Chapter 43: Arielle’s Disappearance

The Duke just stared at me, so I decided to continue.

"Okay. I’ll just answer them both." I pointed at Arielle beside me. "First, this kid’s mana pathways are always changing, she can sense mana that she shouldn’t be able to sense, and she is not the problem."

I paused to breathe and continued.

"Second, something is trying to control her mana. Spirit Curse. Pretty familiar. Yes?" I said with confidence.

Arielle squeezed my arm to shut my mouth. She was afraid of her father, who was standing in front of us. I didn’t want this kid to be afraid of her father because of her true condition.

"Alexa! Did you tell him?!" The Duke turned his head toward the innocent maid and shouted in anger.

The maid, Alexa, lowered her head further, her hands gripping her skirt as she trembled in fear.

"N-no, my Lord! He discovered it himself!"

"Your Grace," I slowly spoke to interfere. This was my doing, and no one should be blamed except me.

The Duke walked forward. This time he was a step closer in front of us.

Arielle stepped back while biting her nails.

"Silvester," the Duke said in a cold voice. He stared at me blankly.

He stood with authority, and his aura screamed nobility.

"Try to meddle with our problem, and you’ll never make it out of my estate."

The temperature suddenly dropped, and the chilling air suffocated me.

I breathed in and out heavily and endured the cold pressure. "You hired me as her advisor, and you’re expecting me to just watch her suffer while I enjoy the benefits of our contract?" I said, expressing my disbelief.

The Duke’s expression didn’t change. He just stood there while his daughter was filled with terror and sadness.

I sighed and continued.

"If you wanted someone to teach your daughter how to control her magic without genuine care, you could have hired some random cheap tutor."

The room became tense, and the air chilled even more. The mana lamp blinked, nearly turning off.

Alexa was shivering while leaning against the nearly frozen wall, almost ready to faint.

Arielle just stared at me with concern, and then I blankly stared back at the Duke.

After a minute, the Duke finally broke the silence.

Duke Voulstridge sighed and turned toward Alexa. "Leave us alone."

"Y-yes, my Lord." The maid nervously bowed and quickly ran out of the room.

The door shut, leaving the three of us inside the freezing room.

The Duke looked at his daughter softly. Now he had changed into a loving father.

"Show him, my love. It’s okay."

Arielle slowly nodded and gently stepped forward.

I watched her carefully as she raised her hand. I immediately activated my Locksmith’s Eye to see what was about to happen.

There was no unstable mana, extreme explosion, or solid ice.

Instead, the room became quiet. So quiet that I couldn’t even hear my own breathing.

Then I saw something move. It wasn’t the mana threads inside Arielle, but around her.

The mana lamps dimmed, and the cold air became heavy.

My eyes widened when the magic pouch shook faintly as the Space Crystals inside reacted.

The Space Crystals inside my pouch reacted.

Arielle looked upward, and her voice trembled. "Silvester, look."

I slowly raised my head as my body froze.

Above Arielle, a thin crack appeared in the air. A faint white light was coming from the other side. It reminded me of the black thread from the warehouse.

But this time it was different. I couldn’t feel any danger or hostility toward us from an entity on the other side. It just wanted Arielle.

The crack slowly widened, which made me unconsciously step back and hold onto the wooden chair.

Duke Voulstridge raised his hand, and a powerful mana barrier formed around us and his daughter. It was dense and thick. I could see how the mana threads were woven firmly through my Locksmith’s Eye.

"That crack... she could do this?" I stared at him and looked back at the slit that was slowly breaking apart. Something was about to come out.

"No. This is the first time." The Duke’s voice was cold, intently looking at the crack above his helpless daughter.

"Victor! Evacuate everyone! Get everyone out of my house! NOW!" The Duke shouted with authority.

The family’s butler, Victor, who was standing behind the wooden door, ran away to execute Lord Voulstridge’s command.

After a few minutes, when the house became empty, the Duke finally spoke.

"That’s the Ice Spirit Curse. It’s trying to manifest on my daughter’s body. It wants full control."

I nodded slowly and stared at the crack. Locksmith’s Eye was still active.

Somehow, his statement was true. The pure white mana thread coming from the crack was slowly embracing his daughter, but I couldn’t see any movement from the threads to cause Arielle to get hurt.

There was no intent of manifestation. Maybe the Duke was wrong. This might not be a Spirit Curse.

I quickly looked at him to say something, but the Duke had already released an advanced magic spell. There was no incantation, which I found extraordinary.

A long Ice Spear made of pure mana materialized from his hand, and he quickly raised it. The spear’s pointed tip glowed as the concentrated mana built up.

From the window, the wide estate was covered instantly with ice. The trees and flowers froze. The birds on the branches fell down, fully covered with ice. It was Level 10 advanced magic, one of the Voulstridge House signature spells, the Ice Dome.

My jaw slightly dropped. This was the first time I witnessed an advanced magic spell cast by a Duke after waking up in this world. Although I came from a noble family of the greatest fire mages, I had never witnessed their true power.

I spent most of my time on the Lerwick estate inside a cold stone room, and it was an awful memory to remember.

Duke Voulstridge’s expression became darker. "Stay behind me, Silvester."

I nodded and did what he said. The crack suddenly shook.

"Ahhhhhh!" Arielle screamed in pain. She held her head as if the pain originated from it.

With my Locksmith’s Eye, I could see the white mana threads start to crawl inside her, trying to reach the mana core inside her chest.

The light became brighter, but my attention was on the pouch at my waist. It began to vibrate violently.

The Duke noticed my reaction and asked, "What did you bring inside my estate?" His gaze became dangerous.

I immediately covered the pouch with my hand. "It’s just my tool-"

Before I could finish, the crack exploded violently.

BOOGSH!

A wave of mana burst, shaking the room. The bookshelves and the tables flew backward, hit the walls hard, and crashed.

Duke Voulstridge’s mana barrier shattered. I was thrown backward and hit the wall due to the impact, while the Duke was still standing, holding his spear, his feet not moving an inch.

His eyes witnessed how his daughter, Arielle, was grabbed by the invisible force behind the crack and disappeared.

The room became silent. The ripped pages of the books slowly fell softly onto the floorboards.

I slowly lifted my head.

The Duke was staring at the empty space where his daughter had been standing. His hands fell down, and the Ice Spear turned into tiny, sparkling crystals that vanished into the air.

I clearly saw how the Duke’s face shifted from serious to genuine fear and terror. His knees fell to the floor.

"My love..." he whispered as tears fell down his cheeks.

I looked upward. The crack in the air was slowly closing, and the light dimmed.

’Where the hell is she?’ I asked myself internally.

My heart began pounding faster. From my vision, I couldn’t see Arielle’s mana core signature anymore.

I looked around to see her traces behind the walls. Arielle was not teleported to the kitchen or moved into the garden.

She must have gone somewhere else. Somewhere beyond the estate.

Maybe beyond the Noble District.

Or possibly beyond this world.

I wasn’t quite sure.

I gently stood and turned toward the Duke. He was still on the floor, his hands shaking and his eyes pinned on the empty space.

"B-bring her... back," he whispered, his lips trembling.

"What?" I asked, stepping closer behind him.

He slowly turned to me and stared. His eyes didn’t look normal. They were filled with pain and agony. It was a weak side of the Duke that I had just witnessed, one no one had ever seen.

"You’re a locksmith, right? B-bring back my Arielle," he said in a pleading tone, his cold, shaking hands wrapping around mine.

I blinked and couldn’t even say a word.

The Duke pointed toward the closing crack. It was smaller than before and continued to get smaller.

"O-open it. Please."

I looked at the crack and then at the Duke. "My Lord, I’m just a locks-"

"OPEN IT AND BRING MY DAUGHTER BACK!" he shouted in anger.

If looks could kill, I definitely would have fallen to the floor lifeless.

"My Lord, listen," I said calmly and held his hands. "I’m just eight-" I paused and sighed.

The Duke’s eyes became colder.

"...but I’ll try," I said, turning my gaze to the small crack.

The faint light from the crack finally disappeared.

The room became completely silent, but my heart beating faster inside my chest was all I could hear.

I could feel the three Space Crystals continuing to vibrate inside my magic pouch.

And I knew somewhere on the other side of the closed crack, Arielle was still alive.