Chapter 24
Though they were nobles, as mere viscounts, they were seated so far away they couldn’t even properly see the faces of the Emperor and Empress.
Evina was swallowing her boredom and letting out a small sigh when it happened.
“Glory to the Empire! The protector of the Empire! His Grace Grand Duke Xenobius Impetraz!”
Along with the applause, murmurs began to ripple through the crowd.
“How many years has it been since His Grace last showed himself?”
“…I believe it’s been about five years.”
“They said he was so fond of the battlefield he kept wandering from war to war. Has he finally returned?”
“There are rumors he’s looking for a bride as well.”
“A bride?”
“Yes, so I hear the Guide families are on high alert, watching the Grand Duke’s every move.”
“A bride… Well, he is rather late, isn’t he.”
The Viscount’s ears twitched.
If Evina had truly possessed the abilities of a Guide, he would have tried to sell her off…
The possibility was high.
“It’s the Grand Duke.”
Evina’s gaze turned toward the open doors.
She couldn’t see clearly. The distance was too great.
But the moment she spotted the black hair of the man walking alone, step by step, down the grand corridor and drawing closer to Impetraz Hall, her clapping stopped…
It’s that man.
The distance was too far to make out anything beyond his black hair, but she was certain.
The strange energy she had felt from the man that day washed over her.
In an instant, as if under a spell, the strength drained from her body.
The man’s identity was Grand Duke Xenobius Impetraz, the butcher of the battlefield known as the strongest Esper on the continent.
The moment she realized the man was Grand Duke Xenobius Impetraz, Evina’s mind spiraled into confusion.
That day, the man… no, Grand Duke Xenobius had seemed to know exactly who she was. As if he had made precious time specifically to seek her out.
‘Evina. Evina Siollier, isn’t it?’
He had come specifically for her.
What possible connection could she have with the Grand Duke?
Evina had lived a life extremely cut off from the outside world. Both in the Siollier family and the Derise family.
The men she had met were so few she could count them on one hand.
And in her memory, Grand Duke Xenobius did not exist.
No matter how much she searched and searched her memories.
The Grand Duke was the strongest Esper in the Empire, so he might have visited the Siollier family seeking a Guide.
No, he must have visited.
So perhaps, sometime, when the Grand Duke visited the Siolliers, they had crossed paths?
Evina shook her head.
That couldn’t be.
She had never left her tiny room in the Siollier estate. Of course, there was a time when she had been born with deep golden hair and golden eyes from her mother, who was once called the strongest Guide, and had been showered with expectations.
But when she failed to awaken even after turning seven, the age when most Guides awakened, she was locked in a cramped room under the pretense of promoting her awakening and suffered all manner of abuse.
The pretext was noble.
Since each Guide’s awakening conditions were different and unknowable until it happened, they were simply trying everything.
She had worn fine clothes and eaten good food and still hadn’t awakened, so they began doing the opposite.
They locked her in a narrow room and starved her. When she was on the verge of death, they pulled her back, only to fill the room with insects. She screamed for her life in a place crawling with bugs and snakes, vomiting blood.
Next came physical punishment. What started as bruises eventually continued until her veins burst and she collapsed.
They plunged her into ice water, seared her tender flesh with hot irons, and repeated all manner of acts beyond words.
Then, when she still hadn’t awakened by seventeen, she was finally sold to a collector who wanted a Guide as if seeking a special breed of livestock, despite her not even being an Esper.
That was Viscount Derise.
The only memories she had of leaving that cramped room were when Viscount Derise had inspected her condition to haggle over the price, and the day she married him.
So how could she have met Grand Duke Xenobius?
How could a worthless piece of trash from the Siollier family ever manage that?
Evina shook her head repeatedly.
“…What’s wrong with you?”
The Viscount, not taking his eyes off the Emperor who was giving his New Year’s address, leaned toward her and snapped irritably.
“Ah, just a brief headache. I’m focusing.”
“Get ahold of yourself. Not unless you want your cheeks torn to shreds when we get back.”
“…Yes.”
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