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Chapter: 7
Blink. Blink.
As consciousness returned, I jolted upright in confusion at the unfamiliar ceiling above me.
“Where is this…?”
“Where else? A bedroom.”
At the low voice, I turned my head. Pelion stood there with a complicated, unreadable expression as he handed me some water.
“Drink first. You’ve been asleep for two days—your throat must be dry.”
Only then did I realize how thirsty I was. I bowed my head slightly and took the glass, drinking deeply, all the while feeling his steady gaze on me.
I glanced at him over the rim of the cup.
He’s definitely younger than I remember.
Of course he would be. The time when I’d met Pelion was about seven years in the future.
Aside from the youthful air about him, though, he was exactly the same as in my memories.
Once he confirmed that I’d finished the water, he didn’t get straight to the point. Instead, he flicked his hand lightly.
At his gesture, a plate floated up from the tray, settled onto the bedside table, and then drifted onto my lap.
“Eat.”
It was potato soup, steam rising gently from the bowl. The empty glass refilled itself with water.
I hadn’t had much of an appetite, but not wanting to waste his effort, I took a bite—and it was delicious.
Only after the plate had been completely cleaned did I realize just how hungry I’d been.
“You eat well,” he remarked.
As if he had no further business here, he rose from his seat the moment I finished.
“Get some rest.”
“Wait.”
I grabbed the sleeve of his robe as he turned to leave.
Beneath the fabric, I noticed a long cut across the back of his hand.
Did he get hurt when he fell?
He firmly shook my hand off and looked at me as if asking what the problem was.
“I’m sorry for lying to you. But I really wanted to meet you—no matter what. I couldn’t think of anyone else to ask for help.”
“It sounds like you’re saying there’s a reason you came to me, instead of the Hexwood ducal family.”
I wanted to nod, but his expression was far from friendly.
He looked like someone forced to deal with an irritating situation.
“I’ve already left my family. I don’t want to get involved in its affairs anymore.”
He drew a clear line, clearly unwilling to listen any further.
“How can you say that before even hearing what I have to say?”
But I couldn’t back down so easily.
“I know you don’t have time to chat idly with a niece who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. But my proposal isn’t entirely bad.”
“A proposal? You intend to make me a proposal?”
“Yes.”
Unfortunately, not even a spark of interest appeared in his eyes.
Right. This is more like him.
Back when he was at the Mage Tower, Pelion was known as a mage who cared very little about anything around him. This reaction made sense.
“You care about the Mage Tower, don’t you, Deputy Tower Master?”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“You do care. It’s the place you chose after turning your back on your family. Am I wrong?”
He frowned in irritation at the sudden question, but didn’t deny it.
“And if I do? What does that have to do with your proposal?”
“If things continue like this, the Mage Tower will collapse in seven years—unless you become the Tower Master.”
A statement so abrupt and so absolute left him staring at me in disbelief.
“What?”
I smiled faintly at his reaction.
“If things are left as they are, the Tower Master will make enemies of both the Imperial Family and the Temple.”
“I’ve never heard such nonsense before. It’s honestly baffling.”
He covered his mouth and fell silent in thought.
“Moremor may not be someone I like, but he’s sincerely devoted to the Mage Tower’s growth and to improving how mages are perceived.”
He continued calmly.
“I don’t understand why you think I’d trust the words of a child who may or may not even be my niece, over a Tower Master I’ve watched for years…”
His brow furrowed deeply.
“This is extremely unpleasant.”
The chill in his eyes as he spoke made me swallow hard.
“And if we assume—just assume—that what you’re saying is true. How would you know something like that?”
The question I’d been expecting finally came.
Absurd claims need absurd answers.
I would show him proof later. For now, what mattered was capturing his attention.
“You told me yourself.”
“What?”
His disbelief deepened.
My face grew hot with embarrassment at how ridiculous this sounded, but I forced myself to continue shamelessly.
“You came to me in a dream—your future self—and told me everything!”
“Hah.”
As expected, he looked utterly incredulous.
But that was fine.
If he’d believed me immediately, I would have been the one doubting him.
“I think you came to the Mage Tower by mistake. You should be at a mental asylum.”
Despite the cutting remark, I kept my composure.
“If you don’t believe me, then verify it yourself.”
“What?”
“Keep me by your side and see for yourself. Whether he really destroys the Mage Tower—or not.”
“Hah. I thought you were just rambling nonsense, but this is your real goal. You want to stay in the Mage Tower. You even want to become my disciple, is that it?”
He was the one who kept pestering me to become his disciple in the past, saying I had talent…
My mouth tasted bitter at his mockery, but I held my ground.
“You’re wrong. I don’t want to stay in the Mage Tower—I want to keep you there. You’ll end up fighting the Tower Master and leaving the Mage Tower before long.”
He shook his head.
“Me leaving the Mage Tower? Impossible.”
“You think that now. But when you regret it far in the future, that’s when you’ll remember me.”
“Then do you know why I fight the Tower Master?”
At last, I’d reached the topic I’d been aiming for.
I nodded and took something out of my bag.
“You know what this is, don’t you?”
A pearl of beautiful ivory hue.
The moment Pelion saw it, his eyes widened.
“You even have a wound on the back of your hand.”
I dropped the pearl into the untouched glass of water. It dissolved instantly, vanishing without a trace.
“Wait—”
Before he could say anything, I poured the water over the cut on his hand.
The wound closed rapidly, healing completely in the blink of an eye.
A mermaid’s pearl—something no direct descendant of Hexwood could fail to recognize.
“You and the Tower Master will fight because of this.”
Pelion’s eyes trembled violently.
“How does the Tower Master know about the pearl?”
“That’s something you’ll have to find out yourself.”
The child who had been spouting nonsense a moment ago suddenly seemed far more credible now that he realized I possessed a mermaid’s pearl.
“Wherever you got this from…”
Yet, as if still unable to accept it, he tried to deny everything.
“It’s my tears.”
At those words, his eyes fell into deep confusion.
“Do you believe now that I’m a Hexwood?”
“……”
Pelion said nothing. He covered his face and let out a long sigh.
“So… the Tower Master is interested in mermaid tears. You can produce them. I fight him over this, leave the Mage Tower, and as a result, the Tower eventually collapses?”
“That’s right!”
Despite the complicated explanation, he understood instantly. I smiled brightly without realizing it.
“And all this came from my future self, whom you met in a dream?”
“I know it’s hard to believe—but it’s true.”
My conscience prickled slightly, but I pushed on.
Apparently, that was the wrong approach.
“Then all the more reason I can’t let you stay in the Mage Tower.”
“…What?”
“If I never fight the Tower Master, I’ll never leave. And if that never happens, the Mage Tower won’t collapse in the future.”
Wait—hold on.
“If you’re not here, that’s entirely possible.”
I tried to stop him, but it was already too late.
“If there’s no cause, there’s no result.”
I wasn’t the cause—yet somehow, I’d become it.
“That—that’s not what I meant…”
Not knowing how else to respond, I denied it outright—another bad move.
“Listen carefully. No matter what you do, I have no intention of taking you in. Don’t waste your efforts trying to change my mind.”
His tone was firm.
“The Mage Tower won’t help you in any way. Once you’ve recovered, leave as soon as possible.”
Cold. Unforgiving words.
“I don’t know how you learned Hexwood’s secrets, but it would be wise not to let anyone else find out.”
With only that harsh warning, he left.
And this time—
I couldn’t stop him.
