For the first time in three years—since his first breath was drawn in the stifling darkness—Lucien Vornhart stepped out of the mansion's grand doors. The fading sunlight greeted his pale skin, but the sight that stretched out before him was not the beauty of the legendary Grand Duke's garden.
The mansion possessed an incredibly vast courtyard, an expanse of green and granite that was supposed to feast the eyes. Now, however, as far as the eye could see, that tapestry had transformed into a field of death. Corpses lay in random positions, as if their lives had been forcibly snatched away while they were strolling casually. There were no open wounds, no massive pools of blood like the soldiers inside the Lobby, yet the silence that enveloped the courtyard was far more terrifying.
"T-this...?" Lucien stood frozen on the stone steps.
He knew his rage had swept clean the entirety of the mansion. He remembered how the servants inside the building had died in agony. Yet, seeing the people outside—the garden guards, the external servants, even the couriers—also lying lifeless, made his chest throb strangely.
"What happened here? This... I did this?" Lucien asked, his small voice trembling not from sadness, but from overwhelming astonishment. He stared at Eva, who stood frozen behind him.
Eva did not dare raise her face. She only nodded slowly, her shoulders shaking violently. That was the bitter reality of the Vornhart family. A bloodline power that could easily subdue the world if they so desired. However, because they possessed no bloodthirsty ambition to conquer the world, they were content with only the title of Grand Duke, maintaining the balance in the darkness.
"I-I only ever h-heard from other servants," Eva whispered, her voice nearly lost, swallowed by the cold night wind. "That y-y-your power... is named the Devil's Gate."
"Devil's Gate... Ah, yes, I heard it from the blue one before she died..." Lucien said casually.
He spoke it as if the death of the maid in the blue dress at his hands was merely an insignificant footnote. Yet, deep within his heart, Osric, residing within Lucien's body, began to wonder. Since when did I become this cruel? Does my morality as a human still remain, or has this Vornhart blood completely swallowed my conscience?
As that thought began to drown him, the sound of heavy, rhythmic footsteps echoed from the direction of the distant main gate.
Eva turned, and in that instant, a stifled scream escaped her lips. Amidst the piles of corpses, a two-meter-tall monster was strolling casually. The creature had the head of a bull with sharply curved horns, yet from its back to its long tail, it resembled a giant lion with bulging muscles.
Eva was scared to death. Her legs went weak, yet she did not dare run. Ironically, she was far more afraid of the small boy beside her than that ferocious beast.
"Y-Y-Young Master!" Eva called out in a tone of suppressed panic.
Lucien snapped out of his reverie. He followed the direction of Eva's gaze and found the strange creature wandering about, sniffing at corpses that were beginning to turn cold.
"What is that?" Lucien asked, his brow furrowed.
"I-It's a monster, Master," Eva replied shortly.
Lucien exhaled a long, lazy sigh. "Who can't see that it's a monster? I am asking what kind of creature it is."
He was not in the least bit panicked. Lucien realized one thing: the monster had limited vision. The creature relied only on its sense of smell. They were separated by a distance of only about eight meters, and Lucien observed every movement of the monster with his gleaming red eyes. The monster sniffed one corpse, let out a small roar, and then began to tear at the flesh that was already beginning to rot with its powerful jaws.
Eva was truly trembling, tears of fright beginning to wet her cheeks as the monster stepped one centimeter closer. Yet, Lucien merely stood frozen in silence. He did not wish to provoke without reason, but his hands began to clench.
Just a little closer, and it will end up like the others, Lucien thought. A blackish-red aura began to seep out from the pores of his palms, dancing like cold fire.
However, before Lucien could launch his attack, the monster suddenly turned around. While carrying a single corpse in its mouth, the creature walked straight back toward the mansion's entrance gate without looking back. It was as if Lucien's and Eva's presence there truly went undetected by its animalistic instincts.
"Lucky," Lucien muttered, extinguishing the aura in his hands just as another set of footsteps—this time human and very neat—sounded from the gate.
Right behind the retreating monster, a man in a butler's uniform walked with utter calmness. He stepped over the piles of corpses as if he were walking through a beautiful flower garden. A thin smile graced his stern yet elegant face.
The man stopped directly in front of Lucien and immediately knelt on one knee. A display of reverence so perfect, a noble tradition long forgotten in this accursed mansion.
"How are you faring, Young Master?" he asked in a voice that was soft baritone yet authoritative.
Lucien stared at the man with a foreign gaze. He could not recall a single human ever looking at him with such respect since the day he was born.
"I am healthy," Lucien replied coldly.
The man was not offended. He stood up gracefully and introduced himself. "My name is Hans, Chief Butler of the Main Estate."
Lucien had already guessed it from Eva's story, but seeing Hans in person was far more impressive. Hans was the picture of a perfect Butler; flawless clothing, efficient movements, and eyes that held the deepest secrets.
Hans invited Lucien back inside to speak more seriously. They sat in the mansion's luxurious parlor, while Eva served them with hands that still trembled as she poured the tea.
"Young Master, ask anything. I am here to provide the answers that have been hidden from you for all this time," Hans said politely.
Lucien wasted no time. "What is the Devil's Gate?" Hans took a sip of his tea before answering. "Your power, Young Master, resides on a different level from the Magic of mages or the common Aura of Knights. At a glance, it appears to be a combination of both, yet in truth, there is something alien mixed within it—something that flows only within Vornhart blood. Not a single family in this Empire is capable of matching or even imitating this power. That is why the world fears us."
Lucien fell silent, processing the information. Then, he asked about the matter that had tormented him the most all this time. "The Trial of Adequacy... does the trial truly require them to treat me like an animal?"
Hearing the word "animal" escape Lucien's mouth, Hans's eyes, which were previously soft, instantly turned as sharp as a sword blade. He shot a glance at Eva, a gaze that seemed as though it could skin the woman alive.
"Ah, don't you dare look at her like that," Lucien cut in quickly. "As far as I remember, she did not do the same things those lowly servants did. That is why I let her live."
Hans immediately bowed his head. "Forgive my impoliteness, Young Master. And forgive me, Miss Eva."
Lucien stared at Hans with wonder. This man... he is either too loyal to Vornhart, or he truly possesses no self-respect at all, Lucien thought.
"The actual Trial of Adequacy," Hans continued, his voice calm again, "is not supposed to be like the torture you experienced. According to family rules, you should have trained in this mansion with the best facilities until the age of seven to awaken the Devil's Gate naturally."
Hans looked into Lucien's eyes seriously. "Afterward, you would be taken to the area behind this mansion, where a ferocious monster, far stronger than what you saw earlier, awaits. The true trial is to defeat that monster alone, without assistance from anyone. That is the only way to be recognized as a legitimate descendant of Vornhart."
Lucien leaned back against the plush chair. So, all his suffering in the basement was merely a "distortion" created by Julia and the other servants, not the will of his family.
Lucien's eyes glinted. "So, a monster behind the mansion, is it? I'm getting eager to kill it."