CH 19

Roa looked at Sethian’s face, expecting a change in expression. However, Sethian asked back instead for confirmation without making any fuss as if what he had just said was nothing to him.

“Will just that be enough?”

On the contrary, Roa was the one who had a slightly surprised expression on his face because of Sethian’s determination.

“Yees, because in the end it’s all about vitality transmission through bodily fluids.”

He wanted to see the 4th Prince’s cold face shatter even a little.

Roa erased his regretful look and composedly smiled.

“The magic I talked about is the highest level ‘golden magic’ among all golden arts. As you know, it is a magic that the prince cannot use in the meantime since it belongs to the golden arts category. What a shame.”

“Details of all golden magic should not be disclosed to anyone other than the emperor…. However, the owner of the tower himself is taking the initiative to break that rule.”

“That’s what I’m saying. If found out, the whole tower will be in chaos.”

Roa responded with a carefree smile, and sat down again on the opposite side of Sethian.

“I was still on the neutral side when the Prince came to see me today, but now that we’ve finished talking, I’d like to get on board somehow.”

He expressed his intention actively and looked at Sethian with a look of anticipation. Sethian, who was facing him directly, did not show any change in expression.

“And your reason?”

In an instant, Roa’s face dyed with excitement at the short and stiff question.

“The golden magic I mentioned a while ago was created by the first owner of the tower, but it is a magic that has never been tried even if the owner of the tower has already changed countless times because there was no proper soul. However, the prince seems to know the perfect test subject for that magic.”

Only then did Sethian’s expression change. He made a displeased reaction, recalling the fact that wizards are a race that is more obsessed with research results than their own lives.

“You must have heard that I’m not very interested in the throne.”

“Of course. Who among those who enters and leaves the Imperial Castle doesn’t know that?”

It’s been rumored everywhere, but there are more people who don’t believe it.

Roa confided what he was thinking without any hesitation.

“In order to cast the golden magic, you need His Majesty the Emperor to act as the caster, and a wizard to bring the magic to completion. I’d like to join you as the first wizard to succeed in the magic created by the first owner of the tower.”

Roa’s excited voice was brimming with desire for something. They said he was the most unselfish owner of the tower ever, so was he hiding this side of him all this time?

Sethian stood up from his seat after silently staring into Roa’s passionate eyes.

“My decision still hasn’t changed. But I’ll remember what you said.”

Roa quickly chased after Sethian toward the door, and added in urgency.

“You also know it. Only those who wear the emperor’s crown can use the golden arts.”

“I’m saying this because I know.”

Sethian’s hand grabbed the doorknob.

“But it’s still not enough reason for me to put myself on that emperor’s throne.”

“If so, then why did you study about golden magic like that? And what is that interest you’ve shown in my story?”

It felt like he was soaring through the sky but was suddenly shoved onto the ground.

At Roa’s heated voice, Sethian turned his head while holding the doorknob. His eyes contained a deadly force that Roa held his breath.

Sethian, who made Roa’s mouth shut with only his eyes, opened the door with an indifferent expression as if he had never done so.

“Remember everything we’ve talked about today. I’ll look for you again if I need you.”

In the end, Roa politely sent Sethian off while trying his best to hide his dislikable face.

After leaving the tower, Sethian got on his horse and reflected on his conversation with Roa while on his way to his castle.

“If the original body is afflicted with an incurable disease, will it be transferred when constructing the new body?”

“That will not be the case. The external physical characteristics are brought as they are, but the internal will be as clean as new.”

According to Roa’s words, just preparing a new body will make the incurable disease disappear. When that happens, he would be able to settle in the body without needing to wander in the state of soul, and move healthily as he had wished.

“If it’s a soul with a living body and not a dead soul, it will unconditionally succeed. It is a warm soul that has been alive and breathing until just now, so it has all the necessary information for the physical composition. As long as the soul is settled in the location where the magic has been prepared, it’s done.”

As long as he guides Yi-Gyeol’s soul and activates the magic, he will immediately gain the body. As the owner of the tower guaranteed, there seemed to be no possibility that the physical connection would fail.

He has found a way to tie Yi-Gyeol up without a doubt. But the problem is that he has to become an ‘emperor’ to use that magic.

‘It’s bothersome.’

He doesn’t like politics or economic administration, but he hates having to live a monotonous, boring life even more.

Above all, Sethian knew himself well.

He can never become a benevolent monarch. He’ll probably become a tyrant at most.

That’s why he didn’t think about the throne itself at all, but a ghost who suddenly intervened in his life made his thoughts complicated.

“Joo Yi-Gyeol.”

Sethian, who recited the exotic name aloud, endlessly weighed his value in his head, recalling him who he would meet again tomorrow.

However, the next day, Yi-Gyeol did not come to visit Sethian.

⋆♚⋆♛⋆♚⋆

A small and stuffy room with frequent flickering lights.

Yi-Gyeol was arduously sitting hard on the mat spread in the corner, moving his hands.

A pile of discarded notes piled up. The faded ones were used to practice writing with weak hands, and some were tested for folding butterflies.

After practice, he carefully wrote the sentences and carefully folded them to form a shape. The white butterflies made in this way gradually filled the glass jar where the artificial flowers were placed. He also did not forget to wipe the dirty and dusty glass jar clean with wet tissues.

Before he knew it, the glass jar was filled with butterflies holding letters for his sister. Looking at it, his sister’s face naturally came to his mind.

‘Will she like it?’

Honestly, he doesn’t know.

She was so happy and excited, running all over the place even after receiving just one of these things when she was young. However, the present Yi-Jin considers himself a burden and bothersome, so maybe she wouldn’t like it that much.

‘But this is all I can do for her.’

He couldn’t do anything like a real older brother, and even if he tried to say warm words, the first thought that would come to his mind was ‘his condition’.

Shortly after becoming depressed, the next thing that came to his mind was Sethian’s face. A gentle smile that wouldn’t go away settled on Yi-Gyeol’s lips.

A grateful person who needed him in an unfamiliar world.

The only person who didn’t sympathize or turn a blind eye after hearing what his life was like.

A friendly person who always faces his invisible self clearly and gives him full attention.

No one knows just how grateful he is to have met such a person. Maybe even if he dies, he’ll never forget Sethian. As if the excitement of spring had arrived, Yi-Gyeol felt like his heart was warm and ticklish.

‘Ah, I’m overreacting too much.’

The dark melancholy from before had disappeared without a trace on Yi-Gyeol’s grinning face.

Yi-Gyeol, who had been thinking of Sethian for a long time, looked at the clock and checked the time.

It’s already over half-past nine. Thinking that he had been awake for nearly two hours already made Yi-Gyeol nervous.

‘I just need to hurry and give this….’

Tomorrow is the CSAT, so he has to deliver it today.

He ditheringly picked up his phone, but his mother was too busy lately and couldn’t charge it for two days now, so the battery was already drained. Thinking that it was too much of him to ask Yi-Jin to take the gift herself and interfere with her studies, Yi-Gyeol had no choice but to remove the blanket and put his arms on the floor. While crawling on the floor, he clutched the glass bottle with the letters.

After staggering a few times, he opened the door with difficulty. It was the moment he was about to cross the threshold looking at the living room which seems to be colder today.

“Ugh-!”

The sudden prickly headache distorted his vision. Starting with that, his whole body shivered and his head began to ring. A familiar fear pierced him like lightning from head to toe.

‘Already…!’

Yi-Jin was right in the next room, so he just had to go a little further, but he couldn’t resist the headache that came. With his teeth clenched, he swallowed his groan and went a little further. Then, he felt a shock as if someone was hitting the back of his head hard.

“Aargh!!”

Unable to bear the shock that seemed to break his head, he groaned a little loudly. He wondered if he could hear footsteps from the next room, but then, Yi-Jin’s door suddenly opened.

“Oppa!”

Yi-Jin, who found Yi-Gyeol lying on the floor shaking and trembling, approached in surprise. Swallowing a groan and raising his head, Yi-Gyeol held out the glass jar with a forced smile as usual. In such situations, it was best to keep himself from moving even further, but the only thought in his mind was to deliver the glass bottle even if he acts like a fool, perhaps because of the shock of his head. Originally, he was going to tell her to do well on the exam himself, but that was not possible anymore.

“Why didn’t you go to sleep and came out of bed!”

Yi-Jin shouted in irritation and threw out the glass bottle that he held out without even looking at it. It was the day before the entrance exam, so she was sensitive, but it was also because she was scared to think that she was the only one left at home in this situation.

Several butterflies popped out from the opening of the thrown glass bottle. Yi-Jin, who stood up to get her cell phone, stomped on them and passed, but she didn’t seem to notice. Yi-Gyeol, who was groaning while his hands were wrapped around his head, fixed his gaze on the butterflies that were lying on the floor while enduring the headache.