated with the city defence on various extermination missions. 

As time went by, merchants and other groups also noticed their worth. The new mercenary group appears unassuming but their combat abilities were higher than most escorts they knew. 

Normally, for tasks with high mortality, merchants would go as far as send a missive to the main Mercenary Guild office in the capital to request aid. But since the Thorns appeared, these dangerous jobs fell on their hands. Such as extermination of wraiths and furies, fighting with bandits and some local gangs that are parasites to the city. 

Clayton divided the handling of business with his second in command, Kanon and planned to spare more time to be with Ayan. Soon it was time for a long break, his lady still showed no signs of waking. 

A few hours before sunset, he entered her chamber carrying a basin of lukewarm water. Using a soft cloth, he gently wiped her face, neck and arms. This is the routine he developed himself the moment he returns home. 

After changing her day wear, a soft knock sounded at the door. 

“How is she today?” he asked Schon who came in.

“She is recovering steadily, but if we could find someone with a higher magic than I then perhaps we can wake her early.” For several days he had been visiting temples in hopes of meeting an expert.

He knew that most Warlocks are at the employ of noble houses, asking their favour was too far-fetched. He sent a letter to the Holy Temple to probe if anyone would be interested in Ayan’s case. Unfortunately despite using his connection, the letter was just like a drop of stone in an ocean that did not catch any attention. 

Schon looked at the sleeping lady in frustration. He had to help her somehow… Reginald asked him to after knowing that his saviour might be the now comatose Marchioness Rozenberg. Although Reginald could not remember most of his saviour’s face, he recognized the fuzzy colour of red. In all of Asturia, there were only a handful of people with such passionate hair colour and most of them were already gone. 

Using a memory recall spell, the familiar outline of a woman appeared. Indeed he confirmed that she has a wave of red tresses and she seems to be someone he is acquainted with.

“Milord!” Johann hurried to the room panting. He skidded to a stop when he saw his lordship thunderous expression after making such a noise. “P-Pardon milord, I was too excited.”

Clayton put down the damp towel and gazed at him in frigid silence. 

“Speak.” Schon urged. 

Johann broke into a wide grin, “There is an old man below claiming to be your acquaintance! He said he met the Grand Commander in the Euros Continent… l-lord, he met the old-- your father!”

Clayton lowered his eyes, his hardened expression relaxed a little. “I see,”

At this moment, Beck also poked his head at the door. “Hello Clay, I came to visit. I hope you do not mind.” 

“Thank you for your concern.” Clayton nodded. “How are your injuries?”

“As if they never existed.” he replied jokingly. 

Johann jumped up and down, “Lord, the old man… what should I do?” 

“Did you ask for his name? Show him inside first. He must be tired from the travels.” 

“No need to be so stiff, dear boy. It is I Old Darius.” An elderly warlock in a dark purple robe entered. His eyes went straight to the person sleeping behind the bed curtains. “She seems to be awakening soon.”

Schon stood up abruptly, his eyes locked up to Darius and his faithful magic staff. He blinked then rubbed his eyes a few times. Beck noticed his unusualness. 

“Do you know him?”

Schon swallowed then nodded, “I-It’s Holy Temple’s Magister!”

Magister. A master warlock? There was a ripple in Clayton's tired eyes. Then his gaze went to the sleeping Ayan. Perhaps he can...  

Darius turned and beamed, “Oh, if it isn’t the little girl Schon…”

Beck’s eyes bulged out. Johann’s mouth fell open. Clayton acted normally. 

And the room fell into a deathly silence.  

 

***

The days inside the fairy ring were always slow but it had given Ayan a lot of time to recover and cultivate her soul. Mana is the power that circulates special individuals like the Warlocks and Diviners. 

At the first stage of manifestation, she can only feel that her strength was different from her peers. Earl Elford was also aware of this but instead of announcing it to the public so that Ayan can get a master’s guidance, her old father chose to help her practice privately. 

As she grew, her mana matured but she was lacking in skills on how to properly manipulate it. At best she can only do little things such as healing her wounds and small animals. So to make up for all those times wasted, the fairies took turns guiding her in fusing with her natal magic and freely practising it.

As her shackles crumbled, her long-held power gave way to an outstanding performance. At first she doubted if she would be able to make it since she strangled her abilities for so long. But as the fairies help her stimulate the mana within, she found that it wasn’t much different from breathing.  

During daytime, she was tasked to take care of the fairy dimension without the help of the fairies so she could get used to releasing mana naturally. At night, she fills her head with knowledge relating to magic. Its origin, why it exists, some studies behind it including several usage and practices. 

Warlocks that had little affinity to Holy Magic but more on elements can choose other professions such as Pharmacology or Engineering. A support department aiming to research more advancement for the betterment of the civilization.  

With her six teachers in a row strictly monitoring her progress, Ayan felt worse than facing a licensure exam.   

“Congratulations to milady for finally being able to open her power.” Old White smiled from ear to ear when she finally made a small spark at her fingertips. 

Ayan played with the small ball, multiplied it a hundredfold until the whole garden was filled and looked as if it was covered with fireflies.

“It’s beautiful…” Green cheered flying around. 

Red on the other hand was emotional, “It’s been so long since I saw this.” 

The golden colour of her mana with motes of dazzling blue looked so alive and as mischievous as the possessor. 

“While Warlocks and Diviners possess a high affinity to elemental magic, yours on the other hand was mainly concentrated on Holy Magic and as we know Holy Magic is the greatest foundation of a Saint.”

It had been so long since they have one, the miasma leaking from the Dark Continent has spread far beyond at an uncontrollable pace. Once a Saint comes, the blight will recede. 

Diviners do have Holy Magic but only on a small part of it and was not as omnipotent as kingdoms claim. For it to grow and reach a passable amount that can help wash out the curses they have to continuously train their magic. 

These are secrets hidden from the masses to control panic. 

Ayan took her training a lot more seriously not because she wished to be a Saint or anything else. Her goal had always been her family, and to give them a safe environment, she has to fight for it. 

Dark Continent is just around the corner. Waiting... 

With this privilege, she finally had the chance to set herself free. For Ayan, it was also a kind of liberation. She no longer has to worry about showing everything and fear being persecuted. 

She can also protect her family. 

 

Updates are getting longer and longer... it's hard to find inspiration lately! (T-T)

 

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