Chapter 105: The web beneath silk
The room fell silent again.
Every head slowly turned toward Leon, waiting for him to speak.
Eula rested her chin on her hand, watching him closely. A faint glint of interest flickered in her eyes.
She was the most excited one here.
If Leon managed to crack this, then he would stand out, and none of her members would ever doubt him again.
It was a test for him, and for her as well.
Eula had seen him pull off stunts that shouldn’t have been possible. From crafting an entire scenario to corner a primordial to making an entire kingdom believe a lie. From proving a three-line incantation on the spot to holding information on people who possessed light affinity.
Things no one else could do.
Things no one here would ever believe if she told them flat out.
They needed to witness it with their own eyes to believe it.
Leon was one of a kind. Even if he was alone, Eula was confident that he could rival any of the heads here with his knowledge alone.
Eula inwardly felt pride.
She didn’t regret choosing him and making him the 8th head.
— — —
Leon looked at the scattered evidence in front of him and leaned back.
’This is... everything.’
A slow smile crept onto his face.
"First of all," Leon said, turning to Ajasai, "I have to say this. Your work is brilliant. Honestly, this was more than enough for me to deduce the actual reason."
Ajasai raised an eyebrow, unsure where Leon was going.
Leon continued, "This evidence contains everything needed to understand not just what happened, but why the kingdom made the decision it did. And also..."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"...why can’t they prove Count Sebastian is guilty to the world..."
The last line cut deeper than he expected.
Every pair of eyes narrowed, including Eula’s.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Leon’s gaze shifted back to Ajasai.
"Tell me, have you gathered much about House Vallahail itself?"
Ajasai nodded. "Of course. I had my shadows search up everything on them."
"Yes," Leon interrupted smoothly, lifting one of the documents and waving it lightly. "And they’ve done a brilliant job. I can see that clearly. But..."
He tapped his finger against the table and took a seat. "The entire report was focused on Count Sebastian. And only a few mention the House’s history."
"Ah," Ajasai let out a quiet gasp, finally realizing what Leon was hinting at. "That’s because he was the man in focus."
"Yes again," Leon said, nodding his neck multiple times.
Leon leaned forward; his voice remained as calm as possible, "...but according to what I can read here, Count Sebastian had a wife before Lady Millis. In fact, two wives, even. And all of them died giving birth to a child. Even those children died a few weeks after birth."
Ajasai nodded slowly.
"Precisely. It was a tragic affair indeed. We all mourned her death... Countess Millis was a kind lady."
His brows furrowed. "But what does this have to do with the case?"
Leon asked yet another question, "Was Lady Missis expecting a child before she went missing?"
Ajasai nodded and asked in amusement, "Yes, but how did you know that? It was a secret and not even written in those documents."
Leon’s grin widened slightly.
"Now, tell me this, how many wives did the previous head before Count Sebastian have?"
"Three," Ajasai answered without hesitation.
"And how many children did that head have?"
Ajasai froze.
His eyes widened.
"...Only one. That is Sebastian."
"Exactly, that’s my point, try to think..." Leon’s voice stayed calm, but there was a certain weight behind it now.
Leon continued.
"The previous head before him had five wives but only two children. And before that, three wives and one child again. Don’t you find that... connected?"
Ajasai’s throat tightened.
The numbers and the repetition feel odd. And he could see it now.
"They’re a famous noble house with a worldwide reputation that spans centuries. For a family of that scale, this kind of pattern is... strange, isn’t it?"
Leon tilted his head slightly. "Can you see it now?"
Ajasai could see it, but his mind refused to accept it. His skin crawled at the thought. "You don’t mean..."
"Right, that’s what I was trying to point out," Leon said, his grin widening.
"But why would—!" Ajasai’s voice faltered. There was no doubt in Leon. It was the sheer weight of what this meant. This case was uglier than he had expected.
His stomach churned.
"What’s wrong?" Eula asked, her eyes narrowing. She could sense it too, the tension wrapping around Ajasai like a chain.
It wasn’t just her. The other six exchanged uneasy looks. Ajasai understood something from Leon’s words, but they didn’t.
They all turned to Leon at once.
"Can you explain, Leon?" Eula asked politely. Her voice was calm, but there was curiosity beneath it. Even she was on edge.
Leon nodded slowly. He placed the document on the table and exhaled.
"It’s a family ritual."
"Family ritual?" Eula repeated.
Ajasai’s cheek twitched.
He knew exactly what Leon was pointing at. And he couldn’t deny it. It was too possible to ignore.
Leon nodded slowly.
"For centuries, House Vallahail has given groundbreaking discoveries in alchemy to the rest of the world. They’ve built their entire legacy on it. Their name alone had a reputation. A reputation every scholar in the kingdom knows."
Eula narrowed her eyes. "What does that have to do with a ritual?"
Leon leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.
"It’s more of a sick family tradition passed down. Where do you think the previous heads conducted their experiments on human mana enhancement?" Leon answered himself, " In their family itself, generation after generation."
Eula’s eyes widened.
"You mean... they experimented on their wives?"
"Not really," Leon replied, his voice low. "On their children. The unborn fetus that their wives carried."
He continued.
"As you all know, once a person reaches a certain age, manipulating mana circuits becomes nearly impossible unless they reach White Core. But for a newborn who hasn’t formed their mana circuit yet, the story is different."
The entire room froze.
Tsubaki muttered under her breath, "He experimented on his premature kids?"
"To be more precise," Leon said, "they had kids for the sake of their research in the first place. You can cross-check my theory with their proposed research. I’m willing to bet there will be records of premature child involvement. They were nurturing them from birth. Some nobles still follow a milder version of this to make their kids prodigies. You all must be aware of it, right?"
"That is madness..." Eula whispered, holding her head.
Now she could finally see why the kingdom had tried to save him.
They must have found out everything during the trial. And since this ritual had been practiced for centuries, the king likely discovered the involvement of his ancestors, too.
So they destroyed the evidence and had no choice but to let Sebastian walk free to avoid attracting suspicion.
"But they could have just forged a fake case against him... why let him go?"
Sumire voiced it out, "That would have been easier. Why didn’t the king just do that?"
Leon exhaled. "Only the king knows the real reason."
After discussing the matter further, they decided to search for more evidence, and Ajasai was given the task, along with Higanbana—the assassin, and Asagao—the infiltrator and disguise expert.
"Haaah..." Leon stretched his neck and sighed.
"I have to admit," Ajasai said, glancing at Eula, "you brought an interesting man here."
Eula smiled faintly, then turned to Leon.
"Great work, Leon."
Before he could reply, Sumire clapped her hands. "Hmm... that’s odd. We can’t just keep calling him Leon every time something crazy like this happens. Let’s choose a name for him!"
Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
Eula didn’t say anything.
’A code name, huh,’ Leon thought, watching them. ’Well, I had a few cool names in mind.’
.
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[A/N] : 1 more Chapter in an hour or two