Now This Family Belongs to My Mother Chapter 131

Attempting to kill the head of the family was a betrayal against the family itself. If Kobel were decisively cast out, the fact that he was a dark mage would no longer be a disgrace to the family.

 

“Tie Kobel’s hands and feet, blindfold him, gag him, and imprison him. Then, secretly send someone to the temple to borrow a holy artifact that can seal a dark mage’s powers.”

 

At Hubert’s words, Kobel screamed as if having a seizure. “Fa-Father! I’m not a dark mage! And using the relic could even damage the abilities of a normal mage! You know I’ve dedicated my entire life to magic, don’t you?”

 

Hubert looked at his wailing son with cold eyes. “It doesn’t matter.” He then turned away coldly.

 

“Father, Father!”

 

The servants grabbed the frantic Kobel from behind. Then they bound him with chains that prevented him from using magic. With his eyes and mouth covered, Kobel was carried by the servants and taken to the servants’ prison.

 

* * *

Despite the string of recent incidents, dinner time, which was expected to be heavy and somber, turned out to be surprisingly cheerful. It was because Juliet had appeared.

 

“It’s nice to have Juliet join us for dinner.”

 

Even the usually indifferent Hubert showed interest in Juliet today.

 

“It would make me happy if we could continue to have meals together like this.”

 

Rather than blaming his granddaughter for the disgrace caused by her father, one could instead feel his concern for her.

 

Hubert may seem cold to his family, but there are times when he shows affection in subtle ways. The way he treated me kindly was proof of that. He was a peculiar man. Perhaps he showed mercy to the innocent and the weak.

 

Juliet, seemingly understanding Hubert’s feelings, responded quietly. “Yes, Grandfather.”

 

At dinner, the only adults present were Hubert and my mom. The rest were all grandchildren. There were I, Juliet, Stella, and Nicholas. Unlike Nicholas, who seemed utterly deflated, Stella was cheerfully chatting with Juliet.

 

“Juliet, let’s get closer from now on. If you need anything, just let me know. I’ll help you.” At first glance, it seemed like she was offering kindness, but her tone carried a patronizing air, just like how she used to talk to me in my past life.

 

So this time she’s targeting Juliet. I watched Juliet closely. She met Stella’s gaze with a calm expression, showing no sign of emotional disturbance.

 

“It’s fine. Your situation must be difficult too, so I don’t want to burden you.” Her tone was neither cold nor warm, just indifferent. But the meaning was clear. Who are you to help anyone? Juliet, whom I thought was timid, immediately shot back, leaving Stella unable to hide her embarrassment.

 

As the atmosphere at the table turned awkward, Juliet pushed a plate of sweet dessert toward me. “This…”

 

“…?”

 

“It’s tasty.” That was all she said before quickly downing her drink. Unlike the confident way she had just handled Stella, the kindness she showed me seemed to make her a bit shy.

 

After finishing the meal, as I was heading back to the room with Mom, I felt someone quietly trailing behind us. I whispered to Mom. “Mom, Juliet is following us.”

 

“She must have something to say to you.” Mom gently let go of my hand and went into the room first.

 

When I didn’t follow her into the room and just stood there, Juliet, who had been sneaking behind us, hesitated. She tried to walk past me with a nonchalant expression.

 

“Juliet.” I called out to her, stopping her in her tracks.

 

Juliet stopped as if she had been waiting for this. “What?”

 

“You have something to say to me, don’t you?”

 

Juliet’s cheeks turned red. But as I patiently waited, her small lips slowly parted. “Thank you.”

 

“…”

 

“For getting rid of that monster.”

 

Monster? Could she possibly mean Kobel? I knew Juliet didn’t like Kobel ever since I saw them in the garden last time. But to hate him enough to call him a monster?

 

“Surprised? That I called my father a monster.” Juliet spoke as if she had read my mind. “But that b*stard isn’t even worthy of being called a monster. My mom, who supposedly went missing… The truth is, that monster sacrificed her as an offering for his dark magic.” She spoke calmly, but her lips were trembling.

 

Faced with such a horrifying truth, I was just as shocked. “Is that true? Then why didn’t you say anything until now?”

 

“Who would believe someone like me? Look at today. If you hadn’t acted in advance, that monster would have slipped away like a snake.” Juliet let out a sigh of relief. “I saw you take Paterson to Grandfather. Today’s events, you planned them to deal with that monster, didn’t you?”

 

I didn’t respond, but Juliet seemed to take my silence as confirmation.

 

“Thank you. And this…” Juliet handed me a letter. “This will be more useful to you than the dessert I gave you earlier.”

 

As soon as I took the letter, Juliet disappeared like the wind. When I brought the letter into my room, Mom approached me.

 

“What’s that letter? Did Juliet give it to you?”

 

When I nodded, Mom smiled.

 

“How cute, exchanging letters between cousins. Go on, open it.”

 

I opened the letter in front of Mom. And together, we were stunned.

 

[To Marquis Mateng.

I am sending this marriage proposal to request the union of my daughter, Stella Blanche, and Marquis Mateng.

-From Gale Blanche.]

 

* * *

“Keuuugh!”

 

An X-shaped brand was seared onto Kobel’s chest. The branding tool was a holy artifact designed to seal the power of dark magic. However, this artifact had a side effect. It reacted not only to dark magic but also to ordinary magic. In other words, with this brand, Kobel was likely to lose the ability to use not just dark magic but regular magic as well.

 

Kobel’s eyes turned bloodshot with pain and fury. Epirosa, you deceived me and tried to block my path! But soon, the rage that had filled his eyes began to fade. You will never know. My true purpose…!

 

Kobel’s true purpose. It wasn’t to ride on Gale’s coattails by making him the master of the divine beast. It wasn’t simply to study dark magic either. All of this was merely a means to an end.

 

Kobel’s hidden goal was to summon and control a demonic beast. He had known since he was a child. That his older brother is cunning, ferocious, and arrogant. Meanwhile, his younger sister is brave and capable, just like their father. Caught between them, he realized he was nothing. The anger he couldn’t express turned into an inferiority complex, eating away at Kobel. His escape was magic. He wanted to become a great archmage, someone whose abilities rivaled even the master of the divine beast. But…

 

“Kobel, you have no talent.”

 

Having entered the magic tower through underhanded means using the authority of being the second son of the Blanche family, he received this evaluation from the master of magic tower. All his hopes were crushed.

 

Lies! It’s a lie! They’re lying to hold me back because they can’t stand the thought of someone with Blanche blood becoming an archmage!

 

Unable to accept reality, Kobel stole a forbidden tome hidden by the master of magic tower to study magic on his own. He thought it might contain some extraordinary secret.

 

“Kobel! What are you doing? Hand over the forbidden tome immediately!”

 

Of course, Kobel was caught red-handed by the master of the magic tower on the spot. In his desperation, Kobel ended up using the sinister dark magic written in the book. And right before his eyes, the mighty master of magic tower vanished like smoke.

 

From that moment, Kobel became utterly captivated by the deadly power of dark magic. He fled the magic tower, which had fallen into chaos after the master of the magic tower disappeared, as if running for his life. It was then that a voice reached out to him.

 

“So, it’s you. The one who will awaken me.”

 

The moment Kobel used the black magic inscribed in the forbidden tome, he became connected to its master.

 

“I am the demonic beast Basilisk. For someone abandoned by the divine beast to find me, this must be fate. You are special.”

 

You are special. Those three words sweetly seduced Kobel. It was the recognition he had longed to hear his entire life.

 

“O special one. Break my seal, summon me, and become the master of the demonic beast.”

 

An outcast of the divine beast’s lineage becoming the master of the demonic beast! It was an offer too tempting to resist. It felt like the most glorious way to exact revenge on his family and the world.

 

With tears streaming down his face, Kobel answered. “Yes, I will become the master of the demonic beast! I will do anything to summon you!”