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Chapter 44
“F-Fourth Prince. Did you arrive via teleportation?”
Kevanliac nodded at Kin’s question. Even though they shared the same master, the difference in status between the first disciple and the others was stark. He was, after all, the Fourth Prince—a direct son of the Emperor.
“What brings you here…?” “An errand for Master.”
Kevanliac held out the basket he had brought with him. It was packed with wild raspberries left behind by the villagers.
“Ah, wild raspberries. The children will love these.”
Silence fell after Kin accepted the basket and voiced his appreciation. Though they had spent twelve years under the roof of the same castle, the air between them remained awkwardly stiff. It didn’t help that after Kin began throwing himself into taking care of the children, they rarely found opportunities to grow close.
“……” ‘Why isn’t he leaving?’
Kin found the intense gaze of the first disciple incredibly pressure-inducing. Normally, Kevanliac would teleport straight back to their master’s side the second his business was finished.
“D-Do you have something to say?” Kin asked.
“Kin.” “…?” “Don’t push yourself to the point of overexertion.”
Even to Kevanliac, who possessed little interest in anyone other than Rayna, Kin looked after the children with a degree of dedication that bordered on strange. It was only years later, as Kevanliac grew older, that he truly understood Kin. He was just like himself—struggling while carrying a similar burden of anxiety.
“Master is not the kind of person to abandon her disciples.”
It wasn’t a particularly comfortable truth for Kevanliac to admit, but it was reality nonetheless. Rayna was weak to her ‘disciples.’ Despite her constant complaints about hating noise and commotion, she could never bring herself to reject their requests when they swarmed her. Such was her gentle nature.
‘Which is precisely why she took me in.’
Because she couldn’t simply turn a blind eye to a pitiable child. Yet, Kevanliac had no intention of wearing the mask of a helpless child beside her forever. A pathetic child would only ever remain just that—a child.
“Besides, if there ever comes a time when Master does let go of a disciple… Kin, it will be me, not you.”
Kevanliac always assumed the absolute worst scenario. Only then could he prepare his next move in advance—to ensure Rayna would never abandon him. Kevanliac offered a faint smile toward the second disciple, who had spent twelve years struggling desperately just like him, before saying goodbye and vanishing via teleportation.
“……”
Kin stared at the space Kevanliac had vacated for a long while before picking up the basket and standing up. Even without asking, he knew the prince’s destination. It would be the castle where their master was.
“You possess enough talent to use teleportation freely, Prince…” Kin muttered under his breath.
He couldn’t fathom what Kevanliac meant. If a disciple were ever to be abandoned by their master, it would surely be him—the most useless and inadequate of them all.
“The Lord wants to take you in as an apprentice.”
When he heard those words from the village chief twelve years ago, Kin had been utterly bewildered. A Grand Archmage taking someone as insignificant as him as a disciple? On the night before he went up to the castle, he was so terrified that he suffered three nightmares in a row. But contrary to his fears, the Archmage who became his master turned out to be immensely kind.
“Kin has absolutely no talent for swordsmanship.” “…Is that so? Then don’t push him too hard.”
Kin had overheard Vice Captain Person making that report to his master. At nine years old, his heart plummeted at those words. Vice Captain Person had said on the very first day that their master personally requested his sword training. Yet, he had no talent. Having failed to meet his master’s expectations, would he no longer be allowed to live here?
‘I have to try harder.’
However, when it came to magic and swordsmanship—fields where innate talent reigned supreme—Kin’s progress remained sluggish no matter how hard he tried. Then one day, the village chief began bringing more children to the master, urging her to take them in as disciples too.
“This is troublesome…”
Seeing his master weighed down by worries, Kin thought that perhaps he could be of help. He volunteered to start taking care of the children.
“Kin, you don’t have to do this if it’s a burden.”
Rayna said that to him often, but Kin was genuinely fine with it. Not only did taking care of the children suit his temperament, but it also meant he had a role he could fulfill. He was being useful to his master.
‘This is where I belong.’
Kin had lived that way for twelve years. But even that was slowly reaching its limit. In a few years, once the remaining children reached adulthood, what would become of his role as a guardian?
Kin drew a wooden potion vial from his pocket.
“I need to deliver this to Master…”
A gentle breeze rustled Kin’s red hair as he held the basket. Looking up, he saw a clear, open sky.
“Hmm.”
Having returned to Ribeiro, Rayna was reviewing the files handed to her by Investigator Hazel.
“There really is nothing here.”
She could see why the Emperor had reacted so indifferently. After eight years of investigation, the findings were completely devoid of substance.
“I’m only disclosing this to you, Count Heart, but frankly, it feels like trying to catch a ghost with a scoop net. We haven’t netted a single thing.”
Investigator Hazel seemed equally frustrated by the lack of progress. Rayna began cross-referencing her past experiences and knowledge to deduce potential scenarios. First was the traveling troupe led by the old woman who had handed the potion vial to the Emperor.
‘It’s possible the old woman controlled those people with black magic to build that troupe.’
Due to its taboo nature, black magic was far more commonly used by lone individuals than by groups.
‘Above all, her skill level is… exceptional.’
Much as she hated to admit it, she had to face reality. Even accounting for the fact that black magic incantations carried greater potency than standard spells, her raw power was formidable. She possessed enough mana to mind-control an entire traveling troupe or even the Third Prince’s army, the skill to leave zero traces behind, and magic capable of shifting her appearance from an old hag to a young woman. Her mind wasn’t even consumed by the inherent miasma. That meant she was at least a 7th-Circle mage.
‘She wouldn’t be registered with the Association… given the mandatory mana inspections every ten years.’
Even if one could wield black magic freely, hiding the miasma laced within one’s mana was impossible. A black mage operating undetected within the Betuzenia Empire… Making wild guesses was useless. Though she mostly appeared as a woman, there was no telling what her true, everyday form looked like.
‘The people corrupted by black magic’s miasma so far are…’
The Emperor, the Imperial Concubine, and the Third Prince. And those dragged into the fallout who met their deaths were the Empress, the Crown Prince, and the Second Princess.
‘She’s targeting the Heteroben bloodline.’
Rayna frowned. When a target was being singled out this blatantly, it was impossible not to notice.
“Haha, doesn’t the Betuzenia Empire have you?”
A foolish face surfaced in her mind, laughing with naive complacency. According to the nobles, he was an emperor who had once made a name for himself on the battlefield in his youth. Why was there no trace of that formidable ruler left in him now?
Damn it.
Rayna placed the glass orb indicating the Emperor’s physical condition onto her study desk. She felt she could only gain a modicum of peace if she kept it directly in her line of sight.
Cheynols Heteroben, the Emperor of the Betuzenia Empire, had been in a particularly good mood recently. Though he suffered the grief of losing his family, two sons still remained to inherit the throne.
‘If those two turn out to be incompetent, I can simply seek an heir from another noble house.’
In truth, succession wasn’t a pressing concern for Cheynols. The grand achievement he had strived for in life was completed twelve years ago when he destroyed the Tuntera Empire and brought the Tan Continent under his heel. After that, life had lost its luster. A life without a goal was boring, tedious, and utterly dull.
‘Perhaps I should make Rayna Heart mine.’
He needed a fresh, challenging objective to pursue. Cheynols wanted Rayna Heart by his side. However, earning the loyalty of a Grand Archmage was harder than expected. His attempt to use a submission potion backfired into being threatened, and the Empress’s interference had blocked Rayna Heart’s access to the Imperial Palace. Yet recently, he felt that very goal coming closer within his reach.
“Your Imperial Majesty, you seem to be in high spirits today?”
Marquis Maverick, walking alongside the Prime Minister behind the Emperor, struck up a conversation with a smooth, friendly smile. The handsome young marquis was a distant relative of Cheynols.
“Ah, yes.”
Cheynols rolled his shoulders playfully.
“My body feels remarkably refreshed today.”
It felt as though he had been reborn thanks to Rayna Heart’s magic. Cheynols was exhilarated by the fact that she had cast high-level magic specifically for his sake. She checked in on his well-being repeatedly, and she even warned him to be cautious around the Imperial Palace mages. Was this not the initial phase of her developing true loyalty toward him?
‘If things go well, I might be able to bring Rayna Heart into the Imperial Palace. If I order that Fourth Prince back to the palace, his master Rayna will naturally follow.’
That was Cheynols’ true scheme. Although the Fourth Prince had committed the insolent act of refusing the title of Crown Prince, it was an offense worth forgiving just once, considering he was the bait to hook Rayna Heart. Though there wouldn’t be a second chance.
“Is that so? Now that you have regained your vigor, you could easily conquer the continent two more times.”
Cheynols laughed boisterously at Maverick’s playful flattery.
“Then off you go. I must see to making myself even healthier.”
After dismissing Maverick, Cheynols made his way toward his office. Shortly thereafter, a mage arrived.
“May the brightest sun of the Betuzenia Empire—” “Skip the formal greetings.”
Cheynols met the mage while seated on the sofa. Listening to Rayna Heart’s advice to entrust his mana supply to a trustworthy mage, he had personally invited this individual to the Imperial Palace—a mage who had served by his side since his days as the Crown Prince roaming the battlefields. At Cheynols’ gesture, the mage approached him.
“It is as I mentioned before. Rayna Heart stated that in order to maintain the organ she created for me, I must receive a steady supply of mana. Can you handle it?” “Without a problem.”
The prompt, unhesitating answer pleased him. The mage took Cheynols’ outstretched hand. Soon, mana began flowing into his body. Cheynols felt a surge of exhilaration as blood coursed from his head to his toes. Indeed. While it fell short of Rayna Heart’s mana, the flow of power filled his entire body with energy—
“Cough!”
The Emperor’s upper body jerked as he spat a mouthful of blood. Bitterly gagging, blood surged up his throat from the inside. The Emperor’s bloodshot eyes stared in disbelief at the person clutching his hand.
“…You…” “……”
An old hag.
The very same old woman who had handed him the potion vial was standing right there.
“…!”
Lying on the sofa in the study, Rayna abruptly raised her head.
“Keri…” “Yes?”
The disciple who had been resting his head on his master’s lap while reading a book looked up at her. With a grave expression, Rayna pointed to the glass orb sitting far off on her desk—a spot that was hard for her to see clearly from where she lay, but easily visible to her disciple.
“What color does that look to you?” “…It’s red.”
Damn it.
Rayna stood up and walked toward the desk to confirm the color for herself. Then, she suddenly froze. Her gaze became fixed on empty air. Kevanliac approached her side, his eyes filled with concern.
“Master? What’s wrong?”
Cheynols Heteroben is a foolish father. … The Emperor of the Betuzenia Empire is incompetent. … Heteroben must pay the price. …
Despite Kevanliac’s question, Rayna was unable to answer—blocked by the translucent windows that suddenly burst forth, flooding her entire field of vision.
