Subliminal Wayfarer

With a tense gaze, Grace swept her hand over her forearm and let out a small sigh of relief.

‘Thank goodness. It’s barely visible.’

The strong sunlight meant the letters inscribed on her pale arm were almost imperceptible.

There was a shimmer, but it wasn’t too noticeable.

“M-Master!”

Just then, the man’s attendant, who had previously been barely visible, came running.

“Here, please take your medicine first. I’ll bring the carriage around quickly. I apologize, Your Ladyship. Could you please look after the Master for a moment? I will be back with the carriage in no time.”

The attendant made his request as he ran, leaving Grace with no choice but to stay by the man’s side.

Fortunately, the owner’s daughter, who had not been visible earlier, was now watching them from the counter inside the antique shop.

A strange sense of déjà vu eased the tension in Grace’s shoulders.

“It’s rude to ask since we’ve just met, but may I inquire your name?”

“My name is Grace O’Ellin.”

“Ah, you are the lady of the O’Ellin family.”

The man smiled pleasantly, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

“I wonder how the Marquis O’Ellin is doing.”

“Do you know my father?”

“Yes, a little. Your father has a small debt with us.”

“Debt?”

Grace was puzzled by his words.

Her father was known for his frugality, not one to spend beyond his means, although he did not hesitate to spend for the sake of advancement and honor.

But a debt?

It wasn’t like him to incur any debts at all…

“It’s just a minor debt. He’s been paying it off well. You needn’t worry about it, Lady Grace. It’s a debt that will be settled with only him, even after his death.”

The tone of his voice was slightly odd.

‘A debt that will be settled with only him even after his death?’

The words, delivered with a pure smile, felt somewhat eerie.

However, it seemed unlikely that he would explain what he meant.

And truthfully, she wasn’t particularly curious about her father’s matters.

Perhaps sensing Grace’s thoughts, the man flashed a broad smile.

“Ah, there’s the carriage. Thank you for your care. I will definitely repay this favor.”

“It was nothing noteworthy.”

Grace shook her head, but the man insisted strongly.

“No, if ever you need help, I will certainly assist you at least once. By the way, my name is Heath Serpiente, Lady O’Ellin.”

As the carriage pulled up right in front of them, Heath, still holding Grace’s hand, pressed a quick kiss to the back of her hand.

“Please, call me Heath the next time we meet.”

The man, now known to be Heath, quietly and swiftly climbed into the carriage and waved his hand.

“Then, I shall take my leave.”

Watching the spirited departure of the white carriage, Grace belatedly realized something.

“…He wasn’t coughing anymore, was he?”

The man who had been coughing as if he were dying did not cough at all on his return.

In fact, his complexion had even brightened a bit at the end.

‘What’s going on?’

…Was that man really sick?

 

* * *

 

“…It’s not working.”

The man, having opened and then clenched his dry palm, muttered in a strange voice.

As he looked down at his palm, a strand of his white hair brushed against his cheek.

“Why is it not working?”

He stared out the window, genuinely puzzled.

Through the opaque window, he could see the back of Grace as she was walking back into the antique shop.

“What are you referring to, sir?”

Inside the carriage, standing like a statue, Yulias quietly asked.

Heath’s eyes still followed the disappearing figure of Grace.

Something had been in the palm of his hand, but it felt as if he had lost it in an instant.

“Hmm, feels like shit.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing, just a feeling.”

Heath’s eyes, gleaming like glass beads, stretched long as he chuckled lightly.

Although it could have given a rather eerie impression, Yulias sitting opposite him remained calm.

She had seen that same gaze thousands of times before.

“It’s strange, really. My power doesn’t work on that woman.”

“By power, you mean…”

“Yes, that one..”

Heath lazily nodded his head and leaned back.

The clear and transparent purple eyes that had reflected him came to mind.

Those strange eyes that made the viewer feel like they could be sucked into them the moment their gazes would meet.

‘But why.’

Why did his power not work on her?

‘She looks so vulnerable… So why?’

Heath Serpiente recalled the purple eyes that had looked straight at him.

Those eyes, too clear that they reflected him.

‘…Even the bite marks on her fingers are still there.’

Serpiente.

One of the seven great houses of Zeronium, although not high in title.

What they pursued was not power by title but actual power they could wield and manipulate.

The power of capital, or power of information. Those kinds of things.

Along with Serpiente, Zenox, Blacke, Onium, Contana, Ginesh and Liber were the houses that carried the secrets of Zeronium.

‘The Founding Curse.’

Part of the current Zeronium Kingdom included the land of witches.

The powerful founding families had dared covet the land of witches, where pristine nature thrived, and seized it.

Before disappearing completely, a witch had cast a powerful curse on them.

 

「 Ye who have defiled my land. You are strong yet weak, and weak yet strong. 」

 

Strong yet weak.

That simple phrase turned all seven household heads into beasts.

When these greatest seven of the nation could not control their emotions, they turned into beasts.

Exposing this would reveal their vulnerability and undermine their recently established nation.

Thus, the seven conspired to keep this strictly under wraps.

Considering the witch’s curse something easy to break, they arrogantly believed they would free themselves from it before their lives ended.

Had they known that this terrible curse would pass down through generations, they would have returned the witch’s land long ago…

But regret always came too late, and the witch had already disappeared.

Along with her disappearance began the persecution of the people who could wield magic across the entire continent.

In the war between the clergy, who worshiped the divine, and the magic users, the continent favored the clergy.

Those known as witches or mages swiftly disappeared.

The few remaining with mysterious powers were captured and became the playthings of nobles or royals.

The same was true in Zeronium.

Because of this, Zeronium had to live for centuries under this curse.

Not knowing how to break it, or even if it could be broken, the curse had become part of their blood and flesh after centuries.

They adapted to or complied with the curse in their own ways.

Some houses stubbornly resisted, but one thing was certain.

They could not break the curse with their own power.

“Hmm.”

Whether it was a side effect of the curse or an unintended beneficial function, each of the seven houses was born with different abilities.

Blacke had the monstrous strength to split the earth, Onium had the vision to see thousands of miles away, Contana had the power to rule the depths of the sea…

And the innate ability of the Serpiente was precisely to ‘charm’.

“I definitely used venom, but why didn’t it work?”

Heath recalled vividly the moment he had sunk his teeth into Grace’s pale fingers.

When the venom extracted from Heath’s body was directly introduced into someone’s system, they would easily become enchanted by him.

To call it enchantment would be an understatement—they would become fervent supporters, eager to give him everything they could, and even more.

Heath tapped his fingers against the floor.

‘…The script engraved on that woman’s forearm was definitely the language of witches.’

It was known as the archaic language.

He hadn’t seen it closely, but it was definitely the archaic script.

‘Why on earth is that engraved on that woman’s forearm?’

He had glimpsed it briefly when he bit her.

Wondering if he had been mistaken, he intentionally smeared his blood on her so that she would be forced to remove her gloves.

And indeed, the archaic script he had seen then was still engraved on her forearm.

‘There’s something. Something…’

There was just something about the prospective bride of House Blacke.

Lucas Blacke.

Given his nature, he wouldn’t delay the marriage, so they would likely soon gather to make their vows.

‘I’ll have to investigate more thoroughly then.’

Heath looked down at the blood-stained handkerchief he was holding.

It was a plain white handkerchief, devoid of any pattern or lace.

Seeing it dirtied with his own blood, much like the unadorned neatness of that woman, gave him a strange feeling.

“I’ll throw that away for you.”

As he continued to look at it, Yulias reached out her hand.

Heath hesitated for a moment before taking it back.

“Never mind. I’ll keep it.”

It was a strange impulse.

He just wanted to keep it.

Heath typically preferred to stay clean and neat, so Yulias thought it odd. Nevertheless, she did not object.

The carriage swiftly passed through the city and headed toward their estate.

 

* * *

 

“I’m sorry, am I late? We haven’t seen each other in a while, so we ended up talking a lot. I hope I didn’t leave you bored for too long, Grace.”

As soon as Grace returned to the store, Selena came down from upstairs.

Julie, who had gone to look for her wallet, and the kind escort knight, who had briefly helped a lost child find their parents, both returned at the same time.

It was as if someone had timed it perfectly, bringing everyone back to their place all at once, but it was hard to pinpoint what was odd about it.

“Not at all. I wasn’t bored in the least.”

To be precise, there hadn’t been a moment to feel bored.

“Hm? Grace, you’re missing one of your gloves?”

The observant Selena pointed to her empty hand.

Grace simply explained what had happened.

“My goodness! Did that happen? But how come there was no commotion?”

Selena murmured in wonder, and Grace once again felt a suspicious feeling.

It was strange indeed.

An inexplicably strange feeling.

The extraordinarily beautiful man and his red eyes flashed through her mind.

Shivering with an unsettling sense of déjà vu, Grace tried to shake off the feeling.

“Still, it passed without incident.”

“That’s good then. It’s getting late, so shall we go back now, Grace?”

“Did you find what you were looking for, Madam?”

At Grace’s question, Selena smiled elegantly, seemingly pleased.

“Lamère.”

At Selena’s call, the shop owner’s daughter walked towards them while carrying a packaged item.