Damn Reincarnation

hat it’s fine.
I should be all better after a few more days or so?” Eugene replied with an indifferent expression as he openly stared at Cyan’s face.

This proud and self-centered brother of his seemed unable to fully resolve all the feelings lingering in his heart and could only reveal them through the pout on his lips.

Eugene didn’t have any intention to try and sympathize with the confusion and anxiety that Cyan must be feeling, but he still opened his mouth to offer at least some comfort.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

Cyan stayed silent.

“We’re brothers, aren ’t we? It probably won’t happen in my lifetime, but if I was ever disgracefully held captive like you were… wouldn’t you do the same thing that I did and try to save me without going back and forth on whether you could or not?” Eugene asked hypothetically.

“…It wasn’t disgraceful,” Cyan spat out as his shoulders hunched in embarrassment.
“I was just… careless.
…I was also in a lot of distress since Ciel had just been captured by them.”

“Of course, that must have been the case,” Eugene agreed half-heartedly.

“…I didn’t know that Eward would really be that crazy,” Cyan argued.
“I… I was just trying to do my duty as the heir of the main family.
I wanted to save Ciel and punish Eward, who had fallen into insanity.
But to think that Hector of all people would be collaborating with Eward—! If I hadn’t been flustered by Hector attacking me, I would have been able to save Ciel without your help.”

“Really?” Eugene asked skeptically as the corners of his mouth curved up in a sly smile.

Noticing that Eugene was looking right at him with such a blatant expression of disbelief, Cyan chewed on his lips in embarrassment before letting out a deep sigh.

“…No, I couldn’t have,” Cyan admitted.
“On my own, I wouldn’t have the means to save Ciel and stop Eward.
It’s true that I was careless and distressed, but… in the end, that’s all just an excuse.”

“As long as you’re aware of that,” Eugene said, nodding his head in appreciation.
“It’s not like you were crippled anyhow.
You managed to survive safely.
Then it’s all fine.
You just have to admit your mistakes and do better next time so that something like this doesn’t happen.”

“…I know,” Cyan accepted sulkily.

This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Eugene warned him, “From now on, things will get very difficult for you.
With as much of an impact as this incident has had on the main family, you have to do an even better job as the next Patriarch.
You get what I’m saying, right? You need to train harder and become stronger, or else do you want to end up getting beaten up wherever you go?”

As Cyan quietly listened to Eugene’s speech, he couldn’t help but feel a seed of doubt rising inside him.
Eugene’s words were valid, and there was nothing to refute.
…But was this advice really something that should come out of the mouth of a brother who was around the same age as him?

Cyan cursed.
“…Bastard.
I know you’re right, but do you really need to talk to me like you’re some old man?”

Eugene brushed off the insult.
“Isn’t that just because my mind is much more mature than yours? Brother, could it be that your mental age is still stuck at when you were thirteen?”

Cyan didn’t respond and just pouted his lips.
He sat like that on the sofa for a few seconds, clasping and unclasping his hands, then he slowly raised his gaze to look up at Eugene.

Hesitantly, Cyan proposed, “Since something like this happened, why don’t you just become the Patri—”

“Are you looking for a beating?” Eugene interrupted him with a growl.

“Ahem….
Alright, I’ve got it, so don’t get angry.” 

Cyan immediately backed down, his tail curling up between his legs as he avoided eye contact.

“…I heard some news from the elders earlier.
Father will be coming to the Black Lion Castle in two days at the very latest.
The Red Tower Master and the White Tower Master will also be coming here at the same time,” Cyan reported.

But why?

Eugene was about to question Cyan out of reflex, but he managed to swallow it back.
It really wasn’t difficult to infer their reasons for coming here.

In order to understand the truth behind this situation more thoroughly, the Lionheart clan would need the help of these Archwizards.
Eward had died, and the magic circle he had drawn had been swept away during their fierce battle.

However, Eugene was able to remember exactly what that magic circle looked like.
He had only gotten a brief glance at it, but Akasha allowed Eugene to store all the magic circles he had ever seen inside his head.
Eugene wasn’t the only one who remembered it either; Mer had also memorized it.

Besides that, there was also the spirit of darkness.
The White Tower Master, Melkith El-Haya, was the best Spirit Summoner of her time.
Although she hadn’t made any contracts with a spirit of darkness, there was no greater expert than Melkith when it came to spirits.

‘In fact, the best thing would be to summon the Black Tower Master, but….’

There was no way that the Black Lion Castle would welcome his presence.
Since black magic had been involved in this incident, they would have no reason to want even more black wizards to get dragged into this.

“What about the Holy Empire?” Eugene asked as he tilted his head in curiosity.

With the Red Tower Master and White Tower Master, they would have more than enough experts in terms of magic and spirits, but in Eugene’s opinion, they would also need the Holy Empire’s help investigating the traces of black magic.

“…We sent an invitation to Assistant Bishop Kirstina, but it appears that she was forced to reject it due to being too busy.
Instead, an Inquisitor will be visiting us.”

“Hm.”

An Inquisitor, huh? Eugene recalled the Inquisitors that he had met three hundred years ago.
They were hunters who tracked down and erased every trace of black magic, fanatics who had even more faith in their God than anyone else in the Holy Empire.
These were a group of people who, while hunting black wizards, could be even crueler than the cruelest black wizard.

“…They are quite the experts,” Eugene admitted thoughtfully.

They were not able to cast miracles as powerful as Kristina’s, but they were certainly of more use than Kristina when it came to tracking down black magic.

“But why didn’t Ciel come with you?” Eugene asked after belatedly realizing Ciel’s absence.

He had seen the two of them standing together during the funeral procession earlier, but it was strange that Ciel hadn’t accompanied Cyan when even Gargith and Dezra had chosen to visit.

“Well, I did tell her to come with me,” Cyan said, smacking his lips.
“But Ciel said that she would come by herself later.”

“But why?”

“How should I know?”

* * *

Ciel glared at her reflection in the mirror.
She was wearing a dress uniform that was solid black from top to bottom.
It was the prestigious uniform of the Black Lions, but she still felt stuffy seeing all the buttons on the dress shirt underneath done up neatly.

The funeral was over.
It didn’t matter even if she did change clothes.
However, she couldn’t just change right away.

She needed to firm her resolve.

This would be her first time taking part in a bedside visit.
That barbarically strong guy was currently confined to lying in bed, unable to lift even a finger.

‘…This is my first bedside visit, but it might also be my last,’ Ciel reminded herself resolutely.

Although most of Ciel’s wardrobe consisted of dress uniforms and training clothes, there were still a few other clothes she had never worn before.
Most of these were clothes that she had received as birthday gifts.
She had intended to wear them if she ever needed to go to a party, but wouldn’t it be fine for her to wear one of these outfits to commemorate her first, and potentially last, bedside visit?

Ciel imagined a voice asking her, ‘Are you crazy?’

Of course, that rude bastard might say such a thing as soon as he saw her in such a fancy outfit, but it didn’t matter.
In fact, Ciel actually wanted to fluster Eugene by doing this and hopefully alleviate the currently gloomy atmosphere through an exchange of jokes.

“…Alright,” Ciel said, having mustered her resolve.

Then she began determinedly undoing the buttons on her dress uniform.
After taking off her clothes, she walked over to her wardrobe and stood in front of it.

Then she spent quite some time choosing what to wear.
She needed something that wasn’t too extravagant.
Not like this dress, for example.
Just why were its chest and back cut so low?

Ciel hesitated. ‘…If I wear this….’

After imagining a crumpled look on Eugene’s face that made it appear like he had just taken a mouthful of shit, Ciel snickered to herself.
Although seeing such an expression on him would also be amusing, she didn’t want to wear this crazy dress just to elicit such a reaction.

“You, I’ll leave for later,” Ciel promised the dress. 

After making a quick mental note regarding the dress, Ciel resumed tearing through her wardrobe.
In the end, what Ciel chose was a simple and neat dress that wasn’t too fancy.
Ciel patted the wrinkles out of the skirt with her hand, then looked at her reflection in the mirror.

It had been a long time since Ciel last wore a skirt.
After staring at her appearance for a few moments, her gaze shifted toward her uncovered collarbone.

‘That guy always goes around wearing that strange necklace, doesn’t he,’ Ciel recalled.

The necklace appeared ancient.
As it seemed to have a story behind it, Ciel had asked Eugene for the details several times ever since they were young, but Eugene had never once given her an answer.

‘What’s with that necklace?’

‘Isn’t it pretty?’

‘…Well, it suits you.’

‘Would you like me to give you a necklace as well? One that’s exactly the, same, as, mine.’

While imagining such an exchange of words inside her head, Ciel rummaged through her accessories.
She had received quite a few necklaces as presents, so she had to choose one that wasn’t too extravagant and was something similar to Eugene’s necklace….
After selecting a necklace laced with a few small jewels, Ciel hung it around her own neck.

“…Earrings and bracelets would be a bit too much, right? It’s not like we’re going to a party,” Ciel muttered to herself.

The funeral may have been over, but she still shouldn’t wear an overly colorful and flashy outfit.
The dress Ciel had chosen after struggling so much just now was also a black one-piece.

“Fine then,” Ciel murmured.

She reached up and changed the shape of her hair a few times.
Should she let the ends of her hair hang loose or perhaps tie it up? Maybe she should brush it over her shoulder? But the casual look would probably be better.

After spraying on a gentle perfume, her preparations were complete.
Ciel left her room with a satisfied smile and headed over to the suite of rooms where Eugene was staying.

“Ciel, what are you doing—?”

“I’ll kill you if you say another word.”

Cyan had run into Ciel on her way there and addressed her with surprise, only for Ciel to silence him with a threat and immediately leave him behind as she headed up the stairs.

But Ciel silently stopped walking before she had even reached the end of the hallway.

Genia was standing in front of the door to Eugene’s room, sighing deeply as she cradled a large bouquet of flowers.