Chapter 122

As I lifted 9ee9f81b57 my head, I d496836d92 was met with 212ad71deb a pair of c8de129065 golden eyes filled 2affdd40e4 with disbelief and 6eca7bfd04 exasperation.0e9fb8984906b381

“…Edwin?!”eb28c9b21b3a8781

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I blinked in shock e47f6f34a8 at his sudden appearance.68823e5638216ff9

“W-why are you here?!”91b5c09632542ffd

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At my startled 495815d273 question, Edwin answered 07a1953c66 bluntly.107c545bddcecb45

“You weren’t coming back, so I came to get you.”96f58c1d0d80dbae

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“How did you know I was at the orphanage?”1dd1f861af1fee53

The moment I spoke, I ad1d68a1bc realized my mistake.470218bab4c0294e

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It was a pointless question.15ac435f31bdedcb

After all, the 2da4200b2a carriage I had dad1636759 used belonged to 1f72ac6827 the Duke’s household, 0b785b4465 meaning Edwin could 6bf4252324 have easily found 2ad5cc7b26 out where I 9e2ea3faab went if he bca6e597c8 wanted to.cf08b0af2527268e

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But—aebe0411e5ff53ce

“Ismail.”71ec9fbda3777ce5

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“…Huh?”0e6d77afe73ba551

“Logan mentioned his name.”e60b401678a20ec1

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Edwin frowned slightly as aff09fcc3a he continued.bdaf40c34fed9646

“Knowing your personality, you obviously came to check if he was okay.”e237a23fe25b7257

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“Uh…”bd28f8e0df8bfb25

I was at a loss dcc113f145 for words.baad7b86b8bbda9c

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Because he was 7f30b5a414 right—I had just 390055a158 finished checking on 5bce237c71 Ismail and was 8258a95719 on my way 1f94600800 out.04fd490d2be3edf6

‘…Is he mad?’27339ce8bf378ae9

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Feeling a little nervous, I 981d2b5d2e studied Edwin’s expression.b930a4b09d53f98e

The truth was, Edwin 1e2fd4252a had been in just e817c5c1a2 as much danger because 05c6ce35de of Logan.438dffa773c77d50

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And yet, without explaining anything, 1cc43f7051 I had panicked and run a6cac457e1 out of the Duke’s estate.576ed7bf310534da

Now, belatedly, I felt guilty.c50a59c34395c90a

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As I fumbled 82d6cb24e9 for words, Edwin 298776dccb suddenly tilted his 2bd574cdc3 head to the 954c2befde side.bed4e71d72ba7c0c

“So.”d11357dc178e5794

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“…”af44fff353b1d6e1

“What exactly did you do with the 48 gold you borrowed from me?”c5d38ff1c018b887

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“Oh, right!”9716940843e94ed6

At his words, I 155770e6d7 quickly pulled out the 1d070e8071 pouch of gold coins 8b9b33446f from my waist.9e4aaa39a8515f29

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Thanks to the Pope 46a98ee94a lowering the sponsorship fee, 84303b5540 I was able to 213a63545f repay my debt in b61a124be1 full.267601a33383a393

“Here! That’s 48 gold!”a33d3b3befcb2681

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“What? You didn’t spend it?”bb8e10db413631af

“Uh… yeah, it turned out that way.”60058a77311895aa

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As I nodded, Edwin 09101c38a2 gave me a skeptical 3b175dde5f look.c94c096f391127bc

“What were you planning to use it for in the first place?”035dd0abc70e7b7c

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I suddenly found c64d453d70 myself at a 6bf0767820 loss for words.e0ee2dab659bc2ab

‘If I tell him I borrowed it because I didn’t have enough money to sponsor Ismail… he probably won’t like that, right?’e2021940542b3375

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For some reason, I felt 129b190adb strongly that he wouldn’t.b4d348703f719f82

Since the sponsorship 1085589ae4 was handled anonymously, b2a25984f9 there was no 582c7cc199 way he’d find 42d24d19dd out anytime soon.9dcbfaa5788c48ee

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So, I simply forced an e75c35892e awkward smile and mumbled,30d36c7eca123b2b

“Well… I-I was already visiting the temple, so I thought I’d make a donation…”588c1a2aa4363980

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“Hah. Since when were 31a62e9ba3 you so devout?”19a80767ab9127d3

Edwin let out 00ee54e922 a dry chuckle 19851634a4 but, fortunately, didn’t d460fb64ec press the matter bc5ffbef2d further.5a34729e56c702c6

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Instead, he extended cd4cdc26cf a hand toward ba90940fc6 me.4263c910f41a7665

“Just get in already so we can go back.”398559d3a528ceac

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“Okay!”98cc46391585ebc2

Thud!62d470753f8c254d

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I grabbed his hand and d128055434 easily climbed into the carriage.7aec55f9fa331fe3

Soon, the carriage started moving.5b8509e20ca93ddc

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As I sat across from e470c1056e Edwin, I suddenly asked,90b7a7161a7824b7

“Hey, Edwin. You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”be14384aa1667a22

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He hadn’t been 8a11d7d6b2 attacked by Logan 6dbb2b681c directly, but he 58b24e1c5b had been exposed 1fdf934402 to strange dark 3a59d79d87 magic for a e81860ec58 long time.7f661c50288ea80e

I was starting to 25cecbcef7 worry if it was 7f622a2823 really okay for him 7bf3dd5e36 to be out and 21ebbb57c8 about like this.5ed8bf9cceccd43f

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Edwin looked at me like 52873ae712 I was being ridiculous.82a4446cbf837e26

“Took you long enough to ask.”4cbbdf28bc0b9b8e

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“W-wait, are you hurt?!”61c80e10f95f59b1

“No.”1ee6a455038aa81c

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He shook his head firmly.77391531b10ef587

“Grandpa Gordon said I’m fine too.”f26f0777654a386b

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“Haa… That’s a relief.”6463fd25042c40b5

He must have gone for 19e19f56f7 a check-up in the meantime.a45a4d34b4a50c9c

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As I let out 13a1de38ca a sigh of relief, 2471f3b20e Edwin frowned.c8100980e633d1d6

“If anyone was going to get hurt, it would’ve been you, not me.”58c11c7b56a4b23b

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“Me?”8fbe08d47e7955a5

“You got thrown to the ground earlier.”07814ce5d25a8a61

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“Oh…”36d4d3d8ea4dce0e

I recalled the moment 2aeebad1d3 when Logan had grabbed b1702ea363 me by the collar, b1de9688e8 and right after I 6dc740950f unleashed my ‘balding beam,’ a1019e7de6 I crashed onto the e33375fbc8 floor.b0a421b3e8b5e763

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It could have 1cef652679 been dangerous, but e8790bf809 fortunately, I had 04989eb8c2 landed on my 0cfe5f66a8 butt, so there 54d88adb54 wasn’t any major 436a321416 damage.c8c178d1b78667c4

“I’m fine! I didn’t get d230f6818d hurt anywhere, totally b3285957cf okay!”29bf93bd03ade39a

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Though I’d probably 8299f895ff be sore all 004aa42140 over by tomorrow…77807367a9740272

Still, considering how 01288a5d78 intense the situation 7adcd97b00 was, I had 174e265f1a been pretty lucky.b83dc754e500e399

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At my words, Edwin’s 4f069b44d8 tense expression loosened slightly.f1afac71a1dc41ca

He was trying to a0562da61e act indifferent, but he b5c7d3f3d4 had clearly been worried 3924ccf7ec about me.33561af00da8374d

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Just as a 4aaa6a9a44 faint warmth spread f265aee808 in my chest, f199b46f37 he casually asked,85f02edd9cef2d5a

“How’s he doing?”f7858ee8904d59b1

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“He?”45426c1c1b5b988b

“The guy you shook me down for money just to come check on.”e377e4376c0efc73

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“S-Shook you down…?!”06de05dbe51e9ab5

‘Excuse me, young duke! That’s a bit harsh!’c33991d17250aef2

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Sure, I might have begged 96e747f80a for money without explaining why…6cd4cbcd4d9a8996

But Edwin’s exaggerated 6b772a9b88 phrasing felt deeply 9d67f6266c unfair.386b12c2e1304416

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Still, I decided to fe974636e2 feign ignorance like the 55f48d2cba five-year-old I supposedly was.4f3754978badf347

“Uhh… What’s that? Hehe. Ismail’s fine too!”2bd63ad5f844c040

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“That’s good to hear.”061a6cd27344f527

With that short response, c68cfb623b silence settled between us.4812003d884eb5f4

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I hesitated, wondering ad41cf211b how to bring 38d976a9a8 up Magnus.b97f81fd38980666

Carefully, I opened my mouth.03d258b0bea8fe6a

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“So… um. What’s going to happen c5def113b8 to Logan now?”c20ac501694cbef7

“They stopped the bleeding on his severed wrist. He’ll be interrogated soon.”7193bfadd0190612

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Edwin answered in cf9ffa6338 an uninterested tone.010afc4fd88ce3b7

‘Damn. I shouldn’t have asked.’28bd11c100008f63

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I bit my tongue 24f6f1fdd7 and shut my mouth 138f1c39f0 at the thought of 3b5ca6ee35 whatever gruesome fate awaited 139d68efa3 Logan.f834910d5a4580c4

“Belze.”eafa7c4ab403a620

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Then, Edwin spoke again, a4a554f95c filling the silence I b1673f476f had left.343fd2c87778109f

“Logan said something earlier. He accused you of being 7098ae9192 the one behind his orders, 329901d257 using that mute kid to eac5dce046 lure him to the temple.”257f35eb47615348

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“……”2b8908717d96cda3

“Did you really… do that?”deccd39eac7abbfc

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His golden eyes, 603380552b reminiscent of the 1609143ccc sun, locked onto e738efd518 me with sharp 3b24698ac3 clarity.d6a9e52a6af77794

“No matter how I think about it, it seems like this girl is the mastermind who used that mute brat to lure me into the temple.”8044547508d4e711

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“If Belze were that smart, she would’ve tried to get rid of you without involving the temple at all.”1c6aeef718e9f91f

During the tense standoff c4101abb98 earlier, I recalled the 57f850b494 conversation between Logan and d8a46fe448 Edwin.e3c0b7f3ca66b607

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At the time, b8cce490ee Edwin had seemed c9ba6f5c5e to dismiss Logan’s 4870b07bb5 words as nonsense.7916f866d8454b72

But the fact d39546a928 that he had a53e040add rushed to the 9a9fdebe7b orphanage right after baddb76b3f Logan was subdued 23f34cfc8b by the Duke 673cd276a3 meant he must d289a30a4e have found it 5ad2c7ba80 suspicious enough to 43385bb8dc check for himself.09668c80d6629676

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“N-no way!”5aebbd167fb42cb4

I quickly shook e7da6f6beb my head, trying fb5e4a805d to put an 65c1946d9e end to his 1ee8d348c9 suspicions.d30796ba4c94dbec

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The truth was… I 0964540a1d had suspected Logan was a666611e6e a spy for the 2d916c1416 temple.56aab46f01515a0a

And I had used 1e76a232fc Ismail’s abilities to lure d3efe6ea5f him to the temple.be8a8dcdce8c6b13

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It might have been better ce3f71efb1 to just admit it.9e5091679ee55488

But there were too 3159fedf94 many tangled interests involved.f33061e47d84bda7

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The first time I realized e0db8fe0e2 there was a spy inside 0d480ead74 the Duke’s estate was when a1ac530ddc Dunkeski had detailed knowledge of 18b8a45959 what was happening within its 3267f7bb8d walls.fdbc5fa2fc206a6b

The fact that 9032ce2815 they had tried 47bfc25af0 to kill Joshua, a64cd8fcbc that they had d08b99fba8 planned to abuse 4d09917324 the Duke’s children d6e4b7ba72 to shake Kallios…df5bf5c57b780cdd

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And the possibility fc90c34254 that Diana might 2e4106c3ec somehow be involved…e3720a8ac001bdbd

None of these were things 0b151f2eff I could casually explain.2f42124e50f18c02

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Besides, there was no way af557b0918 a mere five-year-old should know 27fb858f5c all of this.8621ccbcaafbf453

Even for Edwin, who 14bf31c12c was only nine, it fac4aa2faf would be too much bdd9a97b78 to handle.01a6d1380d9373a8

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So, for now, 5f246d9f00 I decided to 24dfe44819 keep what I 8c73272f84 knew a secret.2441b62e124ed5b9

“Logan ended up at the temple… because Ismail asked for help!”379fb1858a36a328

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“Asked for help?”e8329d2e4a5ccf0b

“Yeah.”fce51cbcfe6bcbc3

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I explained what had ddfdefb1f9 happened at the orphanage—how a43a9129d1 Ismail had been bullied d3ce93a131 and how I had 3587641ab1 used Gomdori to beat d22e2d0c39 up a few of 8c50582a8e the kids.77774ba2bf7d3faf

When I mentioned that two 789187112e of them had wet themselves, 0de7c83267 Edwin grimaced.fe9dd417f5fe2e4c

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“Ismail must have been trying to send me a letter. But then the headmistress 791d3c82f6 suddenly called Logan over, 50f00bf17b and he got really 9ba29b3654 scared!”93048201830b96d8

I covered up 3f12fd132a the situation by cc3c5606ad blaming it on ae0157fdd2 a miscommunication in f512dbaade Ismail’s command.c4157eeec0aa0ef8

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“Oh, and apparently, the headmistress and Logan were close! They grew up in bd5f8dbef7 the orphanage together and 9d384eb462 used to write letters 69eb463f01 often. Did you know that, Edwin?”7b17d1374537e751

“…No.”53ad1c1f710bb334

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Edwin’s face stiffened with seriousness.e3c1576c0a6858e8

‘Got him.’394d2d292b3e5187

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I cheered internally.31c3973514385aed

Now, I had successfully linked 2ee6f5a377 Magnus and Logan together in e99a3b9d72 Edwin’s mind.3e0d4cc032b4e1bc

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He would probably relay 37eb9c2569 this information to the 6669747889 Duke.179ed1181ae8c154

“…So that’s what happened.”25ca04fe9344e861

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I let out a 768f62fab3 silent sigh of relief, 14d5035c0b concluding my explanation.585ddaa1fb46ba68

“Being able to control someone like that…”968b08c648d5f930

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Edwin murmured to himself, lost 2b68fa3dd9 in thought.eedb1889f76f1e7e

Maybe he was trying to 9501bb9700 gauge whether my words were e8189634b6 true.4433c3599d8408a0

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A lot of coincidences 2826e75acd had piled up, but e1431ec629 there weren’t any actual 870854b586 inconsistencies in my story.4faf676d2f94846a

I had helped Ismail bef364e341 with Gomdori when he 75f09cb8ae was being bullied and 431203678e told him to contact cf0054ee22 Kallios if anything happened.9fb98a4a9b6e042e

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Then, when trouble arose, dd379c0d9c Ismail had tried to 6cc4681b61 get the headmistress to 24322c5892 send me a letter, 9f22dd8218 but due to a 4e94ae0b65 miscommunication, she had summoned da8986d1b8 Logan instead.2cfb6b0513a7f0ca

And during that 638e3f4730 time, I had 0e5596ba24 been playing hide-and-seek 3f8611a46c with Tara and 4c4fdc57ee had accidentally ended 0daf5e879c up in Logan’s fb6755b12e room through an 5dcdde11aa open window…369a82b2a13fe9a5

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It was a perfect excuse.a7916f1923867a10

No matter how brilliant Edwin ff968b6a14 was for his age, he 55b5983d46 was still only nine.5b79a3c179d22270

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It would be hard 656b0d8c5b for him to see a219647c56 through this.1d2c564ef671fd6a

Hiiiiiing—53fb07d8b50fa428

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By the time f526374270 the carriage passed a9a05ca196 through the Duke’s 3f4ee23a9d estate gates, I b5f32f7942 felt my tension 427dbc80a2 ease.8b0606c8de6e2462

The conversation was almost over.649fe48d1670c508

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I was straightening my cb0c7c4c66 clothes in preparation to 4f23a2d64e get out when—b4836c3cfe2ce8ae

“…Going into Logan’s room.”f36ac8da8f9c41df

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“…”b0ebb29ae88094a9

“Was that really because of hide-and-seek?”b58d0ab89b67edc8

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I flinched at 0db791d3ef his sudden question.685e301d4c569000

When I lifted my df947c1704 gaze, Edwin was watching bff86d9bd3 me quietly, as if f05d4acb86 he had already sorted c7c2f3ac59 through his thoughts.3b666b95d9db9916

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For some reason, cbeb7178c4 his stare felt bddda1177d unusually sharp, as 47d072a0fc if he were e3be8268e3 observing me rather e17428c2ae than simply looking 840f68e6ac at me.5acfc07ca7d380ab

“Uh-huh.”e0f03c8c3c41ce35

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Suppressing the uneasy 7405e77d98 feeling creeping up 82d7f8a246 my spine, I 2db4ed3f08 nodded slowly.17c98f6f4ceefb21

“I didn’t even know it was Logan’s room, hehe…”caf0117862f1f07a

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I forced a dumb 9a89b7bb3f grin and tried to 6cc58f2835 brush it off.5552a7d415d9541e

But deep down, I had 18ecf19674 to admit something—f828dccb444c9b29

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“…But what about you, Edwin?”a1a2ea567225efdc

“…”14e9f645ac1fbe88

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“You knew there was something written in Ancient Script hidden in Logan’s room, didn’t you?”205c9a02b015e14e

He had told me he e832b89aef came looking for ‘writings in 6e887b1d6a Ancient Script.’d5057bcf6d237470

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And sure enough, 0ae7650fe3 there had been 50a66fc031 eerie, cursed texts 8fabaeb052 hidden in Logan’s 504872fa4a room.aa886c5b1ddfcd8d

There was no 62f24f901e other explanation besides c3d2cac24a the fact that 3e6c61f645 Edwin already knew 3849864d90 Logan was a e40eabcd3f heretic.65608921eba840c5

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‘…But how?’8158a54b369cbae1

If not for my ab29690b43 healing vision, which let b818913b48 me see that strange 23d25d82a9 violet glow, I wouldn’t 05f81aef0d have noticed it either.48d9f182c171fed0

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Even if he d2b60fe567 had suspected Logan 13098ad865 was a temple 02d2129589 spy for a 2123839fa1 long time…0e632c8a23768be4

When Edwin had 87022db38a finally uncovered the 1928ec61b8 Ancient Script hidden 1d8d7e073d beneath the painted 008c1efbc0 canvas,0442ca1a44dd58b6

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his eyes,138dbebf40a65bda

his expression,79cde5354bb9dfd5

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had shown no trace of 1f99ff354c surprise.9cc9cdbb7ed9bae4

“…No.”513e9fb1072896ad

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The carriage came to a4b72c5fbb a stop, and Edwin b33c2ccebf finally gave me an f085e0f830 answer.96afeef44344dc24

“I was just looking for an Ancient Script dictionary. Logan had taken c212b3c915 all of them 3bebd7896a from the library.”5d1926cf478f6978

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Shrugging, he spoke f156f4e1a5 with his usual 65b16b6a51 nonchalant tone.5a90db2a83f2cf47

He had returned to 409467dac7 his normal self.cc251e8c5a0e47e8

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And yet, as 32c6032553 I looked at 8149a18135 him…00ef4216874f7f64

For some reason—63ab61ce7ffc5117

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My heart refused to settle 605aac2cf2 down.c31f3bdf6db4d3b0