Side Story 2: Damon 2

 Side Story 2: Damon

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“How are you going to deal with it, Damon?”

Josef stared blankly at Damon, who didn’t answer and scratched his cheek. 

“It seems that Faber is trying to start checking Lagrange.”

Damon raised the corner of his mouth as if mocking Josef, who made fun of him as if he and Faber were separate from each other. 

“...Aren’t you also a member of Faber?”

Faber was a group that valued balance above all else. 

Most of Faber’s people believed that since Euclid’s fortunes had declined, Lagrange’s power should also be reduced. 

“Even so, I couldn’t possibly put Anissa in danger.”

Josef knew that the equilibrium Faber was seeking was the quickest way to bring peace to the continent, but Anissa’s safety was now more important to him than peace on the continent. 

“The children were just born as well.”
If Anissa was like a grandchild who was pleasing to the eyes, her children were even more precious to him.

“Ruby calls me Harvey!” 

Although they were not blood-related, Anissa’s eldest daughter, Rubirence, used to refer to Josef, who almost lived in Lagrange to look after the children, as Grandfather Harvey. 

It bothered him a little that the raised eyes and splendid features perfectly resembled Dietrich, but Rubirence and Shire were already precious family to Josef. 

“Shire still seems a bit shy but…oh right, you’ve never seen the children, have you?”
Following Hermann, Josef was urging Damon to meet Anissa and the children. 

Damon’s heart throbbed at the realization that Anissa had talked to them about him. 

‘My missing heart is about to ache.’

“Yes, I haven’t.”

He let out a laugh that sounded like a sigh, feeling sorry for himself.

“Have you figured out the elders’ plans?”

“That’s right. It seems that they intend to move the allied powers to the borders of Lagrange. Did you know?”

“....No.”  

It was a plan that Damon, the head of Faber, had never heard of. 

The elders who noticed Damon’s change of heart began to push him away from the center. 

“Thank you for letting me know.”

Taking a quick look at the map scattered on the desk, Damon hurried out of the office, past the worried-looking Josef. 

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In the spring of the following year, when Rubirence and Shire took their first steps, Lagrange was peaceful.

“Madam, Marquis Deus has come to call.” 

While stroking the children’s fluffy hair, I widened my eyes at Lancel’s words.

“Damon is here?”

“Yes, it’s Marquis Deus. Shall I let him in?”

“Yeah, let him in.”

I was a little surprised by Damon’s unexpected visit, however, I couldn’t help but smile as his figure was slowly revealed beyond the door of the drawing room. 

“Damon! It’s been a long time.”

Dietrich didn’t like Damon very much – he didn’t like most humans – but I wanted to see a little bit of Damon, who stopped visiting Lagrange as soon as I got my memory back.

“It’s been a long time, Princess.”

“I’m no longer a Princess.”

“If so, shall I call you Duchess?” 

I looked up at Damon’s cold face, smirking as if he were joking. 

I had felt it since he was a knight of Derek, the previous head of Lagrange, but he was too handsome to be called an extra.

I cleared up my voice which came out a bit edgy without realizing it. 

Damon’s almond-shaped eyes widened as if he felt that I was angry with him. 

“Are you angry?”

“.....I’m not angry, I’m just a bit disappointed.”

I thought we were friends, but to Damon, I was just a chess piece needed to keep the South in check.

I felt a lot of disappointment, but I couldn’t blame him because he helped me a lot. 

“Damon must have been very busy, too.” 

I didn’t even notice that Damon was no longer visiting Lagrange because I was busy giving birth to Rubirence and Shire. 

“Yes, I was busy.”

Damon nodded his head at my words of patronizing understanding. 

“I’m relieved that you seem to be doing well as Josef had told me.” 

Josef told me everything about Damon not being so busy, so it was a reprimand with that meaning, however, he only smiled without saying anything. 

His gaze, which had not left my face from the moment he entered the drawing room, slowly descended.

“.....Are these children?”

Damon pointed to the twins who were sleeping peacefully on my lap. 

“Yes, Rubirence and Shire. You must have heard their names from Josef at the least, yes?” 

“They mean Ruby and Sapphire, I see.”

Damon laughed at the children’s names. I felt better at his low voice which I hadn’t seemed to have heard in a very long time. 

“That’s right. Rubirence is a child with more vivid red eyes than Dietrich’s, and Shire is a child with clearer blue eyes than mine but it’s a pity that both of them have their eyes closed.” 

I couldn’t wake the children from their sound sleep just to show off to Damon how pretty their eyes were. 

“Are you…doing well?”

As I was staring at Ruby and Shire with eyes filled with love, Damon, after looking at me silently for a while, slowly spoke.

“Though I can see that’s the case.”

“Of course. If it’s just like now, there’s nothing more I want. What about Damon?”

“I’m also doing well.”

Damon gave a short nod to me belatedly asking how he was doing. 

“Is something wrong? I was just joking earlier. And If you need my help, I’m always willing to lend you a hand.” 

After all, I owe him a huge debt. 

‘Of course, I did expel a traitor from Faber for him as well.’

It was nothing compared to Damon’s hints about Camille that allowed me to uncover Hela’s identity.

“No. It’s not something I need your help with. I just have something to offer.”

Damon shook his head slowly at my question and took out a small box from his chest.

The luxurious box made of ebony was decorated with silver, but as soon as he put the box down on the table, the aura that emanated from it was unusual. 

“....Is it a demon’s sealing stone?”

I momentarily frowned as I doubted what was in the box.

‘But most of the shadow demons are losing their power, so they won’t be able to radiate such a strong aura.’

“No. Though something is indeed sealed, it’s not a demon.” 

Damon’s graceful fingers slowly unlocked the box. 

An insidious purple mana wrapped around his hand, as if it had been sealed, and then scattered into thin air.

“It’s a uniquely shaped gem.”

I could only look down at the huge gem of a strange purple color and be in a pure state of admiration.

“It’s beautiful.”

I didn’t directly run a guild like Veronica, and I wasn’t interested in jewelry like Rose, so I couldn’t figure out what kind of jewelry it was. 

However, the murky and opaque light of the jewel wrapped in a darker velvet was certainly beautiful enough to arouse admiration. 

“.....Is that so?”

At my admiration, Damon scratched his cheek with a somewhat confused face.

“Yes. Though at first glance, it also looks like someone’s heart.” 

I murmured softly as I looked down at the heart-shaped jewel that was elaborately crafted.

It was common for famous jewels to have their own names, and if this jewel had a name, the word ‘heart’ seemed to fit in.

“That’s impossible. A human heart cannot be like this, can it?”

“I’m just saying.” I tilted my head at Damon’s words, which seemed to be scolding me, and continued, “But why would you give me such a precious gem?”

“If it’s you, then surely, you can feel the mana in this gem.”

“Yes, it’s very powerful. I can feel that it’s not a normal thing.”

“Do you know about Solio Union?” 

“The allied forces?”

As if persuading me, who was frowning at his outrageous words, he unfolded a small map on the table. 

“Yes. Each country is just a powerless small country, but it is not a negligible size because it can gather strength.”

As he said, in the west of Lagrange, which swallowed up the northern tip of the continent, there were countries belonging to the Solio Union that the Empire had not yet organized. 

‘However, they must be countries that have no exchange with Lagrange at all….’

Compared to Lagrange, who was the strongest family in the Empire, even a kingdom belonging to the Union, was nothing more than a candle in front of the wind. 

They did not dare to cross the borders of the Empire even while Lagrange wrote the history of the war with Euclid.

“Many people have noticed that the shadow demon’s power is waning.”

He slowly stroked the heart-shaped jewel with his fingertips and added.

“So use this mana stone as collateral for a peace treaty with the allies. They’re in dire need of mana right now, so they won’t be able to refuse your offer.”

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