The Real Head of the Family Was Me — Chapter : 4
The First Head of the Family’s Room, along with the Spirit Stone, was a place passed down as one of Elheim’s family heirlooms.
Yuruen, the first water awakener, was said to have designed this room himself.
The walls, made of a material similar to the Spirit Stone, had never worn down despite the passage of countless years.
‘The report that the Spirit Stone was glowing was true.’
Inside the First Head of the Family’s Room, the Duke of Elheim rarely lost his composure as he held his breath.
Originally, the Spirit Stone had been placed on a silver pedestal in the center of the room.
But now, wasn’t it floating in midair, scattering light?
The Duke called out to Rian, who entered through the door alongside Ainrias.
“Rian.”
Only direct descendants of Elheim were permitted to enter this place.
Except in unavoidable or special circumstances.
“Come over here.”
“So that’s the Spirit Stone that was said to have lit up.”
Standing beside the Duke, Rian looked up at the Spirit Stone.
“If you feel anything from it, tell me.”
It was a bright blue stone whose surface rippled like water. But he could not feel anything.
“I don’t know, Father.”
Despite the boy’s indifferent answer, the Duke gave him a gentle smile.
“It is because you have not yet reached your coming-of-age ceremony and your water abilities are not yet complete. But don’t worry, Rian.”
Liarte’s voice overlapped with the Duke’s.
“Don’t worry. Rianlicious Elheim.”
“After your coming-of-age ceremony, you won’t need Liarte anymore either.”
It was an unfamiliar appearance that Rian had never seen before.
“I won’t waste my time on such useless things again.”
Rian himself did not know why he thought of Liarte at that moment.
The Duke seemed to have misunderstood Rian’s silence.
“So, for now, put your hand on it.”
The youngest son of Elheim, loved by everyone.
As if to erase Liarte’s voice, Rian boldly reached out and placed his hand on the Spirit Stone.
Blink.
The softly glowing Spirit Stone blinked once.
Mana surged beneath the transparent crystal that shimmered with the color of water.
Blink. Blink.
The Spirit Stone began blinking faintly, as if issuing a warning. Its movement seemed somehow unstable, but no one noticed.
When Rian removed his hand, the movement of the light gradually came to a stop.
“As expected, you are the one who will awaken the Spirit Stone, Rian.”
The Duke’s voice trembled.
At a time when the Elheim family’s water abilities were weakening, the awakening of the Spirit Stone would surely be a tremendous asset.
“Is that so?”
Rian looked down at his hand. He could not feel anything.
But it was true that the Spirit Stone had blinked.
“You meet the conditions written in Yuruen’s handwritten records.”
The true owner who would awaken the Spirit Stone and restore the family to glory.
There were two conditions.
To possess water abilities more powerful than anyone else’s.
To be a water awakener whose awakening had taken the longest time before blooming.
Awakeners usually gained their abilities within a few days of being born. And the longer the awakening period, the more powerful their abilities became.
Rian was the only person in this family whose awakening had taken as long as seven days.
The time to savor this foolish joy did not last long.
“Your Grace!”
The captain of Elheim’s knights, who had been guarding the castle gate, hurriedly opened the door.
“What is it? I told you not to let anyone in here so that we would not be disturbed.”
The knight captain showed an unusually stubborn attitude.
“This was a situation that required me to report directly to Your Grace. A carriage has arrived outside the castle gate.”
“Is it a guest important enough to interrupt what we are doing here?”
The Duke showed his displeasure. Even if it were the Imperial Family, they could not interfere with the Water Elheim family.
“The thing is, it is Birche.”
“Are you spouting nonsense about Birche in front of me right now?!”
At the mention of Birche, the Duke became furious and shouted.
Elheim had always regarded Birche as something close to an enemy, but this was especially true after the assassination attempt.
“How dare Birche come here?”
The knight captain dropped to one knee.
“I witnessed it with my own eyes. The carriage they arrived in bore the Birche crest, and they brought a letter of visitation.”
The Duke inhaled deeply to calm himself.
“A letter of visitation?”
“It was genuine, even from a distance.”
A letter of visitation was an official document issued under the supervision of the Temple and the Imperial Family.
It was a covenant explicitly stating that the visiting party would not harm the host family.
Anyone carrying a letter of visitation could not harm the family they were visiting, and the family receiving the visitor could not turn them away.
Violating this agreement would result in the offending party making the entire Empire its enemy with the permission of the Imperial Family and the Temple.
“The person who came was not the Duke of Birche, but the young master of Birche.”
“For now, lead the way.”
The heir of Birche had come to Elheim.
Whatever the reason, the Duke had no intention of letting himself be manipulated according to their wishes.
Michael, who had been waiting boredly in front of Elheim’s closed castle gate, called out to Walter.
“Something seems to have happened inside, doesn’t it?”
“Our visit is probably what caused it. You may not be able to see it, but they’re still watching us as if we’re some kind of disaster.”
At Walter’s words, Michael smiled gently.
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
The Duke of Elheim’s one-sided hostility toward Birche was famous, after all.
“How many troops are guarding the gate right now?”
“There are countless knights… Ah, I see.”
Walter nodded.
There were many knights guarding the walls and castle gate, but there was not a single person who appeared to be a water awakener.
Even though the security had been tightened because assassins had broken in not long ago.
“What on earth happened that they called in the awakeners?”
“Who knows?”
Michael’s instincts whispered that something was going on.
He hoped it would be something interesting.
Elheim, with its obsession and pride in family, bloodline, and awakening, was incredibly boring.
At that moment, the gates of Elheim’s castle slowly opened.
And the Duke appeared, accompanied by knights, his face hardened.
“What brings the heir of Birche all the way here?”
“I came because there is something I would like to request from Elheim.”
The letter of visitation fluttered in Michael’s hand.
‘He’s the spitting image of his father.’
Michael’s smooth and easygoing attitude was exactly like Duke Carmen Birche.
“I have formally brought a letter of visitation, so please verify it.”
Because of the velvet blindfold covering Michael’s eyes, it was difficult to tell where he was looking.
He seemed to be smiling faintly, but was he really smiling?
Now that it had been determined that Rian was the owner of the Spirit Stone, the Duke did not want to allow anyone from Birche inside. However, he had no choice but to accept someone who had brought a letter of visitation.
“…It truly is a genuine document approved by the Imperial Family and the Temple.”
“If my visit is unwelcome, you may tell me to leave right now.”
Michael spoke softly as he felt the texture of the letter being handed over by the Duke.
“It is only natural instinct to fear the power of death.”
It was a taunt implying that the Duke was frightened.
That was how the Duke of Elheim took it.
Letting one brat like this inside shouldn’t be a problem.
“I have no intention of turning away the heir. Come in.”
His voice was laced with restrained anger.
Much later.
‘The Duke is simpler than Father described.’
Although he was in the very heart of enemy territory, Michael remained calm as he held his teacup.
“My eyes have gone completely blind. If it were an injury, I would have called for a healer, but apparently it is a powerful curse.”
“…So?”
“If there is a water awakener capable of breaking this curse, I would like to ask for some assistance.”
The Duke of Elheim’s face hardened to the point that it could not possibly become any stiffer.
Birche never forgot debts or grudges.
If it were a normal family, they would choose to treat Michael and thereby make Birche indebted to them. But the Duke’s deep-rooted hatred instead made him reluctant.
“What level of curse is it?”
“Even the Saintess was unable to restore my eyesight.”
That meant it was a powerful curse.
“I understand.”
The Duke answered for the time being.
However, he had not the slightest intention of helping Birche.
“A curse of that degree would place a great burden even on the water awakener attempting to break it. Would you permit me to impose one condition?”
“If Your Grace helps me, anything is acceptable.”
Michael was impossible to read.
“The deadline will be one month. Wait until a water awakener volunteers. Since they could lose their life while attempting to break the curse, I would rather leave the choice to them than force anyone.”
In other words, he was telling him to quietly wait for someone to volunteer.
The pretext sounded reasonable, but anyone could tell that the Duke had no intention of actually treating the curse.
‘He said even the Saintess couldn’t remove it.’
At present, there was no awakener in the family other than Rian who was capable of breaking such a powerful curse.
Even if there were, there was no way they would step forward to help Birche.
No one would volunteer when they were afraid of the backlash from the curse.
The heir of Birche would never recover his eyesight.
“Very well. As the Duke says, I will wait for someone to volunteer.”
For some reason, Michael’s voice sounded lower.
“I’ll take my time for the next month.”
When the Duke turned around, Michael was setting down his teacup.
At midnight, Liarte stood up.
‘Michael Birche.’
Liarte had only one goal.
Before her regression, no one had appeared to try to break Michael’s curse.
It was merely an incident in which Elheim had insulted the heir of Birche.
The Duke’s judgment that this would end there had been wrong.
Michael, who became the next Duke earlier than expected, drove Elheim to the brink of ruin.
The only thing that man in the future would have wanted was the destruction of Elheim.
Rian’s abilities weakened after his coming-of-age ceremony.
Until the moment Liarte died, Michael had never recovered his eyesight.
‘But if it’s me, I can do it.’
She was certain that she could break the curse in her current state.
Even if she could not break it completely, helping him would allow her to make Birche indebted to her.
Soon, Liarte arrived at the same splendid guest quarters she remembered from her previous life.
Michael was inside.
