The Villain has Perished

"Power struggle for the dukedom?" Lumine took a moment to answer.

She pondered, "I would've rejected you instantly if you wanted me to enslave someone with my ability but, though your request is different, I cannot accept it. I do not help with anything related to murder or, for that matter, affecting others' lives negatively."

I neither affirmed nor denied her.

Revealing that I had a method to remove her curse, [Word Magic], might've helped to convince her, but it was also dangerous.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ It was a sensitive topic for her and she might use her charm to force the answer out of me. Besides, I didn't have anything to prove my words either.

"Are you refusing me then?", I questioned her amusedly.

Lumine frowned.

Thinking hard, she took a dozen minutes to come to a conclusion.

"You said you are a Duke son, didn't you? Help fatty grow his business and I'll help you in exchange."

I didn't question her change of heart because I knew the reason behind it. Instead smirked inwardly at her confidence, as she didn't worry about the strength of targets of assassination.

'She thinks she can kill them. How cute.'

In the end, she was no different from a frog in the well. The difference between Saint rank and King rank might be only one rank on paper, but in reality, it was no different from comparing a toddler to a world level athlete.

The reason I was requesting her help was because of the special connection between Elves and Spirits. Elves are sensitive to the presence of spirits and can detect them fairly easily.

The more important reason was slightly different, however.

Due to the pact formed between the Elven ancestor and Solomon thousands of years ago, spirits cannot harm elves unless elves are in the position of aggressors.

These two facts: Detection and Protection, was why I needed Lumine to guard me. Defeating the daemons needed more meticulous planning and came after that.

I nodded, "I'll help you after you complete your side of the job. Before that, I won't have any power in the house to help you."

"I'll take your words on it, but never forget: If you ever try to weasel out of this deal, I'll make you my puppet."

"Deal."

With that, the heavy air in the room dispersed.

—

The owner, Kash, and I were sitting in the room as we waited for Lumine.

She left to change and sort her appearance after I told her to do that if she was to come with me. I was supposed to meet her 10 minutes later at the shop's main gates.

In the meantime, I recalled the details about Lumine.

Lumine's condition was unique.

She lost the ability of [Word Magic] after her first wish was granted. This made her unable to remove her curse.

The mask she wears was to prevent others from being bewitched by her accidentally. Moreover, she has to make conscious efforts to suppress her charm, or it might make others drawn to her even with her mask.

This wasn't all, however.

Elves prided themselves in their long and pointed ears. An elf with sliced ears is seen as defective and frowned upon in every society.

Sliced ears are a sign that their village had abandoned them and left them to suffer alone, believing that killing them was allowing them to rest and they you shouldn't get such luxury. For elves, who are known for their peaceful natures, to loathe one of their own to this extent makes other races believe that the abandoned elf has to be an evil of unprecedented level.

All of this forced Lumine to live in hiding. As for her poor living conditions, I could infer that it was because she felt guilty and wanted to punish herself for her past actions.

Although it wasn't her fault, it also wasn't correct to say that she had no hands in the ruination of many lives that fought over her.

I turned to Kash, "Bring me two blank pages. I'm going to write two letters and I want you to deliver them."

The reason Lumine agreed to help me despite her qualms about hurting more people was because she was suspicious of me. She wanted to find out how I came to know about her past, which no human should have known about.

"Wait a minute, I'll bring it."

Taking the papers from Kash, I wrote in the first letter about the fact that the Swordsmith Empire was preparing for war.

"Is this true!? Are we going to war!?" Kash's eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he peeked over the contents of the letter.

"No, but we are going to make this news seem like the truth."

"Thank the heavens. If our Empire prepares for war, it won't affect this continent alone. The East continent will also get involved and try to take advantage of the war by striking when we are down." He sighed. "Besides, if the news is fake, won't others notice it easily?"

Closing the letter, I passed it to him. "You don't need to worry about that. What you need to do is supply copies of this letter into the black market and make sure it reaches the East continent too."

Kash was a slave trader who inherited his father's business recently. Although he was a 3rd mortal awakening warrior, he changed his career path and succeeded his family business due to his father's dying wish.

He should have his connections and trade routes that will allow him to spread the news faster and wider than if I were to do the same.

Truth be told, Kash didn't need to supervise the information spreading to the east continent. As long as it went into the black market, it would be enough, however….

'Do you think I forgot what happened hours ago? No, I didn't! Now I'll make you overwork to death!'

Muhahaha…

Not knowing what the future held for him, Kash interrupted my inner monologue, "Why are we doing this?"

"You don't need to know."

With that, I began writing the 2nd letter.

The 1st letter's job was to prepare other kingdoms and the continent for when the Coalescence begins.

In the , Jae-sung didn't do anything to save others. Of course, I don't blame him, because he didn't have the resources to do that, and he was blinded by revenge at that time.

But unlike him, I have the ability.

I wasn't planning on becoming a messiah that would go around saving others. But if a single letter from me can save countless lives, then I did not see why I should not do that.

With everyone preparing for war due to the Empire's threat, they will be prepared — unlike in the — and would be able to fight back when the calamities arrive and Coalescence begins.

'And who knows, maybe new heroes will rise after surviving through the upcoming ordeals. If my actions save countless lives, shouldn't there be at least one gem among them?'

Completing the 2nd letter, I gave it to Kash, too.

"Transport this letter to Elven forest. I don't think I need to tell you its location."

He repeated the same question, but I answered this time.

"What is this for?"

"To help Lumine remove her curse."

"!!!!" He sucked in a sharp breadth. "Y..you are lying! If you had something like this, why didn't you use it earlier during negotiations!?"

"Calm down, you are a businessman. You shouldn't lose your cool easily." Shaking my head disapprovingly, I continued. "Do you think Lumine would've believed me if I said that? It could've made the matters worse instead. Besides, it's true that I need her help, this is the repayment for that."

Kash took a few deep breaths and calmed himself.

He gave me a sharp look and muttered, "How do I believe you that you are not lying?"

"You don't. I, for one, know that you would continue to doubt me, no matter the proof I present. And similarly, I also know that you treat Lumine as your own blood, as if she is your daughter. This is why you can resist her charm and haven't been bewitched by her, yet."

Keyword: Yet

In the future, it will be when her charm bewitches Kash, the last person who genuinely cared for her, that Lumine completely breaks and turns to the dark side.

I stood up after noticing that the 10 minute deadline that Lumine gave was almost up, "You can read the letter and decide if you want to parcel it. I'll leave the decision to you."

—

Sol left after leaving a few words, "You can read the letter and decide if you want to parcel it. I'll leave the decision to you."

Lumine, who heard Sol leaving the room, belatedly realized that she had been eavesdropping on Sol and Kash, and rushed to the main gates where she had told Sol to meet her.

'Why did I run away?' Only after reaching the gates, she thought that she had no reason to run away like she did, but she was here already and decided to wait for Sol.

Sol eventually reached the main gates, and they left together.

Noticing her sporting a blue one piece that went well with her lush blonde hair, he commented, "You look good."

Not knowing how to respond, she simply thanked him for the praise. Because of her condition, Lumine was wearing the wooden mask – as it had the ability to suppress her charm – and her grotesque ears would make her appear hideous, if anything else, without her charm. This made her unable to understand how she 'looked good'.

The duo did not directly return to Viscount's mansion, as Sol had to buy a few ingredients.

Sol had been missing for 3 hours. His absence had caused an uproar. And since the milk was already spilled, Sol decided that a few more minutes won't hurt.

'What was that?' Lumine questioned herself again.

Although she went to dress properly, she ultimately decided to only bathe and wear normal clothes.

Thus, she was able to arrive early and thought of meeting them in the room rather than the main gates, contrary to what had been decided earlier.

'He can remove my curse?' Although she was trying to not think about it, she found her mind returning to the same topic.

She didn't want to be disheartened again when the result would fail. But those words wouldn't leave her head.

The 2nd letter Sol wrote and asked to deliver came to her mind. 'Is he trying to help me to settle back with the elves after helping me?'

'I know for a fact that the elven village does not have anything that can help me. In that case, all I can think of is that he truly wants me to help me and that includes my grievances with the villagers.'

Sol knew about her past. He had proved it already.

'But why does he think I won't believe him? It is not like I'll eat him alive if he mentioned my curse.'

She stared at his cold visage that didn't let his true thoughts out, and muttered.

"You're weird."