Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The continuous night rain outside the window kept falling, and besides the sound of the rain, the intermittent sound of the waltz music coming from downstairs also drifted up. Shard was inside the closet. He tried hard to imagine what was happening outside the closet, but with only the sound of conversations to go by, it was difficult for him to fully grasp each scene.

"The Aphrola family certainly doesn't have such a tradition, just now, I was merely seeing to a spider—please allow me to apologize for my rudeness."

The witch said, her reply noticeably nonchalant.

"I've heard the rumors about you, that you like..."

Shard, from within the wardrobe, could almost picture Lecia furrowing her lovely brows as she said this.

"There's nothing to hide, I fancy beautiful girls."

Shard could also imagine the witch saying this with a smile:

"Indeed, I have had an encounter with a certain member of the Cavendish Royalty... She has a beautiful waist."

For some reason, the image of Miss Galina suddenly popped into Shard's mind.

"I know, my elder sister."

Shard guessed wrong, as the princess mentioned by Lecia with a tone of helpless resignation was in fact the thirty-three-year-old Catherine Cavendish, the Elder Princess of Draleon, who had married the eldest son of Duke Hermons Shuton, the then Royal Army Marshal, twelve years ago.

The contemporary Cavendish Royalty was flourishing; King Larus III's fertility and desire for children were strong, a rare occurrence in the history of the Sixth Era. Shard could not even recount how many brothers and sisters Lecia had—of course, this was also due to his lack of interest in such matters.

"I've heard their marriage is on the rocks, and that young Shuton has some odd habits."

Lecia sighed—whether out of feeling unworthy for her sister or out of concern for the marital woes of the Royal Family members:

"If not for the pressure from our father and Duke Shuton, they would have divorced long ago. The only elder firmly supporting her in this decision is Galina..."

Shard believed that Hevy Aurora must have made an odd expression, just like him, as she too unexpectedly heard the name of someone familiar and yet couldn't show any reaction.

The Grand Witch of the Twelve Rings apparently had nothing else to do and did not immediately leave; instead, she started to chat idly with Lecia. Of course, Lecia knew there was someone in the wardrobe in the corner, but she couldn't just send Miss Aphrola away, so she responded absentmindedly to the other's questions, hoping the witch would understand that she was not very interested in talking.

The witch must have sensed Lecia's brush-off, but she just wouldn't leave.

Given Shard's physical condition, standing still for several hours was certainly no problem. But if he had to stand in a confined space, in a weird position, he would start to get uncomfortable after half an hour.

Especially since the fragrance inside the closet was causing the urge to sneeze to build up. He tried to breathe deeply, he tried pinching his nose while breathing through his mouth, but nothing worked.

Even if Shard could face a deity, he was utterly powerless against the primal impulse to sneeze.

What was worse, as Shard stood in the darkness, a strangely itchy sensation emerged on his neck. Not wanting to make any large movements, he thought he would stop feeling itchy if he just endured it for a bit.

But when that itchy sensation moved along his neck, causing goosebumps to spread over his body, Shard suddenly realized it wasn't just an itch—he had a spider crawling on his neck.

"Oh~"

He groaned painfully in his heart, and with an overactive imagination, he felt so hairy that he wished he could immediately reach out and squash the bug that was crawling all over the place.

Worried that the spider might crawl into his ear, but the little creature merely moved up along his neck, then slowly approached Shard's face via his cheek.

Very clearly aiming for his face, the spider crawled across his cheek, and just as Shard was about to squash it, the insect hurried to the area below his nostrils.

The itchy sensation combined with the panic of the spider potentially crawling into his nose caused Shard to instinctively want to blow it away with his nostrils. But such an action only accelerated the urge to sneeze that had been long restrained.

So, torn between conflicted feelings and a sense of panic, Shard finally couldn't hold back anymore—

"Achoo~"

Letting out the long-suppressed sneeze felt really good at that moment. Shard even remembered to be polite by using his left hand to pull at his collar to cover his mouth, to prevent contaminating the clothes in the closet.

Although the sound of rain outside was loud, as long as one wasn't hard of hearing, everyone in the room should have heard the sound from the wardrobe.

Shard didn't get to the crack in the door to look out in time, so he couldn't see Lecia's helpless expression as she held her forehead, nor could he see the triumphant smile of the Grand Witch at that moment:

"I just knew there was someone in the wardrobe."

The witch with curly brown hair laughed heartily:

"She hid well, but you all overlooked a very important issue," my nose is quite sensitive, especially to the scent of the sea. And the person in the closet, they must have come in from outside the manor, and been near the sea..."

She was right, the old lighthouse was by the sea.

"I can smell it, but outsiders shouldn't be coming inside. Your Highness, it seems you were already aware of the Circle Sorcerer, and you have a capable female sorcerer by your side. Please have her come out, I'm curious to see what this capable girl looks like."

Lecia smiled helplessly,

"Well then, since you've discovered it, there's no need to hide any longer. Really, Miss Aphrola, if you had realized earlier, you wouldn't have wasted so much time chatting with me."

"Isn't it fun?"

The witch asked, and then the maid moved aside from the closet, and the doors were opened.

A flash of lightning streaked outside the window, enveloping the area near the window in a white glow. The large shadow cast by the closet doors hid the figure emerging from the closet, but after the lightning passed, he had already moved into the light of the gas lamp.

"However, you guessed one fact wrong."

Lecia also smiled and turned back to look at Shard, who had a helpless expression:

"He is not a girl, he is a twenty-one-year-old gentleman."

Shard nodded and threw the sash that had somehow become entangled around his arm into the closet behind him. Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire

Looking up at Miss Hevy Aurora, the witch's expression of astonishment was entirely expected. Up close, there was no way she could miss this fact about Shard.

"Good evening, ladies,"

Shard greeted, standing firm beside the sofa, and began to explain his identity:

"I am Her Highness Lecia's lover. Miss Aphrola, we were in a secret rendezvous before you arrived, which is why I am here."

He could reveal his own Circle Sorcerer identity but not Lecia's.

The witch retracted her look of astonishment and, with an un-ladylike agility, appeared to step right up to Shard's face. Then, just as Shard anticipated, she grabbed his wrist.

"Why is every witch like this."

Complaining to himself, Shard sniffed again, and with his free left hand pulled a badge from his collar, and then explained:

"Oh, well, since you've seen through my Circle Sorcerer identity, I can only tell the truth."

He winked at Lecia, who was trying to stifle her laughter:

"Lady Aphrola, I am actually Miss Galina's man. Look at this, this is the badge Miss Galina gave to me, and I think you'd recognize that it's not a counterfeit. Miss Galina knew the princess dislikes her, so she sent me to monitor her closely, I am actually a deceiver placed by Miss Galina by Her Highness's side, to betray her feelings."

Lecia was making as much of an effort to hold back her laughter now as Shard had been earlier when trying not to sneeze.

He continued unabated,

"Yes, I am one of those deceivers from court stories, very skilled at gaining ladies' favor. All of this was Miss Galina's scheme, and my direct superior is Miss Tifa Servet."

The badge was clear in the light of the gas lamp, Lecia's amusement on her face was evident, and even the witch's conflicted expression of wanting to laugh or get angry was clear.

Despite her surprise, and even horror, at the appearance of such a being as Shard, she certainly wouldn't harm him with Miss Galina around.

"Shard Suren Hamilton."

The witch forced a very fake smile onto her face, gnashing her teeth, and with precision and clarity, pronounced Shard's name in the common language of Draleon:

"Do you think I wouldn't keep up with the news in Tobesk, given how large the Aphrola family's business is?"

Her golden eyes, identical to those of Miss Galina, bore into Shard's face, and the lady with the commanding presence and powerful gaze seemed to want to imprint his features into her eyes completely.

She whispered,

"Now I understand that Miss Galina's sudden probing yesterday was all to protect you."