Imprinted with the Obsessive Male Lead - Chapter 17

When he finished his recollection, a sheet of paper that had been carelessly tossed to one side of the desk caught his eye. It was the paper containing Nita’s information. Among the mage tower and the mages who knew the Grace family, there was no one who did not know Nita Grace. The only youngest daughter of Grace who had failed to manifest her abilities, the shame of the family.

Chase opened the ink bottle placed beside the paper.

Tap, tap.

Casually, he dipped the pen into the ink and signed the document.

Scratch, scratch.

In the quiet study, the sound of the pen moving felt unusually loud. As Chase’s eyes followed the spreading lines of ink, the shimmering golden powder that Nita had released surfaced before his eyes.

‘A failure who failed to manifest her abilities.’

Did that make any sense? Her method had been different from ordinary mages, but he had never seen a purification ability that strong and beautiful.

Thud.

After finishing the signature, Chase set the pen down and rose from his seat.

But so what?

It had nothing to do with him. Such trivial doubts were none of his concern. Setting aside all other circumstances, it was true that she possessed an outstanding purification ability, but she was not the only one who had the power of purification.

Moreover, purification was not something that could be finished in one or two instances. Magical power continuously generated, polluting the land and creating monsters. Therefore, not someone who could do it once or twice, briefly, but someone who could remain in the North for a long time,

Someone who could spend a lifetime as their mage is needed.

A healthy person who could endure this place for a long time. That was the first requirement. A weak person would not do.

Nita Grace’s circumstances were unfortunate, but to Chase, who placed the territory above all else, this was the right choice.

After lightly straightening his shirt collar and tie, Chase checked the time and cast his gaze out the window.
As usual, his subordinates wearing masks were gathering to go on a territorial patrol.

Chase pulled the black mask he wore beneath his shirt up to below his eyes. Then, as he walked over to the side table and picked up his black gloves, he absentmindedly looked toward the top of the fireplace.

A large, gold-framed portrait with ornate carvings along its edges was prominently displayed. It was a portrait of the former Grand Duke and Duchess. His father and mother, who had passed down their hair color and eye color to him without omission, remained in the painting exactly as they had been ten years ago, unaged.

A father who, with his great height, solid build, and formidable physical strength, had lost to no one. And beside him, a small, withered mother. Even though the painter had added flesh with some care, his mother still looked extremely thin.

The image of his mother resting her hand on the shoulder of his younger self in the portrait overlapped with Nita Grace.

Bony fingers with protruding joints. A cheek marked with scratched wounds, a nape full of blue bruises. Arms so thin they held no trace of nourishment. The last time he had seen a woman in such terrible physical condition was his mother. Perhaps she looked even worse than his mother.

His mother, born with a weak body, suffered severe colds or pneumonia throughout all four seasons, and because she could not eat well, her body was gaunt and thin.

‘I’m sorry for being such a mother, Chase.’

She had not been afflicted with a terminal illness. But it was a life hardly different from that of someone already dead. No matter how much good food she was given or how well she was cared for, her emaciated, unsightly body and her health, easily affected by temperature and humidity with each season,

An immune system that seemed to recover, only to collapse once again. A frail body was not something that could be changed through effort or devotion. His father had always given his mother love, but life could not be lived on love alone. Chase had known that since he was a child.

After gazing at his parents’ faces for a while longer, Chase finally turned away.

Thud, thud.

As his footsteps headed toward the door, it felt as though he could hear his father’s voice behind him.

‘Chase, I sometimes regret it. If I had not been greedy, if I had not come to the North, would your mother have lived a much healthier life? But I could not let her go.’

It truly was a great love. In the end, the two of them passed away on the same day and at the same hour. And I was left alone.

As Chase opened the door and stepped into the corridor without hesitation, bitterness spread across his eyes.

“Let’s move out.”

As usual, he mounted his horse and set out on patrol. Behind him followed his subordinates, masks and black cloaks fluttering.

A few hours later, having returned to the castle slightly earlier than usual, he irritably pulled down his mask.

“Bow down.”

At those words, Logan swiftly slammed his head to the floor and brought his hands together behind his back. The two other subordinates standing one step behind him also threw themselves into the same posture. They were the knights who had been guarding Nita’s room.