Chapter 128:Release The Dog (6) Part 1

Firenze was a chaotic mix of two powers.

One was the Ghibellines, who supported the Holy Roman Emperor, and the other was the Guelphs, who supported the Pope.

In other words, these two factions, divided into the Imperial party and the Papal party, had been fiercely fighting for a century, and that fight was still ongoing.

The Rucellai family and the Altomani family. These two were rising families within the Guelph faction, which supported the Pope.

The accumulation of wealth happened in a tremendous amount in a short period, and at least here in Firenze, wealth was the measure of power.

However, even in Firenze, a city of merchants, an excessive expansion of power without established legitimacy led to a weakening of the support base.

“This time, in our family…”

“By the way, the orders from the Holy Land were low last time…”

“Recently, pirates in the Latium Sea…”

Thus, the two families occasionally arranged meetings to share crucial information.

Did it have to be today of all days? Alyssa would definitely say no.

‘I feel like I’m going to get indigestion.’

With a listless expression, Alyssa kept poking at the veal on her plate with her silverware.

The Altomani family’s chef’s skills were excellent, but watching the political discussions unfold before her eyes made her quite uncomfortable.

Even so, she would have normally just eaten.

No matter what they were saying in front of her, Alyssa had a headstrong personality that pushed forward fearlessly in the direction she believed was right.

The reason she couldn’t was because of a certain mage quietly eating her food across from her.

A mysterious woman who called herself a guest mage of the Rucellai family.

A strange smell emanated from her, from the distinct flame mark etched near her collarbone inside her robe.

A pungent, acrid smell that felt increasingly sharp the more she smelled it. It was so strange that it felt…ominous.

As if it wasn’t bad enough to have such a smell assaulting her nose while she was eating, it was truly agonizing for Alyssa, who was naturally sensitive to smells.

‘Annoying.’

Alyssa glared at the mage sitting across from her. Noticing the sullen gaze, the mage’s eyes curved gently.

Even that was displeasing. Simply, everything about that mage was annoying and bothered her.

“Milady.”

Pia approached and tickled Alyssa’s ear. Her expression looked uneasy.

“Why?”

“Why does the mage keep staring? If the Rucellai family says something…”

“I don’t know. She’s annoyingly emitting a strange smell.”

“A smell? I don’t particularly…”

Alyssa gave Pia, who was sniffing with a twitching nose, a disgruntled look.

Even setting aside her sensitivity, how could she not smell such a strong and unpleasant odor? Was that even possible?

“You really don’t smell anything?”

“I don’t smell anything. Milady, I think you’re just a bit sensitive today.”

“It’s not that…”

Alyssa didn’t have particularly sensitive days. She was always sensitive.

If so, that meant this smell was one that only the sensitive Alyssa could detect.

That was quite strange. Alyssa muttered to herself and kept glancing at the mage across from her.

The mage, who was also steadily watching Alyssa, suddenly spread her slender fingers wide.

The fingers twitched like spider legs. Alyssa felt goosebumps on her spine.

“Then, I will instruct our family to do so.”

“The Ghibellines have been quite extreme lately. They have no faith whatsoever.”

“Well… the more that happens, shouldn’t brothers of faith like us work harder?”

“Haha, that’s right.”

For some reason, it felt ominous.

Even at the moment when the head of the Rucellai family and Alyssa’s father clinked glasses, Alyssa couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease. 

Being sensitive also meant having sharp senses.

And Alyssa generally had good intuition, enough to sense ominous events in advance.

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The discomfort of the dinner continued even after the meal was over.

Thanks to that, even after being held back by her father and barely returning to her room, Alyssa had to keep stroking her bloated stomach and frowning.

It was originally a regular exchange meeting of sorts, but she still couldn’t help but dislike it.

Narrow and deep relationships. That was Alyssa’s iron rule. Many relationships came with many annoyances.

In that sense, the Rucellai family was not one that Alyssa particularly wanted to include in her circle.

“Pia, do you like those people?”

“…I’m sorry, but who are you talking about?”

“The Rucellai family.”

“Milady…”

Pia’s expression darkened. As if there was something she didn’t understand, she looked at Alyssa’s face from side to side and sighed.

“You’ve been a bit much today, both at dinner and otherwise. Perhaps, is today—”

“It’s not that time of the month, so don’t get the wrong idea. More than that, I don’t like that mage.”

“Is it that again…”

The lukewarm reaction was frustrating. 

Alyssa’s brow furrowed.

Surely that unpleasant smell was at a level that everyone should have smelled, but she was the only one who felt unpleasant.

It felt like being a one-eyed monster in a village of normal people. 

But Alyssa soon changed her mind.

She wasn’t a one-eyed monster in a village of normal people, but the only normal person in a village of one-eyed monsters. She had to think that way.

“Anyway, keep a close watch too. You’ll run into them a few times while going around the mansion, right?”

“I’m Milady’s exclusive maid. I wouldn’t have a reason to run into a guest of the Rucellai family, would I?”

“…Yeah, I guess so.”

She was a stubbornly rigid maid in such a useless place. Alyssa’s sigh grew heavier.

“Okay, go ahead. I should sleep early today. My head feels heavy.”

“I’ll prepare your bed. Please wait a moment.”

“It’s okay. I can just sleep, what’s the fuss.”

“Milady. You ate snacks on the bed again, didn’t you? If you leave crumbs by your head, bugs will come.”

“…Please.”

Rustle, rustle, the sound of tidying the bedding.

Listening to it, Alyssa, who was comfortably buried in her chair, closed her mouth and fell into thought.

The suspicious mage of the Rucellai family, and the Rucellai family who regularly held exchange meetings at the family level.

From what she had seen so far, the head of the Rucellai family wasn’t an idiot.

He wouldn’t have accidentally brought in such a suspicious mage. At least, he must have allowed her to stay for some purpose, but she had no idea what it was.

“Milady. It’s all done. Please go to sleep.”

Snapping out of it, Pia had already finished tidying the bedding and was gesturing.

At that point, Alyssa stopped continuing her thoughts about the suspicious mage.

It was someone else’s business anyway. There was no reason for Alyssa to care.

“Wake me up if anything happens.”

Alyssa, who had slipped into bed, said with only her head sticking out.

Pia, who was about to leave the room, chuckled. Pia’s cool hand, which had returned, gently covered Alyssa’s forehead.

“Yes. I will. Please sleep well.”

“Ugh…”

Feeling the cool energy on her forehead, Alyssa slowly closed her eyes.

In retrospect, it had been a truly strange day. Thanks to that, Alyssa’s sensitive personality felt a heavy fatigue in her body.

So, everything would return to normal after tonight.

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Smell.

A sour smell, a pungent smell, a smell so strong it felt like her nose was going numb.

Besides that, sound. Strange sounds could be heard in her sleep.

A sound that was like opening an old door, or like dragging a heavy object across the floor, kept digging into her ears.

The smell and sound became increasingly intense and clear. Her mind, confused in her sleep, gradually began to distinguish them.

The smell was like something burning. The sound was the screams of several people.

‘…Burning smell?’

Alyssa opened her closed eyes wide. Her blurry blue eyes quickly regained their usual clarity.

Focusing her vision, the first thing she saw was the familiar ceiling of her room.

A deep breath escaped from Alyssa’s nose like a sigh.

She hadn’t slept very deeply, but her head was clear thanks to going to bed earlier than usual. She even felt confident that she could use magic four or five times right now.

What greeted Alyssa, who had woken up from her sleep, was a particularly foreign smell, unlike the usual ceiling.