Chapter 10: Gift (+ Postscript)
Sitting next to a window, Siegfried closed his eyes to the pleasant scent of Assam tea.
“Please enjoy the refreshments, milord.”
A teacup ornamented with lily designs and a plate of freshly baked scones had been placed in front of him. Siegfried nodded magnanimously and brought the steaming hot tea to his lips. He was in a country town cafe, and everyone present from the few customers there to the proprietor and his daughter gave Siegfried a look of reverence. No, there was one among them who gave him a very different look.
“What is all of this? I’m going mad here. Aren’t we fugitives from the kingdom? How can we sit here sipping tea? Well, I suppose that the scones are delicious.”
Lester Blair sat directly across from Siegfried at the table. He was a blond-haired man with long, lanky limbs. He was 28 years old this year, and he was always clad in a black leather jacket and trousers. He talked too much and spouted too many stupid remarks. Siegfried didn’t care for that part of him, but he was useful.
“Lord Siegfried!”
Several men burst into the door of the cafe, armed and outfitted in camouflage-print tactical wear. Their muddy boots soiled the floor as they gathered around Siegfried. Despite the disturbing atmosphere, the other customers in the cafe continued their conversations showing no signs of alarm. It was a dreadfully strange spectacle to behold.
“Lord Siegfried, I am very sorry. We were not able to retrieve Mahoro.”
With a chastened expression, the one who came forward among the men was the woman named Mary with a buxom chest and seductive eyes.
“Give your report,” Sieg murmured, sipping his tea, his voice monotonous.
Mary reported that she had raided the military base that had held Mahoro captive, but they were foiled at the very end from securing him. There was someone among the enemy who possessed a special power, which meant that they had stood no chance against him.
“Oh? So it’s that, isn’t it? He has original magic.” Lester’s mouth was full of scones as his eyes gleamed with curiosity.
“It is highly probable… I am not sure what his power is, but my machine gun was crushed right in my hands, and he seemed to transport through space. I believe that you know of him, Lord Siegfried. He is Noah St Johns.”
In the back of his mind, Siegfried recalled a young man from one year below him at Loewen Military Academy. They had both belonged to the Magic Society, and they had spoken several times. He was a man who had both talent and beauty that could charm people. They did not get along very well and had not been close.
“I should have killed all the cadets,” Siegfried said, looking out the window. It had been snowing since last night, and the houses and trees of the village were covered in white. If Mahoro had been here, how it would have comforted him so. That pure white appearance of his quenched the thirst in his heart.
“So he can use original magic like us? Well, that’s exciting. I like the sound of that. But it’s a failure that we’re unable to retrieve little Mahoro. Didn’t you say that our power would multiply ten-fold with him around?”
Lester laughed as he spread clotted cream onto a scone.
“Anyway, why didn’t you use your power when you first reunited with him? With your original magic Mind Control, certainly you could have had Mahoro under your will, Siegfried.”
Siegfried stared silently at the snow despite Lester’s probing question. Mahoro had belonged to him even without the use of magic. If Siegfried had used his original magic, Mahoro would become a mere puppet that never defied him. And that was too irksome.
When Siegfried tried to take over Crimson Island, it had been outside of his calculations that Mahoro’s power went out of control. It was all because he needed more time than expected to take action. Originally Siegfried had planned his attack for when Mahoro first entered the Academy, but he was delayed in gathering the dragon tamers that he needed for his plans. And because of that, Mahoro had made friends at the Academy, and foolish ideas had set into his head. Even though he had warned the boy his whole life that he lived only for Siegfried.
“Noah declared that he had made Mahoro his. He showed utter disrespect towards Lord Siegfried in his—”
Mary’s words disappeared into the back of her throat as she turned pale and kneeled. There was the sound of porcelain breaking, and the cafe turned deathly silent.
“M-My apologies, milord! It was something that Noah had said!”
Siegfried dusted the broken teacup fragments from his hand. Tea dripped from the table down onto the floor.
“Lord Siegfried, I shall clean this up now.”
The proprietor’s daughter approached with her eyes dull and unfocused, and cleaned the soiled floor and the broken teacup. The dark emotions that spread throughout his chest even felt pleasant. So that man had stolen the jewel that he had treasured so preciously in his hand. If that man were here right now, Siegfried would use his magic to disfigure him and force him to take his own life.
“Siegfried, you’re scaring everyone. Put away that disturbing energy you’re emitting.” Lester cracked his fingers as if he was bored.
Coincidentally, the chimes of the door rang, and a police officer in uniform entered the cafe. When the officer saw Siegfried and the others, he widened his eyes and reached for his gun. However, the moment his gaze encountered Siegfried’s, he lowered his arm loosely and approached them with a smile like nothing had happened.
“How is everyone doing? If you have any concerns or questions, please let me know.”
He saluted like an officer and sat down at the counter.
Siegfried controlled the minds of all the residents who lived in this village. Each and every one of them would happily throw down their lives for Siegfried.
“I must get my precious white servant back,” Siegfried announced, sipping the tea that was newly brought to the table.
He would eliminate everyone who stood in his way.
It was time for the festivities to begin.
Postscript
Hello and nice to meet the new readers, I’m Yakou Hana.
This is the start of a new series that I’ve been green-lit for. I had a lot of fun writing the magic scenes for Merlin, a character in my previous series, and I really wanted to write more, so that was how this series first got started.
However, when I actually started writing it, it was really hard to come up with the world for the story, and I think that I’ve put my editor through a lot of paces. I tend to write things by the seat of my pants, so I can’t thank my editor enough for all the work that was put into the story to really bring the world to life. When I look back at the first draft, I’ve written and rewritten it so much that the original story is essentially non-existent. I’ve changed the love interest, I’ve changed the main character, I’ve changed the plot… But I think that it was all worth it. Originally I had Leon as the love interest and Noah as his rival, but then I totally scrapped and changed it. It makes me wonder how the readers feel about it. I have a lot of things that I want to write about in this series, so I would love it if you could support it. Although I say that, before I started writing the story, I had envisioned a lot of flirting and fooling around at the magic academy, but Mahoro has already been kicked out from the first volume.
I am very grateful that Nara Chiharu-sensei is drawing the illustrations for this series. She makes Noah look so cool. When I first saw her rough character sketches, I fangirled hard. Her Mahoro is also very cute, and looking at him makes my imagination run wild. And then the uniforms! They give me the exact feelings that I was looking for, and I’m so happy about it! There are a lot of side characters in the story this time, so I think that you should be able to fully enjoy Nara-sensei’s drawings. There’s Theo, Oscar, Leon, and Siegfried—they’re each unique in their own ways, and there’s a lot to squee over. Generally speaking, I love men who fight, and I can totally imagine the fights with Nara-sensei’s drawings, and that is so impressive to me. Thank you very much for working with me again.
To my editor: Thank you very much for turning my vague little world into one that’s alive and real. I will keep doing my best, so I look forward to your help and support.
To my readers: I would love to hear what you think about the story. I’m really excited about this series, so I’ll work hard so that you all like it! I hope that we can meet again at my next book.
Yakou Hana
Translator’s Note: I am dropping Bloodlines Ablaze for reasons detailed in this post. I have provided a summary for Volume 2 if you’re interested in reading further. I will post summaries as new volumes are released, but you will likely need to subscribe to my blog for updates. I will try to pick up a new fantasy series at a later date, but for now my next project is a modern day story. Thank you for reading!
Hmmm? Does Siegfried have true feelings for Mahoro? He wasn’t just using him???? ˋ( ° ▽、° )
Mahoro seriously attracts all the yanderes.
I can’t wait for next Chapter or next volume. I feel sorry for the innocent people around Siegfried, because of Mind Control. Plus you are right nachte on Siegfried feeling for Mahoro. And Postscript from Yakou Hana. I can’t wait for next volume for Bloodlines Ablaze. I’m on the edge of my seat. Wait Minute! You’re Dropping Bloodlines Ablaze!!!! Why!? Maybe go on hiattus for a bit, but don’t Drop.
Hi Makk, sorry for the disappointing news. I’m happy that you like the series so much, but I’ve made my final decision about dropping Bloodlines Ablaze. I do not want to host underage content (or even pseudo-underage as is the case here), and I do not believe in censoring the author as a translator. I’ve provided a summary of Volume 2 for fans who are still interested in the story, and I will continue to do so. I hope you can understand my position. Thanks for reading and for your support all this time!
Hmmmm.. another original magic huh hmmm another thing to look at for.. and the time has come huh.. will look forward to the summaries ^^
Thank you so much for the chapter!!~ 🙇🙇🙇🙇🙇
Volume 2 delves deeper into the original magic. The whole volume is essentially dedicated to it. Come cry with me! Ahhh, I need Volume 3.
Siegfried could have brainwashed Mahoro, but he chose not to… that must mean something, right? Even if it’s kinda disturbing and all.
OHH, it’s such a letdown to know you’re dropping this novel… but I totally understand why are you doing it. Underage sex is a no no.
Thank you so much for let us know Mahoro and this fantastical world!!! I’d read your summaries and other projects for sure.
Thank you for reading and for all your comments~ It was great seeing your thoughts and insights! I’m glad you enjoyed Mahoro and the Bloodlines Ablaze world~ I’ll have to bring rest as summaries, but I’m glad to have your support and understanding~ Thank you! ❤
thank you for translating so far!
I was a lurker reader for some time because time was tight, but I’m back!
Sieg is a crazy nuthead, maybe it’s from his upbringing?
Welcome back, Mizushi~ I want to know more about Sieg, but he also scares me. >.<