WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈
Chapter 110: Horentz Marcano (2)
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“Please make sure to tell Lady Serena not to use Mind-Piercing Eye on me.”
Horentz could not hide his agitation at Johan's words.
His narrow eyes widened.
The pupils revealed beneath them trembled faintly.
Horentz spoke in a low voice.
“...Could you say that again?”
“Please tell Lady Serena not to peer into my heart.”
The muscles in Horentz's face stiffened.
He was utterly flustered.
How could Johan know about Mind-Piercing Eye? It was difficult to believe.
Information about Mind-Piercing Eye was among House Marcano's most closely guarded secrets.
No one but the head of the house had access to it.
Much less could an outsider have heard even a word about Mind-Piercing Eye.
Johan was different.
He clearly knew both the name of Mind-Piercing Eye and what it could do.
The shock struck Horentz hard.
He was thoroughly disoriented, but somehow managed to keep hold of his composure.
His mind began racing madly.
Where had the information leaked from?
What measures could he take immediately?
What should he say here and now?
Should he admit Mind-Piercing Eye existed?
Would it be better to deny it?
And so on.
Countless thoughts filled Horentz's mind.
Tick-tock.
Time passed.
Johan waited silently for Horentz.
After thinking for quite some time, Horentz finally spoke.
“Did you hear of Mind-Piercing Eye from Count Staviana?”
Horentz had decided how to respond.
For now, he intended to acknowledge Mind-Piercing Eye.
Johan already knew everything. Denial would serve no purpose.
Horentz first needed to learn how the information had leaked.
Johan spoke with a calm expression.
“The Count? May I ask why you mention him?”
He answered a question with another question.
It was not his preferred way of speaking, but it could not be helped.
Johan wanted his curiosity satisfied.
Horentz said, “His Excellency has always avoided me. Until now, I believed it was because of my background. Since I come from humble origins, I thought the noble Count simply did not wish to meet me. But now, I believe that assumption may have been somewhat mistaken.”
As the Count had told Johan not long ago, he believed Horentz possessed Mind-Piercing Eye.
That was why he had avoided Horentz.
Who would want to converse with someone who could read their heart?
Especially the Count, a politician to his bones, could not help but find Horentz troublesome.
Now, things had changed somewhat.
Johan had corrected the Count's information.
Horentz was not the owner of Mind-Piercing Eye.
His daughter, Serena, possessed it.
The Count would no longer avoid Horentz.
Johan said, “You believe the Count avoided you because of Mind-Piercing Eye?”
Horentz nodded.
“That is right. Frankly, it is no longer a guess. I am certain of it.”
A sharp gaze slipped through his narrow eyes.
Johan gave a small exclamation.
“You are exactly right. As you believe, the Count knew about Mind-Piercing Eye.”
Based on the Count's usual attitude, Johan's political connection with the Count, and Johan's mention of Mind-Piercing Eye, Horentz concluded that the Count had told Johan about it.
He had found the answer in a short time.
He was quite skilled at thinking things through.
Horentz's face darkened.
He spoke with a rigid expression.
“I will not ask why His Excellency knows about Mind-Piercing Eye. My suspicions are likely correct.”
“Because of your father, Horian Marcano.”
The moment Horian's name was mentioned, Horentz's face darkened further.
“...So Father truly was the cause. Even to the end, he keeps holding me back.”
Horentz's father, Horian, had not been particularly close with Wolfgang.
Once, while drunk, Horian had confided in Wolfgang about Mind-Piercing Eye.
That he possessed the ability to see through another person's heart.
After Horian died, Wolfgang told his son-in-law, Count Staviana, about it.
He had revealed House Marcano's secret to the Count.
The moment he heard Wolfgang's story, the Count began keeping his distance from Horentz.
A family's Authority usually passed down through each generation, so the next owner of Mind-Piercing Eye had surely been Horentz.
The Count had no choice but to keep him at a distance.
Johan spoke with genuine admiration.
“Impressive. With one exception, every one of your deductions is correct.”
Horentz stared fixedly at Johan.
“...Did I get something wrong?”
“Not exactly. There is one fact that could not have been uncovered through deduction in the first place.”
Horentz's narrow eyes thinned further.
“May I ask what it is?”
Johan nodded.
“I will tell you. In truth, I knew about Mind-Piercing Eye before I heard of it from the Count. So the answer to your first question, whether His Excellency told me about Mind-Piercing Eye, is no.”
At last, he had answered the question.
Horentz looked puzzled.
It was difficult for him to believe Johan.
If not the Count, there should have been no way for Johan to learn of Mind-Piercing Eye.
At least, that was what Horentz believed.
“...How could you possibly know? Frankly, that is hard to believe.”
“I understand. And I ask for your understanding that I cannot tell you the source.”
He could not say that he had read it in Inmarok.
Horentz gave Johan an odd look.
“I do not believe you are a man who would make empty claims, but without proof, I cannot trust your words.”
Johan nodded.
“That is why I intend to show you some proof. First, Mind-Piercing Eye is not an Authority passed down through every generation. It is inherited every other generation. The Count did not know this.”
Mind-Piercing Eye awakened every other generation.
It manifested not in the owner's child, but in their grandchild.
Indeed, it had skipped Horentz and awakened in his daughter Serena.
Horentz considered Johan's words.
Certainly, Count Staviana had been wary only of Horentz.
Even when Serena was absent, the Count would not meet Horentz.
As Johan said, perhaps the Count did not know about every-other-generation inheritance.
Horentz spoke.
“...What is your second proof?”
Johan answered evenly.
“I know all the activation conditions of Mind-Piercing Eye, the signs that precede its activation, and its side effects.”
Mind-Piercing Eye came with numerous restrictions equal to its power.
Its side effects were deadly, so few people who awakened Mind-Piercing Eye could use it properly.
Horentz spoke.
“That is weak proof. My father may have disclosed even those details.”
Johan nodded.
“You are right. But what if it concerns your daughter? Lady Marcano possesses an innate trait that allows her to avoid every one of those side effects.”
Horentz's expression froze.
He doubted his own ears.
Knowing about Mind-Piercing Eye was one thing, but information about his daughter was something no outsider could possibly know.
Only Horentz in this world knew of his daughter's trait.
He spoke in a trembling voice.
“W-Where did you hear such a thing...?”
Johan cut him off.
“As I have told you, I cannot disclose that.”
Horentz's narrow eyes seemed to pierce Johan's gaze.
He was measuring everything about Johan.
Only after a long time did he speak.
“Why are you telling me this? Are you perhaps trying to shroud yourself in mystery and make me fear you?”
Johan answered evenly.
“Similar, but different. I am simply advising you and Lady Serena. Please do not use Mind-Piercing Eye on me. As I said, I know everything about it.”
If Serena used Mind-Piercing Eye on Johan, he would be able to notice it.
The moment he detected it, Johan would not let it pass.
He intended to make them pay a price somehow.
Everything they had discussed so far was a warning about that.
Horentz gave a hollow laugh.
“Now I understand. You intend to gain my daughter's power.”
Johan had just proposed an engagement to House Marcano.
The previous conversation had made his intentions clear.
Johan had sought out House Marcano because of Mind-Piercing Eye.
Johan answered at once.
“I will not deny it. I need Mind-Piercing Eye.”
An eye that saw through another's true heart. No matter how he used it, it would be a great help in what lay ahead.
Horentz's face cooled.
His expression might have seemed to show offense, but that was not the truth.
Horentz was calculating inwardly.
He was a merchant through and through.
He pursued profit over emotion.
Instead of brains, gold flowed through Horentz's head.
He spoke calmly.
“...The price will be very high. Higher than you can afford as you are now.”
Even ten million gold was worthless compared to Mind-Piercing Eye.
Johan nodded.
“I know. For now, Serena is more valuable than I am. But that will soon change.”
Johan was confident he could make Horentz request the engagement of his own accord.
Horentz smiled.
“I look forward to the day it does.”
Many emotions likely churned behind that smile.
Today's conversation could not help but come as a great shock to Horentz.
Johan said, “Good. On another matter, Lord Horentz, may I ask one favor?”
A favor. Horentz wondered what Johan would say next.
“Speak.”
Johan gave an awkward smile, unlike himself.
“This may sound strange, but... could you lend Lady Serena to me for just two hours?”
It was an exceedingly awkward request.
Horentz found it difficult to answer readily.
“I am somewhat taken aback.”
“I will certainly pay the price.”
He spoke as though offering a usage fee for an object.
Horentz felt an odd sense of kinship with Johan.
Perhaps gold flowed through Johan's head instead of brains as well.
Horentz said, “A price. I will hear it first.”
“I will allow the Marcano Trading Company to set up shop in Beldana, within Count Staviana's territory.”
Other than the Royal Capital, Beldana was the most prosperous city in the Kingdom.
Yet House Marcano had not been able to trade even a single coin with Beldana.
The Count had always refused them.
If they could change only that relationship, the Marcanos would prosper far more than they did now.
Horentz's eyes narrowed further.
His narrow eyes concealed pupils rippling with desire.
“...Is that possible?”
“Of course. You likely know roughly what kind of relationship the Count and I share, Lord Horentz.”
After considering it briefly, Horentz spoke.
“One final question. What do you intend to use Serena's Mind-Piercing Eye for?”
Johan's expression sank.
He spoke in a low voice.
“It is nothing serious. There is simply something I wish to confirm.”
Johan intended to invite Serena to his meal with the butler Haman.
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