.jpeg)
“The Third Monster War? You saw it with your precognitive magic?”
Charles's eyes widened.
“Yes. After the summer snow fell, a war broke out throughout the northern region.”
Iana nodded with a determined expression.
“⋯⋯.”
Charles was silent for a moment.
It was a truly enormous thing to take in all at once.
But seeing the mutant Krikan before his eyes, he couldn't help but believe her words.
Then, her eyes caught sight of Charles's red, swollen forearm.
He must have been burned while fighting the fire-breathing Krikan.
“Your Highness, you seem to have a burn on your arm.”
“I'm fine. Let's get the people out of here, in case more Krikan appear.”
Despite her concern, Charles spoke, checking on the condition of the people around him first.
A person who takes sacrifice for granted in the name of responsibility. But what sacrifice in this world is ever truly deserved?
“Just a moment.”
To reassure him, Iana chanted a spell and cast a fire barrier.
Then, she took out the canteen she was carrying at her waist, gently took his injured arm, and poured water over the wound.
Just like when Iana first came to Ervin and threw a magic bullet, causing him to get burned.
“Now you're even copying this.”
He smiled playfully. But Iana said in a serious voice.
“I told Aden confidently in front of him.”
"⋯⋯?"
Iana looked up and stared at him.
“That in Ervin, I am protecting Your Highness. With my magical power.”
“You said that to my brother?”
Charles looked at her with warm eyes.
Iana put the canteen on the floor and took a handkerchief out of her pants pocket. She wrapped it around his injured arm and continued.
“So, please allow me to fulfill my responsibility.”
“I feel good that I am your responsibility.”
Iana tied the handkerchief tightly. As if promising him.
✦ ✦ ✦
Around that time, at Count Dietrian's townhouse.
Carrion paced the garden with an anxious expression.
"What should I do?"
In the end, he couldn't find a way, so he had to leave for Ervin tomorrow.
But an even bigger problem was Riel.
He recalled the words of the dedicated coachman assigned to Riel.
“The Lady said she would go on her own, and told me to return first.”
“Did she really go to that Franz bastard?”
Carrion threw the teacup on the table to the ground.
Clatter.
The teacup rolled across the grass.
Then the butler ran over, picked up the teacup, and approached.
“Master, a, a guest has arrived.”
The butler, who rarely showed emotion, looked frightened.
“Who came to visit?”
“The former Lady, no, her brother, Marquess Rechelles, has arrived.”
“Marquess Rechelles?”
Carrion's expression hardened.
“What should we do? Marquess Rechelles has brought quite a few knights with him.”
The butler seemed worried, remembering the appearance of Marquess Rechelles when he came to take Riel back before the divorce.
“Wait.”
Carrion, who had been tense, calmly retraced his thoughts.
Wasn't the Emperor the one who issued the arrest warrant to Iana and Grand Duke Ervin for the crime of tarnishing the imperial family's honor?
'Iana seems to be in trouble for adultery, so he might have come to ask for help.'
Carrion smirked and ordered.
“Bring him here.”
“Yes, Master.”
The butler quickly ran towards the front gate.
A moment later, Marcel walked inside from the front.
“It’s been a while, Marquess Rechelles.”
As Carrion gave a perfunctory greeting, Marcel also greeted him with an indifferent face.
“Indeed, Count Dietrian.”
“Iana is in Ervin. Not the Rechelles family⋯⋯.”
“She asked the family to disown her, saying that she might cause harm to me. I sent her to Ervin at Iana's earnest request.”
Carrion and Marcel's eyes met intensely.
“Iana went to Ervin for the sake of the Marquess, not because of adultery? There is such a clear reason, so why did you bother to come the day before I leave for Ervin?”
“I came to catch Riel.”
When Marcel said it casually, Carrion asked with a suspicious look.
“Could there have been something between the Marquess and Riel? Why are you so obsessed with Riel?”
Marquess Rechelles took out an envelope from his jacket. Then he said it in a friendly tone, as if throwing it.
“Carrion, it seems Riel killed someone. With Seulanka, a drug that melted the Goddess of Pain Statue.”
“Are you now trying to put the blame for ruining the Goddess of Pain on Riel?”
Even with Carrion's sarcasm, Marcel continued.
“It seems to be someone Riel knew when she was a quarry slave. That person was a sculptor who made counterfeit sculptures.”
“A counterfeit sculptor?”
“It seems she obtained an expensive drug called Seulanka from that man. By pretending to give him her heart.”
At that moment, Riel's words on the night they first spent together flashed through his mind.
“He died. Because I didn’t accept his heart.”
Seulanka that melts statues. A counterfeit sculpting slave.
Carrion retraced his thoughts and asked a question that bothered him.
“Did the counterfeit sculpting slave who died happen to make Nirke's works?”
In response to Carrion's question, Marcel replied with a questioning look.
“I don’t know if that man made Nirke’s counterfeits, but⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯.”
“It seems he went around saying that he was Nirke’s illegitimate child.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Iana, Charles, and Mule's procession headed quickly to the Ducal Palace.
Behind them followed a carriage carrying the unconscious Lyman mage.
Mule, who had been informed in advance, was standing in front of the castle gate.
“Iana, I’m glad you didn’t leave.”
Charles answered instead of Mule's words.
“She came back. Because she has something to say.”
As Charles spoke meaningfully, Mule, sensing an unusual atmosphere, replied.
“Let’s go inside and talk.”
Iana, Charles, and Mule headed to the office.
Karen, who had been informed of the situation in advance, was waiting in the office.
The three sat together on the sofa. After Charles received treatment and Karen left, he urged her to speak.
“Iana, tell me.”
“I saw it with my precognitive magic. After the summer snow petals covered everything like snow, a large-scale war broke out in Ervin.”
At Iana's words, Mule muttered with a thoughtful face.
“Since mutant Krikan have appeared, we need to change the entire tactical system to prepare for war⋯⋯.”
Then Iana suddenly recalled the bow that the Rechelles family archer had fired in the divorce war.
“Magic bow.”
“Magic bow? Are you talking about that magic bow that only the Rechelles family has?”
Mule asked.
“But Marquess Rechelles won’t tell us the forging technique.”
“Can’t we make it ourselves?”
Iana asked back as if it were obvious.
At her words, Mule tapped the armrest with his finger and muttered.
“Magical smithing is difficult. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”
“Since we can’t proceed with trade in this situation, let’s have the jewelry workshop make weapons.”
Charles said as if determined.
“We just barely got the gemstone trade going⋯⋯.”
Iana trailed off with a worried face, but Charles's attitude was firm.
“Right now, the safety of the people is the most important thing.”
Knock, knock.
Then, along with the sound of knocking on the door, Karen's voice was heard.
“Your Highness, I have something urgent to tell you.”
“Come in.”
At Charles's words, Karen hurriedly entered. In his hand was a letter envelope.
“Why, is there an emergency injured person?”
“It’s not that, but I think you should take a look at this letter.”
Karen handed the letter to Charles. Charles took the letter out of the envelope and asked.
“What is this?”
“It fell out of the Lyman mage’s clothes. It seems he tried to send a letter outside but failed.”
Mule continued Karen's words.
“That stupid guy probably didn’t know. How tight the security is when going out of Ervin.”
Charles and Iana read the letter side by side.
All eyes were focused on one place.
[Lady Riel, the high-ranking mage I mentioned before was Iana Rechelles, the Count's ex-wife.]
“It was a letter to Count Dietrian.”
Mule, annoyed, jumped up from his seat and muttered.
“I’m going to destroy that idiot this time.”
Then Charles spoke with a thoughtful face.
“But I wonder why the person receiving the letter is not Count Dietrian, but Lady Riel.”
“Riel is probably trying to use Lyman mage’s situation to keep him as an informant.”
Iana's face darkened.
“Then that’s even more unacceptable.”
Charles replied in a cold voice.
Then Iana carefully spoke.
“I read a little bit of the military section of the Monarch Studies that Your Highness gave me. It said something like this.”
“Leak false information.”
Charles's eyes flashed.
“Yes, we can use this situation instead. In the direction of leaking the information we want.”
Charles's eyes widened.
“Yes. After the summer snow fell, a war broke out throughout the northern region.”
Iana nodded with a determined expression.
“⋯⋯.”
Charles was silent for a moment.
It was a truly enormous thing to take in all at once.
But seeing the mutant Krikan before his eyes, he couldn't help but believe her words.
Then, her eyes caught sight of Charles's red, swollen forearm.
He must have been burned while fighting the fire-breathing Krikan.
“Your Highness, you seem to have a burn on your arm.”
“I'm fine. Let's get the people out of here, in case more Krikan appear.”
Despite her concern, Charles spoke, checking on the condition of the people around him first.
A person who takes sacrifice for granted in the name of responsibility. But what sacrifice in this world is ever truly deserved?
“Just a moment.”
To reassure him, Iana chanted a spell and cast a fire barrier.
Then, she took out the canteen she was carrying at her waist, gently took his injured arm, and poured water over the wound.
Just like when Iana first came to Ervin and threw a magic bullet, causing him to get burned.
“Now you're even copying this.”
He smiled playfully. But Iana said in a serious voice.
“I told Aden confidently in front of him.”
"⋯⋯?"
Iana looked up and stared at him.
“That in Ervin, I am protecting Your Highness. With my magical power.”
“You said that to my brother?”
Charles looked at her with warm eyes.
Iana put the canteen on the floor and took a handkerchief out of her pants pocket. She wrapped it around his injured arm and continued.
“So, please allow me to fulfill my responsibility.”
“I feel good that I am your responsibility.”
Iana tied the handkerchief tightly. As if promising him.
✦ ✦ ✦
Around that time, at Count Dietrian's townhouse.
Carrion paced the garden with an anxious expression.
"What should I do?"
In the end, he couldn't find a way, so he had to leave for Ervin tomorrow.
But an even bigger problem was Riel.
He recalled the words of the dedicated coachman assigned to Riel.
“The Lady said she would go on her own, and told me to return first.”
“Did she really go to that Franz bastard?”
Carrion threw the teacup on the table to the ground.
Clatter.
The teacup rolled across the grass.
Then the butler ran over, picked up the teacup, and approached.
“Master, a, a guest has arrived.”
The butler, who rarely showed emotion, looked frightened.
“Who came to visit?”
“The former Lady, no, her brother, Marquess Rechelles, has arrived.”
“Marquess Rechelles?”
Carrion's expression hardened.
“What should we do? Marquess Rechelles has brought quite a few knights with him.”
The butler seemed worried, remembering the appearance of Marquess Rechelles when he came to take Riel back before the divorce.
“Wait.”
Carrion, who had been tense, calmly retraced his thoughts.
Wasn't the Emperor the one who issued the arrest warrant to Iana and Grand Duke Ervin for the crime of tarnishing the imperial family's honor?
'Iana seems to be in trouble for adultery, so he might have come to ask for help.'
Carrion smirked and ordered.
“Bring him here.”
“Yes, Master.”
The butler quickly ran towards the front gate.
A moment later, Marcel walked inside from the front.
“It’s been a while, Marquess Rechelles.”
As Carrion gave a perfunctory greeting, Marcel also greeted him with an indifferent face.
“Indeed, Count Dietrian.”
“Iana is in Ervin. Not the Rechelles family⋯⋯.”
“She asked the family to disown her, saying that she might cause harm to me. I sent her to Ervin at Iana's earnest request.”
Carrion and Marcel's eyes met intensely.
“Iana went to Ervin for the sake of the Marquess, not because of adultery? There is such a clear reason, so why did you bother to come the day before I leave for Ervin?”
“I came to catch Riel.”
When Marcel said it casually, Carrion asked with a suspicious look.
“Could there have been something between the Marquess and Riel? Why are you so obsessed with Riel?”
Marquess Rechelles took out an envelope from his jacket. Then he said it in a friendly tone, as if throwing it.
“Carrion, it seems Riel killed someone. With Seulanka, a drug that melted the Goddess of Pain Statue.”
“Are you now trying to put the blame for ruining the Goddess of Pain on Riel?”
Even with Carrion's sarcasm, Marcel continued.
“It seems to be someone Riel knew when she was a quarry slave. That person was a sculptor who made counterfeit sculptures.”
“A counterfeit sculptor?”
“It seems she obtained an expensive drug called Seulanka from that man. By pretending to give him her heart.”
At that moment, Riel's words on the night they first spent together flashed through his mind.
“He died. Because I didn’t accept his heart.”
Seulanka that melts statues. A counterfeit sculpting slave.
Carrion retraced his thoughts and asked a question that bothered him.
“Did the counterfeit sculpting slave who died happen to make Nirke's works?”
In response to Carrion's question, Marcel replied with a questioning look.
“I don’t know if that man made Nirke’s counterfeits, but⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯.”
“It seems he went around saying that he was Nirke’s illegitimate child.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Iana, Charles, and Mule's procession headed quickly to the Ducal Palace.
Behind them followed a carriage carrying the unconscious Lyman mage.
Mule, who had been informed in advance, was standing in front of the castle gate.
“Iana, I’m glad you didn’t leave.”
Charles answered instead of Mule's words.
“She came back. Because she has something to say.”
As Charles spoke meaningfully, Mule, sensing an unusual atmosphere, replied.
“Let’s go inside and talk.”
Iana, Charles, and Mule headed to the office.
Karen, who had been informed of the situation in advance, was waiting in the office.
The three sat together on the sofa. After Charles received treatment and Karen left, he urged her to speak.
“Iana, tell me.”
“I saw it with my precognitive magic. After the summer snow petals covered everything like snow, a large-scale war broke out in Ervin.”
At Iana's words, Mule muttered with a thoughtful face.
“Since mutant Krikan have appeared, we need to change the entire tactical system to prepare for war⋯⋯.”
Then Iana suddenly recalled the bow that the Rechelles family archer had fired in the divorce war.
“Magic bow.”
“Magic bow? Are you talking about that magic bow that only the Rechelles family has?”
Mule asked.
“But Marquess Rechelles won’t tell us the forging technique.”
“Can’t we make it ourselves?”
Iana asked back as if it were obvious.
At her words, Mule tapped the armrest with his finger and muttered.
“Magical smithing is difficult. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”
“Since we can’t proceed with trade in this situation, let’s have the jewelry workshop make weapons.”
Charles said as if determined.
“We just barely got the gemstone trade going⋯⋯.”
Iana trailed off with a worried face, but Charles's attitude was firm.
“Right now, the safety of the people is the most important thing.”
Knock, knock.
Then, along with the sound of knocking on the door, Karen's voice was heard.
“Your Highness, I have something urgent to tell you.”
“Come in.”
At Charles's words, Karen hurriedly entered. In his hand was a letter envelope.
“Why, is there an emergency injured person?”
“It’s not that, but I think you should take a look at this letter.”
Karen handed the letter to Charles. Charles took the letter out of the envelope and asked.
“What is this?”
“It fell out of the Lyman mage’s clothes. It seems he tried to send a letter outside but failed.”
Mule continued Karen's words.
“That stupid guy probably didn’t know. How tight the security is when going out of Ervin.”
Charles and Iana read the letter side by side.
All eyes were focused on one place.
[Lady Riel, the high-ranking mage I mentioned before was Iana Rechelles, the Count's ex-wife.]
“It was a letter to Count Dietrian.”
Mule, annoyed, jumped up from his seat and muttered.
“I’m going to destroy that idiot this time.”
Then Charles spoke with a thoughtful face.
“But I wonder why the person receiving the letter is not Count Dietrian, but Lady Riel.”
“Riel is probably trying to use Lyman mage’s situation to keep him as an informant.”
Iana's face darkened.
“Then that’s even more unacceptable.”
Charles replied in a cold voice.
Then Iana carefully spoke.
“I read a little bit of the military section of the Monarch Studies that Your Highness gave me. It said something like this.”
“Leak false information.”
Charles's eyes flashed.
“Yes, we can use this situation instead. In the direction of leaking the information we want.”
.jpeg)