28 Allegiance (3)

"I am sorry to say this, but if you're talking about the 'tea time' we held this afternoon... that was orchestrated, all of it was done on purpose. Sorry to burst your bubble, but those were empty words," Minerva shrugged, unwilling to see the other's beads of tears rolling down her rosy cheeks.

Even though her true face was revealed, it was still quite painful for her, who has been acquainted with the child for years to have to accept the cold truth.

A sense of kinship even sprouted inside her. They were both Witches.

However, this was a serious matter that couldn't be overlooked.

What Sierra did, even though the action was done through Derrick, had endangered the entire Dukedom's wellbeing.

She would choose Estelle's side on this matter. She couldn't protect Sierra for what she had done, because that would be selfish.

"B-but why? You are a Witch, right? You're a Witch like me, you shouldn't choose that pure - blooded human's side! You... Right, think about the rough times you've gone through, think about what humans have done to our kind! Think about those who made use of you, aren't you angry at them?! You're powerful, why don't you decimate them all?!" Sierra roared.

It was a surprise that a child would spit out those poisonous world, the fact that her words contained manipulative elements did not help in any sort of way. She purposefully took advantage of Minerva's past to try and incite her emotions.

It was a pity that the target was Minerva, who couldn't care less about those puny matters.

However, a question bugged Estelle.

Derrick was overprotective of Sierra. He had always tried his hardest to make her forget about her Witch status, make her feel like she was fully human just like the rest of them are.

She wasn't hated, wasn't ostracized, wasn't used for her power like Minerva.

If that was the case, why would she grow to hate humans, hate her brother, and obsess over the Witches?

[Minerva, why is Sierra leaning towards the Witches if Derrick's words were all she heard about them?]

'...That, I can't say for sure. I'd suggest you to detain them for now. The problem solving can take place in another time.'

[En.]

"Why aren't you replying to me?! Right, you must've been muddled! Big Sister Minerva, wake up... Please, wake up.." Sierra's tears were heart - wrenching, but it couldn't pay for the losses that were made.

The child's mind could not help but replay the elder Witch's words.

(A/N: Each line separates the past conversations with the current story. You should be able to determine which is which just by reading..?)

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"..not Estelle. I never liked her... ever since the very beginning. Heine, too. We have never liked her, but we were.. scared. Estelle is far more powerful than what you can imagine. Who knows, she could be spying on us this very moment and no one except her would notice," Minerva twirled her slender fingers around the porcelain cup, her eyes fixed on the pool of caramel - colored tea.

"Apparently, the Duke's seal has been missing, but it was retrieved back a while ago,"

"No one is under suspicion for now,"

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The little comments Minerva planted under Estelle's guidance certainly led the not - so - naïve child into the trap.

"..Right. You never said that you hated her.. Everything you said was the truth. That's why.. my magic didn't detect anything.." Sierra widened her eyes in realization.

Minerva did not respond, but her expression turned grave as she looked away from the child, remembering how she had hoped for what Estelle told her to be false.

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"I want you to say anything about me. Anything. Even the fact that you don't like me," Estelle handed Minerva the document she had gathered, which included evidence and clues that led up to the real culprit.

Perhaps it was thanks to her newfound emotions, but Estelle was able to roughly guess her surroundings' perceived emotions, including that of Minerva and Heine.

Minerva was deeply shocked when she heard those words slipping out of Estelle's mind, though.

Indeed, what Minerva and Heine held towards Estelle was not feelings of love, nor was it fondness. More than that, they had respect and admiration for her abilities.

The words 'never liked' could mean so many things. Minerva 'never liked' Estelle as she was still in fear over how the child was the most dangerous being she had ever encountered, but at the same time, she held no feelings of hostility.

As a sane person who had lived through hundreds of years, she perfectly knew that going against Estelle could cost her her life, and by no means is she going to attempt that. The same goes for Heine, who had to shoulder more responsibility in comparison to Minerva.

She also knew how Estelle was sensible and that the chances of her abusing the immeasurable powers she possessed were low, so she quickly regained her composure and stayed unfazed.

"Heine told me that Sierra may possess the Truth Magic. That's why, you need to be honest with your words. We can seal her power, but she'll get wary if she receives no response from said magic. I want you to play along every time she scans your words,"

"Tell her that my family's seal is located behind a shelf in my father's study. It's an essential part in whatever they are planning to do. She stole it once and nobody caught her, her guts must be through the roof," Estelle continued, earning a simple nod from the crimson - haired woman.

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"There you go. I have never lied to you, my dear. Your brain does a lot of stuff, and filling up false information with subjective statements is one of them," Minerva stepped forward to approach the child, who was now flinching at the elder.

Even though her actions did not resemble a child, she still thought of Minerva as her pseudo - mother figure.

"Sorry, but I am going to detain the two of you," With a snap of her finger, the two individuals' ankles were tied down with a magic string, in which there was a ball made out of magic that lied on the ends. This was to prevent another fit of struggle.

No matter what they did, they were not able to budge their ankles. They wouldn't be able to stand, which rendered them from moving.

The other bindings were removed to give them relief. If Sierra hurt herself any further, Derrick would also get heated and try struggling. The injuries after that had to be prevented.

Minerva signaled for Estelle to retract the guards. Knowing the plan, the silver - haired child responded with performing exactly what the elder told her.

Once the guards were gone, they looked at each other, with Derrick being the only one refusing to look at the other three.

Whether it was out of shame or lingering hatred, they didn't know.

"The Monster attack," Estelle whispered. "Does it have anything to do with the human race?" Estelle questioned.

Right now, Estelle was almost completely sure that Sierra knew something not much people know and was much more knowledgeable in the fields of monsters if she was able lead the horde here.

"...Why should I tell you?" By the looks of it, Sierra was indeed, related to the incident.

"Because if you don't speak up, I don't mind calling Heine over... I'm pretty sure you know about what the higher Truth Magic can do,"

The Truth Magic had a subsidiary branch, but it was relatively unknown to the mass. Nicknamed the Soul Magic, it involved the use of higher Truth Magic to infiltrate the target's soul and extract valuable information.

The drawback was that, the target's mental stability was risked. Because it would be part of a forced attack, the chances of the magic core being destroyed was high.

Of course, if the user was weaker than the target, it would fail. However, Sierra was nowhere near as strong as Heine.

Sierra flinched upon the mention, and lowered her head. Because her hands were being restrained by the guards, she could only look up to the one she used to call 'Big Sister' hatefully.

"..Duke Alfonso," Sierra muttered.

"Say what?" Estelle raised a brow at the foreign name. No, it wasn't exactly foreign, as she did study about the nobility in her mandatory lessons, but she did not recall about any interaction her father and the Duke had.

"Duke Alfonso is the person you're looking for. I don't know much about him, but he was the one who approached me. I knew about the incoming monster attack, but that was it,"

"Through whom did you meet him?" Estelle asked, glancing at Minerva every now and then.

"..No one. I picked up a letter. I was walking through the marketplace when I noticed a letter imbued with magic. It stood out, and I was drawn to it. At first, it was only out of curiosity, but the contents were actually directed at me, which made me believe that they had planned this for a long time. Ultimately, our ideas were the same and we would end up at the same goal, so I cooperated with them. Satisfied?"

The brief summary was very concise, and contained nothing but the important informations.

"The seal. I suppose that he told you that the seal could be duplicated, and that no one would find anything amiss, huh?"

The 'bait' that lured Sierra into the study was the Dukedom's official seal. There were infinite possibilities that could be achieved by abusing the seal, and all of it would be detrimental to the Dukedom.

It wasn't a surprise that the seal would be the target of many, but the fact that they had managed to steal the seal the first time was quite the shocker.

It led her to believe that there were many others who helped them.

"I'm not that stupid. I know that the real one is made out of restricted material. If the material was common, hell, I would make one myself. I accepted his offer knowing that it " Sierra turned her head to the side as she muttered.

"But you're pretty stupid to follow through with their sketchy plans," Estelle commented, which led to a glare from Sierra.

"Right. You're free to go now, I'm satisfied with this piece of information," Estelle called in for the guards to enter once more.

"Guards, place them under strict supervision. They. Are. Not. Escaping. Got it?" Estelle glared down at them, pressing down on the syllables, and making sure that their heart does not sway in face of former camaraderie.

"Wait," Just as she was about to leave the vicinity, Derrick called out to her.

Her eyes fell onto Derrick, who was staring back at her with great anticipation. After a long lasting staring contest, Estelle let out a defeated sigh as she closed her eyes shut and scrunched her face.

"...Together. Put this pair of siblings in one cell, separated from the rest," With that, she turned her head away. She did not plan to let her heart be influenced more than this.

Derrick finally beamed with happiness, even though he was being dragged away that very moment. The guards, who were once teammates with the foolish older brother could only sigh and thank their young miss for fulfilling Derrick's underlying wish.

All of them knew that Derrick was not a bad person. The young miss, too, would probably only detain them until she was able to solve the problem with her mentors.