It took Countess Irina Omenshire a few minutes to clean the blood off her face. Even then, she could still feel the throbbing in her eyes and nerves, though the damage had already begun to heal.
She might appear fragile, but as an 11th-circle mage, she was remarkably strong for a countess.
After regaining her composure, King Luthor entered the room with Princess Catherine Von Astoria to speak with her.
"Irina, what the hell happened back there?" King Luthor asked with a serious expression. He was the one who had forced her to use her ability and now felt a pang of guilt for it.
Countess Irina Omenshire didn't immediately look at the king. Instead, her gaze rested briefly on Princess Catherine before she turned her attention back to him.
"It's… it's nothing. I suppose I pushed myself too far while trying to glimpse the fate of the Ignatius Dukedom," she replied, withholding the truth. The exhaustion she felt wasn't from the energy she expended but from the sheer weight of what she had witnessed.
"Is that so? Then tell me—what did you see?" King Luthor pressed.
"Well… I… I don't know what I saw," Irina admitted with a sigh. Though she could recall every detail of her vision, none of it made sense.
Among the many strange things she had seen, one stood out: a man with crimson hair seated on a throne. It was clear to her that he was the one responsible for the chaos in her visions, yet she had no idea who he was.
Her first instinct was that he might be related to Duchess Ignatius or her three daughters, given his hair color. There was a possibility he shared a connection with them, but she had no way of confirming it.
Still, this was the least of her concerns.
What troubled her more was why she, her daughter, and Princess Catherine Von Astoria had been standing beside the man in her vision, as if in unwavering support of his desires.
"What do you mean you don't know?" King Luthor asked, narrowing his eyes in frustration.
"Exactly as I said," Irina replied. "I've seen the fates of thousands of people before, but I've never encountered a fate line as colossal as the one I just witnessed."
"I don't understand," the king said, his tone growing more impatient.
"Your Highness," Irina began, swallowing hard, "after seeing that fate, I have only one piece of advice: you must find a way to strengthen your alliance with the Ignatius clan as much as possible."
"Do they pose any danger?."
"Let me simplify it," she said, her voice steady. "Your daughter's future is incredibly bright, and you have nothing to fear from the Ignatius and Everhart clans. On the contrary, their support will be vital in the years to come."
...
In the end, King Astoria couldn't obtain any clear answers—or rather, it should be said that Countess Irina couldn't provide the answers he was seeking.
However, he did manage to confirm one crucial thing: the Ignatius and Everhart Dukedoms had no intention of becoming enemies of the kingdom or engaging in actions that might come back to haunt him.
Countess Irina also offered a piece of advice: he should work to improve the kingdom's political relationships with the Ignatius and Everhart Dukedoms as much as possible. This advice gave the king some valuable perspective, even if much of what Irina said remained unclear to him. For now, she was a trusted ally, and he decided it was wise to follow her guidance.
The Countess and her daughter returned to their mansion in Omenshire County.
"Mother, you need to explain what happened. I've never seen you bleed so much after using [Fate Vision]," Iridessa said, crossing her arms as she fixed her mother with a demanding gaze.
"My daughter," Countess Irina began with a weary sigh, "there are some fates that are too vast, too overwhelming, for us mortals to comprehend. The fate lines I read were of that kind—they completely overpowered me."
"I thought you were reading the fate of the Ignatius Dukedom?" Iridessa asked, her doubt evident. She had accidentally read the fate lines of a dukedom before, but the experience hadn't harmed her as it had her mother.
"Yes, I did read the fate lines of the Ignatius Dukedom," Irina replied, nodding gravely. "But it wasn't the fate of the dukedom itself that overwhelmed me. It was likely someone connected to the Ignatius clan—a person whose influence over the dukedom's fate is so immense that it overpowered me."
"Who is this person?" Iridessa asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I don't know yet," Irina admitted, her voice heavy with foreboding. "But I can say with certainty—we will meet //him soon enough."
...
A few years later, the eight counts, three dukes, and the royal family received an invitation from the Ignatius Dukedom to attend a grand banquet celebrating the 12th birthday of the son of Duchess Victoria Ignatius.
Their reactions ranged from shock and surprise to deep curiosity.
King Luthor read the invitation with a neutral expression, though a flicker of disbelief crossed his face. "A son? When the hell did she have a son? And who the hell did she have him with?"
...
Omenshire County
Meanwhile, Countess Irina Omenshire clutched the invitation tightly in her hands, her knuckles white as she read its contents.
"A son…" she murmured, her mind immediately flashing back to the vision she'd seen four years ago when she tried to divine the fate of the Ignatius Dukedom.
Her gaze shifted to her daughter, who was also staring at the invitation, her expression calm and unreadable.
Countess Irina hadn't shared the details of that vision with her daughter—not a word of the mysterious figure she had glimpsed.
Little did Countess Omenshire know, she wasn't the only one keeping secrets.
Both mother and daughter harbored truths they had not yet revealed to each other.
...
Everhart Dukedom
"Fufufu… So, she's finally doing it. She's announcing to the kingdom that she has a son." Freya chuckled as she examined the ornate invitation.
Her gaze shifted toward her daughter.
"You remember the arrangement I made with Victoria, don't you?" Freya said. "If you want to win his favor, you'll have to win his heart."
"I will," Fiona replied confidently.
"It won't be easy," Freya warned, crossing her arms. "As news of his talents spreads, the competition will become unimaginably fierce."
"I know," Fiona said resolutely.
Shock, surprise, and curiosity rippled through the minds of every noble family and clan as they received the invitation to the banquet.
The Ignatius Dukedom's long-held secret was about to be revealed.
The time for the world to witness true greatness was approaching swiftly.
.
.
.
{Author's Note: If you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to vote with some POWER STONES. It would also really help me if you could rate this book. Thank you for reading!}