CH 116

The Lord of the Wizard Tower, who had been contemplating for a moment, then swept his hair roughly.

“Today… I’ll just go back for today. There are a lot of things I want to ask, but the Lord’s condition is not good—” 

“How do you know my mother?”

When Serdel asked, he paused.

Serdel, who slipped away from Blenn’s arms, wiping away the flowing tears with the back of her hand, looked straight at him. 

Even though the situation was chaotic, the actions of the Lord of the Wizard Tower remained clear in her head. 

Moreover, his murmuring just before was clearly significant.

He said, ‘I see, as expected.’

It was a word that couldn’t come out unless he knew something.

“Did you ask me who did I see the boy in Raunel’s eyes? Who did you see in the eyes of the Lord of Wizard Tower? Since when? No, this question is probably meaningless.  You must have seen the same scene as me at first.”

If that weren’t the case, as a wizard, he would have asked right away.

“Yes, as you said, he looked like a boy at first.”

The Lord of Wizard Tower replied as if there was no reason to hide.

“Then, on the day that I received the corpse of the monster as a gift, as soon as the Lord left, I immediately took out Raunel’s corpse for the purpose of research. Then, the boy who died in an accident began to look like the Countess.”

He stood near Serdel.

Blenn’s body behind her stiffened. He gave strength to the hand holding the sword so he could attack immediately.

“The girl who was crying in front of him looked like the Lord. So I was surprised. When I first saw the scene, the surrounding background was blurry, so I was just shocked to see the scene and thought it was a trauma—”

The Lord of the Wizard Tower lightly swept Serdel’s eyes with the back of his hand.

The cool energy relieved the tired eyes from the tears. After a while, the tears stopped.

“With the Countess, hmm. How should I say it? Should I say that I was tired from the first meeting? She threatened to come to the Tower and see me.” 

“….”

“She was a very annoying person. She often uttered nonsense. The reason I am now ignorant is probably the influence of the Countess.”

She didn’t know what to say.

“Thanks to her, I’ve overcome many difficulties. I was a lazy person at first, but after I learned about emotions, I became less bothered. She was a good friend to me, who was used to being alone.” 

He took a step back.

“Of course that person approached me with different intentions.”

There was not even the slightest displeasure in the face of the Lord of the Wizard Tower, who shrugged his shoulders.

Rather, she could tell through his soft eyes that the meeting at that time remained a pleasant memory for him.

“The last time she came to the tower, she asked me a favor. If someone like her reaches out to me, please don’t turn it down.”

The Lord of Wizard Tower took a sideways look at the portrait to remember it.

As she bowed her head more seriously than usual, the figure of the Countess came to mind.

“She said she’d let me know a lot more emotions than I did. At the time, I said it was annoying, so I refused—”

He focused on Serdel.

“Because the first time I saw the Lord, I became interested.”

The Lord of the Wizard Tower held out a box containing Raunel’s eyes.

“I don’t know how the Lord and the Countess met in another dimension. Perhaps, after the Countess became that way, there have been a few times when the Lord’s time stopped.” 

Serdel, who received the box, put the cover on.

“There may have been an external force at that time. However, this is an area where human power alone is impossible—”

Hmmm, the Lord of the Wizard Tower, who was about to enter the thought again, raised the air current as if he didn’t miss Serdel’s darkened face.

“The Lord’s complexion isn’t very good right now, so I think you need to get some rest. I’ll see you soon, so if you need anything, call me. I’ll go right away.”

The air current rose to the top of his head, and after a while, the Lord of the Wizard Tower disappeared.

“Lady—”

“Blenn, you should go and rest, too. It must be confusing—”

“…I apologize.”

Blenn boiled his knees.

“If it weren’t for me, there wouldn’t be such an accident.”

Serdel turned and looked at Blenn. She didn’t feel resentful towards him.

“It’s not your fault. It’s not because of you, Blenn, so don’t feel guilty.”

Her mother would have died shortly after if it hadn’t been for an accident.

He hid it thoroughly in front of her young self, but her eyes were completely blank.

“But because of me….”

Serdel brushed Blenn’s cheek slightly with her hand.

She felt sorry for him.

“Your life— is as complicated as mine.”

He was killed in his previous life.

Even here, where he returned, he lived a miserable life in the past. 

If it wasn’t for her, it probably would have been the same this time.

After releasing her hand, Serdel immediately looked back.

If they continued to face each other, it felt like the tears that had stopped for a moment would burst again.

“Go get some rest. I want to be alone.”

He hesitated and went out.

Left alone in silence, Serdel approached the portrait.

“…For protecting me, for trying to protect me in any way…Thank you, mother.” 

She slowly lowered her back.

To be honest, she still can’t accept all of this. The chaos was still raging within her without end.

However, she has already lost too much to be engulfed in it. She was also worried about how much more she might lose in the future.

As time went on, Serdel suppressed her emotions.

After a while, she straightened up and checked every box around her.

She doesn’t know how far she’s looked and prepared, but there must be at least one thing left for her.

Dell, who was hiding, came up and opened the cap of the box.

[Nuna, sniff. Dell will protect you. Don’t worry.]

Maybe it’s because their nerves are linked, so it’s as if he could see into her past.

Dell blew his nose.

[Dell will grow up quickly and make sure to protect Nuna.]

“Yeah, thank you.”

[And—]

Dell pointed at a corner with a snout.

[I think there’s a strange smell in there]

Under the display case, where the ornaments were displayed, a gap was seen. She reached down and touched the box.

She took it out and checked inside.

There was a bloodstained dress, broken accessories, and heels.

At the moment, her heart beat fast.

Serdel, who clenched her teeth, put her hand over the dress.

Dell also focused at the same time, and soon the memory left on the dress unfolded through them. 

A carriage full of congratulatory gifts for grandfather.

The mother, who held hands together, glanced out of the window with an uneasy face.

“What’s the matter, Madam?”

The escort knight, who saw this outside, approached and asked.

“No, I’m sorry, because of me.”

Her mother smiled sadly and only said sorry to the knight. 

“It’s nothing.”

The knight who couldn’t understand her words properly said it was okay. 

“It’s been a while since you’ve been out, so I’m sure you’re worried, but trust us!”

“…one in a million…If something bad happens, like an attack… “

“It won’t happen. Who dares to attack the Count’s carriage? You don’t have to worry.”

“But if something bad happens, can you promise me one thing?”

The clear-eyed knight gave strength to their closed lips, meaning that she could speak comfortably while looking at her mother.

It looked pretty strong.

“I hope you don’t protect me and run away.”

The knight’s forehead distorted. 

“Don’t worry, Madam. Nothing is going to happen. Even if it happens, we will protect you. So don’t say that. Please take a rest now.”

The knights with their heads bowed back slightly.

As if she couldn’t tell them to run away for the second time.

Despair came to her mother’s eyes.

And after a while.

Men in black suits attack the carriage. It looked like the amount would be enough for a hundred.

For ordinary assassins, it is basic to move in small numbers, but there were many of them. Even though it was a narrow forest road, it moved swiftly as if there was no problem.

The squire and soldiers were the first to die.

The knights surrounding the carriage opened the door and reached out to her mother.

“I apologize, Madam! I think it’ll be dangerous at this rate. You have to run away!”

Her mother, who was shaking her head, couldn’t help but hold the Knight’s hand.

Everyone must avoid, no matter what she said, there was no way the knights would move over their Master. 

However, she couldn’t say that it was useless to run away.

Eventually, the mother abandoned the carriage with three knights and moved, but was surrounded by the enemy shortly thereafter.

The clear-eyed knight tried to protect her mother until the very end, but in the end, they stopped breathing.

Her mother, who survived alone, took out her dagger and tried to stab herself in the chest.

However, a dark complex man who stepped forward blocked it.

“Here, you can’t, die.”

The man with a mask on his face spoke in a slurred way.

Taking the dagger from her mother, he knocked her out and put her clothes on the corpse he had already prepared.

“If you’ve, taken care of the evidence, leave.”