Marquis Graham Offensa remained a rarely mentioned character in <Marino>.

His name appeared only once or twice, referred to simply as ‘the previous Marquis Offensa’.

While Calliphe’s death occurred at different times across various endings, none mentioned the previous Marquis recovering from his coma.

Moreover, he barely existed in the current ‘Calliphe’s’ memories.

‘I can count the number of conversations I had with the Marquis on one hand.’

The closest thing to a conversation she remembered happened when Calliphe was around Noah’s current age.

It was after her mother, Porsche Offensa, died in an accident.

* * *

“Mama……”

After the accident, during days of endless crying herself to sleep.

Young Calliphe, who had been refusing food, woke up in the middle of the night from hunger.

Feeling disgusted with herself for being merely hungry when her mother was dead, Calliphe got out of bed.

Many people came to visit the girl who would become the next Marquis Offensa.

But none of their consolations reached Calliphe.

‘No one knows. How sad I am.’

Because no one loved mama as much as I did.

Calliphe walked barefoot down the dark, cold corridor while sniffling.

She imagined her mother would come running even now to spank her bottom and scold her for doing such a miserable thing. And give her warm cocoa.

But no one came running.

She kept sleeping hoping this was a dream she could wake up from, but it was no use.

“Huu… mama……”

She didn’t know where the kitchen was.

After walking for a while, Calliphe found a room with light seeping out.

Marquis Offensa’s room. Her grandfather’s room.

Deep sobs leaked from inside.

An adult’s voice trembling pathetically and unsightly, soaked in grief.

‘Right… Grandfather loved mama too. Maybe as much as I do.’

Calliphe’s mother Porsche always cursed and called Marquis Offensa that d*mn old man.

Even while living in the Offensa mansion, she lived separately in an annex and deliberately avoided seeing him.

‘But when she cursed Grandfather, it didn’t seem like she really hated him.’

Rather, it felt affectionate.

“That old man reduced the annex staff again. He’s desperate to have you come inside. But mama won’t give in, okay?”

“Did you fight with Grandfather?”

“Grandfather tried to get mama married. So I ran away and had you.”

“Mama’s got quite a temper.”

“That’s why Grandfather likes mama. Mama takes after Grandfather.”

“You like someone because they’re similar?”

“That’s how it is when you get old. That’s why the old man wants to see you.”

At that time, Porsche grinned and lightly pinched Calliphe’s cheek.

“Actually, you take after Grandfather more than I do. Even in looks.”

Remembering the conversation with her mother, young Calliphe finally felt she had found someone who would understand her grief.

‘Someone crying so sadly must surely…’

Perhaps unconsciously, she realized that Grandfather was the only guardian she had left.

So Calliphe gently pushed open the door and went in.

“Grand… Grandfather.”

When she weakly mumbled the awkward title, he raised his head.

An old man curled up crying while hugging Porsche Offensa’s portrait to his chest.

The old man who had been crying with a red face suddenly glared at Calliphe with fury in his eyes.

“How dare you come in here!”

“……!”

“If you hadn’t taken all of Porsche’s magic power… if you had even a bit of awareness, Porsche would……”

“What? Magic power…?”

“Get out! I can’t stand the sight of any of you! Get lost! Now!!”

Startled by the thundering shout, Calliphe ran away immediately.

She ran straight back to her room through the corridors she had been wandering in confusion.

And hid under the blanket to cry miserably.

Just then, someone quietly came in and placed a hand on young Calliphe’s shoulder.

“Young lady.”

“…Uncle Caiman.”

The person who was said to be the Marquis’s  disciple.

Come to think of it, he seemed to have been in the Marquis’s room just now too.

He held out a tray with bread, milk, and soup.

“Your body will suffer if you keep not eating. Please have some. You were quite startled earlier, weren’t you?”

“…uu… waaah.”

Seeing the food, her forgotten hunger surged up along with her tears.

Calliphe forced down the bread along with her flowing tears.

Caiman’s hand patting her back telling her to eat slowly became her only comfort.

Not knowing at all that he would show his true colors when Graham Offensa collapsed.

It was from then on.

That Calliphe and Marquis Offensa became more distant than strangers.

* * *

Recalling Calliphe’s old memory made me feel bad too.

‘Though there’s no particular affection as family, I can’t just leave it be.’

Because it’s human duty?

No. This is purely for my sake.

“Could it be that the reason Marquis Offensa collapsed before the wall of 8 stars was because of black magic cast by Caiman?”

“Given the evidence of black magic, we have to assume so.”

Lynen quietly affirmed.

“He must have belatedly realized he had fallen victim to a wicked scheme. At that moment when he poured out all his magic power before the wall of mastery.”

Even if it was discovered then, Caiman wouldn’t have cared.

The Marquis would die anyway.

But what if the Marquis  survives?

“So this is a perfect opportunity to finish Caiman.”

I opened my fan and narrowed my eyes.

The best way to drive out a fox trying to take over a tiger’s den is to wake up the tiger.

“Then answer me. How do we wake up the sleeping Marquis?”

“We can’t destroy the fragment of Lumen’s heart. If it could have been eliminated, House Ortega would have done it first.”

“The Great Temple can perform black magic. But forcibly breaking the active black magic would cause backlash on the Marquis too. It’s not a shock that someone in his weakened state could endure.”

I tapped my fan thoughtfully.

“So it’s difficult to do anything from the outside.”

“That’s not all.”

Allen’s expression showed reluctance to deliver such news.

“Marquis Offensa holding out this long must have been unexpected even for Caiman. He’s only able to endure because his mastery truly reached 8 stars.”

“What do you mean?”

“The black magic cast on Marquis Offensa is a type of magic power thirst. If he wasn’t at 8 stars, his magic power would have been completely depleted long ago.”

“What?”

Both Lynen and I snapped our heads up.

“Did you just say magic power thirst?”

“I know. Shocking, right? It’s not a common condition. Caiman really prepared meticulously to harm the Marquis in a natural way……”

Allen continued explaining about magic power thirst but I was no longer listening.

‘Magic power thirst.’

That’s my specialty(?)!

Besides, I have a dedicated patient right next to me now.

“……Don’t look at me in that unpleasant way.”

“This is my most loving gaze though?”

“A researcher probably looks lovingly at lab rats too.”

Allen looked back and forth between us as we shot retorts at each other.

“Why do you two seem even closer today?”

“We’re not!”

“We aren’t!”

“Ah, I see……”

Anyway, one thing was clear.

That in the Empire, perhaps on the entire continent, I was the only one who could safely heal Marquis  Offensa.

“Let’s go, Lynen.”

I got up while tossing the fragment of Lumen’s heart to the Light Spirit.

Lynen stood up after watching the Light Spirit jump up like a dolphin and chomp down the fragment.

“Are we going to meet Marquis Offensa?”

“You know me well.”

Since that day when she was young, this was the first time Calliphe would seek out the Marquis first.