27 Allegiance (2)

"What happened?" Minerva arrived around an hour later, still in her usual messy appearance.

"The rat. It has been identified, the only thing to do left is setting the trap up,"

"Rat? Ahh, that," Minerva made a sound of understanding as she took a seat on the nearest chair, positioning her elbow on the table and cupping her face in her palms. "So? What do you want me to do, and who?"

"I need you to poison somebody..." Estelle smirked in a way that was unsuitable for her age.

Minerva widened her eyes in disbelief as she knew that Estelle disliked underhanded methods like poisoning and curses. Although smart, the methods were unfair, as they could ruin someone without them even knowing that their doom was right behind their every step.

"...With words, of course," Coughing, she further clarified, making Minerva's expression ease up.

"The target?"

Estelle handed her a transcript containing a rundown of the plans, depicting specific actions Minerva had to execute in time.

She had compiled the necessary information with haste after receiving the news from Heine. The plot was ready, it was only the actors that were missing.

Minerva scrunched up her brows as she looked at the text. Her face contorted and distorted into various emotions. She then nodded her head, promising to do the job with no flaws.

Waiting for the time written on the file Estelle gave to her, Minerva recounted the plan and snapped into her acting mode.

She wished that this wasn't the truth.

A little girl entered the manor. Like Derrick previously said, his little sister went out on a shopping task.

The girl, Sierra Sullivan, was the prime suspect. According to Heine, the most likely culprits were the Sullivan siblings.

Approaching the girl with ulterior motives, Minerva scanned the girl from head to toe. She couldn't find anything amiss.

She wanted to doubt Heine. But the man had never disappointed her in terms of credibility. He was someone who wouldn't propose an idea unless he was at least 95% sure.

Minerva was betting on the remaining 5%. Hoping that he was mistaken.

"Sierra! Hiii!" Minerva greeted in high spirits. Waving her hands energetically, Minerva walked towards the manor's entrance to welcome the girl.

"Big sister Minerva! How come you're here?" Sierra happily replied, clearly ecstatic at the other's visit.

"Look at how excited you are. I came to see Estelle, but she's currently out with Heine," Minerva fondly gazed upon the child. "Shall we have a little chat?"

Of course, the invitation was met with a positive answer.

From the shadows, Estelle lurked around. Sierra might be sensitive to magic, but when Estelle got serious, she wouldn't be able to best her.

Masking her presence, she watched.

She watched the two's interaction with great interest. Estelle's lips curved into an arch as she knew that the trap was set.

The two sat down on a nearby table. Minerva even poured tea, and the little girl happily drank the liquid.

Oblivious of everything that went behind the scenes.

She observed as Minerva acted out her lines, and waited until Sierra's expression morphed into something strange.

[...If it's like this, then Sierra's really...] Estelle's gaze darkened. Like Minerva, she too wished that Sierra was innocent.

However, the angelic little girl was far more complex than she thought.

Looking at Minerva's increasingly dejected expression, Estelle knew that she had realized that the information provided wasn't falsified.

Preparing her heart to soothe the immediate concern and care she felt for the siblings, she decided to strengthen her will.

A spy was a spy.

Whoever endangered her family shall fail.

[Minerva, fall back. Your job is done.] Estelle informed.

'Really?' Minerva replied.

[En, I'll take care of the rest from now on.]

Estelle knew the girl's next destination. Heine's plan made sure to construct a plausible conversation for Sierra to believe in.

-Because it was Minerva, the girl would trust her words.

According to Heine, that was the case.

Rushing to the mentioned place, Estelle told Minerva to separate from Sierra.

The few key points Estelle had inserted into Minerva's script would definitely force the girl to come to 'the place'.

The next phase jumped straight into the climax. Estelle had not expected that the rat would fall into the trap so easily, but there they were, secured tightly thanks to the falsified bait.

Estelle and a few other guards, including Minerva stood in front of her father's study as they waited for the 'trap' to unfold.

"Ahh!" A pained scream came from inside.

In that same moment, Estelle gestured for the guards to break in and capture the trapped rat.

"I wonder how long you are going to play this game for," Estelle stepped inside the room, clapping while smiling like an angel. "Sierra?"

The five - year - old child should've looked like a godsent gift, but to the trapped rat, she looked no different with a devil.

"..Big sister," Sierra bit her lips as she glared, subtle hatred and despise lacing her brown irises. Her hands were bound by a magic string, the byproduct of Estelle's magic.

Scattered on the ground was a box, a fake box, to be precise. It had electricity coursing through the entire medium, the color blue sparking with vigor. It was also the activator for the magic string that was currently binding Sierra's hands.

The box, when opened by someone other than Estelle, would create a loop for Estelle to administer her magic to the culprit. In this case, Sierra was the proprietor.

Of course, Sierra was not alone. Right beside her was Derrick, who had worry written all over his face. He didn't bother with formalities such as greeting his master, he did not feel guilty, he only felt worried about Sierra, who was now crying in pain.

Sierra did not intend to fall without struggling. However, the more she tried to get away from the binding string, the more it dug into her skin. Blood even started spurting out, although only in slight amounts.

"It's better if you stop. It's futile," Estelle coldly gazed upon the little girl. She steeled her heart and told herself that every crime must be judged fairly.

"W-What are you talking about? Hey, please release me, sister.. It hurts really bad... Please," Sierra choked on her own words, tears streaming down her face as she tried to convince Estelle to stop her actions.

"Derrick Sullivan and Sierra Sullivan. Under the crime of espionage and treachery, the two of you shall never step another foot inside this Dukedom's lands," Estelle stated her decree. Her decision and intake on this matter was no longer debatable.

The girl's cries hurt her, but she couldn't waver.

"However... I do desire to hear your thoughts, your motives for doing this. Care to tell me?" Estelle tried to hear it.

"I don't understand! I'm also a Witch! I'm destined to be a great figure like sister Minerva! This useless brother of mine does nothing but drag me down! What's with his 'witches are bad' statements?! I'm also a Witch, doesn't he have a brain?! He's insulting his own little sister!" After realizing that there was no other way out, she started to confess.

Sierra bellowed out as her whole body struggled to break free, but the guards did not care and restrained her even harder to the point of eliciting another cry of pain from the child.

Her hands further bled. The wounds became more serious.

Crimes, especially at such a high degree were not excusable in any way, even if the wrongdoer was a young child.

If the deed was done with clear intentions, nothing could be justified.

The entire Dukedom was set to doom if Estelle did not make prior connections to a hegemon like Heine, who in turn was deeply acquainted with Gazelle, another Ruler.

"Sierra.." Derrick was clearly stunned. He had planned to beg Estelle to forgive the two of them, or at least spare their lives.

As the medium, he had known of his little sister's other side, but he didn't think that it was this bad.

Derrick had found out about Sierra's antics months prior to this. It was an accident, but Sierra broke down because of it and threatened Derrick with her life if he wouldn't comply to her words.

In face of such a heartbreaking threat, what could he do?

Ever since Estelle warned him to stay in their lanes, no, even before that, he was already planning to convince Sierra to stop.

Spying on the Dukedom's matters, it was easy to lose your life and be buried six feet underneath the ground.

Now that they were caught, he wished that he could turn back time and forcibly stop Sierra.

After digesting the reason, Estelle's mood worsened. It was the type that she disliked. A foolish and brainless act.

"...In consideration of the years you have served me, I will not threaten your life, but by no means are you going to be let go without any punishment," Estelle crossed her arms as she cast a binding spell on the two of them. She instructed for the guards to bring them to the dungeon.

Her status as the two figures' disciple had been revealed on the King's audience, so Estelle no longer hesitated in performing such simple magic.

Estelle visibly saw the Derrick heave a sigh of relief. At the very least, their lives were safe.

He thanked her in his heart.

But then, Sierra went on another outburst.

"Big sister Minerva doesn't even like you, no one likes you! They're just pretending to play along! In the future, you'll definitely meet your doom!" Sierra spat out the words in anger.

"SIERRA!" Derrick screamed. She kept trying her luck. What if their lives would no longer be spared? A person's patience was limited.

"No one likes me..?" Estelle displayed a frowning face, as if she was deeply shaken by the revelation.

"Hah! Of course! Big sister Minerva just told me that she loathes you from the very start!" Sierra squinted her eyes, ready to marvel at Estelle's despair.

Minerva prepared herself to reveal the truth, but she was stopped by the same person who ordered her to 'poison' Sierra's mind.

[Don't.]

Sensing that Estelle had other unresolved motives, Minerva held herself in place and pretended like she was on a neutral side, not acknowledging the statement, but also not showing any signs of rebuttal.

The next moment, Estelle's expression was replaced with a degrading one as she stepped forward until she reached the same girl that was being restrained.

Sierra flinched, her heart pounding like never before.

Estelle raised her hand to nudge Sierra's forehead, knocking her small head backwards.

"Funny. I like myself, am I not a person? Besides, it's not like my world will end if no one liked me. How childish," Estelle chuckled.

"The fact that you were willing to be manipulated by the one behind this all further proves your childlike qualities. Don't you realize what danger you were put in? Not to mention, you dragged Derrick into this. I am a Duke's daughter, if it wasn't for the devotion Derrick had for us, you wouldn't even be here right now,"

"Your crime is heavy,"

"You would've been taken away forcibly, separated from each other, and tortured forever. Whereas the one who ordered you to spy on us would be free,"

Of course, this was a lie. Estelle would've still chased the one who led the monsters down, no matter what.

"What, do you desire approval? Minerva's approval? You want to be a strong figure just like her? Even so, you're willing to commit underhanded tactics and work for pitiful people?"

The scene looked out of place. The silver - haired child with her hand now gently placed against the bottom of the other girl's chin was sure to be thought of as a play if the picture was seen by a person from the modern times.

Estelle's expression made stomachs churn in discomfort. She had developed a phobia, an extreme feeling of reproach towards ones who betrayed their close ones, made use of them, and thought them as mere tools.

It wasn't only disgust. She loathed people of Sierra's type. Those who were willing to act like a small animal just to incite feelings.

Even as Reina, she still had the conscience to think of others who worked for her as someone with the same standing as her and not below. After all, her company was led by her, but was not built up from the ground by her alone.

She made a large contribution, but everything would not have been possible with a one - man - effort.

That's why, seeing Sierra who discriminated and showed dislike to Derrick, who had pure adoration towards this half - sister of his irked Estelle to the max.

Derrick had been with her for many years, just like how Sierra was there as an apprentice maid. Having seen Derrick's devotion and efforts to obtain happiness for the small family, how could she not get angry at Sierra?

Sierra held pride on her bloodline. As a half - Witch, she thought that she should be getting special treatment, that she should thrive to the pinnacle like how Minerva did.

Even so, she missed two important points.

First, Minerva's father, who she inherited the bloodline from was not a simple Witch, he wasn't someone you could meet whenever you could. He was someone who had massive powers, and even had the capability to defile Yulia's mother, a High Elf. Although his powers wouldn't directly affect his offspring, it increased the chance of them landing on the high side of the power potential roulette, in which the sisters did succeed on getting special powers.

Second, Minerva did not reach where she was standing right now purely because of her high potential, but also because of how she managed to control her emotions, how she managed to lay low and cultivate her power until she gained enough strength to take down her father once and for all.

Minerva was someone who did not see herself as a strong person just because she had the Witch bloodline. In fact, she had a hard time mixing in with the crowd because her mother was someone from a small village. The rumors of her being a cursed child who killed her mother naturally spread like a wildfire. Enduring that for years made her an expert at controlling her emotions, sealing her hatred away, and increased her judgmental vision.

"I am sorry, but..."