IRLDM 19

Chapter : 19

The Shopping District

“So you told me not to worry.”

A few hours before what happened at the mansion, Rowell was sitting at her desk with her chin propped on her hand, staring at the person seated across from her.

Silver hair spilling over his forehead, closed eyes, uneven breaths, and a faintly furrowed expression that suggested discomfort.

The man before her was asleep, leaning against a pile of books. In the brief moment Rowell had gone out for a walk and come back, Leon had fallen asleep.

So even if he said he wasn’t tired, I guess he really was.

Rowell felt a little sorry for him.

“…Hmm.”

But when Leon still didn’t wake up after quite some time, Rowell grew troubled. She turned her head to the side and saw that the moon was already hanging outside the window, a chilly breeze blowing in along with it.

It’s getting late….

As she sat there thinking, a sudden idea flashed through Rowell’s mind.

Spatial transfer magic!

Instead of waking Leon when he’d finally fallen asleep, wouldn’t it be better to use magic to move him directly onto the bed in the mansion? That was the brilliant thought that struck her.

“Maybe I really am a genius.”

Murmuring to herself, Rowell took the necklace she had summoned earlier with magic back into her hand and carefully began chanting the spell.

Whoosh.

A small light flickered, and the necklace vanished. The spell had been successfully cast.

Now I just need to use this on a person….

Spatial transfer magic was one of the most basic spells, so the chance of failure was relatively low—but the problem was that even such a basic spell wasn’t easy for Rowell.

In other words, if something went wrong, there was a very real possibility that while the transfer was happening, one of Leon’s arms might end up on the opposite side of the continent.

“Well, you won’t know unless you try.”

In the end, Rowell’s conclusion was simple.

“……”

Rowell slowly opened the eyes she had been squeezing shut. As her vision brightened, the room in the mansion came into view.

“Phew.”

She glanced down and, thankfully, it didn’t seem like Leon had lost an arm or anything of the sort. His body lay on the bed just as it had been, still asleep.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Rowell sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at Leon’s face.

“If you were tired, you should’ve just said so.”

After watching him for a while, Rowell thought that leaving him like this might be uncomfortable, given what he was wearing.

Unlike Rowell, who preferred comfortable clothes whenever possible, Leon always insisted on wearing formal attire. Something about aristocratic dignity, he said—but to Rowell, it just looked like he was in love with how he looked in a suit.

So she decided to take off his clothes. Showy outfits weren’t necessary for a good night’s sleep.

At least the jacket should be fine.

Thinking that, Rowell very carefully reached for Leon’s jacket, trying not to wake him.

“Just a moment, this—”

But the instant she slipped the jacket slightly off Leon’s left shoulder, Rowell froze.

A red, burned-looking scar was visible beneath the white shirt.

“Corruption.”

Rowell had seen this scar before. It was the same one Sion had personally carved into Aria’s back during her fourth regression to keep her bound to him.

“Corruption” was a punishment devised by the Khan Empire to place restraints on those who possessed mana. It was inflicted by pressing a magical tool engraved with a unique pattern onto the body of a mana bearer.

Those marked with Corruption suffered intermittently from severe illness due to unstable mana flow. Rowell had seen it up close—just how much pain it caused.

Why is this on his body?

Instinctively, Rowell recalled Aria’s pained moans. The fourth regression had ended and the fifth had begun because Aria, consumed by that agony, had been unable to escape Sion’s scheme.

Unable to steady her spinning vision, Rowell placed her hand on Leon’s shirt. Looking more closely, she realized there wasn’t just one scar. Behind the most vividly inflamed mark, several more of the same Corruption pattern overlapped.

Thud!

And at that moment, Rowell’s world flipped upside down.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Leon, who had woken up at some point, had grabbed Rowell’s wrist and pinned her body against the bed.

“……”

Her wrist hurt. The grip was so strong it was hard to breathe. But more important than that—

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Rowell asked in a trembling voice, a flood of other questions rising in her mind. Who did this? Why didn’t you get treatment? They hovered at the edge of her lips.

“……”

Leon just looked down at her in silence, his gaze as though he were dissecting everything about her.

“It’s none of your concern.”

After a long pause, that was all Leon said as he pulled away.

“How am I supposed to not—”

Rowell’s voice rose sharply as she followed him up, sitting upright.

“I said it’s not something you need to worry about.”

Leon cut her off. His words were clipped and final. Just from that, Rowell could tell he was angry—and that he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

Bang!

The sound of the door slamming shut made Rowell flinch. Staring at the closed door, she had to work hard to steady her trembling gaze.

The next day, inside a carriage heading toward the capital’s shopping district, Rowell sat staring blankly out the window.

“Madam.”

“……”

“Madam!”

Only then did Rowell realize that the person sitting across from her in the carriage was calling her.

“Oh! Yes!”

“We’ll be arriving shortly.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for letting me know.”

“You don’t look well. Are you feeling all right?”

Rowell lifted her eyes to look at the person in front of her.

Hilda Baumann. She was a maid sent from the Riefmann family. Not long ago, all the staff at the mansion had been replaced, and Hilda was someone Leon had personally brought from the main household.

“I’m fine. I’m just a little dizzy. Thank you for your concern.”

“Madam.”

“Yes?”

“As I’ve mentioned before, you don’t need to speak so formally with me.”

Hilda said this with a gentle smile.

“Ah, um…”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry. Formal speech is just a habit….”

“There’s no need to apologize. Please speak comfortably whenever you like.”

Hilda replied, her posture flawless.

“Still, it’s nice to see.”

After that, silence fell again. When Rowell began fidgeting with her fingers in awkwardness, Hilda suddenly spoke.

“At the main house, the young master rarely smiled, and hardly spoke at all. But after his marriage, he’s become noticeably brighter. As someone who has served him for a long time, it makes me very happy to see.”

“Ah… well, yes. Haha.”

Rowell laughed awkwardly. Leon’s angry face from the night before flashed through her mind, but she decided to be glad that he was at least being seen in a positive light.

Neigh—.

With the sound of a horse’s whinny, the carriage came to a stop. Rowell lifted the curtain and looked outside. The bustling shopping district of the capital spread out before her.

“The herbal shop you’re looking for is just around Third Street.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

At least it’s not far, Rowell thought.

“Are you sure you’ll be all right on your own?”

Hilda asked worriedly as she handed Rowell her bag.

“Yes, I’ll be fine. I’ve come here alone plenty of times before. And didn’t you say you had errands of your own?”

“That’s true, but…”

Hilda trailed off, and Rowell immediately picked up on her concern.

“The shopping district is like my own backyard—I used to come and go here all the time before I got married. You don’t need to worry. I’ll get off now!”

With that, Rowell hopped out through the door the coachman had opened.

I’ve got a lot to do.

As she entered the alleys of the shopping district, Rowell organized her tasks in her head.

“Ugh, this is exhausting. Pretending not to know much while buying herbs isn’t easy.”

After wandering around for quite some time, Rowell sat down on a bench in the shopping district and let out a long sigh.

Beside her lay a bundle of herbs she had personally selected: jasmine, detox grass, blue herb, and Saeoreum mushrooms. Various name tags were attached in front of each bundle.

These were all herbs used in treating Corruption. Fundamental treatment required holy healing from a temple, but when visiting a temple wasn’t possible, these herbs were the most effective alternative.

Rowell had witnessed Aria’s death with her own eyes during the fourth regression. And after that, she had sworn to herself that she would never lose her in the same way again.

I never thought I’d be using what I learned back then like this.

Rowell recalled the scars engraved on Leon’s shoulder—the same pattern as Aria’s. The difference was that Aria had only had one, while Leon had several layered on top of each other.

Who on earth…?

Who could have inflicted such wounds on the body of a high-ranking magic knight—multiple times, no less? And how had Leon endured that repeated pain?

Unanswered questions spun in circles before Rowell’s eyes.

“Alright. First, let’s finish buying everything I need.”

She removed the hand pressed to her forehead. This wasn’t something she could solve just by worrying alone. So she decided to deal with what she could first.

Jingle.

“Welcome—oh my, Rowell!”

“Hello.”

“Rowell! How long has it been? Isn’t this your first visit since you got married?”

As Rowell opened the door to the dessert shop, the owner greeted her boisterously.

“Hey! You should call her Lady Riefmann now!”

A large man standing behind the counter scolded the woman as he appeared.

“Oh, come on. Once Rowell, always Rowell. She’s our regular.”

The woman brushed the man’s hand off her waist and smiled warmly at Rowell.

“So, Rowell. It’s been ages—what would you like today? Financier? A slice of cake?”

“I’ll take one pumpkin pie, please.”

“Oh my, even after getting married, you’re still close with the young lady?”

The woman teased with a laugh when Rowell mentioned Aria’s favorite dessert.

“Haha… I suppose so.”

“Why don’t you sit and wait a bit? I’ll bake it fresh for you.”

Leaving those words behind, the shop-owning couple disappeared behind the counter. Watching the affectionate pair, Rowell smiled faintly.

Now that I think about it, it really has been a long time.

This small dessert shop in the shopping district was one she always visited with Aria. The desserts were cute and delicious, making it a must-stop whenever they came here.

Splash.

And at that moment, Rowell should not have let herself sink into nostalgia.

“Looking like a drowned rat suits someone of your station.”

With those words, water suddenly poured down over Rowell’s head.

Startled, Rowell jerked her head upward.

“……”

Blinking blankly as she tried to grasp what was happening, Rowell soon realized there was a group of noble young ladies standing in front of her—and that the woman at the very front had just thrown water on her.

“…Who are you?”

The question slipped sluggishly from Rowell’s lips before she even had time to feel offended.

“Who? I am the rightful owner of the ring you’re wearing!”

Another young lady beside the leader shouted in her place, almost screeching.

“Pardon?”

Only then did Rowell lower her gaze to look at the ring on her own finger.

‘I got it from some marquis’s daughter when I was in the knight order.’

‘Why would you care? Rings are everywhere—how would anyone know whether this is that ring?’

Leon’s words from some time ago suddenly flashed through Rowell’s mind.