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Chapter 7
It’s Not Your Child
First of all, the scroll had a very unusual color.
Unlike the other scrolls made of brown paper, this one was made of a translucent red paper with strange patterns engraved on it.
On the rolled-up paper, small letters were written.
[When the heart moves, the body follows; when the body moves, the heart will follow! Trust me and try using it once! This is the masterpiece of the genius Derek!
– From Derek, who always supports Master.]
Derek!
Derek was a mage ranked directly under Shymer.
He mostly researched the creation of scrolls and weapons, and because he produced many interesting results, he was one of the mages favored by the crown prince.
Even among mages—who were known for having many eccentrics—he was called a particularly outrageous lunatic. And yet, this was a scroll he had specially made for Shymer.
It was impossible not to be intrigued.
What on earth is this?
Just as Kalia was about to examine it more closely, Shymer suddenly stepped forward and tried to snatch the scroll away.
But with quick reflexes, Kalia swiftly hid the scroll behind her back.
Watching the red paper slip from his fingertips and disappear behind Kalia, Shymer showed a rare expression of embarrassment.
Kalia looked at the stiffened Shymer with interest.
“Kalia. I’ll say this nicely—hand it over. It’s dangerous.”
“Dangerous? This?”
“Yes. So give it to me quickly.”
“Hm?”
Kalia looked at the red paper again, then grinned.
The alcohol that had quieted down began to rise again.
Maybe she just wanted to joke around with an old friend tonight.
In truth, she had no intention of actually doing anything with it.
She simply wanted to laugh a little—like they did when they were younger.
“…Nope.”
“Kalia.”
Shymer called her name with a stern expression.
Kalia lifted her chin defiantly.
“Want to try taking it?”
“…You think I can’t?”
“If you can, go ahead and try.”
Kalia took a stance as if she were about to run.
But she never got the chance.
Contrary to her expectations, Shymer didn’t play along with her teasing at all.
Instead, he simply stood there with his arms crossed, staring at her coldly.
“….”
“….”
This is awkward.
Feeling her cheeks starting to redden, Kalia quietly tried to put the scroll down.
Right then, Shymer gestured toward the scroll in her hand and said,
“Aren’t you curious, Kalia… what kind of scroll it is that I called dangerous?”
“…What kind of scroll is it?”
Shymer’s eyes gleamed strangely.
With a slightly crooked smile, he replied dryly,
“Derek was bragging about it. Said it contains a magic spell that lets you know whether two people are in love with each other.”
A spell that tells you whether two people are in love? How?
Kalia tilted her head, unable to understand.
Shymer’s voice became darker.
“If two people who have even the slightest feelings for each other tear it together… something very, very big happens.”
“…Something big?”
What does that mean?
As someone who only knew swords, Kalia couldn’t understand what he meant.
“You know… that feeling that keeps rising up when you’re with someone you love.”
“That… feeling?”
Shymer stared at Kalia as she repeated his words like a parrot and murmured softly.
“Desire.”
Just two syllables, yet somehow Kalia felt as if flames rose in a corner of her heart.
For a moment, it even seemed like sparks flickered in Shymer’s eyes too.
“Yes, desire. For example…”
Kalia’s gaze focused on Shymer’s lips as he murmured the word.
At that moment, Shymer lazily smiled and slowly bit his lower lip.
For some reason, Kalia felt heat rise around her eyes.
It was confusing. Even though it was her own body, the reaction didn’t feel like her own.
Shymer’s red tongue slipped out like a snake and wet his lips as he continued in a seductive voice.
“Like going crazy because you want to kiss them… or wanting to touch their pale skin until red handprints appear… or…”
Kalia stared at Shymer’s eyes.
But Shymer wasn’t looking at her eyes.
“If you wanted to cover those lips and shove something inside them…”
His gaze fixed directly—almost bluntly—on Kalia’s lips.
Without taking his eyes off them, he murmured,
“…the kind of urge that makes you want to push something in roughly.”
Gulp.
Without realizing it, Kalia swallowed dryly and quickly covered her mouth.
What’s wrong with my throat?
Her eyes widened in surprise.
She couldn’t understand why she had swallowed like that.
She had simply been staring absentmindedly at Shymer’s lips, which glistened in the firelight after he licked them.
“…?”
Shymer watched the confused Kalia with deep satisfaction in his eyes.
The faint smile on his lips carried the leisure of a well-fed predator.
Kalia felt strangely irritated by it—but she didn’t know why.
Everything happening right now was incomprehensible to her.
Anyway, suddenly feeling hot, Kalia poured wine into her glass and scolded him.
“Shymer, this isn’t a battlefield where you can be rough. Show some restraint. Those kinds of expressions are a bit… too… um…”
“Too erotic?”
Why on earth is Shymer acting like this?
Why has he been like this since earlier…?
“…Too aggressive.”
Why do his lips keep floating around in my vision? It’s annoying.
Kalia glared at him with narrowed eyes and then downed the wine in one gulp.
“You said you needed an explanation, so I explained it kindly. What’s the problem?”
It’s not like it sounded erotic or anything.
Shrugging, Shymer stepped closer.
Then suddenly he stopped and muttered in a serious tone,
“Or did you deny it because you had dirty thoughts?”
“No.”
“….”
“I said no, Shymer.”
Kalia lowered her voice as if emphasizing it, but Shymer still didn’t look convinced.
Feeling wronged, she slammed her glass down.
The problematic scroll rolled off the table and fell to the floor.
Still rolled up, it rolled across the floor as if it had legs of its own and stopped at Shymer’s feet.
He bent down smoothly and picked it up.
Before she could stop him, he unrolled it in one swift motion.
“…!”
Kalia didn’t react outwardly, but she was a little surprised inside.
With a harmless, boyish smile, Shymer said lightly,
“Of course, that only works for people who have feelings for each other. Otherwise, it’s just a piece of paper. But… since it’s not you, it doesn’t matter, right? Right, Kalia?”
“Uh… right.”
Kalia answered instinctively, but somehow it felt like he had just provoked her.
Still, since he had no reason to do that, she quickly dismissed the thought.
Shymer smiled as if he had expected that answer.
The corner of his mouth lifted along his neat jawline in a sly curve.
“As expected of the General. It wouldn’t be easy to make you afraid, would it? The simple, legendary Kalia. Nothing can scare you.”
…Or is it? No matter how I hear it, that sounds like a provocation.
Shymer watched Kalia’s green eyes—like faint spring leaves—flicker in confusion with amusement.
Then he waved the strange translucent red paper.
“So tearing something like this should be nothing to you, right? With your mental strength, you’d probably repel most mental magic anyway.”
“…Do I really need to?”
Tear it?
It wasn’t that she was afraid of it… but something about it felt a little suspicious.
“Yes. You really should. Derek was so confident that even I’m half skeptical. I was thinking someone should test it once… and if our fearless General with the mental strength of a stone does it, there’s nothing to worry about. Right?”
Even someone as slow as Kalia couldn’t miss it now.
That bastard.
Shymer was teasing her.
Earlier he had jumped around saying it was dangerous, and now look at him changing his stance.
Since childhood, Shymer had been a genius at manipulating her like this.
His smooth speech alone was hard to resist. Add in his rich expressions and slightly exaggerated actions, and Kalia would always end up caught in his rhythm.
It was how he had once coaxed her into talking about the ugly parts of her childhood.
How he had made her pour out all the grief about the young knight who died for her.
How he had convinced her to drink his disgusting special potion meant to strengthen the body.
All of it had been because she fell for his tricks.
But not this time!
Kalia steeled herself and said firmly,
“No. I won’t do it.”
“Oh? Why?”
“Because there’s no reason to.”
“Hmm. I see.”
The look in his eyes clearly said, If you’re scared, you could just say so.
Even though she knew he was provoking her, it still made her angry.
Kalia wasn’t this emotional with other people.
But Shymer was the one person she could joke with, get angry at, feel comfortable with—and sometimes even hate like an enemy.
She could act this defenseless only in front of him.
And the problem was that Shymer knew that very well.
What a nasty archmage.
Afraid she might lose her temper if she kept looking at his face, Kalia boldly turned her head away.
At that moment, Shymer suddenly clapped his fist into his palm as if realizing something.
“Ah!”
“Are you worried something strange might actually happen, Kalia? Surely… not between you and me?”
His wide-eyed expression seemed to say, That’s impossible, right?
Before Kalia could even respond, he quickly added,
“What? Don’t tell me you’ve liked me all this time. Otherwise there’d be no reason to hesitate like this.”
Hah.
Of all the ridiculous things to say.
To Kalia, Shymer was like family—like a brother.
And not just any brother, but someone who had crossed countless life-and-death moments with her.
That was how she had been raised in the duke’s house.
That was how she had accepted it.
And she believed firmly it would stay that way.
Because only by believing that could they continue living like this together.
“So Kalia has secretly liked me all along.”
That was why Shymer’s provocation struck her so strongly.
“That’s ridiculous, Shymer.”
Snapping back sharply, Kalia snatched the red paper from his hand.
“If tearing this thing is all it takes, then fine!”
And without hesitation—
she ripped it in half.
