Demonas - Chapter 19

The Demon (3)

Opening her tightly closed eyes, the first thing she saw was Arsene looking at her with a ridiculous expression.

He jerked his chin towards the area beyond the bushes and said.

“What kind of a joke is this?”

Altair took a couple of steps back after Arsene took his hand off her shoulder.

“No way-“

Her eyes were wide as she tried to refute. Noticing her words, she quickly shut her mouth.

At the location in which Ahin had been hiding, a few white flowers were swaying in the cool evening breeze.

On a leaf, a butterfly landed. Its wings fluttered lightly.

…What the hell happened…?

Even if Ahin had slowly moved away while they were both preoccupied talking, it is not possible to escape from a swordmaster’s senses.

Yet, neither she nor Arsene had sensed any movements.

It is hard to guess whether Ahin had found a spot higher up elsewhere or had laid down on the ground.

With one knee on the ground, Arsene murmured while looking at the ground indented with the shape of footprints.

“Either it had turned into a soul… Or teleported away. Regardless, you, Princess, must’ve been involved with a high-level creature.”

“I… I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Arsene stood back up upon hearing her answer, brushing away the dirt on his clothing.

Hurriedly, Altair called out to him.

“Count!”

As soon as he turned his head to face her, the tip of a sword was pointed straight at his neck.

“…Are you planning to cause a disturbance over this?”

A light started to appear beside her blue eyes.

Arsene sighed. Focusing his gold mana onto two of his fingers, he lightly tapped the sword and pushed it away.

Having hoped for him to pull out his sword as a response to her actions, Altair was disappointed at what he did.

“…?!”

“How bold of-“

Arsene, who was about to say something, paused.

Slowly, he closed his eyes before opening them again.

“I guess this is the Chernobogs’ way of handling private affairs. By framing others.”

Altair retorted, a flash of anger coursed through her.

“You’re talking nonsense. I do not use such a method!”

“Is that so? Rowan must have yet to train his young successor then… Come to think of it, he must’ve reached his estate by now. Why didn’t you follow him back?”

After speaking, he strode away. This time, with his hands, crossed behind his back, just as he did when he came.

She felt uneasy as she watched his back move further away.

‘You’re not going to interrogate me further? Do you not have any other questions? You’re just leaving…?’

As Arsene had stated, if one wanted to deal with the heir of an enemy family, there would be no better place than here.

Yet, he let her go.

He did not attempt to protect her and simply left her alone at a location where demons are frequently spotted. He did not even persuade her to return to the mansion.

He seemed to be planning to pretend she was not present in the first place.

‘…I have no idea what kind of a dream this is but it almost seems as if he’s trying to hide some sort of weakness?’

Altair let out a deep sigh. She looked up to the sky, at the moon that was slowly rising in the late afternoon.

Thinking back, it has been hours since she has lost contact with Nameless.

By now, there is a possibility of her father getting worried. Who knows whether he would travel to the Count’s estate to find her.

Shivering at the thought of such a crisis occurring, Altair hurriedly left Lake Larak.

***

Altair soon reached the main street of the capital.

As she looked around at her surroundings, she recalled the words of caution that the deputy commander of Estarrot had said.

[…You can either train more or take a rest, but please do stay put in the mansion until the alarm has been sounded.”]

Altair decided the best subsequent action she should take with the least amount of suspicion would be returning to the Count’s estate.

‘I can pretend to have been hiding somewhere in the mansion.’

Though, it was not long before that plan went astray.

While walking down the hallways, she had accidentally bumped into the butler who had been rubbing his eyes.

“Ugh… Oh… Oh my god! Princess…! Where have you been?”

“Well, I got tired of being cooped up in the room. So I went out for a bit.”

“You’ve arrived just in time… Follow me, I’ll lead you to the drawing room.”

‘…Drawing room…? Don’t tell me…’

His steps were urgent as he led her towards the rooms, not once did he deigh to give her a further explanation. Altair was anxious.

As the doors opened, she was met with a familiar scene.

A collection of swords that had been found by the Estarrot guards were placed in the centre, and surrounding said swords were various counts.

Atop the soft grey sofa sat a beautiful blonde prince. His legs were crossed as he glanced at the items with a look of disapproval.

“F-Father-“

Her father replied stiffly to her words.

“So you’ve finally arrived.”

“Did you finally crawl yourself here?”

Across from Rowan, there Ahin sat. His upper body was buried into his seat.

Unconsciously, Altair took a few steps back.

Why was he here when he should be hiding in a bush by Lake Larak. 

“What the hell is going on right now?”

“Altair. You’re the one who-“

Ahin stopped his words and jumped in. Rowan turned, his eyebrows raised.

“Your father came here looking for you. He had searched the house up and down for the servant in charge. Since I wasn’t allowed to deal with the demon situation, he pulled me along.”

“Ah…”

Altair paused. For a split second, many thoughts ran through her mind.

Is he a ghost? Or maybe a doppelganger?

Regardless, once she’s home, she’ll have to deal with her father.

But before she could form up a reply, Rowan pointed at Ahin, speaking firmly.

“You need not explicitly express your lack of a basic education or etiquette.”

‘He’s sneakily bringing up the subject of illegitimate children and their treatments.’

Altair, who this time around managed to quickly interpret his words, whipped her head towards Ahin.

Unsurprising, the corner of his lips lifted as he replied in a disrespectful manner.

“Basic? What are you talking about?”

The fact that he, who was not usually very rude, was using half-baked respectful words, was encouraging. 

Altair also felt the need to meditate the tension that was quickly rising. Hesitating slightly, she intervened.

“He’s… It’s late already, why don’t we make our way home?” 

“Altair. You as well. Where were you before you came here?”

Rowan pressed his fingers against his temple as he asked.

She quietly exchanged glances with Ahin.

Gathering up her courage, she opened her mouth.

“…As you know, the Estarrot mansion has the floorplan of a labyrinth… So we got curious and I got lost during the tour…”

“So why did he come back alone, without the very guest who needed a tour?”

“Ah, well… It’s because… Ahin wasn’t familiar with the layout of the mansion either…”

“It’s not one’s first thought to bring a guest to an unfamiliar place.”

Altair, at a loss for words in the face of his rhetorical question, changed her tactic and stepped forward, embracing him.

“Father, I was the one who asked him to give me a tour of the mansion because I wanted to look around.”

“Wait.”

For a moment, some kind of look seemed to flash through Rowan’s eyes. One that made her tremble.

“…Wait…?”

Hiccup.

Usually, when Rowan used that expression on a family, the family will forever be buried in tense political situations.

Altair, feeling terrified, continued hiccuping.

Even the child, who was unaware that the sky was high, cringed and instinctively put his head down.

After a while, she spoke, her voice slightly cracking.

“…No. He’s not like that. He’s not arrogant.”

“When did I become so daring.”

Altair whispered to herself angrily. His frown seemed to deepen at her words.

“Oh? Just look at him pretending to be innocent!”

“I am innocent though.”

Ahin turned his head away, a coy look of denial on his face.

It was as if mines started pouring out of his mouth as Rowan continued glaring at him.

“Wow, you’re like, huh? Holding hands. In a small place. Hugging.”

“Ahin? It’s a misunderstanding-”

“Without my permission, you met with him. He isn’t in need of help, he’s just a pervert…”

Altair was on the brink of tears.

Considering how Rowan had said that and how Ahin was acting now, this situation was bound to escalate.

“Ah, how could you say that in front of him, father-”

“Huu…”

It was then the two of them turned their heads away from each other in unison, to opposite sides.

…

That day, the two saw who the real demon was.

***

That night.

The father and daughter did not start up a single conversation on the ride back to the duke’s residence in the carriage or even after.

In an attempt to quickly end the cold war between the both of them, Altair, clad in pyjamas, attempted to sneak into her father’s room and pay him a visit. It was then a soft voice came from the inside.

“Come in.”

She slowly opened the door and peeked into the room. Her clear blue eyes peered inside. When she noticed Rowan sitting on the bed, she could not help but close the door and hide again.

It was only after a while before she was able to walk into the room, a determined expression on her face.

She lightly climbed onto the bed and settled next to Rowan. Altair kept stealing glances at him. Eventually, he sighed, bringing his focus away from the book in hand.

“Do you have anything you want to say?”

“I’m sorry to have caused you so much worry.”

“…”

His long fingers trailed over the back of the book as he listened quietly.

“Sorry for what?”

“For everything…”

“Holding the wrist of the illegitimate child in such a small place. Or are you talking about hugging him?”

Her face instead heated up.

“T-That was a misunderstanding! I had no choice but to do it to avoid the count’s heavy surveillance!”

“Why do you, as the only daughter and heir of the Chernobog family, want to keep seeing the count and his son?”

“What?”

Was that the main problem?

She looked back at him, her cheeks puffed with air, before deeply sighing and continuing to tell her side of the story, when…

“If you want, I’ll pressure the Count to have you meet him in the drawing room next time around.”

“Can you really make that possible…?”

“I’ll make it possible. So don’t be scared to open the door or window wide, I’ll have it so you can meet with him in broad daylight in a place where there are many servants on standby.”

So that Altair wouldn’t be tricked by the illegitimate child again. So that the opposite won’t be possible as well.

Under his intense gaze, she had to turn away. Her hands moved to fidget with her pyjamas cuffs.

His suggestion definitely wasn’t a bad idea, not a bad idea at all, but…

It would be difficult to have some semblance of privacy and be alone with Ahin in the drawing room with so many people present.

‘Plus there’s no way I’ll be able to train his devil’s ability.’

Swallowing, Altair, once again, opened her mouth again with a determined expression.

“I swear it didn’t happen as you thought. It really was all just a huge misunderstanding.”

BAM.

Rowan loudly closed the book he held. Altair was looking back at him, her expression now filled with nervousness as she tried continuing with her words.

“Father-”

“What do you like so much about the illegitimate child?”

“Huh?”

“He grew up in captivity. He isn’t cultured. He’s at his father’s disposal. The only thing worth looking at is his pretty face. Just what on earth are you clinging. so. hard. to?”