Young Lord Graniteis

At the same time, in Diamondium Kingdom, Victor Graniteis was returning home after a practice session with Crown Prince Ester Diamondess.

"..."

Sitting alone in a carriage, the dark-brown-haired young man who looked far older than he actually was, resting his chin on his fist while glaring at the changing scenery outside.

His gray eyes appeared to be cold like marble, and whatever he was thinking about, certainly wasn't making him feel any better.

His mood might have everything to do with the practice session itself.

Right as summer break started, His Highness demanded… that is, he generously offered Victor an opportunity to help him test his newest profession of interest.

Dressed up as a brawler, the red-haired prince would dash all around his summer mansion's training grounds and occasionally send out shockwave with a kick or punch before rushing in and trying out a more hands-on approach.

The reason why it took the brown-haired young man so long to get away, was that this time the bitterness over a certain issue ended up spilling over and he actively participated in that training instead of standing still like an indestructible punching back.

After getting blocked and countered, Prince Ester became highly competitive and would not even listen to Victor's opinion.

"I should have smacked him hard enough to make him eat dirt. Maybe then people would stop calling me with that stupid nickname. Prince's shield. What a load of crap."

The young man grumbled grumpily as his carriage passed Brylant Academy.

Byrlant Academy was on the outskirts of the same town as Graniteis Castle, but both buildings were on opposite sides of it.

Living so close to the Academy, Victor was amongst the few students who weren't using the optional dormitory. Whether that was a positive thing or not was up to debate, but the convenience of that was undeniable.

Soon enough, Victor Graniteis was home.

The castle itself wasn't nearly as grand as someone might have imagined.

There were almost no decorations or fancy furniture to warm up the cold, barren stones, making for a rather ascetic building.

Similarly, the amount of servants was minimal.

Neither of those things was because Victor's father, the General of the Diamondium Kingdom's army, was a cheap man, though.

Simply put, both father and son agreed upon using basically all of their money for the research and countermeasures against demonic possession and curses.

Even the number of guards was far lower than the standard for Barons, and despite the warnings from the royal family, Graniteis would say that, in the first place, there was nothing worth stealing remaining in their household, so no thief would bother breaking in.

"...?"

…although that last part might not be the case, as Victor was faced with the few guards and even the single butler frantically running around calling out to each other in troubled voices right as he got out of the carriage.

"Johan? What's going on?"

"Young master…!"

The brown-haired young man reached out his hand, stopping the elderly butler and asking, to which the man called out in distress.

"It's…! Miss Clara is missing!"

"!!!"

The elderly butler cried out, trembling with worry, causing Victor to freeze up.

Clara was the name of the white-haired girl afflicted with a mysterious demonic curse that froze her in time, turning her into a statue. It was believed that she wasn't the original target of the curse - that being the crown prince - but she ended up in its way as Ester's carriage almost ran her over. Instead of properly taking care of her, the prince tried to brush the whole thing under the rug and placed her in a private hospital where Clara didn't receive proper treatment but was stuffed into a storage room instead!

Even Victor, who was believed to be Ester's closest friend, learned about Clara's fate by complete accident. The moment he did, though, he did everything in his might to do the right thing, including taking the girl afflicted by the demonic curse away from the neglectful facility and moving her to Graniteis castle.

Doing that instead of moving the girl to a more specialized hospital was fueled by the fact that upon learning about her whereabouts, Crown Prince Ester could try to make her disappear as she held the potential to become quite a scandal that could greatly damage his reputation.

"She's gone?!"

"Yes. I'm terribly sorry, young master…! She disappeared the other day… It was such a nice day, and I left the window open, thinking she would have enjoyed it, and the next moment…"

Victor gasped and bit his lips, to which the elderly butler nodded, crushed by guilt.

"Was it because of the curse?! Did something happen to make it worse and… wait… Father was summoned to the capital, and I…"

The brown-haired young man muttered to himself greatly distraught before flinching in realization, making a rather daring connection and assumption.

"Johan, did you tell the others to check for the tracks outside the window?!"

He clenched his teeth and asked, grabbing the butler's shoulders.

"Y-yes, young master. Unfortunately, we didn't find a thing…"

The elderly butler answered apologetically before shaking his head.

"That shameless bastard…! Those quacks must have told him that she got moved! Did he lure me out so he could get rid of her?! How shameless that buffoon can get?! Goddess! What did I expect from a scum that neglects his own fiancee!?"

Victor let go of the speechless butler and growled, turning right around, about to rush back into the carriage.

"Young Lord! What perfect timing~! I'll be making one of your favorites for dinner~!"

While the brown-haired noble was about to storm off, a young white-haired maid returning from shopping with a basket full of ingredients curtsied a bit awkwardly and called out to him.

"Thank you, but I won't be staying for…"

Victor nodded at the girl and raised his hand apologetically as he passed her, only to freeze up.

When he was leaving to meet Ester, there was no maid in Graniteis Castle, certainly not one with white hair...