CH 57

Silver hair and golden eyes that glimmered as one under the afternoon sun’s rays. Nevertheless, the expression of their owner didn’t look too pleased.

As she was crouching down, Ophelia’s own expression had been eased, and his name slipped through her trembling lips.

“…Alei.”

It’s him.

What happened from now on was then only a matter of course.

* * *

A while back, in Alei’s room—

“You mentioned something about the tower rousing and research going slow. What do you mean by the tower rousing?”

When Alei asked again, Cornelli spoke, but with a hint of hesitation.

At the same time as Alei was exiled, the tower fell to a slumber.

And this left Alei with a few questions.

“Does the magic tower have a conscious ego?”

“That’s exactly it. The tower is both a space we live in and a living thing.”

Yennit explained further.

The tower is like a creature made up of huge blocks of mana, so it manages the interior’s illumination and humidity, and it generally watches what goes on inside.

“If that’s the case, is there still a need for a lord or master for the magic tower?”

“It’s a creature, but it moves with discipline. Someone needs to be there to control it.”

“Um… Above all, the magic tower takes care of its vicinity, and unless there’s a violation being done, it won’t be involved.”

Cornelli continued.

“And even if that happens, it won’t touch the law breakers.”

At Yennit’s cynical explanation, Alei was enlightened, as though he got hit on the back of his head.

When dealing with the same situation, the act of making a different choice from before.

To end that punishment right away, this was the only condition.

As soon as he realized this, his entire body was wracked with joy.

‘I found a clue.’

Ophelia would be so happy once she would hear about this. It’s a bit funny to him that his first thought was to find a solution to Ophelia’s dilemma, but Alei was someone who would be satisfied with this alone.

Evidence enough was his racing heartbeat. He had to hurry up and tell Ophelia the good news.

Under the table, Alei clenched one hand into a fist to somehow calm his pounding heart. Yennit smiled brightly and continued.

“Since you’ve regained your memories, Lord Alejandro, you must have chosen not to commit the same mistake again, right? I’m really happy.”

“…Ah.”

And just a beat later, this feeling subsided as though it was a lie. He was brought back to the present, where he was lying to someone right now.

However, Yennit and Cornelli didn’t notice this and were only talking brightly.

“When Lord Alejandro returns to the magic tower, that’s the only time I’ll come back as well.”

“Wow! I knew it, you’re coming back with me!”

“If Lord Alejandro is there, shouldn’t I also be there? I’m the one who gets Lord Alejandro’s tea at the best temperature. I’ll be needed.”

“More than that, it’s just because you want to do more research…”

“That’s a given.”

Yennit answered in her usual cynical way and smiled, though she looked like she was glaring at Cornelli.

At just one glance, it could be seen that their affection for Alejandro was immense.

Alei, who dared not remember anything, doubted that he was worthy of this position.

If it had been another time, he would have avoided this position as much as possible, complaining that it was something he was uncomfortable with.

‘But… Ophelia’s right.’

If they’d been missing him this much, all he had to do was not to avoid this position.

He had to recover his memories as soon as possible so that he could meet their expectations.

‘If I become Alejandro, then at that time—’

At that time, he wondered if he’d be able to iron out these crumpled and shabby feelings, even a little.

Thanks to gaining a clue with regard to regaining his memories, Alei was now quite hopeful.

However, at that moment.

CRASH—!

As if to laugh at Alei’s glimmer of hope, a loud noise resounded from a lower floor.

“What was that?”

“I think it’s from below.”

“Did something break out back?”

While staring in a daze, Alei’s heart sank the moment Cornelli said that.

He recalled what Hydar did just a few days ago.

How surprised was he when he first heard that Hydar got seriously injured when a chandelier fell in Ophelia’s room?

Of course, the truth that he knew was different.

Someone who had once gotten burned by a fire would be surprised even with just fireflies.

‘If it’s right below us, then it’s a room for distinguished guests.’

That’s where Ophelia was. When this thought came to mind, it reached a point where Alei could no longer bear it.

In the end, he jumped from his seat.

Cornelli’s round eyes followed his movement.

“What’s wrong, Lord Alejandro?”

“I think the sound came from right below us. I’ll check it out for just a bit. Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

So he decided to go check for just a moment.

It shouldn’t be a big deal.

* * *

And so, back to the present—

‘I thought it wouldn’t be anything big.’

What kind of bullsh*t was this here.

Alei’s molars grinded together with force.

The moment he saw that Ophelia’s wrist was caught by this morning’s uninvited guest, it felt like his rationality had flown off.

And at just that moment, a trickle of tears fell down Ophelia’s cheek.

Ophelia was shedding tears because of the pain she felt from the grip that Ian couldn’t control.

However, this scene was such a sight to behold that those tears were misunderstood by both the men here.

On one side, the misunderstanding was that Ophelia really did like Alei.

And on the other side, the misunderstanding was that Ophelia was crying because she couldn’t endure this situation.

The latter belonged to Alei. And as Alei misunderstood on his own, his expression became distorted by anger.

“Never mind. It’s nothing I need to hear.”

“You, just now—”

Ian had been frozen in place ever since Alei appeared, and he tried to open his lips to speak, but at that moment,

THUD!

“Keugh!”

Ian’s hand was taken off of Ophelia. And right there, he was crushed to the floor. As though there was a huge hand pressing him down there.

However, Ian was more physically capable than an ordinary person, so he managed to overcome the force weighing down on him. With a crumpled face, he spoke.

“Alejandro. Who do you, keugh, think you are to step in like this? I—ugh!”

And once again, he was crushed to the ground, and even the stone floor cracked with a loud sound. Alei’s psychokinetic power did not let up at all.

But the most surprising thing was that Alei didn’t look fazed at all even as he was wielding such a formidable power.

Rather, he seemed so calm that it didn’t seem like he was doing anything.

“Who you are or what you have to do with Ophelia—it doesn’t matter. Rather than that, please, you should look after yourself.”

Though if he was left like that, it looked like it would be difficult for him to walk out on his own two feet.