Olele took us back to the entrance hall where four animals were waiting for us. A black cat, a white crow, a gray snake, and a brown bear. She took the lead in introducing us. "These are the four patron saints of the Bartomeus family. They are magical constructs designed to protect the mansion and its high-ranking clan members. Think of them as personal bodyguards. ”

I checked each of them in turn. They look like their normal animal counterparts. down to the smallest detail. Well, the crow apparently got the color wrong. So how are they supposed to be bodyguards? The bear at least thinks he can act as a meat shield, but what about cats and crows? My gaze drifted to the snake.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm poisssonousss," the snake rattled. "Me and SSSINCE, I'm pure magic, I can be bigger or smaller if I want."

Good. Intelligent, intelligent construction. "Hmm...... Nice to meet everyone? ”

Anna waved her hand. "Hello."

The bear grunted, and the cat nodded. The crow didn't say anything. I guess snakes are the only ones who like to talk?

O'Rel clapped his hands, turned to us, and said, "Now that you know each other, I'd be glad if you always took a guardian spirit with you when you went out." If something happens to you, it's a pity. ”

Ania raised her hand. "Ahem, I promised to meet Angelica today."

Are you sure? If she wants to see the girl every day, she must have a relationship with her vampire friend.

The reaction to Annia's statement was not so enthusiastic. The cat looks to the side, while the bear studies the ground. The crow chooses to groom his feathers. I can't help it. These creatures don't seem to me to be useful guardians.

Moments later, the snake hissed and slid towards Ania. "Since the others obviously don't want to get out of the marble of reality, then I'll accompany you."

My sister didn't hesitate and bent down to catch the snake. "What should I call you?"

"Choose a name. It's none of my business. The snake slid around her neck and turned into a blue scarf that matched her jeans and jacket.

My surprise was no less than that of my sister who screamed with joy. "Wow! Can you become something? ”

"Didn't you hear? I'm a magician. I choose the way I look. ”

I squinted at the snake and joined the discussion. "Then I don't think you need to talk like a snake, do you?"

"It's true, but my accent is part of how I define myself as a separate entity," Scarf replied and managed to sound a little angry.

As Annia discussed possible names with her new scarf, I turned my attention to Ole. "Are there more residents here to meet? If not, I want to explore Reality Marble. ”

This brought Annia's attention back to me. "Yes. Now I remember! There is a beautiful woman looking after the garden. I saw her through the window last night. Who is she? ”

Ole smiled. "That's Fiac. She is Master's aunt. ”

"I thought everyone else but him was dead?" I bit my lower lip and was surprised by the news. Given the story he told us, I don't understand why he let her live.

Olele made a helpless gesture. "What can I say? Just as Master avoided me, he didn't want to see Fiac. After the incident, she has been living in the old servant's dormitory. This allowed her to avoid her master while he was here. If you remember his story, she was the one who set him free. And when she woke up, everyone was dead except him. She blamed herself for what had happened. ”

I nodded slowly and asked the only question that really mattered. "Did she really betray him?"

Olele sighed and shrugged. "I'm afraid it's a question that will never satisfy us. That's why the bear is designated as her permanent watchdog. He only rested for a short time to meet you two. ”

The bear grunted and sounded like "Goodbye!" "Walk to the front door. I followed him, intending to meet Fiacre. In the meantime, I asked Brownie, "Are there any other sentient residents?" ”

She rushed to the door and opened it for us. "Just a relatively large pet belonging to the owner. But it never goes into reality marble, protecting the bottom of the lake from the outside. There will definitely be a chance to encounter it at some point. ”

So it's an "it"? My attention wavered when I left the mansion and saw the entire interior of reality marble. "Alice in Wonderland" is a weak expression that I face. The sky was dyed a faint red. Then I realized how big this area really is. Somehow, Bartomeus must have turned the entire bottom of the lake into a real marble. The huge main house stands on a hill overlooking an elongated oval area.

A river divides a small forest in two, splashed into a series of small ponds by a waterfall. Each pond is as clear and blue as a summer sky. At the foot of the hill there is a huge field and garden area where people are growing edible plants. A normal-sized house is connected to cultivated land.

In the distance, I could barely see the remains of the second mansion. It seems that it was partially destroyed by fire and collapsed in a large area. I could make out the remnants of the fight, it looked like someone was going crazy over there. "It should be the mansion of the split family, right?"

"That's right." Oriel leads the way along a narrow paved path. Halfway up the hill we pass a series of neat graves, starting with the two large graves of Patriarch Bartomeus and his wife. The trail winds down the hillside until we reach a small patch of dead trees. The glimpse through the dead branches was enough to make the hairs on my neck stand on end.

Someone has grown a throne of thorns in the middle of the woods. The throne was a withered shell, but a mummy. A forked spear glowed green, nailing the body to his throne. The mummy's hollow eyes flickered with a similar green light, staring at the scene in front of the throne. Kneeling, sitting or lying down, all displaying dozens of skeletons in front of the crucified king. All of them seemed to worship the figure on the throne.

When I get closer and see clearly, the branches move on their own, blocking the way to the shrine.

"I admit that Master's punishment was a bit excessive. He wanted to give Kelvin a chance to reflect on his actions. Olaire continued on his way.

I almost choked and pointed at the scene with trembling fingers. "He's alive! Turn him into a lich! ”

Brownie turned around and tilted his head to look at the scene. "Not exactly. That artifact was Longinus' spear. The real spear kills Jesus in Jerusalem, an old man who tried to take over the world by enslaving humanity with religion. As long as it still pierced his chest, it would keep Kelvin alive. He was actually dead, but he couldn't take his last breath unless someone pulled out his spear. ”

I've heard the story, but I think the spear is missing.

Anne shuddered. "It's almost like a work of art."

"Master calls it painful and painful work." Olele walked further along the path, and I hurriedly left the terrible scene behind me. How much hatred should there be for defiling the corpse of the enemy in this way? I tried to see it from Magnus's point of view, but found myself unable to imagine the connection he had with his family.

What would it be like to have not only Annia, but the entire family you love? I always stood alone until I took Annia under my wing. In a sense, I played the role of a mother. Our true mother never bothered to be a person, so I tried to give Annia something I never had. When the patriarch tried to trade her like he did with me, I flipped over. I ran away with Annia. What happens if I stand up and fight?

My thoughts were interrupted when at the end of the path was a small, enclosed garden full of flowers. A woman stands next to a large bush of roses, watering it with a can. After noticing us, she turned and smiled. "You must be Sailly and Anne. I've heard a lot about the two of you. ”

I squinted my eyes, disliking the fact that she seemed to know us well. "You're Fiac?"

"Definitely. Please forgive me for the interruption, but Olaire came to me last night and all she did was talk about the two of you. Moreover, the web is full of news that you have disappeared within Bartomeus's territory. Fiacre gestured with his hands, summoning a table and four chairs from the ground. Have a seat. ”

I cautiously approached and marveled at her skill. The furniture is completely smooth stone. It's so easy to do that...... She's either very talented or old. If her age is close to her brother's, then guess she is already over two thousand years old, based on Magnus's story. "You seem to be doing well. Just staying here to take care of the garden? ”

Ole sat down at the table. "Master told them about the family."

Fiacre raised an eyebrow. "He did it? How unexpected. Noticing my curious gaze, Fiak motioned for Anne to sit down with me. After we did that, she continued. "Unlike Magnus, I saw a lot of bad things in my time." She paused. Of course, he also had the opportunity to collect his bad experiences. But by the time our family perished, he was still young and inexperienced in the world. A baby, facing a cruel world, believes that this story will always have a happy ending. ”

She sighed. "Well, no. And I have more than sixty years to deal with the events of that day. I thought a lot about what I could do differently than to allow myself to be manipulated and exploited by Kelvyn. ”

After pursing her lips, she continued. "I fell in love with a man who couldn't tolerate him not being the patriarch. He devised a plan to take the position away from my brother, and I agreed, unwilling to see the true extent of how far Kelvin intended to go. When I woke up, I had lost half of my family. When I tried to save at least one of them, I also lost my other half. ”

"The simple fact is that I was so blindly in love with Kelvin that I didn't want to see his whole plot until he killed my brother. Then he realized that I wasn't the key he wanted and locked me up. In retrospect, I have to admit that I would have repeated all the stupid steps that led to the uprising. Before it's too late, there's no doubt in my mind. ”

I interrupted her. "But Magnus is still trying to deal with his anger."

She shook her head. "Magnus did not deal with these incidents. I don't know if it's because of loss or because of torture, but he is firmly suppressing everything related to that day. It makes me happy that he told you his story. This could be a sign that he is starting to heal. ”

Before I could stop myself, an unladylike grunt disappeared from me.

Fiacre interprets it in her own way and makes an all-encompassing gesture. "In a way, it's my atonement. Take care of the reality marble and give Magnus time to get him moving. This is my way of apologizing for my failure. It was my decision and my ignorance that led to the demise of the family. ”

Anne leaned back. "It's a harsh way of punishing yourself."

Fiacre's answer was a simple and sincere smile.

"God! What a terrible host I am! In the middle of summer, you're sitting here in your winter clothes! "It was then that Olele jumped up, rushed out, and returned to us, once again demonstrating her inhuman speed. I tried to explain that there was no problem, because we sisters all know about environmental magic. My attempt fell through when Olaire lifted a skimpy skirt and a shirt for Annia, as well as a white tight silk one-piece dress with extremely high cutouts on the sides to show some legs. In fact, they're so tall that they go all the way to the waist!

I briefly imagined showing off my figure at that thing, no. Not in a hundred years. Are you going to dress me up like a star and make me dance to off Magnus? ”

Fiacre grinned and examined my body. "I don't think you're going to need lapdance for him to swallow you whole."

I gritted my teeth, and the thought created a strange, hairy sensation in my stomach. I can't deny the physical attraction to him. Oh, how I hate that my body betrayed me like this. Just because he gave me an orgasm. Well, maybe seven, but that's it. I'm still not sure if it's a good idea to give in to this desire. It's like falling in love with your rapist. Even though I learned everything today, we still barely know each other.

But maybe it's a good way to tease him out of his shell in order to understand his true intentions. When he started smoking, he always did it behind closed doors. Well.

Carinthia***

Magnus***

What's wrong with me? I turned around and went back the way I came. Yesterday and this morning, I acted like a split personality. My rational mind told me to take their stuff and throw it away. Let Hammons own them. Maybe they'll even ignore me. I have a slim chance of getting out of it without a blood feud. Maybe the seven I killed didn't matter to the Harmons.

Yes, just like they wouldn't send their most trusted person to retrieve the sister with the artifact. Maybe they're not the best, but they certainly have rankings.

Sely, on the other hand, just looked at me and my eyes stayed on those sweet lips, her soft ass, and those impossible, bouncy jigglemadingdongs! Now I'm even talking nonsense! Ancestor was my witness, and I tried to scare her away. I even thought that once she knew more about my life, she would dislike me and not dare come near me. I still brought her to my house. I also let her into the mansion and, most importantly, I told her the story.

It was supposed to be a night on the couch, but I let her go so deep into my life that I could barely kick her out now. Ole is going to be a painful ass.

Why should I still deceive myself? She was over one hundred and eighty years old, and I was one hundred and fifty-four. She's older than me. In a few decades, the difference between twenty or thirty years doesn't matter. Is she even interested in me? What happened to my determination to make her mine?

I should have pushed her down and stabbed her with a spear like the one she did in the church. My instincts worked very well then. It's okay to dig out the other person's head. So why do I become defensive and embarrassed when I get close to her?

Changed direction again and circled around the mansion. I've been doing this since this morning. Just walk, walk, and walk a little more to clear my mind.

It didn't work.

I fumbled in my pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and put it in my mouth. Then I snapped my fingers and tried to light a small spark. I just want to light a cigarette, not a garden. Focusing on my fingers, I didn't pay attention when I turned around the corner.

And hit Sely directly. The package containing the cigarette broke free from my hand, and its contents were scattered on the floor. A roar fled me. Not so much for Sely, but for the fact that I threw a bag of weed on the ground again. It seems to be becoming a trend around her.

To my surprise, she immediately snarled at me, her eyes red. She took the cigarette butt from my lips and threw it on the ground, stepping on it. "Those things make the mind dizzy. You may not be permanently affected like a human, but you may not be able to perform it properly when you need to. ”

"Woman, what do you think you're doing!? That thing was the only thing that would stop me from going on a rampage! My eyes were on her clothes. That tight dress! At least she's wearing pants, but I can see her lingerie through her skirt! Every bump and curve of her body. I realized I was staring at her, but I didn't care.

"I'd rather think that weeds stop you from being you. Have you seen enough? It's not like you haven't seen them yet," she growled.

I laughed. "Actually, I only remember the magnificent view behind you. Can I see more? ”

"I'm here to discuss important things about Hammons. If you want a chance to negotiate with them, then some insider information will definitely go a long way. She moved, trying to block my view and expose the rest of her body. Ah, what the hell! Sometimes, a man just needs to try to grovel to get a price.

"Hmm."

"Turn off your cerebellum and pay attention to me!"

Oh, I noticed. Very focused on what's interesting right now. "May I ask you out?" I grabbed her hand. "I promise not to smoke. Think of it as an apology for those dreams. Then I pulled her into the foyer. If we want to eat in a good restaurant, then we have to go outside.

"For a moment! What's going on? Just because I'm in your territory, doesn't mean I'm here for your convenience. "She dug with her heels, but I pulled her forward and let her shoes slide across the slippery ground.

Because I'm heavier, I have an advantage in this fight. I'm tired of fighting myself. "I completely lost it! You're in my head, and despite my best efforts, I can't get you out. I have decided to take serious action against you. You're a single woman in my territory, so dating you is fair game. And when the Harmons try to bring you back, I'll burn their property. ”

"I'm still legally married! You know what I did to the last person! She screamed.

It made my heart ache a little, but her so-called husband was never bound. In fact, when she made it impossible for him to perform, he ran away. "It's a bit of a concern, but there's nothing a few properly placed belts can't solve!"

"Leather!?"

"If it makes you feel safer, I also have some good chains. As for that so-called husband...... When he appears, you will be a widow. "We got to the entrance hall and she almost stumbled up the stairs, but I knew it was best not to let go.

Then her mind caught up. "Chains!? Moment. Are you saying I'm locked out, or are you locked out? ”

I'm trying to come up with a list of good restaurants, so don't pay full attention to my answers. "As long as I can get your cooperation in my bed."