Lucy's people carried cooperation proposals from Lys's materials shop to several family doorsteps, explicitly stating that future partnerships would be handled by Britain's Malfoy family.
Aside from those who flatly refused meetings, acceptances were few while rejections were many. Reading the phrasing Noah had written in his letter, Lys allowed Crunch to slither from the table back to the snake bones in its nest, then rose to adjust her bracers before departing.
Lys relocated Senna and Noah to another house she'd arranged long ago, weaving various enchantments including even the Fidelius Charm.
Unless someone raised their wand and razed that entire vast forest, no one would ever locate that dwelling. Lys had employed every spell she'd learned from the pharaoh's pyramid.
Even Lucy and Lulu didn't know that address.
Lys visited Menier Quaid. He showed no displeasure at her failure to return with Durmstrang's ship in July, appearing quite intrigued when learning of Lys's account of the Dark Lord's return.
But Lys merely provided an objective, dispassionate description of the Dark Lord's resurrection.
She felt disappointed when Menier Quaid offered no response.
However, shortly after Lys returned to Britain, Menier Quaid sent correspondence.
His letter explicitly stated that should Lys return to Germany, she would remain a friend to the Karkaroff family.
Return to Germany...
Did this "return" signify, in some sense, breaking from the Dark Lord?
Friend?
Lys wondered to what extent "friendship" would motivate Karkaroff to speak on her behalf.
Lys sat before Lucius, showing him Menier Quaid's letter. She wanted to know what Lucius—who also thought in terms of family interests—would say.
Lucius's expression grew complex. "So you wish to return to Germany? At this moment? Didn't you see that traitor's corpse—the one who tried hiding himself using foreign influence—displayed spinning on my drawing room carpet?"
Lys moistened her lips thoughtfully. Finally, she abandoned the notion. "No, I merely wanted to show you."
Lucius sneered. "You should realize that even spoken promises can be retracted, let alone when nothing was said at all... What value do you possess that they couldn't abandon?"
Observing his somewhat unsteady junior, Lucius couldn't resist offering a warning:
"I'm uncertain what you're contemplating, but Lord's mood has been exceptionally foul lately. I suggest exercising greater caution when making decisions."
Yes, greater caution, Lys reflected. Those families' attitudes had muddled her thinking. She'd even told Snape herself that once Karkaroff deemed it necessary, she'd become the next Igor.
What was wrong with her? How could she ignore that she'd established no indispensable connections with those families?
Indeed, Lys mused, even if those families no longer clustered around the Dark Lord seeking benefits, they also hadn't supported the Ministry of Magic. Perhaps this was partly because the Dark Lord truly possessed extraordinarily rare power...
For someone like her—merely dependent—would they willingly bear a madman's potential displeasure?
Truth was, Karkaroff did wish to retain Lys. Someone who could withdraw unscathed through strength after touching class interests undoubtedly warranted any family's attention.
If the Dark Lord weren't so deranged, if Lys's vulnerability of depending on soul-stabilizing potions since youth hadn't been exposed, they'd certainly accept certain risks.
But...
There were no ifs...
They knew Lys had relied on soul-stabilizing potions since childhood.
After Lys's departure, they'd used pawns to test the Dark Lord's extremism.
The value disparity made them withdraw their hands and attitude.
When Lys entered Malfoy's study, she saw the corpse suspended from the stair banister—grotesque wounds, bulging eyes, blood still flowing and dripping onto the carpet below.
Even stepping on the surrounding carpet produced dark, oozing footprints.
Lys had to consider that if her actions truly carried implications that stirred waves and enraged the Dark Lord...
She'd become the next corpse sprawled upon that carpet.
"Yes, I can see. Shouldn't you replace your drawing room carpet again? Blood oozed out when I stepped on it earlier."
Lucius didn't respond, his downcast head seemingly attempting to peer through the floor toward the underground dungeons housing their captives.
All manner of people were imprisoned there.
The Dark Lord's undiminished power and increasingly terrifying, bloody methods prevented original Death Eaters from harboring treacherous thoughts, while simultaneously attracting more individuals to serve him in exchange for protection to act with impunity.
Lys had also responded to the Dark Mark's burning summons, appearing before the Dark Lord.
Yet the Dark Lord never looked directly at Lys, directing all questions solely to Lucius.
Lys could discern—the Dark Lord's impression of her exceeded mere negativity.
His final memory of her was when the potion guarding his Horcrux had rendered her mentally unstable.
Simply put, he considered Lys an imbecile...
An imbecile with modest family wealth and marginal luck...
This left Lys somewhat bewildered, her vigilance that had peaked now uncertain of its target.
Since the Dark Mark's revival, she'd calculated whether she'd qualify to stand and aim her wand at him.
Or how to preserve herself and secure relatively stable existence upon recognizing her delusions.
She still refused to become anyone's weapon... if possible.
For this, she'd exercised absolute caution.
But the Dark Lord considering her a genuinely mentally defective fool... truly exceeded expectations.
Then Lucius escorted her out.
Behind them, the Dark Lord watched Lys following Lucius step by step, his temple nearly throbbing.
But moments later, he narrowed his eyes and launched a spell toward Lys.
Lucius had just informed him this red-haired Black had once turned to Karkaroff during his absence.
The Karkaroff family, like all great houses, never acted without profit. He felt puzzled how that brain-damaged fool had managed it—through mere romantic gossip?
Lucius's legs were already trembling. He understood his Lord's spell's meaning.
The Dark Lord had grown suspicious of Stalys's true strength and disguise. Lucius, who indeed hadn't revealed everything due to uncertainty about Stalys's genuine background, trembled more violently...
He was contemplating how to justify not reporting due to uncertainty.
But Lys's hand desperately clutching his leg provided excellent explanation for his leg and facial tremors...
Seeing Lys collapse, her grip on Lucius's leg unshakeable.
Though the Dark Lord confirmed her dependent attitude and incompetence, his temple throbbed higher.
A fool who only knew dependence on Lucius!!
The Cruciatus Curse struck Lys directly, venting his heart's fury.
"All worthless! Eventually, I'll feed you incompetent fools to the serpents!"
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