CH 91

For a while, Ophelia stared at the dark sky where Sante flew away. The frown on her face as she stared at the heavens resembled a shepherd boy gauging whether or not rain would shower down.

This was because her entire body was vibrating with anxiety, as if the wind that she felt was a lie when she had first set off.

It was a very strange thing.

She had a rough estimate of where the magic tower was, and she was also almost sure about the truth behind Alei’s banishment.

‘But why…’

Why was she so nervous?

As she went closer to the Ladeen Castle, the sound of her steps were exceptionally clear, and the air was sharp against the back of her hand. Was this all really, only just an illusion, she wondered.

Ophelia shook her head to brush off these ominous thoughts.

‘Don’t think like that.’

This must only be the restlessness of almost being able to reach her goals. She could already touch it with her fingertips.

Right now, Ophelia had only two more things to do.

First was to meet Alei and talk about the possibility that he might have turned back time. Second was to explore the waters with the map that Ariel had fixed.

If she did just those two things, then she didn’t have to be tied up here anymore. Both she and Alei.

Nothing here would cause problems.

Ophelia could now tell Alei everything, and it was clear that meeting Alei wouldn’t be difficult.

Even though Alei had recently been avoiding Ophelia, they promised to meet after sunset.

They had built enough trust between them.

‘There’s nothing wrong.’

So, Ophelia calmed herself down as much as possible and went into the castle.

Maybe Alei was in his room. Or he was at the temporary temple. There was nothing to worry about. Because Sante would let her know.

Right. That’s how it is…

“… But why is there such a commotion inside the castle?”

Ophelia’s inward question popped out of her lips.

This was because as soon as she stepped into the castle, she noticed that the atmosphere had changed here compared to a few hours ago. This further fueled her unease.

At this time of the day, everyone should be busy getting ready for lights off, but she found everyone gathered at the hall, chatting amongst themselves.

Voices full of anticipation could be heard abuzz across the space, and the cacophony sounded like a swarm of rats coming and going overhead at the ceiling.

Ophelia became even more taut with tension. Even as she straightened her back, she came forward only one step.

Then, she reached out and grabbed anyone she could catch and asked them.

“What’s going on in the castle?”

“Ah, Your Highness!”

The servant recognized Ophelia and hurriedly bowed his head.

“We’ve been looking for you, Your Highness. It has been revealed that the mage from the Imperial Palace used black magic.”

“…What?”

The only mage who came from the imperial palace was Alei. As soon as she realized who the person in question was, to Ophelia, it felt like something had plummeted, and the loud sound was echoing in her ears.

Anxiety was splashing at her ankles. Her blood went cold and her fingertips seemed to quiver.

The first thing she needed to do here was to assess the situation, but rather than that, she was worried about Alei.

No. She was angry.

“That can’t be true. This must be a mistake. He’s not the kind of man who’d do that.”

“O-Of course, I don’t believe it either. But we don’t know much about the mages. The priests said so, that’s the only reason we found out.”

“Priest?”

“Yes. People from the temporary temple came—they said that they’re here to check the sinner’s belongings. Then the mage from Ronen heard about it and made a scene.”

The mage from Ronen. Yennit.

The more Ophelia listened to the explanation, the more it felt as though her feet were sinking in the water.

“She kept saying, ‘How dare they treat someone like a sinner’, but how could she kick up such a fuss? It’s like she’s a zealot who’s fallen into… Uugh.”

It was easy to imagine how it went down.

Yennit’s loyalty to Alei was already common knowledge.

She surely must have made a commotion over treating Alei like a sinner.

The problem was that each and every mage had the power comparable to a tsunami.

“Then, what happened to the mages? Is there any part of the castle that collapsed?”

“How could there not be one, Your Highness? The west side has been completely destroyed. It’s fortunate that there were no casualties. I heard people ask how it’s possible for a human being to have such power, and even the people who saw it personally couldn’t believe their eyes.”

Perhaps things wouldn’t have gotten this big if Yennit hadn’t made such a fuss, but unfortunately, Yennit was not someone who had an affable personality.

“Many of the priests came forward and managed to hold her down. It was a close call.”

“Then what happened to those mages?”

“I heard that they’re now detained at the temporary temple. I am not aware of the details.”

The servant also had an expression saying, ‘I have absolutely no idea what’s going on.’

“Doesn’t black magic affect the user’s surroundings? At this rate, we don’t know what kind of trouble we’ll be facing… It’s like we can’t even trust the people we’ve spent time with…”

Since Ladeen Castle had been benefiting a lot from the three mages who were lending their strength these days, apprehension seemed to have risen over this.

“Bishop Verlan said that he’d take care of the matter first, so it’s a huge relief.”

Only when she heard this name did Ophelia come to her senses.

It was because, as soon as she heard that name in particular, it felt like she had been doused with cold water.

‘Pull yourself together.’

She should not be shaken here. As Ophelia thought this, she sharpened her nerves.

‘Verlan doesn’t know who Alei is.’

No, even if he knew, in the few hours that Ophelia was gone, he wouldn’t be able to take Alei in under the grounds of heresy or anything like that.

The temple did not act so rashly.

While they carried the title of ‘messengers of God’, they acted as if they were the absolute good.

‘They won’t step in until they have clear evidence of sin.’

However, the tide was turning like this, so they were taking Alei?

No. Was he someone who would be caught in the first place?

He could leave this place whenever he wanted, in the same way that he could turn it all into ruin any time he wished.

And yet, that person chose to stay with her.

‘Cornelli hasn’t returned to the castle yet.’

Cornelli usually came back to the castle once the medical relief center was completely closed for the day. He was a mage who knew how to teleport anyway, so he came back here only after he finished as much work as he could.

It sometimes made Ophelia wonder about the primness of his sincerity that perhaps crossed the threshold into inflexibility, but she never felt so relieved as she was about it now.

‘Because Cornelli’s sense of loyalty is the same as Yennit’s.’

Ophelia had never personally seen the extent of Cornelli’s skills, but everything might just have fallen to ruin by now if he was here together with Yennit.

Leaving the servant’s side, Ophelia hurried to her room.

Her room was completely silent, and there were no signs of entry. She even placed a small memo on her desk just in case he came to her room first.

「 Alei, I’m going to the coast for a moment because there’s something I must do. I’ll be back before lights off, so please wait for me just a little while. 」

Ophelia picked up the note, which she had written with great care, and stared at it briefly, then she promptly set it down.

Instead, she reached for three quills.

Crack. With a dull sound, the broken feathers fell on the desk.

Then soon, through the open window, three people—no, three birds came into the room.

“Ophelia!”

“It’s been a while since you called us, huh?”

“Do you have something delicious for us this time too?”

As the three young sirens chirped and chattered, they transformed from their bird forms and to their human forms. Along with the fluttering curtains, their feathers flew as well.

Ophelia turned to the three young men who exuded youthful vigor.

“Come in, sirens.”

Unfortunately, today, she couldn’t welcome them with a pleasant greeting.

“Dillo, you go to Cornelli. You’re the fastest of you three, aren’t you? I need you to go there as soon as you can. Cornelli will be by the gates, so he wouldn’t be difficult to find. Tell him not to come back to the castle today.”

“Leave it to me!”

“Then second, Sillo, look for Sante. I’m sure you can find him best because you have good eyes. Once you find Sante, say this to him.”

As Ophelia imparted the message, Asello, the oldest of the three brothers, interrupted as he ruffled his already disheveled hair.

“What about me?”

The three brothers indeed quite liked Ophelia’s requests. Unlike the magic tower’s requests of delivering only letters, Ophelia’s requests were special.

They also shared their feelings amongst themselves, saying that it felt strange how proud and happy they were after doing Ophelia’s requests, even though they weren’t all too different from the usual.

Todays’ delegation of work certainly seemed fun, too.

Asello’s eyes glistened with interest.

What kind of task would Ophelia give him? He was very confident in flying and investigating. Any kind of errand, he could do it all!

But what Ophelia told him to do was something he didn’t expect.

“Asello, there’s somewhere you have to go with me.”