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Chapter 18
“Velikia, Velikus. Take these.”
“A scroll? You prepared this?”
“Yeah.”
“Well… thanks.”
It wasn’t anything grand.
All Skyvola had done was draw a single line on Abelus’ scroll.
You’re strong, so with a bit of luck, you’ll survive, right?
And if you don’t…
…That’s not so bad either.
Watching the two successors head toward the temple, Skyvola quietly smiled.
“Ah, Abel-nutt-nim!!”
The fierce wind rushing up from below made it hard to even hear.
The ground was rapidly approaching.
Just as her consciousness was about to fade, Abelus-nim reached his hand downward.
Blue flames burst toward the ground, and with a thunderous boom as if the heavens and earth had been turned upside down, their bodies were propelled upward.
“Gasp… Huff… What the heck…?”
As a result, Abelus-nim safely rose into the air.
“Calidora, are you okay—!”
“Kyahhh!”
…But I wasn’t.
The rope that had been tied around me burned away, and I was flung away from Abelus-nim.
“Abel-nutt-nim…”
That was the last thing I said before crashing to the ground with a dull thud—and losing consciousness.
“…Young lady. Miss…”
Through the buzzing in my head, I heard someone calling me desperately.
“Young laaaady…”
Between my barely opened eyes, I could see the ceiling of my room.
“Ugh…”
“Young lady?”
As I struggled to sit up, the maid sitting nearby shot to her feet.
“Everyone! The young lady is awake!”
The royal physician rushed over and examined me.
I turned to the maid, who looked like she was on the verge of tears by my bedside, and asked:
“What happened…?”
“You fell from the lift platform. From such a high place… It must’ve been terrifying… I’m so glad you’re okay…”
Right, I fell.
As she explained, the memories I’d briefly lost from the shock came flooding back.
“Ugh…”
I sat up immediately. My back stung a little, and I had a huge bruise on my leg, but otherwise I was fine.
It was strange. How could I be okay after falling from that height?
“Why am I unharmed?”
Then someone nearby hesitantly spoke up after glancing around.
“Abelus-nim used his divine power to melt the ground. That’s why you only suffered minor injuries.”
“What about Abel-nutt-nim?”
When I asked, everyone fell silent.
A dreadful feeling gripped me, and I leapt to my feet.
“I’m going to see Abel-nutt-nim!”
“Young lady! You shouldn’t be running yet!”
In Abelus-nim’s room, there were even more people gathered than in mine.
Not just doctors and servants, but also Gordio and the family head’s direct aides.
“Abel-nutt-nim…!”
I pushed past everyone’s legs to reach his bed.
“Ah…”
The sight was so horrific I couldn’t even form words.
Abelus-nim was pale, breathing heavily and rapidly.
“He hasn’t regained consciousness for two hours,”
Gordio informed me when he noticed me.
Abelus-nim’s right arm was in a splint.
He had kept reaching for the ground until the end, and it ended up broken.
“Thanks to that, I’m fine. He got hurt acting like a fool…”
I choked back tears, and Gordio tried to reassure me.
“We’ve sent word. The family head will arrive soon. You should rest some more.”
In one corner of the room, the archive keepers were being reprimanded.
“You say the divine scroll was defective? What do you mean? We only keep certified ones!”
“We don’t understand either. This has never happened before!”
‘No, the scroll wasn’t defective.’
Someone tampered with the divine inscription. And I knew very well who was capable of such a thing.
“Grandpa, where are the kids?”
“Kids, miss?”
“The ones from the training ground! The big boy and the girl and the other boy!”
“She must be referring to the Velikus siblings, Gordio-nim.”
“As for the other children of the Ignitus family, I told them to return home before nightfall.”
“No!”
I dashed out of the room and ran to the front gate of the estate.
“What’s the matter, young lady?”
The gatekeeper asked.
“Where’d Bennikut and Skyvola go?”
“If you mean the children of House Velikus, they’re staying in the annex. They said they’ll stay the night—”
“Not them!”
“Skyvola-nim just left the estate.”
He pointed toward a carriage disappearing into the darkness outside.
“I have to catch them!”
“Excuse me?”
“Take me with you, please!”
“Pardon?!”
The gatekeeper, surprised, nevertheless obediently scooped me up and ran after the carriage.
Fortunately, the horses hadn’t picked up full speed yet.
“Faster!”
“Young lady, a person can’t catch up with horses—”
“Just a bit more!”
As the coachman cracked the whip, the carriage suddenly sped up.
“Young lady, I can’t—”
“It’s okay, I got this!”
Luckily, I had recovered enough magical power.
As we neared the carriage, I blew wind toward the reins the coachman was holding.
Whoosh!
A spiral of flames snapped the reins in a flash.
Neigh!
Startled, the horses panicked and fled, leaving the carriage behind.
“What’s going on?!”
Skyvola and his attendants jumped out of the suddenly stopped carriage.
The sudden flare of fire in the dark brought people rushing from the estate as well.
They came out to see me and the wrecked carriage, stunned.
Seizing the moment, I shouted:
“It was you!”
“Huh? Young lady?”
Skyvola looked around, gauging the reactions of those present, and quickly decided how to act.
“Young lady, I heard you were injured. I’m glad you’re okay. Truly.”
I waited for Gordio to arrive before continuing.
“You scribbled something on Abel-nutt-nim’s scroll.”
My words sent a shock through the gathered crowd. They began murmuring among themselves.
“What? W-What are you saying, young lady? I don’t know why you’re angry, but I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Are you saying Skyvola drew something on Abelus-nim’s divine scroll?”
Gordio asked.
“Yes! He had a fight with Abel-nutt-nim earlier and left!”
“No! That’s not true! I swear!”
Skyvola shouted.
“It’s true we fought, but I would never do such a thing! What kind of monster would hurt a friend?! You’re not seriously going to believe the word of a child, are you?”
He even teared up, and the murmuring started to quiet down.
“You’re just saying that because you like Abelus-nim and I fought with him earlier. But I swear on the Goddess, I’ve never even imagined harming a friend. This is slander!”
‘So shameless…!’
His words had an effect. A few shaken onlookers came over and spoke to me.
“Young lady, I don’t think that’s right. Skyvola-nim isn’t someone who deserves such suspicion.”
“You shouldn’t speak as if your imagination is fact.”
As several people took Skyvola’s side, he wiped his tears and gave a slight smile.
“But still…!”
“Everyone, stand back!”
My words were drowned out by someone’s shout.
A procession of mounted riders entered through the estate gates.
It was Tiberius-nim’s entourage.
“The family head will judge everything.”
Gordio said, looking down at me with a firm expression.
