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~Chapter 36~
Did You Forget I’m a Mage?
Whoosh—crack!
The sound of the whip cutting through the air was so loud and sharp it echoed in the garden. Lizen squeezed her eyes shut.
The maid who was whipping her started to notice something strange after the fifth lash.
No matter how hard she whipped, although it sounded like it hit, no blood came from Lizen’s back.
Biting her lip, the maid whipped even harder. But still, there were no marks at all on Lizen’s back.
“That’s ten lashes.”
As soon as the maid finished the last stroke, Regina spoke as if she’d been waiting for this. Chloe’s eyes went wide when she saw Lizen’s back, which was perfectly fine.
“You…!”
The maid holding the whip knelt down, shaken by Chloe’s sharp glare.
“Something’s wrong, Your Majesty the Grand Empress! I really whipped her as hard as I could! But there are no wounds!”
Everyone else who watched the whipping was shocked too. Chloe shouted, almost grinding her teeth,
“That’s impossible unless you used some kind of evil power!”
“I didn’t know Your Majesty was so narrow-minded,”
Regina said, pulling her hand out from under the table and pretending to check her nails as she blew softly on them.
“People who don’t understand something often call it witchcraft or evil magic. That’s what people with shallow learning do.”
Chloe’s eyes narrowed. With all her tricks failing, she couldn’t hide her annoyance.
But Regina went on, unbothered by Chloe’s fierce face.
“I think Your Majesty forgot that I’m a mage.”
Regina made a graceful motion with her hand. A small light sparked at her fingertips, and Lizen, who was kneeling, floated up into the air.
Using the power of wind, Regina stood up from her chair, lifting Lizen with her.
“Lizen has already paid for her mistake with ten lashes, so I’ll take her with me now.”
“…Wasn’t the Empress only good at attack magic?”
Chloe already knew from her spies that Regina was skilled at magic, especially for fighting monsters. It was almost impossible for a mage to use so many different kinds of magic.
“I studied all sorts of magic books,”
Regina replied. Honestly, learning many kinds of magic usually meant a mage wasn’t a true expert at any of them.
If someone could master all types of magic, they’d be called a great mage, but Chloe never thought Regina was that talented.
“You really have no foundation,”
Chloe scoffed, waving her hand roughly.
“Let’s end tea time for today.”
Chloe, clinging to the last bit of her pride, waved Regina away.
“Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty the Grand Empress.”
With that, Regina’s first showdown with Chloe ended in perfect victory.
“That’s how it ended.”
Mir, who had been watching the Grand Empress’s palace, reported to Conrad.
“Magic, huh.”
At the Emperor’s quiet mumble, Mir bowed his head.
“She used wind magic?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Conrad tapped the armrest of his chair and rubbed his forehead with his long, strong fingers.
“Protection magic, elemental magic, attack magic… My Empress is really amazing.”
‘They really underestimated her when they called her just the commander of the mage corps.’
Conrad realized all the reports about Regina were wrong.
‘I need to check the records again.’
He also needed to find out if there were any more mages like her, so he could truly know the power of the Permang Empire.
“And there’s an urgent message from a village near the barrier.”
“What is it?”
“Some strange men appeared out of nowhere. They looked like knights…”
“Is that even possible?”
Conrad raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t sent any knights there recently, so they must be outsiders.
‘Permang? No way…’
Ever since the magic barrier was built, there was no way to travel between the Permang Empire and the Fredericks Empire. Only Regina had been found at the barrier.
Regular people who wandered near the barrier had become monster food.
“They just appeared in the village, then went back toward the barrier.”
“Back to the barrier, huh…”
It was obvious.
‘Permang Empire must have sent people to find Regina.’
‘But how did they cross the barrier?’
“Is there anything wrong with the barrier?”
“We sent people to check, but it seems fine.”
“Could someone from the Permang Empire cross it?”
“Since their empire built the barrier, maybe they know a way. But I’m not sure because I don’t know enough about magic.”
“I see.”
Mir, watching the Emperor’s serious face, offered a suggestion.
“Maybe Her Majesty the Empress knows something?”
“Maybe.”
But if there really was a way through, Regina wouldn’t have been thrown out so helplessly.
‘Maybe there’s something even she doesn’t know on their side…’
It was possible Regina lied, but then she wouldn’t have needed a contract marriage in the first place.
If her magic wasn’t sealed and she could cross the barrier, she could have just joined her own people.
“Where is Lena now?”
“She’s coming here from the Grand Empress’s palace.”
As soon as Mir finished, Conrad stood up. He knew Regina would have used up magic to protect the maid.
‘She even protected her maid…’
He had never seen her care much about the Emperor’s palace maids before, but now she was looking after her own.
‘Is she starting to get attached, or is it just her nature?’
He’d heard in reports that she always cared for her mage corps subordinates, but he didn’t expect her to show such kindness even to palace maids.
After getting through that ordeal, Regina left the Grand Empress’s palace with her maids.
“Not that way! I told you to carry it over here!”
Maids and servants from the Grand Empress’s palace were shouting orders at some knights, who followed the commands without complaining.
“Actually, I think it should go where it was before.”
They were moving heavy flower pots—Regina saw this happen at least five times.
Even so, the knights obeyed every command without a word, making Regina frown.
“Hey, you there.”
“Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress.”
The maids and servants didn’t even look nervous as they answered Regina.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re trying to put the flowerpots in the right place.”
One servant stepped forward to answer.
“Isn’t that your job?”
If they were helping out of kindness, Regina would have let it go, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
She was sure there was something she didn’t know going on.
“Why are the knights doing this work? Knights have their own duties.”
“Yes, but the knights are helping us on their own.”
“Is making the knights move flowerpots around what you call ‘help’ here at the Grand Empress’s palace?”
She said it loud enough for everyone to hear.
Finally, the maids realized Regina wasn’t just asking by accident and bowed their heads.
Making the knights work wasn’t a big issue itself, but if Chloe got in trouble because of it, it would be a serious problem.
“Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding, Your Majesty.”
“We’ll see later if it’s a misunderstanding or not.”
She couldn’t judge them just by what she’d seen now, so she wanted to hear what the knights had to say too.
She waved at the knights, who were kneeling with their hands on their chests.
“Knights, follow me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”
