For four days, Edsel remained inside his room while meditating without food or water. The dark purple energy mixed with black grew thicker around him with each passing hour. The force of the mana was so intense that it made all the papers, books, and clothes in the room float in the air as if gravity had lost its power over them.
For four days, Edsel remained inside his room, seated in meditation without food or water.
Dark purple energy swirled around him, threaded with streaks of black. It thickened with each passing hour until the pressure in the room grew suffocating. Papers lifted from the desk. Books trembled before rising into the air. Even folded clothes drifted upward, caught in the invisible current spiraling from his body.
The circulation within him no longer followed the orthodox path.
The one hundred percent death mana he had accumulated flooded his internal pathways, saturating every meridian. It devoured the remaining traces of pure mana and reshaped it, converting everything into dense, dark mana. There was no clarity left within him, only depth and weight.
Inside the core of his heart, a second circle slowly took form.
Again and again, he guided the energy through his lungs, drawing it inward with steady breaths before forcing it to revolve around his heart. Each cycle carved the circle deeper, stabilizing its shape.
On the final day, he pushed further.
The energy suddenly erupted outward.
A violent shockwave burst from his body, slamming into the walls and furniture. The floating objects were hurled away. The desk splintered. The windows rattled violently. Even Edsel was nearly thrown back by the recoil of his own power.
"Damn…"
He opened his eyes slowly. The world felt heavy. His muscles ached, and his throat burned with dryness.
Knock. Knock.
The door creaked open, and Mia walked in while carrying a tray of food. Her left eye was swollen, and she had dark circles under her eyes as if she had been punched recently. She was a complete mess with other bruises visible on her arms and face.
"Good morning, my lord," she said while placing the tray down.
His eyes widened at the sight of her injuries. He walked towards her and grabbed the tea from the tray, drinking it in one gulp while she hesitated beside him.
"Phew, I can finally talk now," he said while wiping his mouth.
"I'm glad you're safe, young master," Mia said softly. "There are… matters you should know."
He studied her appearance more carefully. Either she had defended him from insults or someone had made her the target.
"Tell me everything," he said.
"Terrible rumors have been spreading everywhere. People are saying that you have been embracing me every night and that I am the one who ruined Lady Fiora's engagement because I seduced you," Mia explained while looking down at the floor.
Edsel could not believe what he was hearing. Such rumors were completely stupid and unfounded. More importantly, the servants feared him and would not even try to do such foolish things on their own. Unless someone had created these rumors intentionally and had forced the maids to spread them. But who could be behind such a scheme?
"Did my father or Fiora act on this matter?" he asked while thinking.
"No, sir. Not even the head butler has done anything about it. Also, young master, something else happened. A maid from the Alastair house approached me and said that she would help me. In exchange, she wanted me to tell her what happened to you and where you went during your outing," Mia reported.
Understanding dawned instantly.
Edsel smiled faintly. "I see… Elena."
So that was her move. He reached out and patted Mia's head gently. She blushed at the gesture and smiled warmly despite her injuries.
"You did well, Mia. You endured all of this for my sake," he said with genuine appreciation.
"I am happy that I could serve you well, my lord," she responded while closing her eyes and enjoying the moment.
The door opened without any warning.
Edsel turned his head slowly as Hans stepped inside, followed by several maids who entered behind him. Hans let his gaze sweep across the room and take in the sight of cracked walls, overturned furniture, and splintered wood scattered across the floor from the intense training that had taken place over the past four days.
"This place is a mess," Hans muttered under his breath. Then he offered a polite bow in Edsel's direction. "Greetings, young master. How was your night?"
"You remained inside for four days without attendants. You must be hungry. However, before that, the lord has requested your presence. I trust you remember the promise between you."
Edsel tilted his head slightly, studying him.
Two things stood out, Hans had entered without knocking and he clearly knew about Mia's presence over the past four days, yet he had chosen silence.
"You know," Edsel said lightly, "I've been curious about you, Hans. Are you truly qualified to serve as the butler of the Domitius household?"
Hans' brow lifted. "Why would you ask such a thing?"
Edsel pointed at Mia's face. The darkened bruise beneath her eye was unmistakable.
"My personal maid was injured by others within this manor. That means they disrespected me." His voice sharpened slightly. "And you did nothing."
Hans glanced at Mia, then at the maids behind him. "Women often quarrel. It may simply be a misunderstanding."
"He's right, young master," one maid hurried to add.
"Yes, just a misunderstanding," another echoed nervously.
"I see," Edsel murmured. "A misunderstanding."
Mia's eyes shifted slightly toward the guilty faces among the maids who were standing there. That small movement was enough confirmation for Edsel to know exactly who had been involved in the attack.
Edsel stepped forward without any hesitation.
Mana surged through his arm as he struck Hans across the face with tremendous force.
The crack echoed through the entire room like thunder.
The maids gasped loudly and stepped backward in fear.
Hans staggered from the impact and dropped down to one knee while clutching his swollen cheek. Before he could recover from the first blow, another slap landed on his face even harder than the first one. His head snapped to the side violently, and blood trickled down from his nose onto the floor. The force behind the strike felt less like a human hand and more like a boulder crashing into his skull repeatedly.
"Young master," Hans muttered while stunned by the attack.
Edsel grabbed a fistful of his hair and forced his head upward so that they were looking directly at each other.
"Let us ensure that this never happens again in the future," he said softly while maintaining eye contact. "Before I go to meet my father, I should clean up the servants who dare to oppose their master openly."
"Young master, please!" one maid whimpered while trembling violently.
A knife that was resting on the side table nearby began to tremble slightly.
Without touching it physically, Edsel willed the blade to move forward through the air.
The knife shot across the room instantly and sliced cleanly across a maid's throat in one smooth motion. For a single heartbeat, she stood frozen in place with confusion on her face. Then a thin red line opened across her neck, and her head slipped from her shoulders before striking the floor with a dull thud that echoed in the silence.
A scream tore through the room immediately.
"Kyaaaa!"
Panic erupted among the remaining maids as they tried to escape. One maid attempted to run for the door, but the same knife curved through the air and pierced through her back before exiting from her chest in a spray of blood. She collapsed forward onto the ground while twitching slightly.
Another maid dropped to her knees and started sobbing while pressing her hands together in desperate prayer. Edsel extended his hand slightly in her direction.
The air tightened around her neck.
An invisible force wrapped around her throat and lifted her off the ground completely. Her legs kicked wildly in the air as she clawed at nothing with her fingers. With a sharp twist of his wrist, her spine snapped loudly. Her body fell limp and landed on the floor without any movement.
The remaining maids stumbled backward while tripping over each other in their panic. One of them attempted to hide behind Hans for protection.
Edsel flicked his wrist casually.
The fallen knife rose from the ground again and drove straight through her forehead with precision, pinning her head to the wooden pillar behind her body.
Silence followed the final strike. The only sound that remained was the soft dripping of blood falling onto the floor from the bodies scattered around the room.
Hans's eyes widened at the scene before him, but he said nothing in response. He closed his eyes briefly while absorbing the sight of the slaughtered servants lying at his feet.
Edsel released his grip on the butler's hair and stepped back calmly.
"Discipline," he said while looking around the room, "must be maintained at all times."