Chapter 95: The Apricotty Forest
Jean hummed as she brought a blank parchment and a quill from his desk.
“Then shall we begin our client consultation?”
He started writing on the parchment as he spoke.
“Your name is Sue Byron Chiqmefriar, right? And you’ve decided to remove that curse?”
“Yes.”
Jean remembered the day he had met Sue. He had only briefly sensed Sue’s magical energy flow, but the dissonance had been so strong that he couldn’t forget it even if he tried. And the payment had been quite generous.
“So who’s the one who activates your curse?”
Sue hesitated. She just needed her own curse removed, so did she really have to mention Enzhe’s name?
But Jean pressed her, and Sue answered reluctantly,
“Enzhe Lopetrefer. The eldest daughter of the Lopetrefer grand duke family.”
“…Lopetrefer?”
Jean’s eyes widened, as expected. Sue quickly changed the subject before he could say anything more.
“You said it would take five years to create a counter-curse, right?”
“Ah… Yes. It seems like deciphering the structure will be difficult, but the magic itself seems simple.”
“What do you mean?”
Jean thought about how to explain it, then took a sip of milk and spoke slowly.
“What kind of curse is it that’s been placed on Sue Byron Chiqmefriar?”
“Um… It’s a binding curse.”
“Right. But it’s a little different if you describe it in detail.”
“Huh?”
The white quill pointed at Sue, who was raising her eyebrows in confusion. Jean focused on the tip and muttered, as if to himself,
“It’s a curse that inflicts pain… forcing you to obey. That’s what it is, in the end.”
“…I didn’t tell you that. You seem to know a lot.”
“I’ve been thinking about it since that day. I might not look like it, but I’m a genius. And you’re a valuable resource who could become a long-term client!”
Sue felt a pang of envy, seeing Jean boasting so shamelessly. She hadn’t met anyone this narcissistic since Fritz.
But at least Fritz was childish, not frivolous. Sue felt a growing sense of unease and warned Jean again,
“If I make a contract with you, you have to keep everything confidential.”
“Don’t worry about that! I’m a person who makes a living based on trust. It’s about time you started trusting me, don’t you think?”
“Ah, yes, yes.”
Jean winked. Sue shuddered and mumbled something vaguely.
“Anyway, if we make a contract, I’ll bring the payment next time. Um… Jean.”
Sue had been wondering whether to call him Jean or Emilia, and she had settled on the easier Jean. Jean, as if used to it, popped a cookie into his mouth and said,
“You can call me whatever you want, but call me ‘Master’ when we’re outside.”
“Master?”
Sue cringed at the sudden title.
What master? She wouldn’t be learning anything.
Jean clicked his tongue and wagged his finger.
“You don’t know anything. Master and disciple is the easiest relationship to explain to others.”
“Ah…”
“We might have to go outside together. It’s better to decide beforehand than to fumble around.”
Jean, who was used to these kinds of deals, rattled off the contract manual.
Don’t ask about his identity, any requests outside the contract terms will be charged separately, report any abnormalities with the curse mark immediately, don’t feed Rem without permission, don’t try to ride Rem, don’t hit Rem, don’t dislike Rem…
Sue only half-listened, letting the rest go in one ear and out the other. Jean was surprisingly talkative. And most of it was about Rem.
“So you’re going to make a contract with me, right? Here, sign this.”
Jean handed her a contract as soon as he finished explaining the manual.
Sue found herself holding a quill, about to sign her name at the bottom right corner.
“W-wait a minute!”
She shouted, closing her eyes tightly, unable to bear Jean’s intense gaze.
“Just a moment.”
She put down the quill and took a deep breath. She had shouted to clear her mind.
She now believed in Jean’s words and skills. She had already seen enough. She just needed a little more time to prepare herself mentally.
To prepare herself to betray Enzhe Lopetrefer and her parents, who were nothing but a name.
“…Phew, I’m ready.”
She cleared her mind and signed her name without hesitation. Jean picked up the contract, now signed by both of them, and raised it high.
“Ah, thank you, Sue. It’s been a while since I’ve had a long-term client.”
Jean’s eyes welled up, as if he had been struggling financially. It was just a piece of paper with two signatures, but he looked at it with adoration, as if he had just met his lover.
Sue smiled gently, watching him. She was glad that Jean was happy.
“So what do I do now?”
Sue asked Jean, who was now her curse breaker. Jean, who had been kissing the contract, turned to her. A silence fell, and then, with a completely different expression, he ordered,
“Take it off.”
“…What?”
“Or do you want to take off only half?”
Sue understood what she meant, but she froze, taken aback by his sudden request. Jean, realizing she had been misunderstood, quickly clarified,
“Even though I’m a genius who can identify a curse just by sensing your magical energy flow, I still need to see the mark itself.”
And he was curious about that snake thing.
Sue chuckled at his matter-of-fact tone, devoid of any suggestive undertones.
Well, she wasn’t in a position to be picky.
Sue obediently took off her navy blue dress and lay down on the bed.
“Hmm, so this is the snake.”
As Sue had said, there were two black snakes intertwined.
Jean leaned against the wall and stared at the curse mark for a while, then went to another room and brought back two syringes.
“Let me draw some blood.”
Sue had to give him blood and some flesh before she could finally put her dress back on.
She sat on the bed and watched Jean, who was sitting at his desk, organizing his plans.
“…Ah, right, Jean. Something like this happened…”
She suddenly remembered Damon Keron.
She described what she knew about Damon, thinking it might be helpful: the black fog, the black snake tattoo on his left arm, his body turning to dust, his rapidly increasing magical power.
Jean just nodded, his expression unreadable, as if he was only half-listening. Then, he crossed out two lines on the parchment with his quill and replied,
“It would have been nice if they had captured him alive.”
It was a concise but valid point.
“Anyway, he was using multiple curses and spells, and he could even control their intensity. That black fog thing… it definitely seems related to monsters. Did he grind them up or something?”
Sue ignored his interesting hypothesis and tapped her foot on the floor.
“Am I going to die like that too?”
“Hmm, well, I’ll have to see. …Huh? But you’re not going to die anyway, since I’m going to break your curse.”
Jean looked at her, genuinely confused. Sue met his gaze, then smiled brightly.
“Yes, I’ll be counting on you.”
Sue stood up from the bed. Ten was waiting outside, and she didn’t think there was anything else she could do, so she decided to head back to her townhouse. She looked out the window, and the sun was already setting.
She said to Jean, who was still working.
“Then I’ll be going. When should I come back?”
“Hmm, whenever you want. Within three months.”
“Okay, I understand.”
Within three months, whenever she wanted.
Sue repeated his words in her mind, and she was about to leave the hut when…
“Ah, wait.”
Jean stopped her. She looked up at Sue, his eyes gleaming with a faint smile.
“I’m curious, what are your plans for the future?”
Sue tilted her head, confused by the sudden question.
“You’re not planning to just go with the flow, are you? You’re betraying Lopetrefer. Are you planning to die the moment your curse is broken?”
“No, I have a plan. But…”
Why was he asking that?
Sue trailed off. But Jean stared at her intently, as if he wouldn’t let her leave until she answered.
Sue, having already revealed Lopetrefer’s name, didn’t have anything to hide, so she spoke clearly,
“I’m going to leave Atlantis. Somewhere far away.”
The words came out easily, and she felt a sense of relief. Jean smiled with satisfaction.
“Good thinking, Sue.”