Arthur followed Sion in silence through the maze of corridors of his mansion. Slightly nervous, Catherine followed them and the Baron said nothing about her presence. Arthur suspected that the Baron didn't want anyone to see him begging on his knees. They stopped in front of one of the rooms which, contrary to all the others so far, was guarded by two alert, competent, and dangerous-looking soldiers. They were also level fifty, so it was apparent that the Baron didn't want to take any chances with what was inside. They stepped aside and opened the room in silence. It was dim, but the air was fairly fresh. Arthur looked around and noticed the toys, painstakingly arranged on the shelves, waiting for their small owner to play with them again. Sion's wife, Elene, was sitting nearby holding the boy's hand. She looked at the child with a dull, sorrowful gaze, but her eyes were dry. She simply couldn't cry anymore.

  "He has been like that for the last three weeks..." Sion put his hand on the malnourished head of his own child. "He barely eats or drinks."

  "Sion? Why did you bring Lord Arthur here?" The woman asked weakly.

  "Hush..." The Baron said and took her hand. "Allow him to work."

  Arthur wasn't listening. The moment they entered the room he felt the curse. A dark miasma was consuming the body of the child.

  "It's indeed a curse..." Arthur extended his hand and closed his eyes. "But... It's strange... I’ll need you both to stay behind me. No matter what happens, no matter what your son might do or say, you must not take even a single step toward him. If I'm not wrong, that curse might kill him if you do anything rash. Should I proceed?"

  "Yes. Please, Lord Ives." Sion agreed despite the protests of Elene. "He will die anyway at this rate."

  "You don't understand." Arthur shook his head. "His life isn't in danger now, but will be during the undoing of the curse. Whoever cast it on your son planned to torment you. Your child will be begging you for help. He will cry and extend his hands toward you. But if you move even one step, he will die. What's more, you must be here the entire time. I don't know how a curse like that was even possible to cast, but as you can see..."

  "Can you help him?" Elene asked with a shaken voice.

  "I will do my best." He extended his hand and hesitated. "But if I don't need to learn its origin, the removal process will be painless..."

  He looked at Sion and Elene who were shocked.

  "I want to apologise on behalf of my Lord." Catherine bowed towards the Noble couple. "He still seemed not to regain the clarity of his mind after his own ordeal. Normally, he wouldn't expose anyone to such suffering as he described."

  They looked at her in silence, and while Sion furrowed his brows, Elene burst into nervous laughter.

  "I see now why Lord Ives insists on constantly keeping you at his side." She said and wiped her tears. "Sion? I know that you want to be sure who did it to Doram, but his suffering is not worth it."

  "All right, Elene. After all, we almost certainly know who did it. Confirming that would make it even harder than it is now." The Noble nodded. "Could you remove the curse?"

  "Curses. There are seven of them." Arthur shrugged. "I'm sorry. I should have mentioned that it was possible to remove the curse painlessly earlier. Yes, I can do it. At first glance, they look like a single, potent and complicated curse but, after closer inspection, they revealed themselves to be just skillfully stacked Black Magic spells. If I had to guess, I would say that casting something like it would require a ritual of some sort, a line of sight towards the victim and seven separate casters."

  "In that case, you just confirmed who did this to our son without causing him any harm..." Elene shook her head with a bitter voice.

  Arthur felt Catherine stomp on his foot. He looked at her but she just pointed at the child with her chin. Right...

  Arthur extended his hands over the boy and focused. Seven large blue arcane circles illuminated the room brightly as the Holy Glyphs that made the spells filled the circles. To make sure he didn't miss anything, Arthur placed two more glowing circles, one above and one below the boy.

  "Purification." He said as the room momentarily erupted in the bright flash of blue light.

  The shocked silence was suddenly interrupted by the child's cry of pain and Arthur felt his own panic rise. Did he miss something after all?

  "Mommy! My tummy aches!" The boy complained but once his stomach let out a mighty growl, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

  Everyone except for Arthur.

  "Doram!" Elene rushed to the bedside and grabbed his hand, crying. But this time her tears were of joy and relief. "My son... Everything will be fine!"

  "Doram..." Sion dropped to his knees and clenched his fists. "Thank you... Thank you, Lord Ives! I don't know how I can ever repay this debt to you!"

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  "Keeping his secrets safe would be a great start, Lord Howthorns." Catherine bowed to the noble with a smile.

  "That's obvious, Miss Catherine," Sion said solemnly as he slowly stood up.

  Arthur was observing the boy for a moment in silence and his expression was grim. "I hate to spoil your good mood, but the danger is not over yet. He must only eat select food for the time being. His body is ravaged by hunger and even my magic would struggle with repairing all the damage. Fortunately, it's not fatal anymore. He needs to eat often and only foods that are light for his stomach. Broths, vegetable soups, and light meats, preferably from birds or fish. He can eat sweet fruits but give them to him in moderation. No bread, sweets, fat meat, or food made of white flour. No alcohol of any sort! I saw everyone drinking watered-down wine here."

  They looked at him in shock. Even Catherine was stunned. Elene was hugging Doram tightly, but she was staring at Arthur with fear in her eyes. Sion nodded without asking questions and went to the doors. He ordered the guards to bring the food that Arthur had just told them about.

  "Look. He hasn't been eating properly since he was cursed. Giving him the food I forbid will only upset his stomach, make him vomit, and extend the time he needs to return to full health." Arthur patiently explained. If he didn't explain his reasons for this warning, they wouldn't figure out that Arcadian medicine was as advanced as the runesmithing. "Besides, it's not for a lifetime. Just a few days, maybe a week or two until he regains his strength. After that, he can eat whatever he likes."

  "Thank you for this miracle, Lord Ives. We are forever in your debt." The woman said with tears in her eyes as she cradled her son.

  "I would like to say that it wasn't a problem but I might need to ask you for a favour sooner or later." Arthur slowly nodded. "But I would like to consider you my friends. I know it would be difficult considering I'm a foreigner..."

  "If a person like you would desire to consider us their friend, we couldn't be more honoured!" Sion lowered his head. Meanwhile, someone knocked on the doors and a Maid entered with the food.

  The Baron fell silent, waiting for the woman to leave. The Baroness politely ordered the older woman to leave and awkwardly looked at Catherine. The Nekomi smiled back and approached the noble woman to offer her her assistance. While Elene was sloppily spoonfeeding her son with soup, Catherine was standing nearby and passing her the items that the woman needed.

  "As I said, we will be honoured by your friendship, Count Ives. I... When we first met, I was sure that you were some kind of dangerous bandit, or possibly even some spy sent here by the hostile faction. But I was wrong. Fortunately, Amos was there to avert what could have been a horrible mistake. I'm sorry for that." Sion bowed deeply to the Inquisitor.

  "I would be suspicious as well if I were you." Arthur decided to take a neutral approach. His actions so far hadn’t been exactly covert or careful.

  "There shouldn't be secrets about such things between friends." Sion straightened and smiled. "But this is in the past now. My domain will always be a safe place for you to return to, even if the Kingdom itself would become your enemy."

  "That's a very bold claim..." Arthur said quietly.

  "I'm more loyal to someone like you who detests slavery and helps the weak. You are the personification of all the virtues of a true knight." The Baron shook his head with a smile. "I guess you will learn about it sooner or later, but Saftia is on the verge of a civil war. The King is a ruler just in name, as he lost much of his power to gain the support of the corrupted nobles. However, he has their support and uses them to hold the entire country under his boot. Nominally, I represent that bloody bastard. However, I do it only when it's convenient for me. I support the anti-royal faction... Well... You could call us a loyalist faction since we want the return of the former Royal Family."

  "That's pretty confusing naming." Arthur shook his head. "I'm not here to bring justice, or fight in battles that aren't Arcadia's."

  "I'm well aware of it, Lord Ives. It would be foolish of us to expect you to fight for strangers, after all." Sion softly shook his head. "What I want to say is that we can help you avoid troubles in the lands controlled by our enemies."

  "I imagine you would expect something for your protection?" Arthur asked quietly, a small smile on his lips.

  "I only humbly ask you to meet with Duke Velen Ainour Saftia. He is the highest-ranking noble in our faction and a man who saved the remnants of the previous Royal Family during the coup. The current King is too weak to remove him, but he is slowly undermining Lord Velen's authority." Sion lowered his head. "I'm sure he might offer you help to return to your home."

  "Hmm... I might consider it." Arthur nodded.

  "We will do anything to ensure that someone like you won't support the enemy. No matter how slim the chance for this is, your support might change a defeat into victory..." Sion said quietly, and Arthur could sense his unease and anxiety. "While I can't imagine you support the current regime, nothing is impossible in this world."

  "I would really remain neutral." Arthur shook his head.

  He couldn't discard the option that he would have had to involve himself in the civil war at some point. However, for now, he wasn't going to even entertain the thought.

  "So, the Alabaster Trading Company..." He looked at Sion.

  "Yes. They are our allies although it was only recently the first time I met Benjamin in person." Sion shortly nodded without explaining any further. "I was relieved to hear you saved him back then."

  "All right... I need to learn much more about Saftia and this continent before I decide what to do." Arthur slowly shook his head. "I appreciate you trusting me enough to reveal something so important. I might feel better about revealing so much about myself."

  "I owe you at least that much. You don't need to disappear overnight because no one is going to bother you in my city. If anyone tries, feel free to deal with them as you see fit. I don't care."

  Arthur smiled. Probably Zephyr was blessing his stupid actions to not end in a disaster, or maybe even Lady Hestia herself was still guiding his hopeless person. For the time being, he could stay in Howthorns and learn enough to start looking for a way home.

  "Tell me, Sion." Arthur slowly looked at the Noble who was observing his younger son with tears in his eyes and a soft smile. "Have you ever heard about a continent called Aderon?"

  "I'm afraid not." Sion sighed. "However, I never learned much about the world outside our continent called Anath. Perhaps Duke Velen would be able to help you. However, don't expect to meet him anytime soon. Everything will be arranged in due time. If you would excuse me, Lord Ives, I would like to spend time with my family..."

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to and who edited the chapter!