Chapitre 11: HEARTBEAT

WINTER stared at the bracelet on his wrist. Even now he still couldn't feel the flow of his Mana. He's positive that it had something to do with this bracelet. Remembering that before he fainted, the silver-haired duke put this bracelet on him and the uncontrollable Mana inside his body abruptly stopped flowing.

He never heard of a device that has this kind of effect. Then he suddenly remembered the other Blackbourne twin. The one with an SS level telepathic Gift. Did the duchess ask someone to make this especially for her daughter? Where could she have possibly found such a genius alchemist? If this thing came out of the market, many people would clamor for it. After all, not all SS level Gift users have perfect control over their Mana. Not to mention, if this bracelet could be modified just a little bit, then it could be used as some kind of weapon. A weapon that could readily stop the flow of other's Mana.

Winter shook his head. Somehow, he had a feeling that if he used this bracelet in that kind of direction, then it would surely upset the silver-haired duke. And for some absurd reason, he didn't really want that to happen.

Anyway, this was not the time to think about those things right now. He still has to deal with the aftermath of what happened in the forest. After all, even if it's not intentional, he still killed three royal guards. He couldn't put all the blame to his dear older sister because he has no evidence that she's behind it all. Even if he interrogated every servants who went with him, he's certain, none of them would admit anything. It would only waste his time.

Even if he didn't kill any innocent individual, he still lose control of his Mana near a duke's land and ended up killing three royal guards. That fox could still use that to affect his reputation among the ordinary citizens. Maybe he could ask the Duchess to cooperate with him. After all, even if the former duke was no longer here, the Blackbournes were still one of the oldest families in Albion. They still have a certain amount of influence.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.

"Come in," he said.

The door opened and the Duchess came in. Winter wasn't surprised seeing her. Because Mishla went outside the room earlier to inform her that he was already awake. He stared at the Duchess. Out of all the noble ladies he knew, Lady Anthea was the only one who preferred to wear trousers instead of elaborate gowns. It was probably because she wasn't originally from Albion.

"How are you feeling, Your Highness?" Anthea asked the cold-faced boy. This was not the first time she saw the second prince. But every time she did, she's always surprised at how he's almost a carbon copy of the king. If they have the same temperament, she might really suspect that the king just made a mini version of himself because he's not satisfied with his other children.

"I'm fine, Lady Anthea. And thank you, for your help."

"It's no trouble. I already contacted the palace and told them what happened. Someone will come later to pick you up and clean up the mess in the forest."

Winter sighed inwardly. If the Duchess already reported everything to the palace, then there was no longer any point in asking her to cooperate with him. "May I ask what you told them?"

"I told them that someone fed you with an accelerant that's why your Mana went out of control."

Winter was somewhat surprised. He didn't expect that the Duchess would actually give that reason to the palace. Now he didn't have to worry. If he's the one who gave that reason, someone would surely just question him. But if it came from Lady Anthea, then they would have no choice but to take it as the truth. After all, there was no reason for her to fabricate that.

"It seems I have to thank you again, Lady Anthea."

"No need. It was actually Argent who told me that that was probably the reason you went out of control. So if you wanted to thank someone, then thank him."

There was a slight change in Winter's expression when he heard that. So the duke really did guess his situation. Managing to infer that much just by seeing the situation in the forest, he must be outstandingly smart. But it seemed nobody outside this family knew that. Because if other people knew, then his reputation as a waste duke would surely vanish.

Now that small spark of interest Winter had for the duke just grew even more.

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Argent was sitting on the garden lawn reading a book while Aurum was lying beside her and using her lap as a pillow. It was already mid-afternoon, three hours after they returned from the forest. Their mother already contacted the palace, so someone would probably come sooner or later to fetch that prince.

"Brother, you're going to take back the bracelet you made from that prince, right?" Aurum suddenly asked.

She looked down at her sister. "Of course."

Because of the effect of the nullum bracelet, it would be bad if the prince used it for some other purpose. So Argent had every intention of taking it back.

Aurum smiled happily because of her brother's answer. She couldn't take the thought of someone having something that her brother made. Besides, that bracelet was hers to begin with. Her brother made it especially for her. So it's not right for someone else to have it.

"Lady Aurum!" called a voice from their left.

Aurum sat up and they both looked to that direction. They saw the red head boy running excitedly towards them. Aurum frowned. What's with this kid? Calling her name and ruining her alone time with her brother. She couldn't help but feel displease.

"Lady Aurum, this is for you," Mishla said handing out a bouquet of different flowers to his goddess.

Aurum frowned even more. "You're giving me flowers you picked in our garden? How generous of you," she said sarcastically.

Mishla put down his hand holding the bouquet, embarrassed. He just saw a patch of beautiful flowers on the way here and the first thing he thought was to give it to his goddess. But she was right. How dare he be so insolent and give this to her? "I'm sorry. I promise next time I'll definitely give you something that you will like. Flowers, chocolates, jewels. Anything."

Argent raised her brow. Why was this boy so enthusiastically offering these thing to her sister?

"What, do you think we don't have the money to buy those things?" Aurum said, annoyed.

"That's not what I meant, Lady Aurum. I just want to give you a present."

"No, thank you," Aurum straightforwardly refused.

"Hanover," a cold voice suddenly called from behind them, calling Argent by his title.

Argent turned her head and saw the second prince standing behind them. His icy blue hair hanged around his perfectly sculpted face. His pale blue eyes showed no emotion. So he already regained consciousness.

"May I speak to you alone?" Winter continued, staring at the silver haired boy.

Aurum stood up. "Why do you want to speak to my brother alone?" she asked, her delicate eyebrows were knit together.

Winter ignored her. He might have guarded against her if he didn't know about the existence of the bracelet. After all, she has one of the most dangerous type of Gift. But seeing her standing here, not affecting anyone around her, only meant that she couldn't use her Gift.

Argent closed the book she's reading and stood up. "Aurum, could you return this book back to the library?" she said, handing the book to her sister.

"But Brother--"

"Please?"

Aurum pouted but still agreed. She took the book. But before she left, she didn't forget to glare at the annoying prince.

Mishla looked at his friend, wondering what he needed to talk about with the duke. But he immediately lose interest. Because right now, following his goddess was more important. "Lady Aurum, wait for me!" he called and ran after her.

"Do you need something?" Argent asked when the two of them were finally alone.

Winter stared at the silver haired boy in front of him. Even though the duke was looking at him, all he could see in those purple eyes was endless indifference. As if he doesn't even exist in his eyes right now. For some reason, Winter was upset by that thought. He suddenly had an extreme urge to make this boy properly look at him. But he just slightly shook his head and removed that thought from his mind.

"I talked to the Duchess. According to her, you're the one I should thank. So I will."

With his cold face, he didn't really seem like he's expressing his gratitude. "If you want to thank me, then you could just owe me a favor. If I needed help in the future, you could just freely offer your assistance."

Winter nodded in acquiescence.

"That bracelet, could you give it back to me now?" Argent said before she forgot about it.

Winter's hands were behind his back As soon as he heard what Argent said, he immediately covered the bracelet on his right wrist with his other hand. He really didn't want to give it back. Not because he wanted to use it to make some kind of weapon, but for the simple reason that the duke gave it to him. "I accidentally broke it earlier," he lied.

Argent didn't expect him to break it. "How did it break?"

"It was already broken when I woke up. It turned into ice and broke into pieces."

Was this prince's Mana too strong that the nullum bracelet wasn't able to hold it? It seemed Argent still needed to modify it.

"I could pay for it. Just tell me how much is needed," Winter added.

"No need. You could just owe me another favor."

Winter nodded again. "How did you know that someone intentionally messed with me that's why my Mana went out of control?" a question he really wanted to ask since earlier.

"Looking at the situation and taking your identity into account, anyone with a brain half as good as mine could easily come up with that conclusion."

"You're saying that you're really smart."

"I'm not saying it. I am."

There was a slight tilt at the corner of the mouth of the silver haired boy. That was probably what the boy would consider as a smile. Winter couldn't stop staring at him. Suddenly, he felt something loud and hard beating inside his chest. It took a while before he realized what it was.

His heart.