Reincarnated as the Villainess's attendant

Chapter 466 152 - Perserios territory - part 3 - The plan that was thirty years in the making (part 9)

　　"The other type of hexes are the ones enhanced by curses. Cursed altars to be exact. Until thirty years ago our main objective was to destroy any and all cursed altars that people from Barbariacca tried to construct at the borders

　　. You see, although an construction like that allows for the hex to basically control the target like a puppet, it does have a certain range that it can work at. But now, we seem to be stuck in one massive cursed altar. Considering the materials required for the construction of just a normal one, that must have cost them a fortune, still, they sit on – or at least were, as far as my memory serves me – the biggest vein of mana crystals in the entire continent."

　　The elderly woman explained, steering the conversation in the way she seemed fit.

　　"You said until thirty years ago. What started happening thirty years ago?"

　　Zoemi asked, furrowing his brows, as he glanced over the woman's shoulders from time to time as of he couldn't stop himself.

　　"There was an initiative from our kingdom to offer a peace treaty. Barbariacca has mana crystals, but the land behind the mountains is baren and they often face famine. The king back then wanted to cooperate with them. Bellcephora kingdom would supply them with so much food that not a single citizen of Barbariacca nation would have to go hungry, and Barbariacca nation would share the wealth of the mana stones. It was a plan created just to prevent the Atreterve country from growing in power thanks to their rapidly developing magic engineering. And our side was serious. They even chose a young girl from the high noble house to marry a prince of Barbariacca. And not just anyone was picked. A young lady from a high noble house that still had their sage alive and well. One that was similar in age to the young prince of Barbariacca so that it would not seem as if our side wanted to control him in any way."

　　The brown-haired woman began explaining, making Zoemi go completely silent and listen carefully to each word she said.

　　Honestly, the black-haired boy had a really bad feeling about what she was going to say next.

　　Not even a feeling, but rather a grim expectation.

　　"Hostersa Ratifa Vanterl. The descendant of the fire sage Vanterl. She spent a year in the Barbariacca action, and everything seemed like it was going to work just fine – until one day she was sent back, safe and sound, in a carriage. A carriage that turned out to be a cursed altar. I know that now, thanks to my mind being finally clear. The thing is, when the carriage arrived, everything changed. The hex that most of the officers fell for was – we are fighting barbarians, just a bunch of highlander tribes, There is nothing past the mountains. Hexes and curses are special and only very few barbarians can use them. Because of that, with every encounter that happened next, more and more of our troops fell under hexes that changed their perception, causing the Barbariacca nation to fade into obscurity... Young lord? Are you feeling worse?"

　　The woman revealed and asked in a worried voice seeing Zoemi hiding his face in his hands.

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　　"Hostersa Ratifa Vanterl... Hostersa Ratifa... the same Hostersa Ratifa who is now the queen of the Bellcephora kingdom? Hostersa Ratifa Bellcephora?"

　　Even though the black-haired boy didn't remember ever speaking the name of Horeo's mother out loud, he was now repeating it as some sort of prayer.

　　Truth be told, the only person who mentioned the queen's name to him before was the gray-haired necromancer, Aspakeony.

　　...with whom the boy promised himself to have more than just a few words after getting out of the current predicament...

　　"The very same."

　　The elderly woman nodded, smiling gently knowing that the black-haired boy was figuring out everything that she didn't even tell him yet.

　　"Is that why most of her plans seem so simple? She is under a hex since she was a child?!"

　　Zoemi gasped, putting his hands down and staring at the brown-haired woman in disbelief.

　　"That may be a part of it. I have no memory of anything detailed that she did as I always stayed within the Perserios territory."

　　She responded casually, unbothered by the boy's shock.

　　"If that is the case, then it's not the queen using barbarians to complete her plans, it's the barbarians – I mean, Barbariacca nation - controlling her from the shadow all along! And Arisu could use the hex spell because they are actually nothing special and certainly not a bloodline thing!"

　　Zoemi gasped and bit his lips, looking at the elderly woman for confirmation.

　　"About the hexes, it depends on how you look at it – it's just the type of magic that most of Barbariacca people can use. Just like with Atreterve country citizens have their way with creating enchanted gear and equipment. To a certain degree, that is exactly what a bloodline thing is, wouldn't you say?"

　　The brown-haired woman pointed out with a serious expression.

　　"Yeah, well, but someone like Arisu, with the attribute that allows him to use the magic of other attributes, would be able to use hexes and curses too."

　　"I do believe so, yes."

　　Zoemi asked and the elderly woman nodded.

　　"That still leaves a question whether Arisu is under a hex too, and to a greater extent – is Vanterl himself controlled by the Barbariacca nation...?"

　　The black-haired boy glanced over the woman's shoulder and put his head back on the pillow.

　　"I doubt that even with the cursed altar the size of this territory, any hex magician could even try to lay their hand on a sage. Especially someone like Vanterl. He holds grudges like no other."

　　The elderly woman scoffed and shook her head over the silliness of the suspicion that Zoemi shared.

　　"How about..."

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　　*click*

　　"Mother, father, and uncle are asking for you to... Oh...!"

　　The black-haired boy furrowed his brows and opened his mouth, but just then the door to the room opened and a man whose voice was finally recognized by Zoemi after being paired up with a face.

　　It was the older cousin of Devios. The very same person who wanted him and Miriette captured.

　　One of the still-alive people who were under hex but weren't ordered to kill themselves.

　　He certainly was just as surprised as Zoemi when they looked at each other.

　　"Sweetie. Don't you have something to say to our young lord?"

　　"...!"

　　The brown-haired woman asked, making the man flinch and glance to the side awkwardly.

　　"...my lord... please accept my deepest apologies. My will wasn't strong enough to oppose the hex... I am also grateful to you for whatever you did to bring my mother and everyone else back...!"

　　Still, soon enough, the same man bowed deeply toward the black-haired boy and gave his heartfelt apology and gratitude.

　　"...after learning about the situation, I can't really hold anything against you. Although I have a question, how come you broke free of the hex?"

　　Zoemi waved his hand dismissively and asked the most pressing question, staring at Devios's cousin with suspicion.

　　"...because of the spell that you used, right...?"

　　The man raised his head and his brow in confusion as he spoke up in a hesitant voice, not understanding what was the problem.