Chapter 87: Rescue Mrs. Becky
The Ivanovs came into the service of the Moores around 300 years ago at the time the Moores had hit a huge obstacle. The King has issued an ultimatum banning each noble family from certain practices in order to create a balance between all nobles and stop them from fighting each other like dogs. The Moore family was prohibited from practicing Magic but the great dilemma arose when the only heir to the family at that time was training to be a wizard.
The Ivanovs were a ruined noble family from Novark and their heritage was filled with magic. They got too tied to the Moores in order to be raised once again and one day return to their motherland and reclaim their possessions. However, when the King issued that accursed decision, even the subsidiaries and all the underlings of the Moores were to either stop the practice of magic or sever their ties with House Moore. The Ivanovs had already betrothed their daughter to the Moores and were practically in the same boat as them, severing ties meant losing every asset they invested so they abandoned their magic.
A lot of drama happened at the time but it seemed that the Moores had also taken a blow since the young master of the family failed to gain power after giving up his magic and fell to sickness a year later. What saved the main family from losing the heir position was that the lord and his wife at the time had managed to produce another heir in the nick of time. Not long after, the first son died in his mid-teens and the second son held the position of heir and eventually grew to be a direct ancestor to my Father and me.
As for the Ivanovs, the death of the first son was the final nail in their coffin, causing them to be reduced to a mere merchant family, before making a comeback in business a few decades ago at the hands of Natasha’s late father, Sir Victor Ivanov. With Natasha’s talent blooming, it seemed that the Ivanovs were finally about to be back to relevancy, alas, Natasha was the last surviving member of the Ivanovs. Even if she married, she’d have to switch her final name and be someone else’s wife or sully the family’s bloodline by giving her last name to her children as a maternal marriage.
But it seemed that for some reason, there was a male Ivanov, and Natasha had hidden him from everyone... which is contrary to everything that should have happened. If a male child—even if it was a bastard one—with a Silver-rank Aura, he could get legitimized easily if Father agreed to ask the Temple for such a thing... but they didn’t!
Like... why?
All of that couldn’t leave my head even after going into the room with Matilda and she examined Saskia’s condition.
"The balm stretches the skin and gives it enough moisture to provide both protection and freshness. The problem here is that the balm would need to constantly keep the skin stretched and protect it at the same time. When I said it was impossible, Lady Natasha offered me her... secret recipe." Matilda explained as she was taking a close look at Saskia’s skin.
"Secret recipe?" Father asked with a frown.
"Spirit Lotus seed extract." I added.
"I later understood that the vitality granted by the seeds’ extract isn’t a property it has. While the seeds are brimming with life energy, it has to draw it from somewhere... I didn’t have the chance to take a look at the spirit lotus seeds but... I can only speculate..."