Chapter 249: Pretty Eyes

Ulrich winced slightly after the door closed.

Hermione had been visibly upset.

He did not understand why.

She had barely met Ceres, yet she had looked at the girl with hostility from the beginning. Airam had reacted the same way. Even Esther, who seemed curious rather than hostile, had watched Ceres with more caution than usual.

Was there some kind of instinctive hostility between them?

In the novel, Ceres would become a rival to the three witch sisters, especially Airam who were antagonist characters. Their powers, personalities, and paths would clash again and again.

Perhaps that rivalry had already begun.

Perhaps fate had a way of pushing certain people toward conflict no matter how early they met.

Ulrich was too tired to think deeply about it.

He turned his attention back to Ceres.

"Are you all right, my lord?"

Ceres stood near the bed, her hands held uncertainly before her.

Her gaze had fallen to Ulrich’s bandaged left arm.

"I... I was not certain whether I did well."

Thankfully, the bandages concealed the amber Thornbreath marks.

If Ceres saw them, she might panic.

She still did not fully understand that the curse had entered Ulrich’s arm while reattaching it.

"You did well," Ulrich said.

Ceres looked up.

Ulrich continued.

"Was that your first time doing something like that?"

Ceres lowered her gaze.

"I did similar things before."

Her voice softened.

"With my mother. And with the others in the coven."

There was sadness in her expression.

So it had not been her first time attempting to heal damaged mana pathways. She must have seen spirit magic used in the coven before. She must have learned enough to understand, at least instinctively, what could be repaired and what could not.

But reattaching an arm was different.

Ulrich doubted she had ever tried anything close to that.

And if she had attempted it on anyone other than him, the person likely would not have survived the Thornbreath’s influence.

Ulrich had endured only because of the Hollow Core.

His mana had resisted the curse long enough for Ceres to finish.

"Do not use that power recklessly," Ulrich said.

Ceres looked at him.

"The Thornbreath still holds too much influence over you. What happened today was dangerous."

His expression hardened slightly.

"Against someone else, it may kill them."

Ceres’s shoulders lowered.

"Y—yes, my lord," she nodded quietly.

Ulrich could tell she was disappointed.

Not because he had scolded her.

Because she had wanted to help him, and she feared that she had instead harmed him.

"Come closer," Ulrich said.

Ceres blinked.

Then she carefully approached the bed.

She still looked tired. Her steps were unsteady, and she sat at the edge of the mattress with obvious nervousness.

Ulrich looked at her.

"What happened in New Ruben?"

Ceres was silent for a moment.

Then she spoke.

"Someone started a fight."

Ulrich waited.

"Grandpa tried to stop them," she continued. "But there were several people. They attacked him."

Her hands tightened in her lap.

"I...I panicked."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"I used my power to help him."

Ulrich watched her carefully.

"Did you kill them?"

Ceres’s face went pale.

"No!"

She turned toward him quickly.

"I did not kill anyone."

Ulrich waited.

Ceres looked down again.

"I hurt them."

Her voice became smaller.

"Everyone saw. They were looking at me. They were afraid."

She swallowed.

"Grandpa and I ran away. Then the Rubenhart knights found us. We had to show them the insignia you gave us so they would believe we were under your protection."

Her fingers curled around the edge of her skirt.

"Then Mr. Fabian came."

Ulrich understood.

Ceres had used magic in public.

People had seen enough to become afraid, and Mark had likely been injured in the fight. They had fled before the situation could turn worse, then used the Rubenhart insignia to seek help from his knights.

He could complain that she should not have left the mansion.

He could ask why Mark had allowed her outside.

But keeping Ceres locked away forever would not help her.

She would eventually need to live in public.

She would need to learn how to walk through a town without panicking when someone looked at her strangely. She would need to control the Thornbreath in front of others. And if Ulrich truly intended to place her in the Academy several years from now, she could not spend every day hidden inside a mansion.

"I am sorry," Ceres said suddenly.

Her voice broke.

"I am sorry if I caused you trouble."

She could not look at him.

"I did not mean to."

Ulrich stared at her.

"You did nothing wrong."

Ceres’s head lifted.

Her visible eye was wet with tears.

"R—really?"

Ulrich nodded.

Ceres still looked unconvinced.

Her fear had clearly entered too deeply for a simple answer to remove it.

Ulrich motioned for her to come a little closer.

Ceres shifted nearer.

Then Ulrich raised his right hand and moved aside the green hair covering her right eye.

Ceres went still.

The hidden eye was amber.

Its color was not natural. It held the faint depth of the Thornbreath Curse, and Ulrich could see why she kept it covered.

But he needed to see it.

The curse often revealed itself there first.

If the amber darkened, if the pupil shifted strangely, if her eye lost focus or began to glow, Ulrich would know the Thornbreath was becoming unstable before the markings appeared across her face.

"Does my hair bother you?" Ceres asked; her voice was hesitant.

"They do," Ulrich said without hesitation.

Ceres’s expression fell.

Her gaze lowered.

"But it is ugly," she whispered.

Ulrich looked at her.

Ceres had spent too long being treated as something frightening.

In Sylphara, people had looked at her strangely because of her mixed blood and the curse within her. In the coven, she had been treated as useful when her power mattered and unsettling when it did not. She had learned to hide the eye because it made others uncomfortable.

Because it made them call her a monster.

She had been brought and talked down to so much; she was lacking confidence in herself.

"It is not ugly," Ulrich said.

Ceres looked up.

"It is pretty," he added, making her widen her eyes a bit.

"You do not need to hide it from me or anyone," he said then.

It would also help him and everyone better, actually. Rather, he remembered hiding her right eye even during the first part of the novel until the Protagonist convinced her otherwise and she showed it confidently.

Ceres stared at him.

Ulrich’s crimson eyes were very sincere.

He was not mocking her.

He was not simply saying what she wanted to hear.

He meant it.

Color rose into Ceres’s cheeks.

She looked away quickly.

"You have pretty eyes too, my lord," she said quietly.

Ulrich lowered his hand from her forehead.

"Have you rested properly?"

Ceres blinked.

"And eaten?"

"I have not eaten yet."

"You will remain for dinner."

Ceres’s face brightened.

"G-Gladly."

She looked genuinely happy.

More than Ulrich expected.

Then she stood, bowed quickly, and left the room.

The door closed behind her.

Ulrich remained alone.

He exhaled slowly.

He had intended to wait longer.

Ceres was supposed to remain hidden in New Ruben until he understood more about her curse, her elven blood, and the role she would eventually play in the novel’s future.

But that was no longer possible.

She had met the sisters.

She had revealed her power.

She had reattached his arm in front of everyone.

It was time to bring Ceres fully into his plans.

And, whether Airam, Hermione, and Esther liked it or not, Ulrich knew exactly how to begin.