ENGDB 26

Chapter 26

“Kalid… idiot. But me too… I can’t go on like this.”

Kalid was clearly avoiding Irene.

Instead of suffering alone over his cold behavior without knowing the reason, Irene decided it would be better to leave and find a way to live on her own.

So first—

she ran away from home.

Since no one could see her anyway, she thought no one would even notice.

After one hour of running away, Irene wandered around the village like a free ghost.

As expected, no one could see her at all.

Instead of feeling free, she felt frustrated.

“Is this place cursed or something? There’s a ghost like me, and yet no one can even recognize me…”

Pouting, she floated around aimlessly.

Before she realized it, she had drifted toward the bookstore she always visited.

With a sigh, she arrived in front of the room where the old books were kept.

She was about to step inside—

but suddenly stopped.

“What is that?”

Looking down, she saw a sticky substance spread across the floor.

It looked like something that wouldn’t come off once you got stuck—

like a trap.

“…Wait. Don’t tell me that’s for me?”

A trap like this?

For her?

Her doubt quickly turned into certainty when she heard a faint voice from inside.

“That creature must have gotten scared. I even prepared a proper welcome for it.”

Irene was speechless.

A trap like this, expecting to catch her?

Even if she was a ghost, did they really think she was that stupid?

“This time… I’ll scare him instead.”

With a bit of anger, Irene quietly passed through the door.

Of course, she didn’t get caught in the trap.

She carefully searched for Evan—

and suddenly jumped out from behind him.

“Boo! I showed up just like you wanted! What do you think?”

“……”

“…Huh?”

Evan didn’t react at all.

“What? He can’t see me? But he saw me that day!”

“……”

“Hey. You weird Mr. James. Can’t you hear me?”

James opened his mouth—

but instead of answering, he muttered to himself.

“It could’ve been a useful clue… what a shame.”

“…So he’s not pretending.”

Just like that, as if that day had been nothing but coincidence—

Evan couldn’t recognize Irene at all.

He continued flipping through books.

“I thought… he could see me like Kalid… but I was wrong.”

The anger she had been holding quickly faded.

Irene quietly sat beside him and muttered to herself—

words no one could hear.

“Hey, strange Mr. James… what should I do if the only person in the world who could see me suddenly changes?”
“What if… he never looks for me again?”

It was something she had never been able to tell anyone.

But since he couldn’t hear her—and she wouldn’t see him again—

it felt okay to say it out loud.

After some time, Irene noticed something.

Evan stood up with a serious expression.

“Hmm… maybe…”

He closed the book and walked away.

Irene looked around at the books nearby.

“Books about high-level magic… oh? There’s one about dragons too?”

These were books placed high up—ones she had never seen before.

Curious, she opened one.

It contained basic information about dragons—

and also about a dragon who had helped the empire alongside the founding families.

“Founding families… Wait. Does that mean there are actually dragons in this empire?”

In her first life, dragons only appeared in fantasy stories.

Even though magic existed here—

dragons were still shocking to her.

“Dragons and founding families… then maybe Kalid knows something?”

She remembered the symbols she had seen before.

The five crests.

“As expected… there’s definitely something here.”
“Whether I leave the castle or not, I need to ask Kalid about this.”
“I need to get as much information as possible.”

With that decision, Irene chose to return to the castle.

As she was about to leave, something caught her eye.

“Hmm… I’m Whitey right now, so it should be fine to leave through the window.”

She ran and jumped out the window.

A moment later, Evan sensed something and rushed over—

but Irene had already disappeared.

“What was that…? I definitely sensed mana…”

He frowned and reinforced the area with his mana.

* * *

After twelve hours of running away, Irene was returning to the Grand Duke’s castle.

From afar, she noticed something strange.

“Wait… isn’t that the annex? Why is there light?”

In the darkness, one part of the annex was glowing.

The light flickered—

then suddenly grew larger.

“!!”

Sensing something was wrong, Irene rushed there immediately.

What she saw—

left her completely speechless.

She looked up at the sky.

The full moon was near.

“Oh no…!”

In just that short moment—

the entire annex was covered in shining golden light.

The light trembled violently, as if it might explode at any moment.

And from it—

she felt something familiar.

“…This is all… Kalid’s mana?”

She hoped she was wrong.

But when she saw Sebastian and Luke standing among the servants and knights—

with dark, serious expressions—

her vision spun.

“Sebastian! Luke! What is happening?! Is this really Kalid’s mana?!”

“His Highness… will endure. He will… survive this time as well…”

Sebastian’s eyes were bloodshot.

His fists were tightly clenched.

He couldn’t even think about anything else.

The same was true for Luke, Isaac, Miller, Henry, and the other knights.

Irene stood there in shock.

She had learned enough about mana to understand—

this situation was impossible.

The mana was so unstable—

it could explode at any moment.

And yet—

Kalid was enduring it.

“…Kalid…”

It felt like he was struggling until the very end—

as if crying out for help.

Irene couldn’t just stand there.

“I can absorb his mana… maybe I can help him.”

After a brief moment of hesitation—

she made her decision.

And without any fear—

she ran straight into the annex.

“Lady Irene…?”

Sebastian turned his head slightly, sensing something—

but saw nothing.

Inside, Irene was shocked.

Kalid’s mana—

wasn’t flowing into her.

Normally, it would naturally enter her when she was near.

But now—

it was rejecting her.

“Wait… something’s wrong.”

She felt something strange mixed within his mana.

Something foreign.

“…It feels like something is pretending to be his mana… and slowly eating it.”

Her heart raced.

She couldn’t even tell where Kalid was.

Then—

a thin stream of golden mana appeared,

as if guiding her.

As she moved forward,

the mana grew thicker—

stronger—

more violent.

And then—

she saw him.

Kalid—

writhing in pain.

“Kalid!!”

She ran to him and grabbed his hand.

“Kalid, wake up! Don’t give up! I’ll try to absorb your mana!”

Kalid slowly opened his eyes.

He looked at her.

His hand moved weakly—

as if pushing her away.

Even in pain—

he was worried about her.

“You idiot!! Don’t worry about me—worry about yourself!”
“I’m not leaving unless I go with you, so endure it no matter what!!”

Crying, Irene hugged him tightly.

“Hurry! Send your mana to me! Hurry!”

But the pain overwhelmed him again.

Kalid let out a suppressed groan—

and closed his eyes.

The mana—

only grew more violent.