I abruptly stood up from where I was, sure I liked Mike and wanted to sit with him some more, but I needed to check something urgently. Looking at him, I bit my lip before saying “Sorry, I have to go do something.” He nodded, I didn’t know if he wanted to say something to me, but as of the moment I didn’t really care. I took back the large book and ran off to my room. It would take me, atleast, a few days to get to my own estate.

Looking around my room, I found the item I needed. My father worried for my safety and gave me this teleportation stone, just in case I needed it and it was as good a time as any to use it. Breathing a little to calm my emotions, that were akin to a storm right now, I imbued the little snow white rock that was only about the length of my finger with half of my total mana, the heavy drop left me drained but before the feeling could settle in, the stone broke and scattered into dust, and I, with the book, was teleported straight into my estate.

Looking around the luxurious villa, I didn’t pay attention to any of the well-placed decorations adorning the large halls, I just ran to the place I found the book first, the underground library. It was, technically, illegal to hold some of the books we have in the Lendenburg library, but the entire nobility had some secrets they weren’t willing to share, much less our own. It was inevitable that we had contingency plans in case something goes awry with the Empire that we aligned with, but looking through the old and dirty dealings of the Lendenburg family would have to wait for another time, as I had just arrived in the area I first found the book when I was contemplating the dealings of our family.

Looking around, this area was a dark corner of the library we had, the one underground anyway, it looked to be tucked away purposefully in the area someone wouldn’t wander into by random, it wasn’t hidden well enough because, evidently, I found about this little tidbit. Scanning through the nearby books, I finally found the one I wanted, a book that could open a well-hidden door. Of course, this wasn’t by pure luck, the area was too saturated with mana for it to be normal.

Mana was everywhere around the house, it leaked out of the wards put around the entire mansion. In theory, perfect sealing would make sure no mana is leaked, but I know no one that could make a perfect ward, and this little fact allowed me to find the room. The mana permeating around this area was far too much compared to the other parts of the house, indicating a ward, but finding this wouldn’t be possible without the innate talent I have. Ever since I was a child, I had a higher level of mana sense compared to other people, and I haven’t told anyone about this little fact.

But I digress, this little room was the area I found the book and is very interesting. It was an area filled with different books, mostly ledgers about the old dealings of the Lendenburg family, but around 4 or so books are about these Mythical Creatures named Dragons, according to their titles anyway. I only savored the look of the room for a moment when I arrived, and then immediately started walking to the area with the 4 novels about these Dragons. I rushed back here because of the Adult Dragon drawing, it looked suspiciously similar to the very, very, very old Coat of Arms of the Lendenburgs.

I put back the novel I took, and looked at another one, named “The History of Dragons” by Vim Rhodes, smiling to myself. It wasn’t a novel, more so a little 25 page pamphlet on these Dragons, but that wasn’t the important part. The important part was, this book had a magical lock on it that goes into a little dimension, or that is what the mana feels like, different mana have different feels and those only get amplified with people that have innate mana sense, like I do. The difference was miniscule though, and as far as I know, no one but me knows the secret of this little pamphlet. Now, the most important part was to open the lock, but I had no such abilities and while Mike does have talent for Dimensional magic, it would only be analogous to the little budding seed of the most colossal tree.

All hope wasn’t lost though, I do know where a person that could help me resides. I loathe to go there though, the woman has some peculiar tastes and is disgusting to be around, but I can endure it just for this little secret. Steeling myself, I left my room and took out 2 more teleportation stones, the Lendenburg household has more than enough riches to buy these, one for going to the Academy and another to return, it would be best if I returned to the hidden room by sunset. Injecting the mana inside the stone, I returned back to my little room.

Looking around and noticing that nothing looked out of the ordinary, I started putting on a disguise. Illusion magic could work for this, but many people were stronger than me and would instantly see through any paltry illusion I could set up and I’m talented in Elemental Magic only. After putting on my disguise, I looked to the gigantic mirror in my room and was satisfied. I was now 6’2 feet tall, my original olive-skin was replaced with a skin color similar to Mike’s, a light white. My silver hair was replaced by a dark black. Walking out of my room, I went to the shabbier area of town before entering a little black car, the pinnacle of being average and out of sight, perfect for what I use it for.

My own car was way too flashy to go to the area where I am supposed to find this woman, and so was my own phone. It was far more expensive than anything the public could hope to buy, and its appearance matches the status it has. I couldn’t flaunt it around in the poorer districts or I would become a prime kidnapping target, even if I was the current Duchess of Lendenburg, crazies would only jack up the price so I bought my own phone from the black market, it’s dealings are horrible but it’s usefulness can’t be understated.

I started to drive at a moderate place until I went into the lower left corner of the slums, it was a disgusting area and the woman even more so. I looked around and turned into the haggard appearance of a beggar, I had many disguises for many occasions and this one is perfect for what I need. I now blended in perfectly with the slums, an ordinary beggar you wouldn’t bat an eye at, and walked to the building. Different from the rest of the capital filled with towering skyscrapers and monoliths of machinery, the slums were low to the ground, only a few buildings reach 3 stories high,

This house was no different, besides the dimensional expert inside it. I only chanced upon her when searching for clues on my own little pocket dimension, a useful thing more expensive to make than one of the skyscrapers and I stumbled upon this person, banished from the Arcane Church for her “blasphemous” thoughts. She had a weird obsession with little creatures, for reasons I don’t understand, and is a general slob that has a horrid smell, but she is the only person that could open this right now.

Opening the door, I say out loud “Jane, I know you’re here. I need your help with something.” A couple of items rustled around in the back of the room and a person with bright pink hair came out, she had a haggard appearance, along with a smell that would drive pigs away. She is small, only 5’3 which is below average, and her face was pretty but the stench, oh God, the stench. Pinching my nose, and asking in a nasally voice “I’ll pay you 5,000 Gold Pounds if you help me with this.” while holding up the pamphlet. The disguise was for the people outside and not Jane, she already knew I was rich but didn’t know the full extent of it, the disguise I have right now has the income of a lower-level tycoon from Lendenburg, the 2nd largest city in the Empire behind the capital, named Augustus after the first Emperor. Her usual lazy eyes turned sharp the moment she looked at the pamphlet I was holding up, and then she looked at me. “Ah, hi Janet. This is quite interesting, an interdimensional lock? Where’d you find this? They’re quite the rarity.”

Frowning, I shook my head to convey my thoughts, like hell would I ever tell her more than necessary, she just nodded, never expecting an answer. “Jane, how long would unlocking it take?” I asked, she started to concentrate more on the little pamphlet and said decisively “Give me a few hours, it’s hard but I’ve cracked harder, 5,000 Gold Pounds you say? Interesting, wonder where you get all the money from.” The frown already etched onto my face was only amplified, and I believe she got the message. “Fine, how are you going to pay me?”

I reached into my own pocket dimension, one she specially made for me, and brought out 1,500 Gold Pounds worth of currency in paper, the easiest way to finish this transaction without leaving a trail someone can leave behind. “This is the deposit, you’ll get the rest once you finish.” I said to her, trying to mask my normal voice. Janet nodded her head, and held out her right hand. Giving her the pamphlet, I nodded and turned to leave, staying in this area with the stench of what could only be described as dead bodies, rotting chemicals and pungent fungi would only make the stink stick to me.

I walked to my car, and sat there for a few hours, smiling at the memory of Mike and myself in the school library, I know why he keeps addressing me as Duchess, my father is a bit old-fashioned and would get enraged at the sheer idea of a commoner, not even one from the capital, not calling his only daughter with the proper title. But, I’d like it if he just called me Arianna, even once. Warm memories of me and Mike were instantly frozen when I thought of marriage, a topic that put an instant grimace on my face. The only options I have for marriage are purely political in nature, my suitors are wide from a normal Baron, to the son of the current Emperor of Iabrun, but they never did love me. I know most are only eyeing my land, a full 200,000 square kilometers. A huge area growing around 35% of the total grain grown in the entirety of the Empire, along with over 40% of the steel production and 65% of factories making glass, even though it was only around 12% of the massive amount of total land held under the Emperor. Those were the main points to talk about when it comes to our land, but there's many more industries the Lendenburgs have their hands in.

The Nobles that were trying to marry me are ok, they aren’t the best and they aren’t the worst. I understand why they were all vying for the land I own, the Empire is stable most of the time, but the new crowning is when tumultuous times would come to the Nobles, while they knew the new Emperor’s stance on most things before they are officially made Emperor of Iabrun, the Nobles would still try and hold on to every piece of power they can. The new Emperor wouldn’t be able to go after the Lendenburgs too hard, we hold too much power over the Empire for any Emperor to take radical action against us, and any Noble that would tie with the Lendenburgs would gain some protection as well. For the upcoming Emperor in a year? More control over the Nobles would only be a benefit for him, especially control over the Lendenburgs by marrying the upcoming Duchess.

My understanding of their stances doesn’t mean I would like any of them, least of all the son of the only other Duke. His father, the current Duke of Yorksfield, is the one pushing him to marry me for the land, his son only wants me for my body. The Duke’s son doesn’t even try to hide his lecherous views of my body, just recalling it makes me shiver. I know I am a beauty, my father reminds me everyday of it and how “I shouldn’t settle for anything less than greatness.” People complimented me about it everyday, but they were all poorly veiled attempts to tempt me into having a more favorable opinion of them. Mike also looks at me, his poorly concealed peeks at me when we were walking were obvious to me, who had to pick up social cues and little details that could be the difference between walking away from a meeting with an amazing profit, or losing it all down the gutter.

After a while of musing about the current political landscape, and how best it would be to benefit our estate, Jane finally called me to tell me that she was done. I knew she wouldn’t peak, I already had a binding contract on her made by a teacher, Jane is only good with Dimensional magic and not much else. I went inside the house again, my nostrils felt violated every time I took a step inside, but I still thanked her, took the pamphlet back, and gave the rest of the money I owed. “Goodbye Janet, hope you come again.” she told me as I was opening the door. I nodded a bit, but I hoped I didn’t need her services more, the stench is absolutely vile and not something I would wish upon my worst enemies.

I went back to my car, and drove off back to the area I parked my shabby car before and changed back to my non-haggard appearance for my current disguise. Right after I left the poorer parts of town, I took off my disguise and stuffed it into my pocket dimension, which wasn’t that large, only about 13 meter, but it was plenty enough to get rid of my disguise and turn back to the Duchess everyone knows about. It was already nighttime, 11:23pm, so no one saw me when I turned back to my original appearance. The only activities going on around the dorms right now would either be people hosting parties, or engaging in other activities, or even both at the same time.

I entered my little dorm room, and took out the pamphlet. I injected just a tiny bit of mana into it, and the item hidden inside the dimension went out. It was a letter, and had a few pages. It also had the extremely old Lendenburg Coat of Arms, it must be quite the old letter, but it was kept in pristine condition inside the little dimension. This was sure to be interesting, and with a slight expectation, I started reading the first page.

Good day to whoever may be reading this, whether it be a Lendenburg or someone else. This letter is to serve as a warning to those in the future.

The Lendenburg household was originally never a noble house, let alone one that held a duchy. When our founder, George Lendenburg, came here to Iabrun from the neighboring continent of Lesith, he wanted to start a new life. He still wanted a noble house in the continent of Iabrun though, but the budding Kingdom, now Empire, had King Augustus who was notoriously difficult to build relations with, you would need to be extremely lucky to be a Baronet. This was when George made a decision, one he would regret for the rest of his life.

George, not satisfied with the treatment he, a former Count of one of the kingdoms in Lesith, was getting chose to make a deal with a Dragon, mythical creatures that reigned terror over the southern part of the Iabrun continent. George went to find a Dragon during this time, he succeeded and started to negotiate with the intelligent monster. In exchange for becoming a Duke, the founder agreed to help this Dragon with anything. George, not understanding much, agreed to this deal without a second though. So goes the story of our founding, a manic person who sought out a monster over a title and it worked. The Dragon brainwashed the then King Augustus, forcing him to make George a Duke. The rest of the dealings between George and this Dragon aren’t known, what was known much later was the Dragon implanted a bloodline curse to every Lendenburg, a form of fail safe if the bargain ever ended or the Dragon simply wanted to, from what we know the Dragon could activate the curse instantly, otherwise it would take time to mature.

Every Lendenburg after the age of 18 will have tainted blood, they will slowly start transforming into an actual monster, the effect isn’t outwardly visible, but any blood leaked will come out tainted with a blackish-red color and is considered acidic for any person besides the one who had the blood originally. They won’t have many symptoms beyond thoughts becoming slightly more aggressive. After the age of 35, more and more effects of becoming a half-wyrm, half-human start to come out. The people infected will have scales growing from their back, nubs on their shoulders, little horns on their head, the irises they have will start to transform into slits, the blood they own will be fully black in color and acidic enough to corrode iron fully in 3 minutes. Their thoughts start to become more manic, the urge to kill others will grow exponentially. After the age of 50, slight wings will grow out, the person will have barely any sane thoughts left and their hands develop claws equal to that of a wyrm, and their bodies will have scales all over. After 65, the person will no longer be a person, but become a full wyrm who will only want to hunt down others.

The only known way, as of now, to suppress this curse is to inject the bloodstream with the blood of other mythical creatures to counteract the curse, the Lendenburgs have plenty of these creatures, but the blood needs to be of higher and higher quality until near nothing could withstand the curse by the age of 65 and the transformation from human to wyrm will happen exponentially faster, finishing in a day at most. A basilisk’s blood seems to be the only one that works between 55 and 65, but that is it. The Lendenburgs, ever since our discovery, have tried many ways to alleviate or outright get rid of the curse but it seems to be impossible.

The only way to completely get rid of the curse is for every Lendenburg to completely die out, and any Lendenburg bastard child who has the curse running through them.

Never come to any deal with one these beasts, they are wicked, cunning creatures and the trouble is not worth the reward, no matter how tempting. Let the Lendenburgs be a testament to the potency of the foul beasts.

After saying all this, I have one more things to say before I kill myself at the age of 63. George Lendenburg has hidden a treasure in an area of the Lendenburg fief, it has never been found and the search is still ongoing, maybe the answer lies there. I hope the person reading this can help relieve the Lendenburg household of the curse, and with this last sentence, my life will come to an end.

Edward Lendenburg III, 133rd Duke of Lendenburg

After finishing the entire letter, my hands started to shake uncontrollably and tears started to well up in my eyes. Many of the bizarre things my father had to do made sense now, injecting red liquids into himself, allowing me to do dealings for him, rarely stepping out in public, acting irrational for no good reason. So many things he was doing made sense, like the final piece of an extremely large jigsaw puzzle falling into place making it complete, the way all the elders in the family acted made sense. It felt like some cosmic joke, shattering my entire perception of the Lendenburg household. We were a household that survived the 500 year long Last War, a household that survived anything thrown at it, and the entire foundation made up of a single monster, a monster who cursed the family, a monster that cursed me and will curse my future children. The fact that colluding with monsters, and covering it up for thousands of years, would make us eligible to lose every speck of nobility, property, and resources didn't matter to me because I just realized an even more important fact. My father is 64, and his birthday is before mine. He will miss seeing my own 18th birthday, because of that damn curse, he will become a monster before he gets to see his own daughter become an adult.

With that realization, the tears that were already welling up in my eyes finally burst out, with just me in my room feeling lost.