Chapter 50: The Seven Pillars of Bravenheart

It seemed Isabella had already tried reaching Alayna directly before this, failed to breach the domain herself, and ended up collapsed here instead, sprawled unconscious in this very room.

"Did that spirit girl do something improper to you, Lord Lucian?"

She’d looked genuinely weak only moments before, right up until Lucian had touched her. Now, reading whatever expression had settled on his face, worry crept into her own instead.

Isabella immediately began inspecting him head to toe, her attention snagging hard on his torn, disheveled clothes.

"That spirit had the nerve to do this to you? I’ll go in there and purify her myself, right now."

Her eyes dropped to the sword resting beside him, and her hand reached for it on reflex. Lucian pulled it out of range before she could make contact.

"Whoa, hold on. That spirit’s a good person, she’s the one who helped me get out of that domain in the first place. You can’t purify her, she’s not some evil spirit."

The thought alone worried him. If Isabella actually managed to force her way into that domain, there was no telling what she might do to Alayna once she got there.

Every Crimson-blooded person he’d encountered so far had carried some kind of unpredictable, unsettling strength behind them, Zoria being proof enough of that.

The determination on Isabella’s face faded the instant Lucian objected. She closed her eyes, bowing her head slightly.

"Understood. I’ll respect your wish on this, Lord Lucian."

Huh. That’s oddly polite of her. Did she really just drop the whole idea that easily?

"But Lord Lucian, did you notice anything else strange inside that domain? Any other presence, besides that girl?"

Lucian met her gaze. Something about how casually she’d asked told him she was fishing, carefully, for whatever had actually happened to him in there.

He wasn’t about to hand over everything he knew, though, not when he still needed real answers of his own before deciding what to share.

"Nothing unusual, aside from Zoria, the one you were hunting. He’s gone for good now. I’d say whatever business you had with him is settled."

That was as much as he was willing to give her for now. If he could buy himself even a little more time before the Order of Lumielle got involved in the hunt for the missing crystal fragment, that alone would be worth it.

Isabella studied him closely, her gaze lingering long enough that it started to feel uncomfortable.

Lucian scrambled for a distraction, anything to pull her attention off himself, and his eyes landed on the two maids still slumped unconscious nearby.

"Um, Isabella, could you help these two? I think it’d be bad if they don’t wake up soon."

He moved to help pull both women fully out of the wardrobe.

Isabella blinked at the sudden shift in his attention, clearly caught off guard.

But he had a point. Their safety came first, and as an Archpriest of Lumielle, letting harm come to bystanders in front of her would reflect badly on everything she’d built her reputation on.

She struck her staff against the floor.

A stream of mana poured out, flowing into both unconscious women.

Lucian studied the staff itself carefully, clearly some kind of sacred relic, one Isabella had somehow learned to channel despite carrying Crimson power of her own.

He wondered whether every Crimson descendant carried treasures like that, or if this was something specific to her.

Before he could chase the thought further, both women’s eyelids began to flutter.

Their hands twitched faintly a moment later.

Lucian reached out on instinct, checking each woman’s pulse in turn.

Their heartbeats, the flow of mana through them, everything pointed toward recovery already underway.

Before long, one of them stirred fully and opened her eyes.

Her gaze settled on Lucian, hazy and unfocused, and given his disheveled state, she clearly didn’t recognize him at all.

"It’s alright, don’t force yourself to get up. Just rest here a bit longer."

The maid pressed him with a question anyway.

"Are you one of the new servants Lady Nora’s been experimenting on too?"

It hit Lucian, belatedly, that she’d mistaken him for exactly that.

"Has House Sarnel’s own staff really forgotten what their seventh young master looks like?"

Isabella’s voice cut in from behind him, cold and pointed. Clearly, she hadn’t cared for the maid’s assumption at all. Lucian, for his part, found it understandable enough, he’d been absent from the main estate for so long that being forgotten wasn’t exactly a shock.

The maid froze the instant she registered what Isabella had just said, realizing exactly who she’d been speaking to. Terror flooded her expression, and she immediately dropped into a bow, stammering apologies for her ignorance.

Lucian caught her before she could fully prostrate herself, telling her not to worry about it at all.

Why are they this scared? Do I really look that intimidating right now?

The second maid stirred awake around then too, having caught the tail end of the exchange, and offered her own greeting to Lucian immediately.

He waved them both off gently, urging them to relax, to treat him normally rather than tiptoeing around him.

Both women blinked at that, visibly startled by how easygoing he was being. According to them, his manner reminded them of Lady Jeanne.

"Sister Jeanne?"

They confirmed it. Among all the Sarnel siblings, Jeanne was apparently the one known for treating the household staff with the most warmth.

Something about that made Lucian’s brow furrow slightly, surprised to learn that particular side of his sister.

"Ah, but young master, we didn’t mean the other young masters and ladies treat us poorly, it’s just that—"

Both maids seemed to realize, mid-sentence, that they’d said more than they meant to about the rest of the family. Lucian let it go easily enough, telling them there was no need to worry about it.

"You both seem well enough to move now. If you’re able, could I ask a small favor?"

Both women looked puzzled that he’d be the one asking them for help.

"Could you help me find something suitable to wear for tonight’s party?"

The two maids exchanged a glance, already turning the question over between them, and broke into motion almost immediately, combing through the room in search of anything fit for him.

Before long, one of them returned carrying an outfit.

They’d found a silver shirt and trousers, sharp and elegant, tucked away in one of the other wardrobes in the room.

What caught Lucian’s eye most, though, was a matching cloak the maid carried alongside it.

Silver, just like the rest of the outfit, and something about its cut struck him immediately, it looked nearly identical to what the seven figures from that memory had worn.

Except this one carried no crest of House Lysandra stitched into its back.

Lucian tried the whole outfit on, straightening his posture before turning to show the room how it looked.

Isabella and both maids nodded in unison, clearly satisfied with the result.

Phew. Clothes, finally sorted. Who knew getting dressed could turn into this much of an ordeal.

Just as he let himself relax, the sound of hooves and heavy carriage wheels reached his ears from outside.

He turned toward the window.

The crest on the approaching carriages belonged unmistakably to the Bravenheart Empire, though the sheer number of them gave him pause.

This wasn’t the arrival of a single representative. Whatever this event actually was, it clearly mattered enough to the empire that they’d sent this many carriages, full armored soldiers included, disembarking in formation.

What exactly is this event they’re putting together?

Lucian still had no real idea what his own family was actually hosting tonight.

And it wasn’t only the Bravenheart crest on display. Behind it followed six more crests, representing the Seven Pillars of Bravenheart, the empire’s own equivalent to a house like Sarnel, its most influential families.

Among that procession, two crests in particular struck him as familiar.

One, a pale blue glacier mark on a carriage door, belonged to House Winter.

The other, one he recognized instantly, a lion crowned in flame beneath bold lettering, belonged to House Augusta.

Is Lumina in that carriage? But why would so many important figures be gathering here tonight...

His curiosity spiked hard. Whatever this event actually was, it had clearly pulled in enough weight to justify this scale of arrival, and he was more determined than ever to find out exactly what it was.

"Thank you both for your help. I’ll have a word with Sister Nora later, get her to knock off whatever strange experiments she’s been running."

He moved fast, already crossing toward the door. Both maids visibly relaxed at the mention of Nora’s experiments finally getting shut down.

Isabella called after him, asking him to wait.

He was already gone, moving too fast for her to catch up, cutting straight through the hall toward the staircase leading down.

Just as he reached the top of the stairs, he caught sight of a group of soldiers below, clad in black armor and cloaks. Beside them stood a woman in a hat and glasses.

Next to her, a young man carried a cracked sword, flame flickering faintly along the fracture running through its blade.

Lucian recognized that sword immediately.

Isn’t that Veyra sword?

Realizing exactly who stood below him, he dipped into a respectful bow at once.

"Greetings, Sister Nora, Brother Adrian."