Chapter 129
‘I’ve never seen a house display a treasure like that before.’
Eir couldn’t help but admire the treasure in amazement.
That treasure was a broken piece of the god Flodin’s mirror. The mirror Flodin, which allowed gods to see the mortal world, was instructed by the deity upon first bestowing it to earth to reflect every corner thoroughly so there would be no blind spots.
The god’s representative couldn’t just place the mirror, which had been split into thirty pieces and sent to earth, anywhere. So they distributed the pieces to major regional temples, territories, and places where God’s messengers who had sworn loyalty to the deity resided.
As far as Eir knew, the Shinote family possessed two of those thirty pieces of Flodin.
One had been passed down through the Shinote family line, and one had been bestowed upon Rubel Shinote.
Historically, no single family had ever possessed two pieces of Flodin.
Even the Central Temple only kept five pieces for security reasons.
Usually, families would carefully store such treasures in the most secure part of their homes, fearing damage or theft, but seeing it hanging on the spire like that seemed to express confidence and authority.
As if to say, ‘We will never lose this treasure even if we display it like this.’
Rubel, who had brought a witch to such a home, suddenly seemed remarkable to Eir.
Eir, who had been stretching her neck to look, quickly retreated back into the carriage.
She was alone in the carriage. Since Carrie, being a doctor, was an outsider who couldn’t enter the estate, she had parted ways with the group a day earlier. Eir had watched Carrie happily disappear with her payment, looking as though she envied her deeply.
If only she could part ways with this group so easily too.
Knock, knock, knock.
Just then, there was a light knock on the carriage door. When she opened the door slightly and peeked outside, Rubel was there.
“Get out. We need to go inside.”
“Am I really going in there?”
“Did you think I was going to keep you in the garden?”
At his uncharacteristic joke, Eir sighed.
“Let me think about this again…….”
But her plea to reconsider wasn’t even completed before it was cut off. Rubel swung the slightly opened door wide and simply lifted Eir out, placing her on the ground.
Eir cried out in surprise and pounded on Rubel’s chest.
“Stop fooling around.”
Just then, Magnus appeared from behind and looked at them as if they were pathetic. He swiftly dismounted from his horse and, walking ahead, muttered as he passed:
“Seriously. That arrogance of yours, thinking you can actually keep that woman here, is truly impressive. Do you think Father will leave you be?”
“You start running your mouth the moment we arrive home. Are you keeping your promise?”
Rubel glared at him fiercely as if telling him not to interfere, and Magnus muttered, “Oh my, how scary,” before entering first.
Eir, afraid that Rubel might cause trouble again, pulled on his arm. Rubel turned to her with a normal expression as if wondering what was wrong, and Eir briefly felt confused, as she had clearly sensed something odd yet his face looked more composed than expected.
“Let’s go.”
Rubel led Eir inside, following Magnus. Eir followed him hesitantly, suppressing her pounding heart.
The doors opened wide, and a line of household staff stood ready to welcome Rubel’s safe return. A neat row of maids in tidy uniforms and servants in formal attire stretched out, with a middle-aged couple, apparently Rubel’s parents, at the end.
They had reddened eyes, emotional about their second son’s return alive. Duke Shinote cleared his throat with a gruff “ahem,” trying to suppress his choked feelings, while the softer-hearted Duchess Shinote had already dampened half of her handkerchief.
Rubel gave them a brief bow, then embraced them as they opened their arms wide.
As soon as Rubel knelt on one knee, Eir fearfully stepped back and blended in with the group of maids, afraid of drawing attention to herself.
“Rubel, you’ve really returned!”
“You’ve been through so much.”
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