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Chapter 35
“W-Who are you?”
When I pretended not to recognize him, the man’s red lips curved into a smile.
“We were sitting next to each other. Disguises don’t work on me.”
“……!”
Startled, I widened my eyes.
Is he after my prize money?
No—if that were the case, it didn’t make sense. He’d won a huge sum himself.
As if he’d read my thoughts, the man spoke again.
“I don’t need the money. I only joined for fun.”
“Th-There she is!”
“That woman who caused the explosion earlier! It’s definitely that maid!”
I heard voices chasing after me from behind.
Panicking, I twisted my wrist to run, but the man calmly said,
“You’re heading to the Central Bank, right? I’ll take you there.”
In an almost too-casual tone, he added,
“It might feel a little dizzy. Bear with it.”
“What do you—”
Before I could finish—
My vision spun.
And in the next instant, I found myself in a dark back alley.
Beyond a low wall, I could see the Central Bank building.
I murmured in a daze,
“Instant… teleportation?”
The moment I realized it, chills ran down my spine.
Because I thought I knew who this man in the cat mask was.
In this empire, only one person could teleport without a scroll.
“Y-You’re…”
A man known as the greatest genius since the founding of the empire.
A prodigy who rose to the rank of Archmage at a young age.
And one of the male leads of the novel The Saintess and Her Three Men.
“Caden… Caleb?”
The man removed his mask.
Smooth, long violet hair, pale skin untouched by sunlight, and emerald-green eyes were revealed.
I didn’t hide my wariness as I asked,
“…How did you recognize me?”
I’d disguised myself thoroughly, yet he’d identified me instantly.
The man, beautiful enough to be mistaken for a woman, smiled faintly.
“Because I don’t distinguish people by their looks or faces.”
“…?”
“I have a special ability.”
He spoke in an even, matter-of-fact tone.
“I can see each person’s unique wavelength. If someone has magical talent, I can recognize it through that.”
I stared at him, mouth agape.
This wasn’t something I’d seen in the original story.
Well, the novel focused obsessively on the romance between the four characters, not detailed world-building.
“That’s how I recognized Giovanni’s talent at a glance, too.”
Caden continued calmly.
“Creating a fast-running chimera is relatively easy. But creating one with that level of control? Not just anyone can do that.”
Only then did I understand.
Winning the competition had never mattered when it came to hiring him as an assistant.
The moment he saw Giovanni, he must have sensed his hidden magical talent through that wavelength.
The competition had merely been the opportunity for their first meeting.
“Then… why are you doing this to me?”
I asked, still on guard.
In the original story, he was notorious for obsessing over the Saintess and dragging the narrative into utter despair.
The classic case of a wizard whose mind had snapped from being too intelligent.
If I get caught wrong, he’ll obsess over me like crazy…
“You’re interesting. You have a wavelength I’ve never seen before.”
Caden’s eyes gleamed as he answered.
“Excuse me? Does that mean… I have magical abilities?”
I asked, bewildered by something I’d never heard before.
Magical talent was extremely rare.
More importantly, it was widely believed to be hereditary.
To become a mage, at least one ancestor had to possess magic.
“But none of my ancestors were mages.”
The Ketel viscount family—Aileen’s maternal lineage—was an old noble house.
Their family records were meticulously preserved.
From what I remembered of Aileen’s memories, there wasn’t a single mage among her ancestors.
“Magic… No. This isn’t a magical wavelength.”
“Then what is it?”
“You’re curious, aren’t you? I am too. So come to me.”
He whispered softly, as though speaking to a lover.
But the words that followed, delivered with a sharp gleam in his eyes, were anything but tender.
“I’ll… experiment on you.”
A chill ran through me.
He was an Archmage and a renowned chimera researcher.
He was so exceptional at creating chimeras that rumors claimed he even dissected humans for materials.
Only now did I understand the strange look in his eyes.
It wasn’t affection.
It wasn’t curiosity.
It was the gaze of a mad scientist looking at an intriguing test subject.
“No, thank you. I’m sorry, but I’m suddenly not very curious about my abilities anymore.”
As I slowly backed away, I bitterly wondered why not a single person passed through this bustling street.
“Then I’ll be on my—”
Thud.
Even though there was nothing in the air, something struck my back.
That’s when I realized it.
It wasn’t that no one passed by.
He had set up a barrier here.
And I was trapped inside it.
Like a mouse in a glass jar.
“Oh dear. Was I unclear? I’m terrible at talking to ordinary people.”
The Archmage—still wearing the eyes of a mad scientist—narrowed his gaze and smiled.
“…Becoming my test subject wasn’t a request.”
So yes, the genre of the novel I’d transmigrated into really was a trashy melodrama.
Not a single normal person in sight.
He walked toward me step by step.
With the barrier at my back, there was nowhere to run.
I was trapped between the invisible wall and the tall man closing in.
“Of course, I’m not asking you to do it for free. In return… I’ll do anything for you.”
As he whispered while looking down at me, Caden appeared gentle at a glance.
But I knew better.
They said genius and madness were separated by only a thin sheet of paper.
This man’s brain was fundamentally different from others’, simply because he was too brilliant.
That look… it’s nothing but obsession with an interesting research subject.
Rather than provoking him, it would be wiser to play along for now.
“…Alright. I’ll be your test subject.”
I met his gaze head-on, hiding my trembling heart.
His eyebrows lifted with interest.
“But I’ll receive my compensation first.”
“An excellent answer.”
“You said you’d give me anything as compensation, right? What exactly can you do for me?”
His green eyes shone even brighter.
“Are you asking what an Archmage can give you?”
Click.
At the sudden sound, I looked down.
A bracelet had been fastened around my wrist.
“This is…”
“A token.”
I stumbled backward.
The barrier had disappeared.
As I reeled, he caught my waist with movements far too agile for a mage.
Now that the barrier was gone, I didn’t need to ask what role the bracelet played.
“The value of compensation depends on how desperate you are.”
“……”
“When you need me most—whatever it is—I’ll help you.”
Still gripping my waist firmly, the beautiful man with unhinged eyes smiled softly.
“Then after that, you’ll let me experiment on you.”
“Farewell, my test subject.”
Leaving behind the Archmage’s peculiar farewell, I headed straight for the Central Bank next door.
The risk of being turned into a chimera was a problem for later.
Depositing 68,000 gold into my account was an urgent matter for the present.
When I sat at the regular counter, the teller glanced at my worn dress before asking in a businesslike tone,
“You’re here to make a deposit?”
“Yes. Please fill out these forms… You brought a letter of identification, right?”
“Yes. And I also have this checkbook…”
“A checkbook?”
The teller, who had greeted me with lazy boredom, nearly leapt out of his chair when he saw the amount I was depositing.
“W-Why would someone deposit this much at a regular counter—! We’ll escort you to the VIP room immediately, ma’am!”
I was promptly guided into a VIP room furnished with plush leather sofas.
Warm tea and refreshments were placed on the table at once.
After finishing the deposit amid such excessive hospitality—
“Please have a wonderful day, valued custooooomer!”
The teller escorted me all the way to the door and bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.
This was the first time in my life I’d ever been treated so politely at a bank.
In my previous life, I’d been ruthlessly rejected every time I came for a loan review…
“So banks are incredibly kind—to people with money…”
I guess I was the only one who hadn’t known.
With a faintly bitter smile, I shook off the thought.
But only briefly.
The realization that I was now rich came crashing over me.
Rich…!
I’m rich now!
Since I’d become wealthy at last, surely spending money was a virtue?
There was somewhere I needed to stop by before returning to the Morgans estate.
I looked up at an ordinary house and murmured,
“This must be it.”
As I approached the door, loud voices could be heard from inside.
“What do you even do around this house?!”
“I just—”
“If we took in a good-for-nothing orphan, you should be obedient and say, ‘Yes, Mother’!”
Yep. This is the place.
No need to investigate further.
I raised my hand and knocked on the wooden door.
Knock, knock.
