Chapter 14

Lady Zenonia.

Or rather, Zenonia Kalia, who had effectively been ruling the Zenonia County by making her father a puppet for several years, had come to Count Palatio’s estate for two main reasons.

One reason was to gauge the intentions of Alon, now Count Palatio. Despite holding cards that could cause substantial damage to the current Zenonia County, he hadn’t used them.

The relationship between Zenonia County and Palatio County wasn’t necessarily bad, but she knew that the essence of the Count was similar to her own—a “kindred spirit,” so to speak.

In other words, she easily understood that Alon wasn’t the type to wield such powerful cards out of some trivial sentimentality or misplaced compassion.

She had come to ascertain his true intentions.

The second reason was to assess the power of the organization that Count Palatio was rumored to control.

Of course, Kalia knew that just meeting the Count wouldn’t reveal the full extent of the shadowy organization he commanded.

However, Kalia had a way to glimpse at the fringes of that power.

There was the wizard Biankel.

He had once proposed a new theory on “forgotten era magic” within the Magic Tower, earning academic acclaim, but he was later expelled from the Tower due to his excessively inhumane magical experiments.

However, despite his expulsion, his rank was still 5th-tier.

He was strong enough to obliterate an entire battalion of soldiers by himself. Kalia had brought him along in exchange for assisting with his experiments, forging an alliance with him.

She reasoned that if a wizard like Biankel, who specialized in detection magic and was on the cusp of the 5th-tier, was present, he could easily assess the caliber of those protecting Count Palatio.

While the nature of one’s guards didn’t reveal everything, observing the level of those guarding the Count could naturally offer insights into the organization’s inner workings.

... At least, that was why she had brought Biankel along.

In the reception room of Count Palatio’s estate, Lady Kalia subtly glanced at Biankel, who still hadn’t fully closed his mouth and wore an anxious expression.

She was inwardly surprised.

As far as she knew, he wasn’t someone who would normally show such foolish expressions in front of others.

Biankel’s face was always arrogant, and he never spoke politely to anyone—not even to her, who supported him.

Of course, Kalia understood why Biankel was like this.

Even though he was a wizard expelled from the Magic Tower, the fact that he had reached the pinnacle of the 5th-tier lent credibility and justification to his attitude.

But now, Biankel’s expression was extremely unusual.

His face was still marked by shock, just as it had been earlier, and she could even detect flickers of fear, something she had never seen in him before.

“Why...?”

Kalia felt a mix of curiosity and unease as she looked at Biankel.

She had never seen him display such blatant fear.

‘If he’s reacting like this ... could it really be that the magic we saw earlier was an Origin spell...?’

Kalia’s thought was fleeting, as she quickly refocused on the present situation and met Alon’s gaze.