The Grand Duchess Escape

“My Lady, may I come in?”

“Enter.”

A quick answer came as Mariel jumped to her feet and slipped back between the sheets. A maid opened the door and came in, placed a jug of water and a glass on the table next to the bed, and pulled Mariel’s bed covers up to cover her neck.

“Well then, get some rest, My Lady. If you need anything at all, you can always call me with the crystal ball.”

“Okay!” Mariel replied.

The maid couldn’t help but smile in response to her brave reply. Then, Mariel smiled and opened her mouth again.

A low voice, utterly different from the one she had just spoken with, came out.

“Now, then, tell me.”

“My Lady?”

The maid, who was about to leave when the tone suddenly changed, turned around and looked at Mariel again, startled.

“What is it that you want to know about, My Lady?” 

For a moment, a foreign hue appeared in Mariel’s eyes.

It was a signal that meant that her ability to manipulate people was activated. Of course, the maid was utterly oblivious to such power.

“What is the remainder of His Excellency the Grand Duke’s schedule?”

A light flashed from Mariel’s eyes. The maid’s pupils widened, and immediately the shine faded from her eyes. Once Mariel’s power took over the maid completely, the maid turned into a puppet that would move according to her master’s will, becoming Mariel’s hands and feet.

“I am not sure, My Lady.”

“Then look into it. Try to find out as much as you can, as quickly as possible. If you find a servant who has that information, just make eye contact with me.”

“Yes.”

The maid nodded her head and left the room with a completely possessed look on her face. As the sound of the maid’s footsteps outside the door slowly faded away, the foreign hue slowly faded from Mariel’s eyes.

She was lying on the bed but suddenly began to mumble, and she sat up again.

“I wish it had started a little sooner.”

The ability to manipulate people was the power Mariel had started experiencing this morning for the first time.

“It’s not bad. It’s a useful power, but…”

Mariel began to reevaluate the information she had gathered about the ability to manipulate others.

“It requires eye contact with the target, and it lasts for a short period of time. The range of its use is also limited since it cannot be used on those with a strong mentality.”

“It is better to give up this power by all means.” Mariel thought long and hard before coming to this conclusion.

The Chartus family’s awakening includes manifesting different abilities.

This and related information was passed down confidentially from one Chartus family head to the next and the next.

All that was known to the world was that they had received the blessing of the Goddess Herniya and that the beginning of the Chartus family coincided with the founding of the empire.

The reason for this thorough secrecy was simple. This was because, upon awakening, all the necessary information would flood into their minds.

“Will I be able to try other abilities soon?”

There was another unique trait of the Chartus’ special abilities. It was that their abilities manifested themselves differently depending on their personal characteristics. There were various types of abilities, such as magic, illusion, healing, regeneration, manipulation, mind-reading, and sorcery.

“It would be nice if I got a powerful ability, and if it was more than one, even better.”