To hell and back

The troubles of the young lady of the house

Well, that explains why Luis sent me here and another reason why I will kick Luis' ass if I ever see him again.

That asshole.

I made it clear that I wanted nothing to do with magic... I really hope that he knew that this was bullshit and that is why he sent me.

"And why did you seek out Mister L and not someone traditional or reliable?"

Here and back in the dark kingdom, Luis is the last resort sort of man that people try their best to avoid making deals with at all costs. No one wants to make deals with the devil with a light heart.

"Because this has to be kept silent. It would ruin all my daughter's chances of finding a good, desirable match if the word that a curse was at play here... and so who is best to call upon in regard to this then someone from the dark kingdom where people deal with these sorts of things every day. When Mister L mentioned that he got just the right person from the dark kingdom, I could not believe my luck."

Well, his knowledge and expectations of a person from the dark kingdom is a bit overrated.

Simple humans living there had little to no knowledge of curses and dark magic.

Sure, they have seen it, but seeing something and knowing if it is really dark magic and knowing what to do if it was dark magic was on a completely different level.

To his luck, I was probably the best person for this job. If there really is dark magic at work here. Sure, I no longer have my powers, but I have more knowledge of the subject than any other person.

But I really doubt that there was any dark magic here, because no sane magic user would give up his life and powers to cross the borders, to only start dabbling in it again, when it was outlawed in this kingdom, with a nice death sentence if you were caught practicing it on this side of the wall.

Hmmm.... but this does not mean I should not play into it. I can use it to my advantage and that is probably why Luis sent me here... so maybe I will torture him only a little bit if I ever see him again. With my knowledge of the subject, I am sure I can play a really convincing protector from dark magic. Well, as much as I disliked this plan before, it started to grow on me.

"Well, in that case, yes, I am the best choice for this, and I will do everything in my power to keep your daughter safe."

I gave the older man my best smile and could see him settle down a bit.

"Good, that is great to hear. So why don't we go, and I will introduce you to my sweat bird. She has been so excited about you coming... well, she is mostly excited that she will be able to rejoin society and all the balls she will be able to go to now."

"Yes, sir. I am very excited about meeting the young miss."

It was clear that the man was relieved now that I was finally here. I guess they really believe that dark forces were at play here by the easiness you tell in the way he was carrying himself.

What most likely is at play is some teenage drama or maybe even someone trying to mess with the young girls' chances to get a match. And the idea of this sort of drama felt a bit annoying, but it is a breath of fresh air at the same time in comparison to what I had dealt with before. At least it will be easy to take care of now that I no longer have my powers. Dealing with the upper society drama was nothing new to me, and I am sure I could accomplish it even without my powers.

The master of the house led me out of the room and through another set of doors. It led to what looked like a sitting room or living room of sorts. There we found a young lady that had a lot of similar features to the older man. It was clear that this young woman was his daughter... not that it was for her good. She did not have the settle features of her father, but the heavy, round face that made what I would guess, a girl around eighteen or twenty, look a lot younger and childish... well, that and the way she was acting.

She jumped from the couch where she had been sitting and reading with what looked like her teacher.

"Daddy!"

In a few steps she had launched herself at the older man, wrapping her arms around his thick neck.

"Hello, little bird. I'm sorry to interrupt your lesson, but I wanted to introduce you to the lady we employed as your new maid as discussed."

The young girl stared at her faster, as if trying to read him and then her face radiated an even brighter smile than before as her curious eyes turned to me.

"Birdy, meet Miss Cali Castillo. Miss Castillo, this is Bernadeth, my pride and joy, of my wife and me."

He released the younger woman, and she turned to look at me with a wide, honest smile on her face.

"I'm so happy to meet you, Miss Cali."

"It's an honor, my lady."

I said with my best smile. To make my life easier, I have to get on the good side of the girl. As sunshine and rainbow as she looked, I am sure that she could create a lot of problems if she saw it fit.

For a moment, I gave her, the room and the other woman in the room a once over.

Sure, I did not believe that the situation had anything to do with magic, but I had to be sure... because if it really was dark magic, I had to leave this place as fast as possible. There was no way that I would be lingering here to get caught in the crossfire of dark magic that would cost me my head... or, even worse, my freedom.

By the looks of it, everything looked normal.

The girl looked healthy, as the easiest way to mess with a young girl in a situation like this would be to target her health. Well, that and dark magic feeds on life force, first from the one that cast the spell and later from the one that was cursed.

Not only that, but there were no signs of the heaviness of dark magic, or the coldness... or just the feel of it. It's hard to explain how to feel it or what to look for in particular, but after all this time dealing with it, I knew it when I saw it. Over the years, I learned how to feel these things and almost all the time I was right.

So, by the looks of it, everything was as I expected.

This made me relax a bit.

"Okay, let's not keep you from your lessons, and I am sure that Miss Castillo is tired after her journey."

The younger girl's face fell a bit, but her father just gave her a genteel pat on the top of her head as he sent her back to het teacher. I gave both of the ladies in the room a small smile as I followed after the older man out of the room. Once the doors were closed behind us, the man started walking back to the study we came from.

"That would be all for now. Petro will show you to your room."

As if mentioning the butler's name summoned him, the older man appeared out of nowhere.

"Miss, if you would follow me."