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Chapter : 7
The Method of Disappearance
“What is it, Lowell?”
Contrary to Leon’s belief that she would handle things on her own, Lowell was now in a situation where she had barely avoided the worst.
“Who is that?”
Aria’s green eyes, filled with suspicion, fixed themselves on Lowell.
“Uh… well…”
Thanks to that, Lowell felt as though all the saliva in her mouth had dried up. This kind of sudden encounter had never been part of her plan.
“…Is that the person you said was your lover?”
When Lowell showed no sign of opening her mouth, Aria carefully asked a moment later.
At those words, Lowell looked at Aria. The flustered look in her eyes vanished in an instant.
“Ah, yes. Haha. She said it was fine, but insisted on walking me back.”
Lowell laughed awkwardly as she fiddled with the petals of the bouquet of roses she was holding. It was a relief that she hadn’t forgotten to bring the flowers Leon had given her. Either way, it meant she had one more piece of evidence.
“I see.”
At that, Aria’s eyes immediately calmed. It seemed she hadn’t noticed anything strange in Lowell’s words—or perhaps she had noticed and was pretending not to.
‘Phew.’
Seeing that change, Lowell finally relaxed and managed to calm her pounding heart.
But when a dangerous-sounding “No” slipped from Aria’s lips, Lowell’s relief evaporated in an instant.
“Wait a moment. Lowell, could it be that you…?”
At that moment, Lowell realized too late the grave mistake she had made—she had used magic right in front of Aria.
“No, my lady, that just now was—”
So Lowell hurriedly opened her mouth, unable to hide the tremble in her lips.
“Is the person you’re seeing perhaps a noble?”
However, the question that came from Aria was unexpected.
“What?”
“The magic earlier.”
“Oh.”
Whether fortunate or unfortunate, Aria had never even considered the possibility that Lowell, a commoner, might possess mana.
“Ah, yes. It just sort of happened….”
Under Aria’s probing gaze, Lowell answered slowly.
Lowell was the one who had used magic, but it was also true that the person she was seeing was a noble… so it wasn’t a complete lie.
“Does she treat you well?”
Aria fell silent for a moment after Lowell’s answer, then returned to her usual gentle voice and asked the question. To Lowell, it seemed Aria had no intention of digging deeper into the matter.
“Pardon? Ah… yes.”
“I see. Then that’s fine.”
At Lowell’s reply, Aria answered casually and gave a bright smile.
“I woke up and you weren’t there, so I thought I’d come out to check—and I ran into you right away.”
As if nothing had happened at all, Aria smoothly changed the subject.
“You’re not going to ask anything more?”
Because of that, it was Lowell who became flustered instead.
“It’s fine. You trust me, right, Lowell? I trust you too.”
Aria suddenly lowered her head and met Lowell’s eyes. The trust and affection in Aria’s gaze flowed directly into Lowell through that shared look.
“……”
Because of that, Lowell felt as though her invisible conscience was being poked relentlessly right in front of her eyes.
“Shall we go? If we’re any later, people will notice that we both went out.”
Aria gently wrapped her hand around Lowell’s with the hand she held out warmly.
“The Grand Duke has returned!”
A voice that echoed throughout the entire ducal residence reached Aria and Lowell as they were spending a quiet morning.
“Father?”
Aria set down the teacup she had been drinking from and approached the window. Sure enough, a splendid carriage came into view at the entrance to the garden.
“Welcome home, Father.”
“You must be tired, Father.”
In the center of the hall, where these dry family greetings were exchanged, all of the mansion’s servants had gathered—unusual for this time.
“Yes.”
The man receiving the greetings was a middle-aged man with a weary look.
Delrick Heinstein. The Duke of the Khan Empire and the head of House Heinstein had just returned home after several months spent inspecting his territory.
One might expect him to offer a warm word to his children after being away for so long, but his expression remained cold.
“Aria, a message has come from the Imperial Knight Order saying they wish to see you. They’ll visit in an hour, so prepare to receive them. I must head out again.”
“What?”
That last question did not come from Aria, but from her older brother, Sion.
In an instant, Delrick’s tired eyes sharpened as they pierced his son.
“Ah—no. I’m sorry.”
Sion immediately lowered his head and apologized.
“Tsk.”
Delrick clicked his tongue once, then turned around and left the hall.
“……”
Until their father completely disappeared from view, Sion remained standing still, unable to lift his gaze from the floor.
Exactly one hour later, as Duke Heinstein had said, the Imperial Knight Order visited the Heinstein residence.
“War… you say?”
“Yes. Recently, large groups of monsters have been spotted near the border, and the Knight Order interprets this as a sign that war is imminent.”
“The demon race sending monsters isn’t exactly unusual.”
“That’s true, but this is the first time they’ve acted so openly. The numbers are large enough that even the knights alone are insufficient.”
The man bearing the insignia of the Imperial Knight Order wore a troubled expression.
“We’ve heard that Lady Aria Heinstein can use healing-type mana. If you would participate in this war—”
“No.”
A sudden voice cut off the knight’s earnest request.
“My sister is physically weak. Because of that, she even had to live in the countryside when she was young.”
Sion spoke with feigned concern as he looked at his sister.
“And more importantly, Aria has never properly learned magic. Even if she participated in the war, she wouldn’t be of any help.”
Lowering his eyebrows, Sion added his words. With his worried expression, anyone would see him as an older brother who dearly cherished his younger sister.
‘Lies. You’re just afraid she’ll stand out even a little if she goes to war.’
Standing behind them and pouring tea into cups, Lowell thought so.
Sion, the heir of House Heinstein, had always been jealous of his sister, who had been born with mana. A man who filled his head only with ways to remove his sister from his sight, abandoning the wealth and honor that would come to him without effort—that was Sion.
‘Well, either way, my lady won’t go to war.’
Regardless of her assessment of Sion, Lowell could say that with certainty. Thinking back on the many regressions, it was only natural. Aria, who knew that death led to regression, had no reason whatsoever to throw herself directly into war.
“No, I’ll participate.”
However, at the words that came from Aria’s mouth the next moment, everyone—including Lowell—turned their gaze toward her. Even the knight of the Imperial Knight Order seemed not to have expected a positive response, his eyes widening.
“I will participate. In this war.”
Unfazed by those reactions, Aria spoke resolutely, wearing an expression Lowell had never seen before.
‘Yesterday she was complaining about how hard it was, but today she’s doing well again.’
That night, Leon thought as he watched Lowell practicing mana as usual in his tower. With a steady flow of mana wrapped around her body, Lowell trained far more diligently than the day before.
“Ugh, I’ll just rest for a bit.”
Before long, however, Lowell collapsed forward onto the table. Leon thought, I knew it, but when he saw her gasping for breath, he changed his mind and decided to allow her a brief rest.
‘This is exhausting.’
At that moment, Lowell stared blankly ahead, thinking that she truly needed real rest.
Working at the mansion during the day and learning magic at night—it was a hectic routine. It was only natural that every part of her body was screaming in protest.
“……”
As Lowell lay there looking half-dead, Leon, seated across from her, was struggling to refocus on the book he had been reading. No matter how hard he tried, it was difficult to completely ignore the figure slumped in front of him.
In the end, when Lowell twitched a few more times against the table, Leon let out a long sigh and waved his hand through the air.
“Hm?”
At that, a warm, deep fragrance began to surround Lowell.
Following the scent, she saw Leon staring fixedly at his book, murmuring something under his breath. From the movement of his lips, Lowell recognized the incantation for a stamina recovery spell.
“Did you cast magic on me?”
Realizing it, Lowell asked in surprise, her mouth hanging open.
Leon, however, gave no verbal reply. Instead, he raised one eyebrow in response.
“Hmph….”
At that arrogant reaction, Lowell narrowed her eyes, then soon gave up. In any case, she was truly exhausted, and the scent enveloping her was enough to calm even her irritation.
“You know…”
After a little more time had passed, Lowell suddenly called out to Leon.
“Why doesn’t my mana have any scent at all?”
Still lying facedown, Lowell asked with her eyes closed, savoring the fragrance of Leon’s mana.
Leon’s scent, filling her lungs, was warm yet strangely mysterious—somehow perfectly suited to him.
“You need a high level of mastery for the scent to spread. You’ve only just started learning, so of course there’s no scent.”
“I see.”
With that, Leon thought their conversation was over. He shifted his gaze back to the page he hadn’t been able to read a single character of and tried once more to focus on the words—
“But when are we going to live together?”
At Lowell’s words, Leon’s eyes once again left the book.
“That again. You know this already—marriage isn’t something you can do just because you want to. Even though I’ve left my family, it takes time to prepare various things to fully escape their interference.”
“I’m sorry. Thinking that we don’t have much time makes me say things without realizing it.”
Contrary to Leon’s expectation of a resentful rebuttal, Lowell quickly wilted and spoke softly.
“You…”
A few seconds later, all of Leon’s movements stopped. More precisely, the sudden tears flowing from Lowell brought him to a halt.
“Lady Aria… is thinking about disappearance.”
The damp words spilled from Lowell’s mouth. With every word she spoke, the events involving Aria from earlier that morning replayed in her mind like scenes from a film.
The Demon Race’s Dimension—Disappearance and Time
After the Imperial Knights had left, Lowell had found that book beneath Aria’s pillow while tidying the bedroom.
Aria’s declaration that she would go to war, and this ominous title.
Lowell immediately understood what conclusion Aria had reached after countless regressions.
“If my lady disappears from this world…”
Lowell’s trembling voice failed to finish the sentence and broke off.
She remembered every moment of Aria.
From the Aria who had cared for her when she first woke up here, knowing nothing; to the Aria who burned with determination after the first regression; to the Aria who began to feel doubt amid the endless repetitions.
And in all those moments, the warm gaze that had always been directed at her.
Lowell remembered all of it.
“……”
At last, tears fell from Lowell’s eyes.
“I don’t want to lose someone precious to me.”
With her vision blurred by tears, Lowell covered her face with her hands and murmured. She could feel the tears flowing through the gaps between her fingers.
