The Arranged Suitor Was the Kidnapper

“Haah, haah…”

The man gasped for air as if he had been underwater for a long time.

His legs gave out, and he leaned against a wall for support. Only after a while could he lift his head.

Due to haphazardly casting a spatial movement spell, he ended up not in his office but somewhere else.

Fortunately, it seemed he had arrived inside the Sorcery Office.

The man took off his hood that completely covered his face and then removed his robe.

The robe, burned by his hand, vanished without a trace.

After changing his blood-soaked shoes, he opened the door to leave.

Passing sorcerers recognized him.

“Master?”

There was only one referred to as the Master.

The head of the Sorcery Office and known as Marquis Hashir, Banesion Hashir.

Their surprised faces suggested they weren’t expecting him there.

“What brings you here…”

Instead of answering, Banesion quickly surveyed the corridor.

Tiny wooden doors were closely aligned along the narrow corridor.

It was the ground floor.

There was no need to interact with the underlings.

Ignoring the stares, Banesion headed to the center of the corridor. Upon stepping on a magical circle in the center, he immediately arrived at the top floor of the Sorcery Office.

The first thing that greeted him was a circle of fire created by magic.

Despite the fierce flames, it wasn’t actually hot.

After passing through the circle of fire, a corridor covered in thorny bushes lay ahead.

Thorny bushes with red roses on white marble created an eerie rather than beautiful atmosphere.

As he walked, the bushes parted, clearing a path.

At the end of the corridor was a massive tree trunk.

The backbone of the tower was a very old, gigantic tree.

Other floors hid the tree trunk behind bricks, but the topmost floor showcased its original form.

Between the tree trunks, there was a door.

Entering, Banesion’s eyes flashed menacingly.

His hand still trembled, perhaps because of the aftermath of using so much magic earlier.

He hadn’t expected someone at the auction house to be on par with his abilities. Though he might have lost had he been a tad late, Banesion couldn’t accept this fact.

He believed that if it had been a head-on fight, he would have won.

He had had enough of losing to others.

“… But how did they break my spell?”

It wasn’t a spell that could be easily broken, even if he had set it lightly.

Not once, but twice…

“Could it be…”

A stone-faced Banesion recalled an incident from a while ago.

A few weeks prior, a direct subordinate suddenly burst into his office.

-Master, the spell you placed on the Grand Duke Krassium’s mansion has been broken!

Finishing his words, the subordinate coughed up blood.

Upon Banesion’s orders, the subordinate had placed a forbidden spell on the entire Krassium mansion for the past year. Such a colossal spell that even top-tier sorcerers couldn’t easily interfere with was suddenly shattered, causing a backlash to the caster.

-It must have been the work of a group of sorcerers.

Only then would it make sense for it to break so quickly.

The forbidden spell, which involved blood and body, was potent.

An average sorcerer would have to risk their life to break such a spell.

Especially one that had been building for a year; it wouldn’t be affected by just one or two sorcerers’ lives.

-It seems the Grand Duke has noticed.

He must have recognized the spell on his mansion and summoned the sorcerers.

But recently, there was no sorcerer sent to the Krassium mansion. That would mean it’s an independent, but it was hard to believe they broke the forbidden spell.

Did he realize something and not ask for help at the Sorcery Office, or was it just a coincidence…?

-Still, he lived surrounded by magic for a year, so he must’ve been significantly influenced.

But that wasn’t satisfactory.

Anyone could see it needed to be perfectly concluded.

Banesion first tried to figure out who broke the seal. When the magic broke, there must’ve been an aftermath; surely, someone must’ve witnessed it.

So, he tried to persuade those working at the Grand Duke’s mansion, but everyone kept silent as if their lips were sealed.

Eventually, Banesion decided to finish the task that his subordinate couldn’t complete.

To do that, he felt the need to strengthen his brainwashing skills.

He sought an experimental subject at an illegal auction.

Even in a place where all sorts of scum gathered, he singled out a few who wouldn’t be missed if killed.

Banesion, blending in with the customers, subtly brainwashed his target. It was a rather intricate magic, and hard for even the most skilled sorcerers to detect.

Soon, the brainwashed target moved according to his command.

‘Go outside and commit suicide.’

He input the command and waited momentarily, but the connection abruptly cut off.

Surprised, he wondered if he had weakly brainwashed. He tried on another target, but the same thing happened.

Then he was certain.

Someone was intentionally obstructing him.

From then on, he battled an unknown entity with magic, and Banesion eventually had to flee.

“Could it be the same person who broke the brainwashing spell at Grand Duke Krassium’s mansion?”

Banesion’s face turned stern.

There can’t be many people with the skills to destroy the forbidden magic. If they had such capability, he should know of them unless they’ve dropped from the sky.

He recalled the brilliant white light that consistently pressed on him.

Who else controlled such a power that emits white light?

A man suddenly came to mind.

Theodore Rohan.

“…It couldn’t be him.”

The cowardly little fox wouldn’t come out of his den.

But no one else who possessed the unique white magic and outstanding skill came to mind other than Theodore.

Above all, wasn’t he the man who handed Banesion his first defeat?

Staggering, Banesion approached the bookshelf. He swapped the books at the third and eighth positions and recited a spell.

The bookshelf sank into the floor, revealing another space.

Diving below, Banesion encountered a room filled with various potion bottles and papers.

It was the most secretive place within the Sorcery Office, where forbidden magic was researched.

Forbidden magic was prohibited by national law, and its spell books had been burned long ago.

However, not all disappeared; some were hidden in places like this.

Banesion had stumbled upon this place and quickly became obsessed with forbidden magic. Wanting to monopolize it, he taught forbidden magic only to a select few of his most trusted.

He picked up a parchment spread on the desk.

The forbidden spell he cast on the Grand Duke of Krassium was ‘Brainwashing.’

It wasn’t a unilateral act; it was done through a covert deal.

‘He’ wanted to puppeteer Zenox.

Banesion had brainwashed Zenox in exchange for a fox orb.

The first brainwash was successful.

Being complacent, he attempted the second brainwash.

He never dreamed that a year’s effort would crumble so quickly at once.

“I need to make contact.”

The idea of contacting him after so long made him uneasy.

In his life, Banesion had met all sorts of people, but none as ominous as him.

Recalling what he did to Grand Duke Krassium sent shivers down his spine. He thought he should quickly get the fox orb and get out of it.

Dipping his pen into an inkwell, the sharp tip soaked up red ink.

The moment he took out the pen, a fishy smell hit his nose.

It wasn’t ink; it was human blood.

When he wrote on the parchment made of human skin, the blood quickly seeped in.

On the other side, the words would appear on a similar piece.

Initially used to send curses, he discovered it could be used in this esy too.

Banesion swept down the parchment, which had completely sucked blood.

After draining the blood, new words appeared on the parchment.

The response from the other side.

[I will take action myself.]