TFPW 15

Chapter 15

It wasn’t just swords. Most weapons—spears, axes, daggers, arrowheads—contained iron. If she could fully manifest her abilities, she could become the strongest on the continent.

Sensing the scent of money, Laine licked his lips. She was a valuable asset. Just having her around seemed like money would grow on trees.

There was only one strange thing.

“Why does the Vita family have Spes blood mixed in?”

“That’s what you need to find out,” Kazar replied, tapping the armrest with his fingers as he handed the task over to Laine. Something felt close yet just out of reach.

Laine picked up the dossier on “Ron Vita,” which he had only skimmed before, and began reviewing it in detail.

“Ron Vita’s last movements are suspicious. He kept traveling, yet was never seen. A number of people searched for him after the ‘Brilliant Night of Mortality and the Silence of the Black Sun,’ but no one met him. Should we put out a bounty? No, maybe we should steal Eluana Vita away first?”

Countless business ideas unfolded in Laine’s mind.

Enhancing weapons and armor, reinforcing carriage frames—these were all possible. What about crafting special chains and shackles? A lot of iron goes into shipbuilding too. Even anchors are made of iron.

Laine’s endless moneymaking ideas were quickly crushed by Kazar.

“It’s no use.”

“What? Why? Why not?”

“She’s already with the Duke of Spes.”

“Already…?”

Laine’s expression darkened, and he mentally erased all the gold coins he could have made.

“She was with Eluana when the Duke of Spes came rushing in with a desperate look on his face. I didn’t even know he was capable of such an expression.”

Laine waved his hands dismissively.

“Come on. Your Highness, you could barely see because of the poison. The Duke of Spes is the kind of man who’d scoff even if a dragon appeared.”

“That just shows how precious she is to him.”

As he organized his thoughts, Kazar furrowed his brow.

A hypothesis crept into his mind. True, the ability to transmute iron was impressive. But the Duke of Spes’s reaction seemed excessive even for that.

“Has there ever been a case where alchemic-affinity materials were inherited?”

“No, never. Iron has never been a material of affinity either. This is the first time. That’s why the appearance of the Vita father and daughter is going to cause a stir.”

That was exactly the part Kazar was suspicious of. Were they really “father and daughter”?

“There’s a rumor that the Duke of Spes never married because of a missing fiancée. Check it out. See if you can get a portrait.”

“A portrait? Why?”

“Eluana Vita had green eyes.”

Laine’s normally dazed eyes sharpened with confusion.

“No way…”

Green eyes were the symbol of the founding imperial family, Cantio. Some noble families had inherited them through intermarriage, but they were still rare.

“If that’s true, it’s definitely worth confirming.”

If it turned out to be true, information about “Eluana Vita” would be moved to the top tier—Level 1 information, the kind that could change the fate of the continent.

With the mischief gone from his face, Laine asked seriously.

“Tell me everything you remember about Eluana Vita.”

Kazar’s expression briefly grew complicated before he chuckled.

“Like a fish.”

“Huh?”

“She looked like a fish skewered on a harpoon.”

Though destined to die, she thrashed and struggled, refusing to give in—her vitality was just like that.

“What are you talking about?”

A question mark practically floated over Laine’s head.

The first emperor, Cantio, was said to be a transcendent beauty with golden hair and green eyes—so beautiful that even standing beside a Silver Dragon, she wasn’t outshone. That legendary beauty had passed her traits to her descendants.

And yet… a flailing fish?

Just as Laine was about to press him for a real explanation, he caught the smile on Kazar’s lips.

“Y-You’re smiling? Your Highness! Are you okay? Did the medicine mess you up? Oh no, wait! I’ll make another antidote!”

As Laine scrambled up in panic, Kazar replied nonchalantly.

“The antidote worked.”

His face returned to its usual blank expression, and Laine finally relaxed.

“Ah, but how did you end up taking Redfire in the first place?”

“My brother betrayed me.”

“What…?”

Laine gulped as he realized what that meant.

Hawk had been Kazar’s personal guard. Having fought off assassins nearly every week since childhood, their bond was strong. Hawk had protected Kazar for nearly a decade and was like an older brother to him.

And he betrayed him?

“Find Hawk.”

At Kazar’s command, Laine’s face turned troubled. He already knew Hawk’s whereabouts. He’d just been waiting for the right moment to say it.

Scratching the back of his neck, Laine opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Actually… we found him while searching for you, near the forest by the Tana territory. His limbs were severed—we couldn’t save him. We summoned a priest, but he didn’t make it in time.”

“That’s a shame. …I wanted to kill him myself.”

A hint of emptiness flickered across Kazar’s face. As Laine bit his fingers nervously beside him, he cautiously offered:

“I think I can guess why.”

Kazar’s blue eyes turned toward him.

“Tell me.”

“You know Hawk had a younger sister, right?”

Kazar nodded. He had seen her a few times. She’d kept her distance, intimidated by his status as a prince.

“She went missing a month ago.”

“I see…”

A breath escaped from between Kazar’s lips. At least it hadn’t been for honor or money.

Laine tested the waters with a question.

“We were still searching. Should we stop?”

“Find her and send her home. No need to report back to me.”

She wasn’t at fault.

“Laine, I need you to look into something else. Brother Regis was in Arden.”

“Yeah. He suddenly took a vacation, right?”

“Arden isn’t the kind of place you go on vacation. It’s not scenic. There’s nothing there. He wouldn’t have waited nearly three weeks just to sell me out. There must’ve been another reason.”

“I’ll look into it.”

Laine replied casually, but Kazar wasn’t done.

“Something strange is happening in Arden. The mana density is unusually low.”

“The mana density?”

“It’s like… the closer you get to Arden, the more mana disappears.”

“Then we also need to see if that’s related to Prince Regis. Or maybe those Western Tower bastards are up to something again?”

“I saw a mage in front of the teleport gate with imperial clearance. He wasn’t wearing a robe, so I think he was sneaking around.”

“Wait a sec.”

Laine rummaged through his file cabinet and laid out a bunch of small portraits on the desk—highly detailed, palm-sized images.

“Is it one of these?”

Kazar picked one out from the thirty or so photos.

“This person.”

And then—

“This one. And this one…”

After selecting five portraits in a row, Laine grimaced as he recognized them, rubbing his forehead.

He lifted the first one Kazar had pointed to.

“This guy’s the master of the Western Tower. 4th Circle. The rest are all 3rd Circle mages—elites from the Western Tower, specializing in magic circles.”

“Something’s definitely going on.”

If the tower master and elite mages were moving together, it was no small matter. Especially from that Western Tower.

Kazar added,

“Call back the informants we stationed at the Western Tower.”

Meanwhile…

“So this is what a teleport gate looks like.”

Eluana admired the arched stone gate from inside the carriage. She never imagined she’d use one for real after only seeing them in picture books.

“It looks just like the drawings.”

To her observation, Rui added,

“The immigration gates are even bigger—like two or three times as big!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! And they glow—sparkly!”

As the carriage approached the gate, Rui’s excitement grew. He was clearly in a good mood today—unlike yesterday, when he had pretended to sleep. Now he peeked out the window and even stole glances at the Duke of Spes.

Once they passed through the teleport gate, the scenery changed completely. They’d jumped a week’s worth of travel in a blink.

“Sis, it’s spring!”

“It really is spring.”

Just crossing one gate, and the weather and landscape had changed. Unlike chilly Arden, the Spes domain was bathed in warm spring breezes.

As they passed through a plaza surrounded by tall buildings, Eluana couldn’t help but gasp. The bustle of people and the lively energy amazed her.

And it wasn’t just the buildings. Everything sold in the shops was unfamiliar. Eluana and Rui had thought their hometown’s market, with its six-story inn, was fancy—now they couldn’t stop marveling.

Soon, the road widened and smoothed out. Their carriage rolled along a well-paved path without a single bump. It was surprisingly comfortable.

Then they saw it.

Perched atop a hill was an ivory-colored castle. Straight out of a fairytale, the grand estate of the Duke of Spes exuded both splendor and elegance.

‘That must be the Spes residence.’

As Eluana stared up in awe, she noticed the lavender fields spread on either side of the road and caught her breath.

‘It’s just like the picture Mom used to draw…’

Even the silhouette of the distant mountains matched. Her mother had painted this landscape from memory—again and again.

The sight of those violet waves brought her mother’s smile to mind. Rui seemed entranced too.

Above the sound of hooves, the Duke’s voice carried back to them.

“You like lavender?”

“My mother loved it.”

“…She did. Lavender is one of the specialties here. The endless lavender fields are among the most famous sights in the Spes duchy.”

“It’s beautiful.”

The fields truly were breathtaking—enough to make her want to cry.

The carriage began to slow. A soldier, seeing Noah, immediately allowed them through the gate.

Inside, the carriage rolled a bit further before stopping completely.

Eluana stepped down to find a line of people waiting. The Duke’s staff had gathered to welcome him. Their eyes soon turned to Eluana and Rui.

Some gasped, covering their mouths in shock. These were people who had worked at the estate for over fifteen years.

An elderly man stepped forward—it was obvious from his bearing that he was the head butler.

“Welcome back, Your Grace.”

The Duke looked back at Eluana and spoke.

“Prepare the Lavender Room and the Daisy Room. Bring in Baroness Rice.”

“The Baroness has been refraining from outings ever since last year’s artifact incident.”

“Tell her the Lavender Room’s rightful owner has returned. She’ll crawl here if she has to.”

The butler nodded in agreement.

“Indeed she will.”

Without another word, the Duke strode off. Noah gave Eluana a small nod, then touched the butler’s arm lightly.

“Please take good care of the young lady.”

“I will serve her with all my heart.”

They exchanged meaningful glances.

Noah followed the Duke, leaving Eluana and Rui alone in front of the carriage—still the focus of many curious gazes.

“Welcome to the Duke of Spes’s residence. I am the butler, Dave Joy,” said Dave, his eyes warm and gentle with years of care.