Survival Guide After Accidentally Kissing a Demon - Chapter 136

Chapter 136

After ending her communication with Lady Constance, Beili waited in the study for a while.

A servant soon entered and spoke to her respectfully, “Miss Bartholomew, representatives from the Imperial City Magic Bank have arrived at the door. They say they have something they must deliver to you in person.”

“Let them in,” Beili said.

Shortly after, a carriage with exceptionally thick walls stopped at the entrance. Four people dressed in ornate deep blue uniforms stepped out, carrying an exquisite box. They entered the study and presented it to the grey-haired, red-eyed girl.

“Miss Bartholomew,” the bank official said with a slight bow, “these are items the Duchess has allocated to you from her personal treasury. There are ten Magic Crystals in total. Please open it and verify the contents.”

Beili nodded, taking the box and opening it.

Ten shimmering Magic Crystals lay nestled on a bed of dark red velvet, emitting a brilliant glow that flowed slowly like shifting sands.

Lady Constance was as generous as ever-

Whenever Bartholomew acted sweet and innocent, asking for a single Magic Crystal in a soft, gentle voice, Lady Constance would hand over ten without a moment’s hesitation.

…

Once the bank officials had departed, Beili stowed nine of the Magic Crystals into her Spatial Bracelet.

Taking the remaining one, she returned to her room and placed it in the hand of the Information Broker.

“Alright, the Magic Crystal is yours. You can tell me the information now.”

Sitting back in a large chair padded with soft cushions, Beili found a comfortable position, propping her chin on her hand as she reclined.

“A Magic Crystal is no small sum. If your information is false or isn’t worth the price, you won’t be leaving this house.”

She curled her lip slightly and added in a flat tone, “Especially this room. Even the windows are sealed; you won’t have a chance to jump out.”

The girl’s expression remained blank as she issued the warning.

On the other side, the Information Broker gripped the Magic Crystal tightly.

Her eyes lit up, and after stowing the crystal away as if it were a precious treasure, she calmed her emotions and replied, “Of course. If this information wasn’t worth a Magic Crystal, the Royal Family wouldn’t have made such a massive fuss over it.”

“…The Royal Family?”

Her gem-like, deep red eyes flickered. Beili tilted her chin, signaling for her to continue.

The Information Broker nodded, her expression becoming solemn as she began her report.

“The surname of the Swan Family is Swan…”

This family had studied the Divination Art and Prophecy Art for generations.

In the Swan Family, the Divination Art was mostly inherited by males, while the talent for the Prophecy Art was more likely to manifest in females.

The family only accepted internal marriages.

While endogamy was encouraged in many noble families, in the Swan Family, it was a strictly enforced household rule.

They firmly believed that only by maintaining a Pure-Blood line could they preserve and continuously strengthen the divination and prophecy abilities of their descendants.

Families that practiced internal marriage often faced the problem of dwindling numbers-a common ailment among noble houses that favored this tradition.

In the Swan Family, this was particularly evident.

If one were to represent a family tree as a constantly branching tree, the Swan Family’s genealogy would be a tree with most of its branches hacked off, leaving only a single, long, straight limb.
They utilized their powers of divination and prophecy to ensure that every generation produced exactly one boy and one girl.

In this manner, they continued their lineage indefinitely.

…

“So how did this family disappear?”

Beili asked directly, remaining reclined in her chair without moving an inch.

“That brings us to the final generation of the family’s heirs…”

The Information Broker stood his ground and spoke slowly.

“The final generation of the Swan Family heirs still consisted of one boy and one girl. However, that boy died on the day of his Coming-of-Age Ceremony.”

Beili lifted her red eyes slightly. “How did he die?”

“The cause of death was poisoning,” the Information Broker replied.

The young man’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony had been held in the palace.

Several servants who had attended to him during the banquet recalled the event, saying that the young noble of the Swan Family had seemed distracted during the ceremony, nibbling on pastries in tiny bites.

Then, his face grew increasingly pale until he spat out black blood.

Finally, the young noble of the Swan Family rolled off his chair and collapsed onto the floor, never to wake again.

“Poisoned… then who was the killer?”

“There was no killer. He was his own killer.”

Except for when the sole heir of the Swan Family held a Coming-of-Age Ceremony, the Swan Family almost never interacted with other families.

These ceremonies were essentially their only link to families outside of the Royal Family.

The young noble of the Swan Family had been extremely shy; if more than three people appeared in the same space, he would tremble all over and become restless.

Therefore, before the ceremony began, the youth had asked a physician for medicine that would allow him to sit calmly in his chair.

Although the physician had warned him not to take it all at once and to space out the doses…

Evidently, once the boy panicked, he threw the physician’s instructions to the wind.

…

“So… it really was an accident?”

“It appears so,” the Information Broker answered.

“With one person gone, did the Swan Family have to intermarry with other families?” Beili continued to press.

“That is unclear.” The Information Broker thought for a moment before answering. “Perhaps they once tried.”

Perhaps the Swan Family had once entertained the idea of intermarrying with other families.

After the death of the young noble, the only remaining girl of the Swan Family had made a few brief appearances at balls held in the palace.

Briefly.

The girl showed her face a few times, but unfortunately, she eventually stopped appearing altogether.

Beili fell silent for a few seconds before nodding.

“It seems that to maintain the purity of their bloodline, the Swan Family still intended to give birth to another baby boy.”

“That is correct.”

However, during the period before a male heir could be born, the girl of the Swan Family displayed staggering prophetic abilities.

Those who had served in the palace at the time couldn’t help but marvel when they recalled her.

‘At first, Miss Bertie could always accurately predict what the weather would be like the next day, and she could even name the misfortunes that were about to befall each servant.’

‘The terrifying part was that all of those things actually happened.’

‘Even if a servant learned from Miss Bertie that they were about to break a leg and fearfully took a leave of absence to hide in their room, their leg would still end up broken.’

Later on…

Miss Bertie of the Swan Family could do more than just predict the weather or the bad things happening to those around her.

She could even foresee the deaths of others.