Karl felt two different divine powers merging and resonating within the rune.
He felt a bit safer in his heart. Fortunately, he had condensed his own divine power, which could serve as an introduction and foundation.
Otherwise, he would have had to use Melitele's divine power to complete this spell.
His mind guided this luminous rune, uniting the two divine powers, and slowly directed it towards his chest.
The moment the rune touched his body, it was like a drop of water melting into the sea, quietly disappearing inside.
After all this, Karl exhaled, and his tense nerves relaxed a little.
With this protection, created by himself and Melitele, at least when facing the Master of Mirrors, he could have a bit more confidence.
This goddess, always revered by people under the name "Melitele," her real name was "Freyja."
And the name "Melitele" was just the name of the god given to her by the people of the continent.
......
The next day, Karl was stopped and driven away by servants who refused him entry to the manor. He didn't argue with them.
Instead, he rose into the sky above the Iris family's manor and listened to the servants' whispers below.
"This... If any of you go and tell the young lady about the situation, she might be upset for a while."
"If you want to leave, and tell the adults, we'll be punished. It's better to pretend nothing happened."
"At most, when the young lady asks, we'll say that the gentleman had to refuse her invitation for some reason."
"Alas... this is the only way. The young lady's experience is worrying, but we can't do anything..."
Their conversation confirmed Iris's previous complaints, even more suffocating than she had thought.
In her parents' eyes, Iris was more like a commodity waiting to be sold, carefully packaged and maintained, than a daughter with independent thoughts and emotions.
An indescribable anger grew in Karl's heart, not because the servants had rejected him,
but because Iris was suffering from this almost imprisoned "protection."
His hearing quickly spread into the manor, and soon he caught the sound of Iris arguing fiercely with her parents.
He saw Iris standing in the richly decorated but somewhat depressing living room, her delicate makeup streaked with tears.
She gripped a paintbrush in her hand, arguing with her pale-faced father and displeased mother.
"Why?! Why won't you allow it?! Just because he's a man?" Iris's voice was tearful but extremely stubborn.
"Because of this ridiculous reason, can't I even invite a model to paint?"
She excitedly waved her paintbrush and pointed at several of her paintings hanging on the living room wall.
"My paintings! The paintings that have been sold at auctions, bringing the family fame and crowns!"
"Did you ask my opinion when you took the money? Not once!"
The more she spoke, the more excited she became, her long-suppressed grievances and anger bursting forth: "You control my life, decide who I see and who I don't."
"Do I need to be deprived of the freedom to create, to find inspiration?!"
The middle-aged man standing opposite her, her father, had a face flushed with anger, clearly choking from the personal confrontation and his daughter's revelation.
He suddenly raised his hand, as if to slap her, to assert his faltering authority.
But looking into his daughter's eyes, full of despair,
his hand paused in the air for a moment, then weakly dropped, though his chest heaved violently.
The woman dressed in luxurious, jewel-embroidered clothes beside him, Iris's mother, immediately stepped forward to mediate.
Her tone was reproachful and trying to calm: "Iris! How can you talk to your father like that! Apologize at once! Look at how you're angering your father!"
"Everything we do is carefully raising you to grow up, teaching you etiquette and art—isn't that all for your own good?"
"You are young, you don't understand the sinister nature of people's hearts. These lowly citizens of unknown origin who associate with you, who knows what their intentions are?"
"They will harm you and affect our entire family!"
Hearing this, Iris let out a pitiful laugh, full of sarcasm.
Her gaze slowly swept over her mother's neck, from the sparkling sapphire necklace to the huge ruby ring on her finger.
"For my own good? Mother... the necklace around your neck was only bought last month, wasn't it?"
"The ruby ring on your hand appeared recently; I remember it very well."
"I've seen the family business's income reports. Just maintaining the normal operation of the manor and workshop is already worrying."
"I often have to use the auction proceeds from my paintings to fill these gaps."
She looked directly at her mother's instantly ugly face and questioned her word for word.
"So where did you get the crowns to buy these expensive jewels? Did business suddenly get better?"
"You...!" The woman was stunned by her daughter's questioning.
Her lips trembled, but she couldn't find the words to retort, so she could only glare angrily at Iris.
Iris's father frowned, looking at his daughter's stubborn and sorrowful expression, knowing that continuing to force her would only make things worse.
Given Iris's sensitive and fragile nature now, she might actually do something irrevocably foolish, which was not the outcome he wanted.
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed his anger, and decided to temporarily give in, his tone softening slightly: "Iris... your father is not completely unreasonable."
"Your... friend, what is his name? Tell me, and I'll send someone to check his background."
"Once we make sure there's no problem with him, I'll invite him to the manor. Do you think that will work?"
Iris heard her father's tone soften, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, calmed down a little, and quietly replied: "He said... he's from Terra, and his surname is El. He didn't tell me his name."
"Terra? The surname El?" Iris's father's pupils suddenly contracted, and his face changed dramatically.
Surname El? In an instant, information about the spouse he valued most, whom he had been researching, flashed through his mind.
Wasn't the new Grand Duke of Terra simply named Karl El?!
He could hardly believe his ears. He quickly took a roll of parchment from his bag, quickly unrolled it, and handed it to Iris.
On the parchment was a portrait of Karl, carefully drawn with charcoal.
Though not as good as the real person, the features were also very similar.
"Iris! Look! You said his surname is El? Does he... does he look like this?!" His voice trembled slightly with excitement.