What else could possibly be displeasing him this time? 

 

Was he hoping I’d at least say something like “I miss you, so come back early”? Why?

 

After playing that bizarre prank of pretending to be some prince consort or whatever, has he gotten way too immersed in the role?

 

What kind of lover-like words was he even expecting?

 

‘This person really knows how to get on someone’s nerves, I’m honestly fed up with it.’

 

☄️

 

Renata had gone out for a leisurely early-evening walk to clear her scattered thoughts when she suddenly quickened her pace. 

 

In the distance, she spotted the Tower Master pacing back and forth.

 

There had to be a reason why the prince kept running away from her, only to be dragged along to the hunting festival.

 

Earlier, she had been too startled by the sudden encounter to say anything, but now that the opportunity had presented itself, she had to seize it.

 

Renata approached the Tower Master with the intention of asking him to examine her younger sibling’s illness. But the closer she got, the more she felt the surrounding air waver unstably, like heat haze rising.

 

Moreover, she could faintly see a turbid, dark mist, something she had never seen emanating from him before, seeping out from his body.

 

“Lord Marex, are you… alright?”

 

Renata spoke while sharpening her focus, trying not to inhale the energy she suspected was contaminated mana.

 

In response, Marex whipped around.

 

“You can see through the barrier magic, huh? You’re more useful than I thought.”

 

He strode toward her with what seemed like a welcoming attitude.

 

Suddenly closing the distance, Marex abruptly placed his hand on Renata’s shoulder.

 

At the same moment, a familiar yet deeply unpleasant sensation surged into her body, and she desperately pulled herself backward.

 

“How is it that the Tower Master has contracted this illness?”

 

“Do you know what this is?”

 

“…How could I not? It’s the very energy my younger sibling harbors.”

 

It was the turbid mana that had parched their father’s soul and ultimately crushed their sibling’s life as well.

 

Alchemists are beings who fundamentally absorb power from the outside and refine it within their bodies for use.

 

However, when the core responsible for refining that power collapses, alchemists are eaten away by contaminated mana and meet their death.

 

In simple terms, alchemists who can no longer purify mana lose the balance of their abilities, become unable to contain the power they hold, and self-destruct.

 

To slow down such a tragedy, a mage had to infuse them with perfectly pure mana, free of even the slightest impurity, to delay the progression of the disease.

 

That was why Renata had always believed her father had sought out the Tower Master. She had thought that the great mage, who was supposed to harbor the purest mana, would be the one to help.

 

Yet now even that great mage was leaking turbid energy…

 

The situation for mages was similar to that of alchemists.

 

Unlike alchemists, mages generated mana from within their own cores.

 

But once the root of that core began to rot, they too would start producing contaminated mana and fall ill with the same disease. 

 

Unless they received purification from an alchemist, death would inevitably follow without fail.

 

“Even until this afternoon, the mana I accepted from Lord Marex wasn’t this turbid… How in the world did this happen…?”

 

Renata knew that the core, the body’s immune system, so to speak, was not easily destroyed by ordinary shocks, and even if it did collapse, it shouldn’t deteriorate this rapidly in such a short time. Her voice trembled with confusion as she asked.

 

“What, you want me to explain why I ended up like this? Sounds like a hassle.”

 

“Ah—no, that’s not what I meant.”

 

“Actually, I’ve been needing Heinsbrun for a while now. I really should’ve gotten purified sooner.”

 

Marex turned his palm upward and summoned a pitch-black orb above it.

 

“You said your sibling is suffering from this illness, right?”

 

Then, with a flick of his eyes, he gestured toward his own core and continued.

 

“It seems you came here hoping for my help. You don’t need me to spell out what your role is, do you?”

 

☄️

 

Three days had passed since the tumultuous first day of the hunting festival. 

 

Late in the evening, four uninvited guests had gathered inside Renata’s tent.

 

The maids stood in a circle around Renata, who was seated at the vanity. They gently patted her wet hair with towels to dry it, chattering away nonstop.

 

Originally assigned to serve Theodore, they seemed to have arbitrarily switched their charge to the prince’s aide since the prince himself had been absent for three full days.

 

“Milady Aide, have you heard? His Highness the Crown Prince ordered several nobles who offended the Tower Master to go into confinement!”

 

“Goodness, does that mean they’re leaving in the middle of the hunting festival?”

 

“I just passed by and saw them frantically packing. They’re probably planning to depart early tomorrow.”

 

“Oh my, how pitiful. It looks like that family won’t even be able to attend the banquet!”

 

They were excessively talkative, which was a bit troublesome, but in terms of instantly learning the latest gossip, they made pretty decent company.

 

Even without Renata responding, their conversation flowed effortlessly, so she simply stayed silent and leisurely organized the information in her mind.

 

‘His Highness took a surprisingly hard line.’

 

As incidents of people going missing grew more frequent, the nobles had supposedly in self-restraint refrained from holding social parties or balls for the past year.

 

As a result, not only were young ladies unable to make their societal debuts, but those who had already come of age were left wasting time without finding suitors.

 

Those preparing for engagements or marriages couldn’t publicly demonstrate the strong ties between their families, so they were unable to gain any strategic advantages either.

 

And with no end in sight to this situation, how stifling it must have felt.

 

Then, right in the middle of all this, a grand event hosted by the royal family and attended by many prominent houses had finally taken place.

 

For nobles, this was an opportunity too good to pass up easily, yet it was being stripped away from them in such a manner.

 

‘There’s bound to be backlash, yet he’s still openly showing such blatant favor to the Tower Master despite that…’

 

It could only mean one thing, he was trying to bring the Tower Master firmly onto his side.

 

The situation was turning out to be far more complicated than expected. When on earth was the prince planning to come back?

 

Occasionally, rumors about his whereabouts reached her ears.

 

He was said to be fooling around with young nobles notorious for their wild ways, not even drawing his sword for the hunt mostly just getting drunk and passing out, that sort of thing.

 

If he had that much leisure, he really ought to just return and get a proper grasp of the situation.

 

A low grumble drifted from the completely empty bed.

 

“So I thought the rumors were just smoke and mirrors, that the real man was actually dependable… but it turns out he really does nothing but carouse all day. If that’s how it is, then why the hell did the prince even come to the hunting festival?”

 

The others didn’t seem to hear it at all; they were too busy chattering among themselves.

 

Renata glanced briefly at the black-haired man reflected in the mirror and let out a tired sigh.

 

‘When did he sneak in again…?’

 

Marex’s unauthorized occupation of her tent had begun three days ago, ever since she’d run into him by chance and he’d demanded she purify his core and it had continued ever since.

 

“Milady Aide, have you heard? They say His Highness the Prince has been seeing someone special these days!”

 

Renata’s gaze, which had momentarily lingered on Marex, was drawn back to the four uninvited guests by the maid’s frivolous tone.

 

“There’s a widespread rumor that when the prince courted Lady Brenman, the Marquis’s daughter, it was actually all a smokescreen to help His Highness the Prince win his love!”

 

“That’s right! I heard he deliberately took on the role of the villain just to speed up the union between Their Highnesses!”

 

Hearing what sounded like the plot of a third-rate romance novel spilling from the maids’ mouths, Renata could only stare in blank bewilderment.

 

Theodore frequently found himself the unwitting protagonist of such absurd gossip.

 

Whenever young ladies who harbored special feelings for the prince happened to make eye contact with him or exchange a few words, without fail, by the very next day, a fresh wave of rumors would spread.

 

Nonsense like “It seems His Highness is interested in me after all.”

 

Being too outstanding must be a sin, or something.

 

‘I wonder which creatively delusional young lady cooked up this latest masterpiece.’

 

Renata soon returned to her usual calm expression and raised the corners of her mouth in a smile, as if she had no idea what they were talking about.

 

“I wonder who the lucky owner of the jewel on the prince’s sword might be? Do any of you happen to know?”

 

Ah… so it’s me.

 

‘The prince has been unusually quiet lately…’

 

There hadn’t been any recent news of him getting into fights with anyone, he’d stopped heading to the gambling dens, and he hadn’t gone so far as to brutally trample on some young lady’s feelings after rejecting her, he’d simply stopped at rejection.

 

So yes, it was about time for him to cause some kind of trouble again… but why did it have to be her, of all people?

 

“Hey, Renie. From what I’ve heard these past few days, the prince’s reputation is absolute trash. So why are you even meeting him?”

 

And of course, Marex had to chime in right on cue.

 

Her head already felt like it was about to explode from trying to figure out how to escape this awkward moment, and now with his snide remarks piled on top, she felt like her insides were going to burst too.

 

“There are plenty of women throwing themselves at him, he enjoys drinking and gambling, and his power isn’t exactly rock-solid either. How easy must he look for nobles to sit around judging a member of the royal family like that?”

 

She desperately wanted to shout that it was all nonsense, that those were just the prince’s ridiculous rumors, but Renata held her tongue.

 

The reason the prince had introduced her to the Tower Master as his prospective consort might be precisely to use her as a tool to refurbish his own reputation, so it was only right to be cautious with her words and actions to avoid ruining everything.

 

“At least the one thing worth praising is his looks. Let me give you a piece of advice…”

 

When Renata didn’t respond, Marex launched into a string of stories,  how some king from decades ago had nearly ruined the country over a mistress, how some noble lady had eloped with her handsome lover only to ruin her life, and so on.

 

Caught in the flood of his chatter, her ears practically ringing, Renata gently patted the hand that was combing through her hair and said,

 

“I’m quite tired today… Would you all mind leaving me to rest now?”

 

The maids kept sneaking glances at the prince’s cloak neatly hung in one corner of the room. 

 

They opened and closed their mouths several times before reluctantly offering their goodbyes and finally departing.