" I'm sure what you've heard about me aren't good. But I have no intentions of denying them."

" Oh? For one who left his own guards outside, are you sure your choice of words are the right ones." A chill suddenly began to permeate from Silvia, it didn't spread towards anyone other than Lucius.

Lucius squinted his gaze, he pulled aside his coat and grabbed his sword sheath.

" What are you doing..." Silvia frowned when Lucius dropped his sword on the floor and kicked it towards her.

Elara who was leaning over a showcase turned her attention towards the due. It looked like her interest was piqued.

" I have no intentions of causing any sorts of disturbances in your shop. As you can see, I'm only here for business purposes. Let that be a show of my sincerity."

" And regarding my past. Like I said, I don't intend on denying what I've done... But."

" I do intend on changing... If you can give me that benefit of the doubt, I promise you won't regret it."

" Oh? And you expect me to believe the words of a man I've never met before?" Silvia replied with a hint of sarcasm.

" No... I want you to believe the words of a man willing to repent for his past sins."

" And why should I do that?"

" Well for one. We both know you can easily see through my words, for someone like yourself, whether I'm lying or not should already be clear to you." At this point, Silvia frowned.

' What an interesting human...' Elara thought to herself, from the moment he began speaking, she found herself growing more and more interested in him.

' He reminds me of a certain someone...' The image of a certain young man emerged in her mind.

' Well Silvia, it's not every day I get to see you at a loss for what to do.' Elara shifted her focus towards the silent Silvia.

' We both know the type of person you are. You can tell he's not lying and yet you're hatred still burns so deeply. In the end, you can't seem to forgive humans but.'

' The question still stands, are you willing to harm to hurt your relationship with these two, just because of a simple urge to kill?' Elara's gaze shifted back and forth from Su to Emily.

*****

" Fine... Come with me." Silvia clicked her tongue, her brows creasing ever so slightly and yet she still led everyone into the back.

Lucius was relieved since he'd narrowly escaped that dangerous situation, if it had been the last thing, he probably would've been angered by her but he wasn't stupid enough to face off with her, after all his instincts were sharp. What he would've done was to retreat and plot his revenge but against someone like Silvia, that might just be one of the most riskiest things he could've done.

" Huh?" Lucius paused when Elara walked past him. ' Did she just give me a thumbs up?' he wondered.

" Young master, is something wrong?" Su's voice from behind snapped him out of him.

" It's nothing." Lucius said. He bent down and picked up his sword. Lucius unsheathed the blade, the surface reflecting him reflection.

' To think I was this close to a confrontation because i wanted to buy a book.' he chuckled before sheathing it back.

" Let's go." Lucius offered Su a hand.

Su stared at his outstretched arm in silence, her expression taken aback.

" Are you two coming or not, My mom isn't really a patient person."

" Emily..." Silvia's voice called out, causing the little one to flinch.

" Coming mom." Lucius watched the little rascal scurry off.

" Emily's right, we should really get going young master." Su walked past Lucius, going after Emily.

' Right...' Lucius thought to himself, slowly clenching his open hand before following after her as well.

*****

The back of the store looked even bigger than he had expected, unlike the front, they were all sorts of strange items here that reminded Lucius of the doctors hidden workshop.

" You said you were looking for magical texts." Said Silvia who stood next to a shelf.

" Yes." Lucius nodded, taking a few steps closer.

" Let's see..." Silvia muttered before searching through the shelf, her fingers skimming over the covers of a few objects.

" There we go." Her finger stopped on a certain cover, her lips curling upwards a little.

She grabbed the book before showing it to Lucius.

" This should have what your looking for." Lucius stared at the strange blood red book with foreign symbols on its surface with a hint of intrigue.

" And what sort of book is it."

" Like you asked for. It's a Grimoire filled with magical text, basically rituals and spells." She said.

Lucius nodded and reached for the book but Silvia pulled it back.

" That'll be 100 gold coins." She said with a smile.

" Steep... Wouldn't you say." Lucius revealed a wry smile.

" Any lower and I'd be worried you'd doubt my credibility."

" I see..." Lucius let out a helpless sigh before reaching into his coat.

' 100 gold coins is a huge sum, with that kind of money, I could feed over a hundred men for a month...' Lucius felt a stinging pain in his heart as he retrieved the funds and handed it to her.

' I don't think it would be wise to haggle with her since our relationship dosen't seem to be the most ideal yet.'

' Good thing I'm not lacking in funds.' Lucius collected the book from her then stowed it away inside his coat.

He gestured towards Su that it was time to leave, with his gaze, but paused just after turning around.

Lucius turned back to face Silvia with a curious look on his face. " By any chance, is there any important things I should note when practicing the contents of this Grimoire?"

" Anything to note?" Silvia held her chin, a contemplative look on her face.

" If there was anything to note I'd say it's that you should be careful not to get yourself killed. Magic is a dangerous thing if you're not aware."

" Ahh... Alright. I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Lucius winced but still smiled helplessly at the end, he wasn't a newcomer to magic, just the bonding ritual with Grey had told him to be careful with magic.

" Emily, I and Su are leaving. Are you coming with us, or do you want to stay with your mother a little longer?" He turned and squatted Infront of Emily.

" Really Mr? I can stay with mother a little longer?" Emily asked, sounding excited.

" Of course. I don't see why not." Lucius said. Not noticing the slight frown that emerged on Silvia's face.

" I'll have someone come and get you in a few hours."

" Thank you Mr!" Emily ran forward and hugged Lucius, nearly toppling him over.

' She's a strong kid.' Lucius chuckled.

After saying his goodbyes to Emily, he and Su got back into the carriage and headed back towards the estate. During the drive, he made sure to carefully tell the two guards to come back in a few hours to get Emily, as promised.

******

" Emily dear."

" Yes mommy?" The little girl turned towards her mother, eyes curious.

Silvia clenched her palm before opening it, revealing some copper coins. " Why don't you use these to buy yourself something sweet. Mommy's treat."

" Thank you mommy." Emily happily ran over and gave her mom a hug before taking the coins and leaving the shop.

" Well that was a memorable experience. I didn't quite take you for someone who'd let him go like that." Elara traced her fingers over a glass covered skull within the back of the shop.

" Who said I let him get away?"

' Of course you did...' Elara replied, rolling her eye's.

" That Grimoire was obviously dangerous, but what I don't understand."

" Is why you'd go through so much trouble just to harm him." Elara smiled lightly. Silvia's lips slowly pressed thin, her brows creasing. " Don't tell me you've taken a liking towards him."

" A human no doubt?"

" And what does that have to do with you..." She asked in a low voice.

' Though I won't deny he's piqued my interest.'

' For a common human, the stench of death on him was rather thick, which makes me wonder what that man has been up to up until now.'

" Nothing really, it just came as a surprise to me." Elara smiled lightly, making Silvia scoff.

" But I must admit, I am curious. What are you planning on doing if he manages to tame that Grimoire."

" I don't see why I should be telling you."

" Oh, but you must. After all, since I'm back, it stands to reason that I am your superior once more, even if we are from different divisions." Silvia turned silent, her eyes still on Elara.

After a moment, she let out a sigh. " If he's able to tame the Grimoire, I might consider having him join the 52 cards."

" What?" Elara paused momentarily, clearly taken aback.

" But he's a human..." Elara stated coldly. The last thing she wanted was for such a good fellow to be drawn into the same lot with this heretics, not to mention that his life was already on the line since the cult was a supernatural

cult to begin with.

" He wouldn't be the first–"

" We both know that the only human in the cult was an exception, do you really think that "he" would accept another?!"

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