Chapter 99
Vincent laughed briefly ‘hoho’.
He was over this because he knew he was the one who would be grabbing the back of his own neck and fell* if he reacted more than this. He opened his mouth with a gentle smile on his face.
“Haha, yes. Sir’s head is good enough to be used as a decoration.”
“I’m flattered.”
Don’t get shy. It’s not a compliment.
Aria sighed and wiped her face, flapping her lips. But in the end, she didn’t say anything.
‘…… If you’re happy, maybe that’ll be enough?’
If the level of common sense stopped at that level, would it not be that he just didn’t want to know? Cloud would just be a happy knight if he had a master to serve while honing his swordsmanship.
Aria also smiled vaguely, but she still punished Vincent by stepping on his foot for his words.
Don’t make fun of my knight.
“I just agreed with him because he said his head was a decoration…”
Vincent let out a small groan and was surprised, then put down the documents and said.
“I had a quick look at what Sister-in-law asked for.”
“What do you think?”
“I remember all the records about Atlantis that I found in the Angelo Library last time.”
After showing off his memory, he shook his head.
“But I don’t remember reading anything about it. I can’t find it anywhere else.”
“I see…….”
Was it so?
Aria let out a sigh openly, showing her disappointment. She turned her attention back to the news that Cloud brought.
“Which family is the Lord from exactly?”
“It is Viscount O’Neill. He said he didn’t know anything about the man’s whereabouts, but I don’t know if he was pretending….”
Cloud trembled with a sense of betrayal. Aria and Vincent stared at him with cold eyes.
“Anyway, I’ve heard that his family was sold to the Underhill Slave.”
“What? Already?”
Aria jumped up from her seat.
More because the Underhill Slave trader was a large-scale slave trader operating around the world based on the Kingdom of Bruto. It was quite a troublesome place to touch.
“When were they sold?”
“It was a week ago. Usually, after educating slaves, they are auctioned off in the market, but recently they are all sent to the Kingdom of Bruto.”
“Why?”
The Kingdom of Bruto was a country bordered by Garcia and the lowest place in between. In order to get there from the Fineta Empire by ship, it would take a long time.
Was there any reason to move slaves from other country to their home country?
‘It would be a waste of time and money and the procedure would be very complicated. If things go wrong, it can lead to problems between countries and cause casualties.’
It was not something they would do at the expense of such loss.
“I heard that the Kingdom of Bruto has been collecting slaves on a large scale recently, but I don’t know the details.”
Cloud added, “I was told they would be sent there.”.
Large scale.
“They’re going to launch several ships…”
There would be many slaves.
Aria murmured, lost in her thoughts. She thought that hopefully she could take advantage of this situation.
“Even after hearing that, Sir could not have guessed that it was Viscount O’Neill’s… No, don’t. Let’s just not talk about it.”
Vincent, who heard all the stories next to him, raised his glasses and said,
“Seeing that slave traders were involved, it seems that he owed a loan to some debt business and the Viscount. He doesn’t seem to want to pay the Viscount for the money, as he seems to have worked hard to get the money from conch pearl.”
It was a casual tone.
Aria remembered Ted, who was desperate to protect his family.
Vincent muttered, “A week …” and then clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Just give up. A long time has passed. The man named Ted must have already been killed by Viscount O’Neill.”
“No. Don’t give up.”
“Yes? Why?”
“He’s not dead yet.”
He was a lord of bad taste who did not laugh and did not ignore it even after hearing the absurd story of Atlantis’ treasure. He pretended to give Ted a chance to the end and played with him for fun.
It is very likely that it was still the case today.
“Is O’Neill’s estate near here?”
“It’s hard to say if it’s close or far, but the shaman is still in the mansion, so we can go right away.”
“Then I’ll be out for a while.”
Aria said lightly as if she was going for a walk to the front and got up from her seat.
“Now, wait a minute. Sister-in-law!”
“Grand Princess, no!”
However, Vincent and Cloud simultaneously grabbed Aria’s hem. And they forced her to stop as she was about to go straight ahead.
For some reason, at that time, the two of them agreed.
‘What’s wrong with them?’
Aria said as she brushed off the hands of the two who were interfering with her.
“Don’t stop me. I’ll be right back.”
She had the confidence to fix it in the blink of an eye.
Whether it was slave traders or the lord, infiltrating through the song, brainwashing them and extorting them would be the end of it.
But the two men who heard her say it calmly vehemently oppose it.
“Absolutely not!”
“Yes, never.”
And Aria was forcibly taken away.
To Lloyd.
“Come on, repeat after me.”
“……”
“I cherish my body.”
To Lloyd’s harsh words, Aria responded with a sullen expression.
“I cherish my body… But isn’t that what Lloyd is supposed to be saying?”
Then, at her retort, Vincent smirked and clicked his tongue.
“Can Brother’s monstrous body be compared to Sister-in-law’s glass body?”
“Just because your body is strong doesn’t mean you can roll it around.”
“Then you shouldn’t roll the glass body even more, because it will shatter.”
It wasn’t that much. But for an instant, she was speechless. When Aria reveals that she is a Siren, she realized that there were three more people who nagged at her just like Carlin.
‘No, not just three people.’
Tristan and Sabina would never have let her go if they knew about it.
‘I should just sneak up on it.’
Aria habitually thought so, but in the end she had no choice but to have a warm smile on her lips.
“Yes, I will cherish it.”
Shouldn’t she be taking care of it from now on?
‘How to live with Valentine.’
Aria was planning to unravel the identity of the curse that Valentine had been carrying. At the same time, she had to find a way to heal her broken body.
‘For that I have been desperately researching Atlantis…….’
If there were any Sirens other than Aria in Atlantis, she wondered if they would be able to heal her time-limited body.
‘I’m not sure if the Siren’s song works for the same Siren.’
Aria had never heard Sophia sing when she was a child. It was only after Sophia died that Aria realized she was a Siren because Sophia hid it so thoroughly from Aria.
So she didn’t know exactly.
‘Mother died…….’
She has no choice but to meet the same Siren and check it out. She could not go to Atlantis blindly without any information she needed. For that reason, Aria asked Vincent to find out whether her song works with Sirens.
‘But he said he couldn’t find any related records…….’
Still, the situation was positive. Because the same magicians can communicate with each other, and the same priests with the same divine power can communicate with each other.
Wouldn’t it be the same with Sirens? If there were Sirens other than Aria, and the Siren’s song worked for Aria…….
‘Then I can be with you for the rest of my life.’
With Lloyd.
Until they die of old age.
Aria was thrilled by the fact and wanted to go to Atlantis as soon as possible.
‘But if you use too much force, it will be putting the cart before the horse.’
Lloyd was right. She had to cherish her body.
“Then can I go now?”
“I don’t think you listened to me at all.”
“I’m in a hurry right now, so…”
“What’s the use of putting people down there?”
Aria shook her head.
This must be done secretly. They shouldn’t have anything to do with Valentine.
It would be a public debate, and things might get more complicated if she got someone to step out of the family on a grand scale. Since it was related to slave traders in other countries, there was a high possibility that it would become an international problem.
She didn’t know whether the story about Atlantis would leak out. So she had to move in secret.
“Or, just say a word to me. I’ll take care of it.”
Lloyd said quietly.
As if to explain the obvious again. As if he would take care of everything, as soon as her orders were given, just as he did with Count Chateau
Aria looked up at him like that, and said,
“Come with me.”
“……”
Lloyd was still displeased, but he sighed and nodded his head.
“You’re right. If the Black Falcons in the mansion would be willing to sacrifice their life by Sister-in-law’s order, why bother doing it alone?”
Because she had a habit of doing it alone? In the beginning, it was hard to change a person’s habit.
Aria scratched her cheek with a puzzled expression and said,
“Notifying the Black Falcons could lead to family problems. I want to move a little secretly.”
“You and Sister-in-law, you two?”
Vincent had the same unfavorable expression Lloyd had made earlier.
“I’ll also ask Sir Cloud if this were to happen. If it’s Sir…”
He would automatically keep it a secret……. Aria swallowed the rest of the words and smiled, folding her eyes softly. Instead, she cited a second reason.
“Besides, he can defeat a hundred people himself.”
“I’m nervous about that decorative head…”
Vincent muttered, genuinely worried about the head, “I will go too.”
“Yes?”
Surprised, Cloud replied like a sword.
“You will only be a burden.”
“What? Bu, burden?”
The blue eyes beyond the glasses grew as if they were about to pop out.
Hearing a burden from a burden.
He was so traumatized that he was unable to speak for a while.
*) have you ever seen dramas where one of the characters suddenly grabs the back of their neck and groans in pain and then falls down? If so, then yes, this was what Vincent was talking about!
