The Sedille family received the title of marquess through the contributions of the head of family a few generations ago. And now, the present marquess walked slowly towards Danté.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Excellency. I am but a humble servant, but please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Marcus, the head of the Sedille family.”

Though Marcus approached Danté confidently, as he neared, he slightly lowered his gaze. It was because Danté was much taller than Marcus expected. Danté smirked, looking down at the relatively smaller Marcus.

“Sedille? I don’t think the last head of the Sedille family I met was you, my friend.”

“Back then, Victor Sedille was the head of family. I am the second of the Sedille, older brother of Victor.”

“I wasn’t aware the family had many sons. The contest must have been fierce. I guess luck was on your side.”

The sarcasm was palpable, yet Marcus laughed it off and skillfully changed the subject.

“Your Excellency, if I may be so bold, there is one question I’ve been wanting to ask.”

Marcus’ attitude was impeccable. Even as a marquess, a position of high rank, he lowered his head towards Danté. Just enough to not appear as if he was groveling.

Danté gazed at him condescendingly and signaled, daring him to speak.

At that moment, the somewhat intimidated expression on Marcus’ face turned nasty and crafty. He asked in a rather loud voice so that the nobles gathered by could all hear.

“What are your reasons for becoming Evony Vonieck’s guardian?”

Evony. The effect of bringing up her name was bigger than expected. The nobles who hovered to steal glances at Danté were now very much focused on the two men. It meant that satisfying their immediate curiosity was higher priority than worrying about offending the grand duke.

The pale, bloodless face of Danté became even colder.

Marcus continued. “Your Excellency knows well, ‘it’ is a witch that murdered our previous head of family, Victor Sedille. I am not talking about revenge, I am merely concerned, Your Excellency.”

Nobles who agreed with Marcus drew closer, and that emboldened the marquess. “Oh, how the world continues to change. Your Excellency has stayed abroad for a long time that he does not know the state of affairs here. How much do you know of ‘it’?”

Marcus was an excellent actor. His words sounded sincere but had a touch of derision.

“What is it that I need to know?”

Danté still wore an indifferent expression as he replied. He held a new cigarette handed to him by his secretary and smelled it most gracefully.

Marcus kept on talking. “Isn’t it that you have finally returned home, so you will be expected to slowly participate in our politics. Wouldn’t ‘it’ be but an obstacle?”

“Politics. Is that what you think?”

“I’m only speaking out of concern. The thing about politics is that the most important thing is lineage, then comes age, lastly, comes faction.”

What Marcus was hinting at was that Danté only had one out of the three, the noble blood. Marcus was baiting him, pointing out that Danté lacked experience and connections in Karcass.

As he held the unlit cigarette, Danté slowly lifted his eyes. He saw his quiet secretary fidget with his hands. He seemed as if he yearned to say something. But Danté wanted to marvel at Marcus’ recklessness a bit more, so he signaled for marquess to speak again.

Marcus became even more arrogant and boldly looked around at the gathered men. “Look around, Your Excellency. Everyone here welcomes you! It would be nice of you to start conversations with them. There is no relationship more admirable than a political partner.”

“And that political partner being you, I suppose?”

“Haha, I am only here to help as Your Excellency has fallen into the trap of becoming Evony Vonieck’s guardian.”

Who are you kidding, Danté thought as Marcus and the other nobles laughed heartily. Bolstered by Marcus, some of the nobles started to share information no one had asked for.

“I have something you’d like to hear. The manor of Meister, the fallen general, will soon be up for auction,” one man said.

“Did you know? The general had no brothers and his wife did not bear him a son. Since he had no heir to inherit his property, they will soon have to dispose of it somehow...” another man offered.

“The Meister manor? Isn’t that the place with the academy?” asked a third man.

The nobles could not hide their greed. Who would take possession of the Meister manor? This was the most popular topic among the Karcassian political circles. Even before the war was over, as soon as General Meister died, there were those who launched their illegal schemes in secret.

The most Marcus removed his hat and tilted his head towards Danté. His manners were still flawless, but his smirk was that of a victor.

“What does Your Excellency say about joining the game for the Meister manor?”

“I assume you are participating as well?” Danté asked as he put the cigarette in the front pocket of Marcus’ jacket. Sharing a cigarette was a sign of goodwill, so Marcus nodded his head without any further thought.

“Of course. There is nothing better for the honor of the Sedilles than gaining ownership of a manor with an academy. But don’t worry, Your Excellency. I’m not a coward. If Your Excellency requests, I have every intention to share the information at my disposal.”

“Why, thank you very much,” Danté snickered. The nobles who had gathered for gossip dispersed quickly again to acquire more information about the Meister manor. All the while, they did not forget to divide into yet more factions to whisper only among themselves.

On that day, Marcus Sedille had made one huge mistake.

The person he had provoked was none other than Danté Bord Schneider.

Outright displeasure grew on Danté’s face as he kept his eye on Marcus’ back. Through his disheveled black hair, his frightening, purple eyes glimmered with a hint of ferocity. Surrounded by a group of impeccably dressed nobles, Danté was a lone wild horse, and the aura around him changed into that of a supreme being.

On a sluggish afternoon, the usually napping beast suddenly felt the hunger.

After the vultures had disappeared, Danté leaned against the Cloister wall. After he put away his ferocity, he actually let out a sharp laugh.

“What is so funny, Your Excellency?” his secretary asked.

“It’s just that I have come up with a most amusing idea.”

“May I ask what it is?”

Danté stroked his chin with his long fingers and laughed. It was clear that he was going to do something incredibly mischievous. Anxious, the secretary was just about to open his mouth when Danté spoke first.

“I’m going to participate in the Meister game.”

“Your Excellency!”

“I want you to look into it.”

By now, there was no stopping him. It had not been long since he returned, so there was a mountain of tasks for him to get through, but Danté decided to participate in this vulgar game. The secretary’s face grew tired already.

“Are you for real?”

“When have I joked about matters like this? Look into it and bring it to the castle. I will leave a scar as big as the manor on Marcus Sedille’s ego.”

Finishing his words, Danté still had a fierce look on his face as he finally moved those long legs to return home.

The secretary was left alone at the Cloister. For Marcus Sedille to be that confident meant that he had already started on his scheme. Of course, his plan would not be a fair one. That meant that the secretary had to attack even quicker and with even more information. Since Danté chose to enter the game, defeat was not an option. The secretary’s mind started to race.

And yet Danté’s mind was struck with all sorts of amusing thoughts. If things would go according to the plan he had just made, the most amusing incident in recent history would occur. Surprisingly, as Danté bore through Marcus’ self-indulgence, he thought of the little girl in his castle, Evony.

She had killed the previous head of the Sedille family. A death row convict who had been released only with the protection of Danté.

What would happen if Evony Vonieck, – or ‘it,’ as Marcus had called her – were to acquire the Meister manor that Marcus so eagerly yearned for?

As Danté mounted his carriage, he grinned. Just imagining it made him gleeful. He was going to cut through the foolish prides of those authoritative cowards. In the end he would have the last laugh at their expense.

Danté was going to make Evony a player in the Meister game.

# # #

Twenty days had passed since Evony arrived at the Schneider castle. For the past few days, she had been helping Sanko with his meal preparations as soon as she woke and dressed.

Sanko, who at first had refused by desperately waving her off, couldn’t bear the girl’s insistent gaze and eventually handed her an apron.

She didn’t get many chances to meet the servant girls of the castle as she only moved between her bedroom on the second floor and the drawing room on the first floor of the main building. When occasionally the household staff did lock eyes with her, they would say hello to Marsha, who accompanied Evony, then disappear without a sound. But now that she was in Sanko’s kitchen, she saw the staff in the same uniforms more often.

The servant girls ignored Evony.

They did not outright harass her or point fingers. But they also didn’t meet her gaze, as if she wasn’t really there. Nor did they talk to her. Since Evony didn’t approach them either, their awkward distance never seemed to narrow.

Evony expected this kind of treatment, so there was no complaint there. To be honest, she wouldn’t have protested if they secretly dragged her by her hair and slapped her.

But the person who felt most uncomfortable by this fact was Sanko, who had taken to looking after Evony protectively.

“I haven’t seen the doctor today,” he murmured while baking bread. The doctor had been so enthusiastic with Evony's treatment that it was unusual to not spot her in the castle.

Evony still couldn’t muster the courage to speak first, or joke around, but she could now participate in a daily conversation without too much hassle.

“She went to get artificial teeth.”

“Artificial teeth? Why? Did someone break some?” Sanko asked.

Evony stopped in her tracks of cutting up bread, opened her mouth widely and pointed to her upper gum area. Two teeth, which should have been beside the canine, were broken. All that was left of one tooth was empty space, because it had been pulled from the roots.

Sanko bent his giant body to peek into her mouth. Of all times, someone appeared at the kitchen entrance right then and greeted them with laughter.