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Chapter 14
But she couldn’t tell him the truth.
If she wanted to survive, she would need his help for a while longer.
Sorry, Felix. I’ll find your parents as quickly as I can.
It was hard to believe that someone as kind as Felix would eventually fall into darkness.
In the original story, near the end of the novel, he finally discovered that he was a blood descendant of the Duke of Agenta.
But by the time Felix found his true family, they were already dead.
To make matters worse, the person he secretly loved also gradually wasted away and passed from the world.
“Please… wake up again. I can’t lose you like this…”
Felix despaired over that unbearable reality again and again.
After losing his purpose in life, he spent his days wandering like a broken man.
Then one day, by chance, he discovered the research journal she had left behind.
“This is…”
Inside it was the formula for a perfect cure for Mana Insensitivity Syndrome.
The moment he saw it, a bitter smile spread across his face.
“So this is your final keepsake?”
His shoulders trembled slightly.
Even though he had finally found a way to solve the lifelong problem that had plagued him, he felt no joy whatsoever.
Only burning anger surged within him.
Soon, he instinctively realized what he had to do.
“I’ll make them pay for everything they did to you. Every last one of them.”
Quietly closing the journal, he rose to his feet.
There was no longer any sadness or regret on his face.
Only cold vengeance remained.
After that, the novel descended into a truly tragic direction.
Felix, despite possessing extraordinary swordsmanship talent, had spent his entire life being treated as weak because he lacked mana.
And despite that, he had been soft-hearted enough to sympathize with Ayla—and eventually give her his heart.
Then, when he finally obtained power, he chose the path of revenge against everyone who had tormented her, even if it led to his own destruction.
Even though he knew his love would never be returned.
Remembering all that, Ayla let out a deep sigh.
In short, his life was unbelievably tragic.
It wasn’t enough that the author had killed off the protagonist.
They had also given Felix, the second male lead, such a miserable ending.
Even now, she vividly remembered how furious she had been as a reader when she reached that heartless conclusion.
I still regret not cursing the author out even more back then. Seriously…
Thinking about the thorn-filled road ahead left her feeling overwhelmed, but she forced herself to calm down when she noticed Felix standing before her.
For now, what mattered was getting through this enormous field of hardships together.
Nodding, she readily agreed with his words.
“That’s right. You have Mana Insensitivity Syndrome. You possess remarkable talent, but it’s also the reason the nobles bully you.”
“……”
“And what if I told you I know a way to solve that problem?”
At that moment, Felix’s gaze changed.
“A solution exists?”
According to her memories, the Duke of Agenta would soon visit the academy.
If everything went according to plan, Felix’s life would become completely different from what it was now.
Taking a deep breath, she continued.
“I know how to cure Mana Insensitivity Syndrome.”
Ayla knew better than anyone how desperately sufferers wanted to be cured.
Because I was one of them.
Whenever her father, Kalios, looked at her as though she were useless…
Whenever her relatives whispered that perhaps the children had been switched at birth…
She had always desperately wished for this illness to disappear.
Felix looked at her suspiciously.
“How?”
“Because I wanted it badly enough. Because I wanted to feel mana no matter what.”
“……”
“And this may sound arrogant coming from me, but I’m quite confident in my understanding of magical theory. So I worked tirelessly.”
Ayla’s magical knowledge rivaled that of many mages from the Mage Tower.
From creating magical formulas to brewing magical potions, few could match her expertise.
If she could obtain the rare herb that grew in the Duchy of Agenta, completely curing the illness and becoming the great mage she had always dreamed of being would no longer be impossible.
Once I’m strong enough to stand against Rosia, I’ll let Felix go without regrets.
Although she currently needed his help because she lacked power, Ayla had no desire to become deeply entangled with Felix the way she had in the original story.
The novel’s ending had been far too tragic.
And more than anything, she didn’t want her own quest for revenge to ruin his life.
I still have to uncover not only Rosia’s secrets but also whoever was pulling the strings behind her. Dragging him in any deeper would just be selfish.
To be honest, worrying that Felix might fall for her was somewhat presumptuous.
In the original story, Felix had fallen in love with Ayla because he pitied her unfortunate circumstances and developed a sense of kinship with her suffering.
Naturally, she had no intention of living such a pitiful life.
I’ll show him that I can live well on my own before he even has a chance to pity me. Then he’ll feel relieved and go on with his own life.
However, Felix still seemed unable to believe her so easily.
“No one has ever cured Mana Insensitivity Syndrome before.”
Instead of trying to persuade him with words, Ayla took a small vial from her pocket.
It was a potion she had hurriedly prepared as soon as she arrived at the academy.
“Try it. It’s not a complete cure, but it should help to some extent.”
“What is this?”
Felix accepted the vial with a skeptical look.
“It temporarily allows the user to feel mana. I can make a more perfect cure, but the ingredients are incredibly difficult to obtain.”
Rather than answering, Felix carefully examined the bottle.
Ayla quickly added:
“If it seems suspicious, you don’t have to drink it.”
Now that she thought about it, most people wouldn’t immediately drink medicine handed to them by a stranger.
It’s understandable. For all he knows, I could have mixed anything into it.
Even she wouldn’t trust it so easily.
“It’s not that I doubt you.”
Felix spoke quietly.
“But it’s hard to believe the medicine itself. You know that, don’t you? How difficult this condition is to cure. How completely powerless it makes people feel.”
“…That’s true. It’s horrible and desperate in a way that’s hard to describe.”
Ayla lowered her eyes in agreement.
She understood that feeling better than anyone.
But the next moment, there was a subtle excitement in Felix’s voice.
“Maybe that’s exactly why I can’t help feeling hopeful. It’s something I’ve never been able to obtain, no matter how hard I’ve tried.”
Ayla looked up blankly.
Felix flashed her a grin.
“If what you’re saying is true, then I’d really like to see what kind of world awaits me once I can feel mana.”
Without another moment of hesitation, he drank the potion Ayla handed him.
Several days had already passed since the argument in the infirmary.
Yet Kadin still felt as though his insides were burning.
“Who I choose to see now isn’t any of your concern, is it?”
Ayla’s cold expression and resolute voice kept replaying in his mind.
It was the first time she had ever rejected him like that.
How dare she treat me that way.
Irritation welled up inside him.
At the same time, he couldn’t forget the bright smile she had shown Felix.
She was no longer the obedient doll who merely followed him around.
Whatever change of heart she had experienced after being cast out of her family, she seemed more lively and attractive than before.
Yet seeing her become so different—different enough to be wary of him—felt strangely unfamiliar.
She hasn’t really fallen for someone like Felix… has she?
The mere thought made him anxious.
Damn it…
