The large mithril gates to the treasury room stood right before them, guarded by two figures in full armor.
Veyriss was confused as to why Jonathan had brought them there, and even called the gates before them the treasury room when it wasn't. But before she could voice her thoughts, Jonathan spoke first.
"Veyriss, you've been with us for give or take about two years. Within that span, with just the fundamentals of sword and shield arts, you've grown to the rank of a swordsmaster and a shield expert." Walking up to the gates, he continued.
"I know you have something to say, due to where we are, but let me finish." Veyriss nodded slowly.
"Now come here, darling, and place your hand on the door." Veyriss walked to it and did as she was told.
Jonathan did the same. "Now I want you to spread your mana across it and fill it with it. I very well know your mana capacity might be less compared to your peers of the duchy, but you have perfect control over your mana. So, do it as you would."
Placing his other hand on her head, he added, "I trust you can do it, and I'll be here with you, doing the same."
Veyriss focused, feeling the familiar warmth of her mana. She pushed it from her core, through her arm, and into her palm. As her hand touched the mithril, her mana began to flow out, not like a gushing river, but as a fine, intricate web, filling every crack and crevice of the gate's surface. The door hummed softly in response. It was strange; her mana wasn't just being absorbed, but rather felt like an imprint.
The expected mana drain she feared never came. Instead, it felt like a guide, moving her mana along the way.
As her mana spread across the gates, she felt another signature following right behind, in synchronized harmony with hers—it was Jonathan's. It gave her mana the push it needed.
Veyriss and Jonathan's mana signatures, completely fused in harmony, covered the entire gates and imprinted on them. What they had done was known as Mana Imprint.
Veyriss's knee buckled as she breathed several times just to calm her nerves.
'She's mentally spent, but she's still going to ask. I can't dodge this. Plus, this thing is going to take a while before it opens. Then let's do this,' Jonathan thought.
Jonathan spoke, "I'm sure you've seen the actual treasury room."
Veyriss, supported by Gard, stood and answered, "Yes, I have, my lord, and this isn't it. Please tell me, My Lord, what is this place you refer to as the treasury room?"
"Yes, you're right. But here's the thing, though, the treasury you've been accessing and know of is the General Treasury. It's where all the funds and expenses used to manage the duchy and businesses are from and kept." Pointing to the gates, he continued, "This one, however, is different. How so, you may ask? This one I like to call Personal Vault or Vaults. As the name already gives it away, it's a personal treasury. Every family member has one, and some extra people. In addition, it has no connection to the general treasury, well, except for monthly allowances, salaries, shares, dividends, debt repayment, remuneration..."
"Jon, Jon, Jonathan, JONATHAN!" Gard's booming voice brought Jonathan back. "Can you get back on topic?"
'What's with you today, can't you see I'm stalling for time?'
"Sorry about that. Speaking of salaries." Jonathan leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper as he glanced from left to right.
"I've been embezzling small amounts from your Uncle Paul and Aunt Serrah. I'm the family head, and yet their individual salaries are twenty times higher than mine."
Just as he finished, the two guards thrust their halberds into his back, causing him to let out a loud, dramatic cry of pain. Veyriss moved to attack, but a firm grip from Gard stopped her in her tracks. She opened her mouth to yell, but Jonathan's voice cut her off.
"Awwwu. I can't believe you'd thrust that deep, Paul, Serrah."
The two fully armoured guards took off their helmets, and beneath them were Duke Jonathan Roseblade's only two living siblings.
"Don't blame us, Nath. Who told you to steal our money?" Paul said with a smug smile on his face.
Paul Roseblade, the first child of the former Duke Roseblade. A renowned swordsman known across the continent as the One Slash. And the current head of the Blade Clan.
"You deserve it, big brother Nath," Serrah said in a childish voice, while her halberd rested across her shoulder. Contrasting the childlike persona she portrays.
Serrah Delphy Roseblade, the fifth and last child of the former Duke Roseblade. One of the most powerful magicians of the continent, and the master and current head of the Violet Magic Tower. In secrecy, she's the guild master of the Sins. One of the ten assassins' guilds in the country. She's known in the underworld as the Stainless Blade.
"Awwwu, aww, aww. Are you sure you're my siblings?" Jonathan groaned as he focused on healing the deep wounds on his back. "Even though I asked you to do it, you drove in way too deep."
'Thanks, I owe you one,' Jonathan sent, the message a silent whisper through their altered Three-Way 'Parental' Link.
'Yeah, you do big time,' Paul's mental voice retorted.
'You don't know how difficult it was to swap with those two,' Serrah added, her frustration palpable through the link.
"Oh, Ve, how you doin', cha?" Serrah said, winking playfully at her. Veyriss, however, remained on high alert.
"I greet you, Your Highnesses," Veyriss said, offering a slight bow.
"Little Ve, we told you not to speak with us like that. We're family, after all."
"I apologize if this may sound rude." Veyriss shifted her weight, her grip on her sword tightening. "I do not care for your reasoning, but the act of drawing your weapons against your lord, Duke Jonathan Roseblade—the reigning ruler of the Roseblade Duchy—is grounds for treason."
A murderous intent radiated from her as she drew her sword slightly from its sheath. "Your Highnesses, His Highness Paul Roseblade and Her Highness Serrah Delphy Roseblade, you are under arrest on charges of assault on Duke Jonathan Roseblade's life. Please come quietly, or there will be consequences."
'Hey Nath, speak up! I can't have my niece think I'm a criminal,' Paul's mental voice came through, edged with panic.
'But you are,' Jonathan replied, his mental chuckle audible. 'You've got a mounting criminal record.'
'Oh, a criminal record, you say?' Serrah's voice was laced with a venomous sweetness, a mental grin stretching across her features. 'Why don't I pull yours, then? I seem to recall hearing through the grapevine that you committed mass genocide—wiping an entire country off a planet—just to be with your darling.'
'Please don't bring up my shame,' Jonathan retorted, a smug feeling rising in his mind. 'But I didn't destroy multiple planets just for fun, or merge a few together just for an experiment. Did I?'
'Hey! I wasn't bored! I was commissioned!' Paul immediately shot back.
'They were the ones who said they wanted to deepen their relationship with each other!' Serrah practically screamed into their link.
'So, who has the biggest repertoire of crimes now?' Jonathan's mental smirk was triumphant.
'Do something already! She's ready to go. We're battle-ready right now. If she attacks, she'll be dead in an instant,' Paul's mental voice was now frantic.
'Okay, okay. Let's do this then...'