Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

  Ethically speaking, Baiyi was literally taking full advantage of the situation by discussing the terms of the deal with the Duke at a time when the noble was mentally and physically exhausted. This was not how Baiyi usually acted, but this family was really too abhorrent for him to deal with. Thus, he ditched the neutrality of an outsider long ago, no longer interested in advising or reasoning with them.

  From the words of the Duchess herself, it seemed that the Duke actually had the chance and the power to put a stop to this family’s tragedy before it deteriorated into such a dire state. Instead, he chose to close his eyes to that and stifle any trouble that occurred in the household, eventually leading to such a tragic outcome.

  The Duke tried his best to muster up more vigor when he heard Baiyi’s question. “I am truly sorry for letting you see this…… unpresentable side of the family, but you have to know that it was all done in the name of blood. I know that I’ve caused her much pain…… but……”

  “You have the audacity to just describe this violation of human rights as unpresentable? Furthermore, those events didn’t only happen once, did they? I am appalled to think that it happened right under your nose……” Baiyi spoke in a disgusted tone. “You are very lenient towards your sons, however! I’m really—”

  His tirade of insults stopped when his hand was held by someone who suddenly appeared behind him — Vidomina. She did not utter a word, but Baiyi knew she was begging him to put a stop to his verbal rant. Hence, he shrugged his shoulders and sat by the Duke’s bed.

  “Fine, I have no interest in discussing your family affairs, anyway. Let’s talk business, instead. I take it that you have no objections or negotiations towards the terms I proposed earlier, eh?” Baiyi continued diplomatically. ( )

  Although Baiyi’s attitude and tone of voice were awfully vile, even close to threatening, he still managed to keep his emotions in check, out of respect for the Duke’s royal upbringing.

  Unlike common people, Baiyi had a firm control over his feelings. Furthermore, Baiyi was not a normal person at the beginning, either, so his control over his emotions was far better than a normal person’s. When the Duke saw that Baiyi was ready to negotiate, he, too, swiftly readjusted his state of mind to one of calmness.

  “I have no qualms in keeping each other’s secrets. But, this assistance you mentioned…… can you be more specific?”

  One could tell that the Duke was trying very hard to maintain a courteous and civilized manner towards Baiyi. He had no other choice, really; Baiyi held the key to both his cure and his demise. He had to comply with Baiyi’s demands despite being a powerful Duke with widespread influence.

  Well, although the social circle of the nobles was infamous for these kinds of drama and debauchery, most of them usually only involved the husband and the wife having affairs behind their spouses back, not two generations of men sharing the same woman — because decadent court or not, there were still a few lines that should never be breached. Before meeting the Wrights, Baiyi had only witnessed this type of drama in art and literature works.

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  “You don’t have to worry about this. It will certainly be within your capabilities — strength, and power-wise,” said Baiyi. This was one of the reasons why he chose to stay to help the Wrights. A Duke’s extent of influence was very wide, and Baiyi was not going to pass up an opportunity like that, especially one that was served right up his doorstep.

  In the end, he still had the poor Duchess to thank. Her grand schemes of revenge were ruined by him, along with any chance she had at vengeance towards her family. Come to think of it, it was pretty disgraceful. Speaking of which, there was nothing wrong with her motive — it certainly contained a good reason; however, her manner of execution was too…… extreme. Baiyi could even sense a very familiar scent in of all of this; she must have had the help of some ‘acquaintances’. The signs were obvious — the sudden increase in power, the mysterious enchantment that seemed like the Blood Curse…… a normal person could not have created such levels of enchantment, and they were obviously beyond the capabilities of the Duchess.

  Baiyi should have paid more attention to her. He could have found a familiar tattoo of the Black Flame, or the Strength Insignia, or something similar to that on certain parts of her body……

  Well, she was fated to be Baiyi’s enemy, anyway. All is fair in love and war, so seizing and usurping was part of the deal naturally. These thoughts made Baiyi felt less guilty about what he had done.

  At present, the Duke was carefully considering the terms of this deal, perhaps deliberating if the deal was some sort of trap prepared by Baiyi. Moments later, he agreed to it.

  “I accept.”

  Oh?” His response was just as expected, and the situation was handled as smooth as expected. “Ah, another thing — Vidomina wants to come along with me. I take that it shouldn’t be a problem for you, right? It’s not part of the deal, after all.”

  “Ah, about this……” The Duke slumped into back into hesitation, but as he took a glimpse of Vidomina, he relented. “Of course, of course, with such a powerful tutor like you, it is truly her honor……”

  It is quite obvious that the Duke was still adored his children so much — pampering and spoiling them even — that he chose to close an eye towards his sons’ heinous misdemeanors.

  “Now that I have agreed to the terms of the deal, perhaps Sir Hope would be gracious enough to reveal how you plan to lift the curse within my body? If there are any rare ingredients you require for the process…… do let me know. I’ll have someone prepare it at the quickest notice.”

  “There’s no need for so many complicated materials; we can just complete it on the spot. As for the method of lifting this curse…… it’s also the most effective way to lift ANY curse, in fact,” Baiyi turned and stared straight into the Duke’s eyes, explaining with a slight snigger. “When a person dies, the curse would disappear, naturally……”

  “Y-you!” The Duke’s face lost its color, his chest heaved in protest, thinking that Baiyi was messing with him.

  “Don’t think that I’m joking with you; I’m serious about this,” said Baiyi solemnly. “The curse will disappear when the physical body dies, but your soul would live on, so you will not be truly dead……yet. All we need to do is just to reattach your soul back into a physical body.”

  This method of lifting the curse might sound ridiculous — like it was some miracle cure for a thousand sicknesses — but it was very possible in reality. With good control — and as long as the soul was still present in the physical world — there should not be any issues.

  However, controlling souls was the most forbidden act in this world. Summoning demons could be still executed with supervision these days, but controlling souls was an untouchable territory. Whichever soul the Church wished to get rid off would be exiled to the void, allowing the void to carry out the honor; the Church would not obliterate the souls with their own hands.

  In reality, a concept like Soul Armatures was deemed acceptable by humans only after a long period of time. The acknowledgment given to the Soul Armature Practitioner was also something that could happen long after his death. Nevertheless, soul armatures were still controlled by their practitioners, with special traits and limitations unique to each soul armature they owned. However, the key matter was this — there was not a definite way of summoning. No one could summon specific people as they so pleased. Although a successful summoning was more probable between blood relatives, with better and more stable rates of success, that, too, was not absolute.

  It was pretty obvious that the concept of souls was still a sensitive and controversial topic to this world; the idea of Soul Armatures was an uncharted territory to the royals and dignitaries. After all, no one wanted to be responsible if the one true puppeteer behind all these was summoned…… Undine’s summoning of her uncle was a small feat. No one dared to suggest that the Duke to be summoned into a piece of Soul Armour due to its risky, unfamiliar nature It will be too great a responsibility to bear if it failed.

  However, Baiyi was different. A Lich, the master of soul control, walked among the Voidwalkers. Baiyi never imagined a day would come when he would need to get his hands dirty with the Lich’s evil tricks, but here he was, getting involved with the dark arts.

  This was the reason why the Lich was one of the most despicable beings in the world. Besides necromancy, which was deemed as an evil and brutal practice, liches could carry out what the Church could not — obliterating souls completely from this world. They could also control the presence of souls and rouse the dead through a secret method; and for the most controversial, taboo practice of all — they could even orchestrate complete resurrections. Hence, the involvement of soul armatures was pushing against the limits accepted by humans with regards to the business of dark arts.

  This was the game plan — Baiyi would choke the Duke to death, and use the Lich’s tricks to secure his soul the instant it leaves his body. After ensuring that the body was unharmed, healthy and still lively, he would reattach the soul into it.

  This was a tactic invented by necromancers — the ultimate forbidden spell. It was used as a way to switch identities swiftly to avoid assassination, and over the years, its functions had expanded into something bigger — which, in this case, was to resurrect someone who had just died.

  However, the most insulting part was — this was something unachievable by the Church which claimed to be the ultimate savior of those in need, but it was something the evil Necromancer had succeeded in, instead.

  Hence, without further ado, Baiyi informed the Duke about his plan, and was greeted with a series of very interesting expressions in response, ‘This famed savior of the world was actually an evil Necromancer, after all this time?’ The Duke felt like he was losing touch with all his senses, and his heart flooded with a bad feeling.

  Vidomina had a similar expression. This little lass could not get her head around this, at all. This unassuming tutor of hers, who cared and nurtured students to the best of his abilities, who would try his best to calm and console, who would caress their heads, and who enjoyed a little gardening occasionally……was a Necromancer? The impression of Baiyi in her head became increasingly distorted.

  Will I be nurtured to become a Necromancer one day, too? A bizarre idea popped into Vidomina’s mind out of the blue. She shook the idea out of her head as instant as it came. She would not become a rat-like Necromancer; after all, pretty skirts would become out of the question if she ever became one!

  Baiyi noticed the shift in both their expressions and commented laughingly, “What was on your mind? You thought that I was a Necromancer, eh? Think again! Would Noel the Cleric choose to be friends with me if I was one?”

  “Mm…… well, there’s that……” The Duke expelled a sigh of relief. He wanted to live a little longer, but even with his life on the line, he would not want to risk being involved with a Necromancer. This would cause him a lot of unnecessary trouble.

  “How did you know about this, Master? These…… forbidden spells, I mean……” asked Vidomina timidly at a corner.

  “Ah, about that — I learned it, in secret, back in those days when the Door of Conundrum still had collections on the Undead,” lied Baiyi.

  This was a well-knitted lie indeed, and there was no way this could be unraveled easily. According to the Apprentice, the Door of Conundrum had received materials on dark, forbidden magic some time ago, but it was destroyed eventually for various reasons. However, the main point was — such material had truly existed in history. Even till this day, Baiyi still firmly believed that a bunch of forbidden material was still hidden amongst the mountain of books in the library.

  Whether or not these contained necromancy…… that was no longer significant. Ash and dust were all that was left of it now; who would know about this?