Chapter 7: Ciel (1)

"...So...." Ancilla paused as she tried to calm her agitation.

However, every time she saw her son, whose eyes had swollen from crying too much, she was in danger of losing control of her emotions. Ancilla patted her chest to stifle the feelings of frustration and picked up a fan to cool her face.

"...My son, Cyan, challenged a collateral descendant to a duel... and lost?"

"Yes," Hazard replied.

Hazard made sure not to lift his bent head. He didn't want to increase the number of reprimands he would be receiving from this bad-tempered tigress by pointlessly raising his head.

"Moreover, did you say that kid hasn't trained his mana?"

"Yes...."

"That doesn't make any sense," Ancilla declared, her reaction unknowingly mirroring Cyan's.

She looked at her son in disbelief. Cyan just stood there, sniffling with downcast eyes.

"Come here."

"...Mother..."

"I told you to come here!" Ancilla screeched loudly, unable to hold it in any longer.

Cyan's shoulders trembled, along with the rest of his body. Even so, although with hesitant steps, he walked forward until he stood in front of Ancilla.

Taking a deep breath, Ancilla sharply thrust out her hand.

"Ugh!" Cyan cried out.

Her hand was pressing firmly against his solar plexus, even though the pain from earlier had yet to subside... Hazard glanced regretfully at Cyan before lowering his head once more.

"In a single blow at that?" Ancilla hissed.

"M-mother, it hurts...!"

"Stay still!"

Just as he was about to step backward, Cyan's body immediately stiffened at the order. Ancilla used all her strength and repeatedly pressed on his solar plexus without any hesitation. Each time she did so, Cyan was forced to clench his teeth to hold back a scream.

Ciel was watching this scene with a sullen expression from her seat in the back of the room. She was almost bursting with a desire to say something, but, as young as she was, Ciel knew very well that there was nothing to be gained from opening her mouth here.

"Hazard, are you willing to swear an oath that you saw correctly?" Ancilla turned to Hazard.

"..." Hazard hesitated.

"I asked if you were willing to swear an oath," Ancilla repeated herself. "That brat, has he truly not trained his mana?"

"Yes, I am willing to swear an oath on it," Hazard finally offered.

Under no circumstances should an oath be sworn lightly. However, if he stayed silent now, something terrible would definitely be in store for him. Hazard was sure of it.

"The son of Lord Gerhard, Master Eugene, has not trained his mana. Not even a single trace of mana can be sensed from his body."

"Is that so?"

Ancilla searched her memory for the name Gerhard. His name did not come to mind right away, signifying that she had already classified it as a name not worth remembering. This meant that... he definitely had to be the one from the Gidol province. She seemed to recall that Gerhard was the name of a certain insect who didn't even possess an official title and was buried away in the countryside. He was of a collateral line that had split off from the main family hundreds of years ago and, until now, not a single member of that household had ever made any impact.

"My son..." Ancilla said as she pulled up Cyan's shirt.

Cyan closed his eyes as his body shivered in fear.

Ancilla continued, "was defeated in a single blow... by someone who hasn't even trained their mana."

The surface of his stomach was vividly colored in blacks and blues. Ancilla let out a snort at the sight of this deep bruising. She was also a scion of a martial family. Her father, Count Caines, held an important position in the empire's military.

"Yes, this was definitely done in a single blow. Ciel, just how did your brother go about losing?" Ancilla asked.

"M-mother. That's—" Cyan stammered.

"I wasn't asking you," Ancilla shot her son a sharp look. Her eyes were so intimidating that it was hard to believe that she was looking at her own thirteen-year-old son.

"...The moment the duel began, Eugene thrust his spear," Ciel said with pursed lips. "My brother was startled and tried to fall back, but Eugene's spear was too fast for him to avoid."

"The distance between the two?" Ancilla questioned.

"It was slightly large."

"And what was your brother doing at that moment?"

"He was trying to raise his sword."

This all happened only an hour ago, not long enough to make things difficult to recall. Each time Ciel answered one of Ancilla's questions, Cyan's body trembled with anxiety.

"Th—" Cyan was about to defend himself.

However, Ancilla, who had finished processing the whole story, spat out, "You foolish boy!"

-Slap!

Cyan's head twisted to the side. Cyan clenched his teeth and held back a groan, having predicted this would happen.

"Someone who hasn't even trained their mana! A brat who's the same age as yourself...! You allowed them to get the first hit?! You weren't even able to dodge properly! You let him close the distance on you! And when he struck you, you collapsed, spraying vomit everywhere?!"

Ancilla punctuated each sharp scream with a slap to one of Cyan's cheeks. With each blow, Cyan's head spun from one side to the other. The hits weren't meant to hurt, as none of the slaps had any mana in them. However, it was excessive to inflict such corporal punishment onto a young child.

"Right in plain view... where anyone, even the lower classes, could plainly see! You dared to lose after asking for the duel first?! Do you want to see your mother hang herself out of shame?!"

"S...sorry... I'm sorry, mother...."

He could muffle his cries of pain, but he couldn't hold back his sobs. Streams of tears poured down from Cyan's eyes as he sniffled. However, Ancilla felt anger instead of sympathy in the face of her son's tears.

"Do you think you deserve to cry?" Ancilla demanded.

"Hic..." Cyan sobbed.

"Why did you do such a pointless thing that will only make things harder for your mother?! Your father should be returning soon for the Bloodline Continuation Ceremony, but I don't know if I'll be able to even look him in the eye...! As for that bitch Tanis, how can I face her after this?!"

For the sake of training, Gilead Lionheart, the patriarch of the main Lionheart line, had been away from the estate for three years.

Under such circumstances, the authority of the head should normally rest in the hands of Tanis, the official first wife. However, during the family head's current absence, the authority had fallen not to the first wife, but instead to Ancilla.

There was a simple reason for this. After giving birth to her child, Eward, Tanis' body had been rendered barren, unable to bear any more children. Gilead, who wanted to make ample preparations for the continuation of his line, couldn't be satisfied with just one son.

This was why he had taken a second wife, Ancilla, who had given birth to twins.

-If there are three, then it's enough.

That was what Gilead said whenever it came up, but Ancilla could never agree with this. The reason why she, the daughter of Count Caines, had refused many good marriage offers and instead joined the Lionheart family through the shameful path of becoming a concubine, was that Ancilla was obsessed with the prestige of the Lionheart name.

"They all... they all are going to laugh at me. Definitely," Ancilla muttered as she chewed her fingernails, already imagining Tanis' face when she learned of this.

Cyan, who was consumed by terror in the face of his mother's frantic appearance, stuttered and tried to speak, "I-I'll challenge him again. So that mother won't be shamed, I'll—"

"Again?" Ancilla asked, her voice rising sharply. "Why are you thinking of challenging him to another duel when you've already been defeated once?! Don't do anything useless, and just stay out of trouble until the Bloodline Continuation Ceremony begins!"

"But—" Cyan protested.

Without letting him finish speaking, Ancilla shouted, "Hazard!"

Hazard's head was still bowed low, and his shoulders trembled as he responded, "Yes, my lady."

"I wish I could just get rid of you for good," Ancilla said as her fists shook in rage. "But... I can't do that, even though you let something like this happen...! Because you... are my husband's favored knight. That should mean that there are no problems with what you've been teaching my son, right?"

"..." Hazard kept his silence.

"If your teaching isn't the problem, then... my son is...! Since he didn't learn well, he was defeated by that peasant brat."

"...My apologies."

In such a situation, where he could neither affirm nor deny the accusation, and when keeping his mouth shut wasn't an option, offering an apology was the best Hazard could do.

"...Take Cyan and leave," Ancilla ordered.

"Mother..." Cyan trailed off.

Ancilla ignored his cry, "Go and make him stronger, strong enough that he never tarnishes my reputation again."

Hazard nodded his head and backed away. Even though Cyan was in tears, the boy followed Ancilla's orders without question, leaving the room along with Hazard.

"Ciel, you stay behind for a bit," Ancilla called out.

Caught just as she was about to try and sneak out with the others, Ciel's face twisted as she replied, "...Yes."

She quietly returned to her seat and waited patiently while taking peeks at Ancilla's expression.

Ancilla finally began speaking, "...That brat, you said that his name was Eugene, right?"

"Yes."

"Did you also challenge that brat to a duel?"

"No, I didn't challenge him."

"Why not?"

"Brother lost with a single blow. If we had fought, I wouldn't be able to win either," Ciel replied in a quiet mumble.

Although she had decided to begin by answering honestly, she was still afraid that her mother might grow even angrier at such an answer.

However, Ancilla didn't fly into a rage as she did before and instead said, "You did well."

Almost like she was a different person, she now stared at her daughter with calm eyes.

"If even you had shown up here after being defeated... I truly would have hung myself out of shame," Ancilla confessed.

"Please don't say such a thing, Mother," Ciel cried out.

Of course, Ciel actually realized that her mother wasn't the type of person who would take her own life under any circumstances. However, she had learned from a young age that she could improve her mother's mood by acting so cutesy.

"...How is that boy, Eugene?" Ancilla asked.

"I'm not sure I understand what you're asking for, Mother," Ciel admitted.

"I'm talking about his appearance and impression."

"His appearance... um... I think he's better-looking than my brother. As for an impression, he's a bit strange...."

"Strange? How so?"

"When he was arguing with brother, he was very childish and mean, but when he was talking with Hazard, he seemed much older."

At these words, Ancilla was lost in thought for a few moments. Since the boy was only thirteen, she could understand him being childish and mean, but for him to seem like an adult when talking with Hazard?

Ciel continued, "He... he kept saying something about honor. And he also said that showing mercy in a duel was an insult to the opponent. Because Eugene said that, Hazard actually apologized."

"...He apologized?"

"Yep. While saying that he had made a 'presumptuous remark.'"

As Ciel recalled that moment, she started smiling without even realizing it. She soon remembered that this wasn't a situation that called for amusement and immediately reverted her expression, but Ancilla was too distracted to point out Ciel's loss of control.

'...a 'presumptuous remark'...?' Ancilla pondered.

It seemed that later she would have to call for Hazard again and get the full story from him.

With a slight nod, Ancilla asked, "Are you angry that Eugene hit your brother?"

"...Yes," Ciel said eventually.

This was a lie. Although she didn't hate her brother, she had found the sight of him crying while still pretending arrogance to be pretty amusing.

"You mustn't naively try to get revenge on your brother's behalf," Ancilla warned, though she was actually aware of her daughter's true feelings.

Since the two of them were twins, Cyan and Ciel had been together ever since they were born. Ciel had revealed her character from an early age, habitually pulling pranks and making mischief even as she followed her brother everywhere. Ancilla knew that Ciel was a child who prioritized her own amusement over her affection for her brother.

"...For the time being, your brother will be busy receiving Hazard's guidance."

"I'll train with them," Ciel volunteered.

"Of course, you will. However, don't focus too much on that, and make friends with the child... Eugene."

"Why?"

"It's good to have a lot of friends," Ancilla evaded, her eyes growing cold.

The brat had defeated her son and smeared her reputation. However, hearing that Eugene had defeated her son without training his mana had surprised her.

"...For now, that boy, Eugene, is still strong enough to beat your brother. As such, it would be better to get on his good side," Ancilla explained.

"Is that so?" Ciel asked in confusion.

"It is."

Ancilla settled her simmering emotions. To be honest, she wanted to go along with her urges and cripple Eugene so that he would be unable to move for the rest of his life. However, she couldn't do that.

Hundreds of years ago, there had been an intense struggle over who would inherit Lionheart's direct line. Somehow, peace was negotiated, but ever since then, murdering a relative had been considered a grave taboo among the Lionheart family. The reason that Gilead, the current head of the family, had said, 'If there are three, then it's enough,' in the first place was that he was afraid of pointlessly increasing the number of heirs to the main family, as it would only lead to siblings trying to kill each other for the sake of ambition.

Ancilla herself did not want to risk breaking this taboo that had been passed down for hundreds of years, just for this matter.

'And if he is harmed, I'm the one who will receive the most suspicion,' Ancilla reasoned.

Although it was tradition that members of the direct line could openly oppress members of the collateral lines in the days prior to the Bloodline Continuation Ceremony, there was still a 'line' that must be observed. For example, attaching a clumsy servant to be their personal attendant, assigning them an unused annex, and harassing them over trivial matters; no matter how much of a fuss these things kicked up, they still weren't crossing the 'line.'

However, if this line was crossed, the Guardians of the Family Commandments would intervene in the situation.

Just imagining it caused Ancilla's body to tremble in horror. Ancilla didn't want to get involved with the Guardians, especially for such a disgraceful matter.

"Understood, mother," Ciel said, with a nod and a soft smile, after a few seconds of thought. "I'll make sure to get close to Eugene. That's all I need to do, right?"

She had not the slightest of reservations about doing so. Ciel was instead feeling an intense curiosity about this inscrutable relative of hers.