The Radiant Young Lady of the Dark Family - Chapter 48
“Welcome home, young lady.”
As I got out of the carriage, Salam was there to greet me. Behind him, the knights followed carrying the luggage.
After Aunt disappeared, Father took over all financial management, while Salam continued to manage the overall estate as he had always done. I was glad to see the mansion more lively than before.
“How is academy life treating you?”
“To be honest, there are many difficulties. Everyone seems to have high expectations because of my good entrance scores, but as you know, I haven’t been studying for very long.”
Salam smiled gently at Hasa’s words.
“You’ll find your way, young lady. You are a Cellie after all.”
“……Thank you, Salam.”
Hearing the acknowledgment of being a Cellie from his lips felt just as good as hearing it from Father’s.
“Please take the luggage to my room. I’d like to visit the library first.”
“Yes, I’ll have Tar taken up to your room then.”
“Is Tar doing well?”
When Hartbisa started living in the dormitory after entering the academy, Tar naturally remained at the mansion. They exchanged letters occasionally due to some tasks she had entrusted to Tar, and in those letters, Tar made no effort to hide how much she missed Hartbisa. Hasa found such behavior from Tar endearing.
“Of course. Though she does get a bit depressed sometimes without you around.”
“That’s so like Tar.”
With those words, Hartbisa headed to the library. Though she wanted to have long conversations with the familiar faces she hadn’t seen in a while, she needed to first confirm the purpose of her return home.
***
The reason she thought of coming home was because of her conversation with Professor Zhao. The devil’s language. She wondered if there might be records about that language, which resembled the ancient tongue, in the Cellie family archives.
Since they had been hunting heretics for generations, there were quite a few books and records about demons and heretics in the library.
Hartbisa carefully read through each book one by one.
Thanks to her meticulous father, nothing was difficult to find, but no matter how much she searched, there were no records about the language.
“How can this be?”
Hartbisa frowned. The outside had completely darkened by now. Having skipped meals and only read books, her strength was completely drained. Hartbisa put down the book she was reading and leaned back in her chair.
Come to think of it, just as Dayan had struggled to learn the ancient language, Father didn’t seem particularly proficient in it either. Perhaps he had overlooked it due to not being good with languages.
But the records he left behind were too meticulous to dismiss it that way.
“Should I just ask Father directly?”
As she let out a deep sigh, contemplating whether to write a letter to her father who was away on business, she suddenly noticed all the books she had been looking at all day. Among the books filling the large table, there was nothing about language.
Hartbisa’s brow furrowed increasingly.
“Could there really be nothing at all?”
This doesn’t make sense.
Since entering the academy, Hartbisa had often been asked how she studied the ancient language and when she became so good at interpreting it. Each time, she answered that she had learned it from her mother since she was very young, but there wasn’t a single book about the ancient language anywhere in the library.
If there had been books about the ancient language, given Father’s personality, he wouldn’t have thrown them away.
It felt as if she had never learned the ancient language in the first place.
“Since when have I been so proficient in the ancient language?”
As she muttered this, an unfamiliar voice answered from behind her.
-You’re only wondering about that now?
She turned around startled, but there was no one there. As Hartbisa’s face stiffened, the voice continued.
-Down here.
Looking down at the lisping voice, there was a cat there. The black cat with glossy, fluffy fur gracefully swished its tail, which was as big as its body, approached Hartbisa, stepped on the chair, and climbed onto the desk.
As she met its bright yellow eyes, Hartbisa said in surprise,
“A cat?”
-Yes, little one. Is this your first time seeing a cat too?
“……But the cat is talking?”
Hartbisa pinched her cheek hard. It felt like she must be dreaming. How else could this be possible?
As Hartbisa stood there with her mouth agape in shock, the cat let out a bored sigh and continued speaking.
-Let me introduce myself. My name is Yan.
“……”
-I was Anelia’s familiar.
Hartbisa’s expression darkened rapidly. Anelia Radant. Her mother.
Familiars only existed in theory. The Imperial family had banned individuals from summoning and forming master-servant contracts with familiars, and because of that, even exceptional magicians didn’t deal with familiars, so they had disappeared into history.
But to say it was her mother’s familiar.
“That’s impossible. Mother wasn’t even a magician.”
Yan snorted at Hartbisa’s words.
-You don’t necessarily need to use magic or special abilities. Because I am capable, anyone with desirable blood and a pure soul will do.
Yan gazed out the window with his yellow eyes. As if looking across the dark Chelsea sky, he continued speaking while maintaining his steady gaze.
-I had fallen asleep due to a small accident, but when I opened my eyes, Anelia was dead.
“……Yes, Mother passed away long ago.”
Yan licked his paw while glancing at Hasa.
-To think Anelia’s daughter has grown so much. When I last saw you, you were just a tiny tot.
Had there been such a cat beside Mother when she was young? She felt like there was something warm when she used to lie next to Mother, but since it was from when she was very young, she didn’t have clear memories.
While Hartbisa was suspicious of this cat called Yan, a talking cat was too unusual to simply ignore.
Yan looked at Hartbisa’s suspicious expression, then noticed her necklace and continued speaking.
-You’re wearing something nice. Did Anelia give that to you?
Surprised by how Yan immediately recognized the artifact, Hartbisa asked in return.
“No, but do you know how to use this?”
-I don’t. Only the human who made it knows how to operate it.
So that’s how it is. Then Yan stared intently at Hartbisa and said.
-However, if you contract with me, you could operate such a trivial thing easily.
“What do you mean by contract, aren’t you already in a master-servant relationship with my mother?”
-The oath was broken when Anelia died.
Hartbisa’s eyes narrowed.
“Then wouldn’t it be better for you to return to where you came from? Why do you want to form a contract with me?”
-I’ve already grown comfortable here. Going back would just be boring. And I quite liked Anelia.
“……”
Few people remember Mother. Even fewer among them remembered her positively. Mother’s familiar. Why did Mother form a contract with this cat in the first place?
-Aren’t you curious about the Anelia I remember?
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t curious. Yan, with his pink nose, stretched out his body.
-For the contract, you just need to offer your finger. Make your decision quickly.
“What will you do if I say no?”
-Then, as Anelia’s daughter suggested, I’ll return to where I came from.
Yan spoke in a strangely sarcastic tone. While swishing his tail nonchalantly as if he really didn’t care, Hartbisa watched the cat with narrowed eyes and suddenly said.
“You must have gotten scolded a lot when you were with Mother.”
Because her mother absolutely hated ill-mannered behavior. At that, Yan, who had been maintaining his brazen attitude, bristled his fur and hissed.
-Like mother, like daughter, getting hung up on such trivial things! Just decide whether you’re going to contract or not!
Hartbisa clicked her tongue softly and extended her right hand.
Yan came forward as if he had expected this and bared his fangs. As his fang pierced the tip of her index finger, red blood seeped out. The moment it touched Yan’s rough tongue, her whole body grew hot.
It felt as if she could feel sensations not just in her fingertips and toes, but to the very tips of her hair. And at that moment, the necklace flashed.
“Ugh.”
Just as she thought something might have gone wrong, Yan spoke.
-It’s done.
“Already?”
As the tension dissipated, the previous sensations vanished without a trace. Feeling embarrassed, she touched her fingertip, but not even a small scar remained. As she wondered if the contract had really been formed, Yan’s eyes grew bright.
-Hmm, that artifact. It has the power to nullify attacks and curses directed at the wearer.
“How do you operate it?”
-Just apply an appropriate amount of mana. The artifact activated just now because my power entered your body through our contract.
“So the artifact will automatically block any future attacks?”
-As long as you wear it, yes.
After saying that, Yan tilted his head.
-But it seems like it’s already been used once?
