The Survival Strategy of the Contract Duchess - Chapter 52

Evenings used to be filled with the sound of Elina happily sharing the day’s events. But now, she was eating dinner alone in her room after getting upset. A tray had been sent up for her.

“Why were you so tense earlier? Elina begging for something isn’t exactly new.”

The Marchioness spoke gently as the main course was being served. She had planned to let the matter go, but her husband had seemed particularly irritable today.

“She’s an adult now, but she still acts like a child throwing tantrums.”

The Marquess of Ivern sighed. He had doted on Elina as if she were the light of his life, but today her behavior had truly tested his patience.

The Marchioness cautiously watched him while cutting a piece of meat. Even in the few moments she spent chewing and swallowing, the silence was so thick that she couldn’t help glancing at him again.

“The magical beasts are running wild. Reports say they’ve started moving down into the forest, and even Geranel is struggling to keep them contained.”

“Oh no… that’s serious. If they leave the mountains, it could be a disaster.”

“If they really are losing control, this is worse than we thought. Geranel has kept this going for years. Something must have changed recently to cause this.”

The Marquess managed the mountain range and the surrounding forest. The magical beasts that regularly appeared there were kept in check by an organization called Geranel, which was stationed along the mountains.

Geranel was originally formed by mercenaries who voluntarily came together to deal with magical beasts. Later, mages joined to advise them and helped develop ways to control the creatures.

At first, they focused on preventing the beasts from harming civilians, and sometimes on eliminating them if necessary. But as the group grew, the original mission became diluted.

In the past, the Duchy of Frantes in the north had employed Geranel as a buffer against the empire using magical beasts. More recently, the rebel groups had begun using the beasts for their own purposes.

Geranel’s role had shifted depending on political needs, but one thing remained constant: they needed the presence of magical beasts to maintain their purpose. For centuries, those beasts had stayed confined to the mountains. No one knew why they were suddenly changing behavior.

“So that’s why you got so angry earlier. Because the only route passes through the forest.”

“I explained it from the beginning. But when all she cares about is getting her way, do you really think she heard a word I said?”

The Marquess clicked his tongue in irritation. Still, he cut the meat, ate quickly, and finished his meal. While he waited for dessert to be served, the Marchioness poked at the remaining meat with her fork. Just as his dessert plate arrived, she spoke again.

“If we’re looking for recent changes… the only real shift is that Sasha left this house.”

The Marquess’s spoon froze mid-air. The meal was nearly over, but now it felt like he might suffer indigestion.

“Why are you bringing her up all of a sudden?”

His voice was cold, and he didn’t even look at her. The chill in his tone made the Marchioness lower her head without realizing.

“I was just thinking. Isn’t that why she was raised that way in the first place?”

“If you put it that way, she should have been the one to attract them. But ever since she left, they’ve started moving closer instead.”

“That’s true, but if not for that, I really can’t think of any other reason for the sudden change.”

Her voice grew smaller, but her meaning was clear. The Marquess stared at her quietly.

When she was pregnant with Sasha, he had been hopeful. It was their first child, and relations with the northern duchies had been strong. Money was coming in steadily at the time.

Sasha was born safely, but the moment was not as moving as he had expected. His young wife had just focused on her own fragile health and left the child to the care of a nanny.

Once his wife had recovered enough to stop her endless complaints, the Marquess had begun making frequent trips to the mountains. He was fulfilling a request from the duchy, using magical beasts to achieve certain objectives.

“Marquess, something strange is happening. Since you resumed your usual routes, the beasts are refusing to approach this side of the range.”

That was when the strange phenomenon began. The magical beasts would no longer come near the side of the mountains closest to the estate. But to control them, someone had to guide them directly. And the mountain path used for that led right past the Ivern estate.

“It’s becoming difficult to control them. We don’t understand why they’re reacting this way.”

They tried various methods to regain control, but the beasts refused to move as expected.

This caused their contracts with the duchy to gradually fall apart. Since Geranel’s very survival depended on those arrangements, they were now desperately trying to uncover the cause.

“Ba—”

In the middle of all that, Sasha had reached the age where she could walk. When she first recognized that sound as someone calling her name, he had felt something in his chest. Maybe it was pride, or a brief warmth.

Perhaps it had moved him more than he cared to admit.

That day, the child had wandered outside, walking with her tiny feet full of curiosity. The Marquess of Ivern had been lying on a large sofa in the center of the garden, under a shaded roof, trying to rest his tired body.

Sasha had been slowly making her way toward the eastern side of the estate, the direction of the mountains. Normally, someone would have stopped her, since crossing the boundary was dangerous. But recently, monsters had stopped approaching the estate entirely, and the Marquess had been struggling to understand why. Because of that, he paid little attention to the area.

“No, stop! Young lady, you must not go there!”

Suddenly, a scream echoed across the front yard. The Marquess shot up. What he saw was something almost unbelievable. A monster was racing down from the mountains, tearing across the base of the slope with terrifying speed.

The terrifying part was not just the monster itself, but the fact that it was heading straight for Sasha, who was still walking in that direction.

The nanny ran after her, but her pace was no match for the beast. Both the Marquess and the Marchioness could only watch.

“Sasha!”

The child was directly in its path. Even without being attacked, it seemed inevitable she would be swept up and hurt.

But nothing happened. The sound of the monster’s pounding steps suddenly stopped. Everything became silent.

“That child… it was strange when the priest said she was infected by the monster’s energy. That day, the monster… stopped in front of her.”

The creature did not attack. It halted in front of Sasha. It looked as though something invisible was pulling at it, holding it in place. The monster trembled in discomfort, yet did not move. Sasha looked up at it for a moment, then turned around and calmly walked back toward the house.

As soon as she moved away, the monster fled back into the mountains.

Although she returned safely, that night she developed a high fever. The Marquess had not been especially affectionate toward her, but she was still his child. Watching her suffer was not easy.

Desperate for answers, they took her to the temple and asked a priest to examine her. She had been burning with fever for several days, and no remedy had helped. The priest studied her carefully, then spoke with a serious expression.

“This child has absorbed the energy of a monster. Has anything unusual happened around your estate since her birth?”

“Yes. Monsters used to appear often in the mountains, but since she was born, they have stopped approaching this side of the range.”

“That sounds like a blessing. If they avoid this area, it means you are safe from harm.”

“But just earlier, a monster came all the way down to the estate. That has never happened before.”

The priest fell silent and thought deeply. Then he gently placed his hand on the child’s forehead.

“This child is confusing the monsters. Even I cannot explain exactly what she is. She is disturbing their natural instincts.”

“Is there a way to return things to how they were before she was born?”

It was clear that things had changed after Sasha’s birth. The behavior of the monsters had shifted. For the Marquess, whose livelihood depended on controlling those creatures, this was a serious issue. And the problem was the child.

“If you are thinking of getting rid of her or sending her away, I would advise against it. In a situation this unstable, removing the source of the disturbance could cause greater harm. It may become unpredictable.”

They had no choice but to keep her, even though they lived with the fear that monsters could one day return and attack their home.

During that uncertain time, the Marchioness became pregnant with their second child. With a new life growing inside her, Sasha became someone she no longer wanted to see. If they could not remove her or harm her, then at the very least, they needed her out of sight.

That was when Sasha was moved to the attic.

She was cared for only by the nanny. After she turned ten, even that care became neglectful and sparse.

Eventually, the monsters stopped appearing again. The disturbance seemed to settle.

“It will get better again. It did before. Don’t worry.”

“Do you really believe that? Yes, you’re right. They stopped coming down. Everything seemed to calm after a while.”

The Marchioness tried to soothe her unease and took a bite of the melted dessert before her.

The monster should no longer be affected by Sasha. She was never meant to stay in this house. They had planned to send her away eventually.

The strange part was that it was the Duke who had chosen her. They had recommended Elina. It was Kyler who insisted on taking Sasha instead.

“Everything will work out. You do not need to worry. But do something about Elina. She will not run around the palace acting wild, will she?”

The Marquess tried to speak firmly. The Marchioness smiled awkwardly and answered quietly that she would take care of it.

Now that Elina was in place, that was all that mattered. To them, they had always only needed one daughter.

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