Author: rolypoly

“I handled it myself. The assassins we sent confirmed the death together, so you can confirm with them.”

 

“What about the body?”

 

“He will be buried in the wizard’s castle. Just like the usual tradition.”

 

Amelda thought for a moment and slowly nodded her head.

 

“I will remember your contribution to this matter.”

 

“Of course, it would be a problem if you forget.”

 

He dared to meet her gaze with a sly smile.

 

“What… I wish for.”

 

The servants shouted at him to lower his gaze immediately, but Amelda held up her hand to stop them and made them all retreat. 

 

“If you hadn’t made such a bold request, I would have cut off your head too.” 

 

“No.” 

 

Alstair smiled brightly.

 

“Your Highness would not do such a thing. No ally shares interests to the extent that I do.” 

 

“…” 

 

“Collapsed Golem.”

 

Alstair approached until he was within reach of Amelda.

 

“We’ll have to struggle to lift that heavy thing.”

 

“I haven’t agreed yet.”

 

“A perfectionist like Your Highness leaves ‘no possibility’ to future generations.”

 

She couldn’t shake her head at the words he said with a gentle smile. 

 

Those seemingly kind words actually sounded like a threat.

 

“Golem Master…I heard that they’re the only ones that lift it perfectly.”

 

“Your Highness.” 

 

Alstair shook his head. 

 

“You should be relieved to know that such a thing doesn’t exist. They can communicate with the stones.”

 

After a brief pause, he continued.

 

“They will know all the truths contained within the stones without having to open them.”

 

Amelda’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

 

But soon she answered calmly.

 

“…The ground is frozen now because it’s winter. Moreover, the northern walls are even more so.”

 

“Then, I will wait. Until the long sunny summer. It will be a boring time for a while…hmm?” 

 

Alstair stopped talking and looked back at the empty prison cell next to her.

 

He walked to avoid making any noise and opened the old door.

 

Amelda just watched his sudden action. The place he was looking at was where the wizard had been until recently.

 

The same wizard who brought Alstair’s letter to Amelda.

 

“Did he leave something behind?”

 

“This is really interesting.”

 

He immediately overturned the water bowl that had fallen on the floor. An ordinary person would say there was ‘nothing’ in it, but it felt clear to him.

 

“It seems my… younger brother knew about this place.” 

 

He stood up and smiled a very distorted, ugly smile.

 

Amelda now felt she could truly trust this wizard.

 

She had always been curious about what the temporary leader of the prestigious and powerful wizarding guild wanted so much that he ran all the way to this royal palace and started wagging his tail. 

 

It was also true that she suspected that there might be bad feelings toward the royal family inside him.

 

However, when he confirmed his expression as he spoke of his “brother,” Amelda knew for sure.

 

Because it was the same expression she had when talking about ‘Maximilian’.

 

So, that is.

 

It was the expression of someone driven mad by the desire to kill someone they could never kill.

 

* * *

 

“So, I know Noah will never believe, but… That’s because, it’s just that… Wizard Asto…”

 

After finally managing to come to Noah’s room with ‘something to say’ after an hour, Clarisse could only utter one more thing left to say. 

 

‘He killed the wizard Mavis.’

 

But that word never came out. 

 

This was even more so when she thought about what kind of wizard Asto was to Noah.

 

Because he couldn’t imagine how much it would hurt.

 

“…He murdered the wizard Mavis.”

 

But somehow, the answer came first from Noah, who was sitting on the desk.

 

“….?!”

Clarisse, who was sitting facing him, raised her head in surprise. 

 

“H, how…” 

 

“…Uhm.” 

 

He tilted his upper body back for a moment and looked away.

 

“For some reason…it bothered me.”

 

“What bothered you? What is it?”

 

“What he said to me.” 

 

Clarisse thought back to the conversation she had with him in the forest, but nothing specific came to mind.

 

“I’m sorry, I…”

 

“It’s natural that Girl doesn’t notice.” 

 

Noah smiled slightly as he tossed her long flowing hair behind her shoulder.

 

To Clarisse, it sounded like she was being squeezed forcibly.

 

“Do you remember how he arrived after I used the preservation spell?”

 

“Mhm.” 

 

“And he told me. ‘The better the preservation, the better. Even if it’s only ten minutes apart.’”

 

Noah said, even imitating his friendly tone.

 

“No wizard can precisely know when the magic was activated. Moreover, not just for a day or two, but even in minutes.”

 

“Did you think…it was strange from that moment?” 

 

“I didn’t realize it right away. I just felt uneasy about it, so I took my time to figure it out, just in case.”

 

“….”

“What the girl says coincides with my speculation and the testimony of the stone that observed the scene. He… had been watching us since our arrival.”

 

“…Noah.” 

 

“Perhaps he didn’t expect us to appear. He might have left Mavis’s body in the forest, thinking that the search party would find it much later.”

 

Noah adjusted his mask for a moment and continued talking.

 

“Why would they kill a man who trusted and followed Wizard Asto more than anyone else? It raises deep questions.”

 

And somehow… his words were becoming faster and faster.

 

“Although the murder of high-level wizards has occurred frequently since ancient times, no one has ever touched a weak low-level wizard. What is the benefit of killing an opponent who can be subdued just by the color of his robe…” 

 

“Noah.” 

 

Clarisse stood up and hugged him tightly by the back of his neck without asking permission. 

 

With her arms full of strength, his story finally stopped.

 

“…Don’t try to cry alone.”

Despite her earnest requests, the sound of him forcing his irregular breathing continued. 

 

Clarisse wondered if Noah had been brooding over and swallowing the pain ever since he returned from the forest. 

 

And the story she told must have left an even scarier wound in his heart.

 

“I’m sorry…”

“…. It’s not… Girl’s fault. This is…” 

 

And he stopped crying, resting his face on Clarisse’s shoulder and shaking his shoulders.

 

Clarisse calmly rubbed his back and patted him. 

 

Like Noah used to do whenever she cried.

 

At this moment, the confusing feelings about Noah that had been troubling her for the past few days didn’t come to mind at all. 

 

Now that she thinks about it, none of that mattered. 

 

“…I will never let Noah handle this alone.”

 

At Clarisse’s determined revelation, he finally lifted his head to face her. Behind the mask, his violet eyes still glistened with tears. 

 

“You can’t do that, this is…” 

 

“It’s also a matter concerning the Duke of Sheridan. You know how much I value that place, Noah.”

 

“….”

“Wizard Mavis delivered a letter disguised as a servant of the Marquis of Lennox, and was killed by the wizard Asto.” 

 

Considering that Luca is a follower of Alstair, the sender of the letter is likely to be Alstair.

 

“If you think about it simply, Wizard Asto is planning something, Noah.”

 

“Marquis Lenox, or perhaps even… members of the royal family.”

 

Disguising his identity so that he can cross the second wall, which has strict procedures. 

 

Throwing someone into prison without being judged for their crime.

 

All of this was possible only with power.

 

“The purpose is…”

 

The Duchess Kidnapping Case.

 

Mavis murder case.

 

What is the line that connects seemingly separate events?

 

Even if Mavis was murdered while delivering a letter containing the identity of the Duchess, it was not merely a process to cover up the truth.

 

All of that must have been done for some purpose.

 

Although it is not possible to know from the circumstances revealed so far.

 

“Right now… all we can do is keep watching, isn’t it?”

 

To Noah, who nodded slightly, Clarisse actually had something she wanted to say carefully.

 

‘Maybe you are the purpose.’

 

But that was only Clarisse’s guess, so she couldn’t bring herself to talk about it.

 

No, more than that.

 

She didn’t want Noah to get hurt further here.

 

* * *

 

How passive is the conclusion that ‘we need to wait and see’?

 

Even though she read the newspaper every day, listened to the story about the Cici’s brooch she had left with the Duchess, and paid attention to the latest news about the royal family that Valentine occasionally shared, neither Clarisse nor Noah received another clue. 

 

As the situation was like this, Clarisse’s daily life consisted of taking tests that came back consistently, getting a few wrong answers each time, and regretting the errors she realized later. 

 

What could be the reason for being wrong on exams even though she thought she had memorized perfectly? 

 

Still, it wasn’t entirely unrewarding.

 

Clarisse now has a strategy for solving exam questions.

 

The strategy is to solve straightforward and simple problems first, and then solve more complex or lengthy ones that require application afterward. 

 

As if to prove that this method was a good fit for Clarisse, her grades were steadily trending upward. 

 

And one night, a week before the exam that came back.

 

It is the middle of winter and spring, so it rains more often than snow.

 

Clarisse stayed in her study room until close to midnight, but today her test-takers had gone to bed early, so she and Abington were the only ones left. 

 

He occasionally glanced as if aware of Clarisse, perhaps because she had narrowly surpassed him in the previous exam. (Since the first exam, Clarisse had never managed to surpass Abington again.) 

 

‘He really hates losing…’

 

Clarisse was now feeling sleepy, and she got up from her seat because she was bothered by his occasional glances. 

 

Then Abington, who was sitting at the table across from her, lifted his head and spoke to her. 

 

“D, do you really have to go?”

 

For some reason, his face looked very frightened.

 

Author's Thoughts

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your support so far. Unfortunately, I have to announce that I will be dropping this novel as the official translation will be released through Tapas. The advance chapters will be released as scheduled, but there will be no new chapters after Chapter 170. I hope you will support the official translation as well. Thank you.

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Comments (1)

  1. Thank you so much for the translations, I really appreciate it 🙏