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chapter 15
ina looked at the four men filing into the prison, one after another, like sausages hung up to cure in the kitchen. She could understand Cesario, Gunter, and Marco showing up, but she couldn’t figure out why Dantes had come as well.
Did I ask them all to come? I thought I asked for just one of them. Maybe the message was passed on wrong.
Her questioning gaze made Cesario avert his eyes. Marco whistled lightly and added,
“I was too lazy to pass it along properly, so we just came together. Easier to solve things all at once, right?”
Roselina didn’t respond. Gunter stepped closer to the bars to look her over.
“At least the prison doesn’t look too bad. You’re still skinny as ever, but your complexion doesn’t look terrible.”
“Don’t waste your concern on a criminal.”
Dantes cut in coldly. He leaned against the wall at a diagonal, avoiding her eyes. It was a little apart from the trio’s position, but it gave him the clearest view of Roselina’s face.
“Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Who was it that insisted on doing this much?”
Marco muttered under his breath as he glanced at Dantes. Cesario cleared his throat, moved a step closer to the cell, and asked,
“So, why did you want to see us?”
Roselina studied Cesario’s face. He hadn’t changed much, except the stubble darkening around his chin. The three of them had now grown into proper young men in their twenties. Reflexively, she brushed her own smooth lips before speaking.
“About Monterno Aventurine.”
“We were going to ask you about him anyway. Do you know something?”
“He knows magic. Looks like advanced-level magic, enough to control goblins.”
“How do you know? Did you see it yourself?”
At Marco’s question, Roselina shook her head.
“He seems to have conducted some kind of experiment in the goblin habitat. His control is clumsy, but for his age, his skills are impressive. Since we can’t know his exact capabilities, he’s dangerous. He seems eager to draw His Majesty’s attention.”
“What makes you think that?” Cesario asked.
Roselina answered without hesitation.
“He offered to help me escape. I don’t know if it was bluffing or if he was trying to strike a deal with me.”
“So, did you accept?”
Dantes’s tone was sharp. Roselina shook her head. Marco clicked his tongue and scolded him.
“Do you think Roberto’s an idiot? If he had accepted, would he be telling us this now?”
“……”
“Did he tell you any detailed escape plan?”
“No. But he did say he expected to go with me to the capital. He might be more meticulous than he looks. He doesn’t seem to have any combat skills, but he’s suspicious. Be careful.”
With that, Roselina fell silent. Marco nodded—her account was more detailed than what he’d managed to dig up.
“From what I gathered, he caught the eye of a wandering wizard. Nobody knows how much he learned, but apparently he neglected school life for it. He even tried to keep it hidden from his baron father.”
“Must’ve been hard to keep the rumors down,” Cesario said.
“Seems he’s sharp. He maintained grades so his parents wouldn’t notice his neglect. Teachers thought he was an odd kid who didn’t mingle with his peers, but since he was a noble and had no academic problems, they didn’t press it.”
“If he can stir up public opinion, he’s no ordinary boy,” Gunter muttered.
“He must have had that tendency to begin with,” Marco said. “He just leaned into it, acting more naïve and harmless than he really is. Most people think Monterno just follows wizards around out of curiosity, like a spoiled noble’s son being duped by a charlatan.”
Monterno Aventurine was skilled at exploiting cracks—especially when others pitied or underestimated him. He freely absorbed knowledge in whatever subject caught his fancy. His parents chalked up his frequent mischief to a restless mind.
The common opinion was that he was bright but too pure and curious for his own good. Nobody saw him as calculating. Even his classmates, who knew he followed a wizard, thought the same.
“Monterno’s probably just learning petty tricks. Maybe even parlor magic—like pulling birds out of hats.”
That was how most of the people Marco interviewed dismissed him. So when he was caught in the middle of a goblin nest and somehow escaped, nobody imagined he had tried controlling goblins with real magic. They just assumed he’d gotten into trouble chasing something curious again.
That sort of reputation couldn’t be built overnight. It was carefully crafted over time. It wasn’t entirely detached from Monterno’s true nature, but neither did it show who he really was.
“The baron might not accept the truth,” Marco added. “Monterno’s brazen, shameless even. Approaching Roberto directly proves it. Most people who only know his reputation would never dare.”
Marco, who had once dismissed Monterno, was now the most wary of him. He’d thought the boy too bumbling to succeed at anything, but the deeper he dug, the more carefully laid Monterno’s plans seemed. True, the boy’s age left holes, but those flaws sometimes made his behavior look more natural.
“So basically, he’s smart, a good actor, and fearless too?”
Gunter condensed Marco’s long explanation into one line, his expression twisted as if he’d smelled something foul. That was exactly the sort of person Gunter loathed.
Cesario agreed and turned back to Roselina.
“Do you have any idea what his plan is?”
“First, he wants to catch His Majesty’s eye and get to the capital. He may even have considered that I’d report this to you. Once he’s seen as this dangerous, leaving him behind here wouldn’t be an option.”
“And what would he do in the capital? Do you suspect he’s meeting someone?”
Cesario asked. Roselina slowly closed her eyes and shook her head.
“That’s all I know. I’ve said my piece.”
Any further speculation would only create confusion. With Marco already investigating, Dantes too would be alert. That was enough. Roselina realized she hadn’t needed to speak up at all—the matter would have been uncovered without her.
That was why she had wanted to talk to only one of them. She didn’t have information worthy of dragging all of them here. She felt embarrassed for wasting their time.
After speaking, Roselina always regretted it, weighed down by a clammy unease. Silence was best—transparent time that bred no misunderstandings. In silence, she didn’t have to lower her voice to sound like a man or rush her steps in fear of being discovered.
She knew her own smallness well. Dantes and the trio were a different breed.
They welcomed her as a “friend,” but their lives and deaths were different from hers. The more time passed, the more she realized she could never belong to their world.
And yet, she stayed because she liked being with them. Their cheerfulness, their boldness, their constant striving for justice and purpose—it warmed her. Despite their privileged upbringing, they still showed compassion to the poor and sick. With them, she felt as if she too became a better person.
But that was only a feeling. Reality was the iron bars dividing them now. She was the prisoner; they bore the weight of the Empire. All she could offer was this kind of information—no more than a paid informant at a mercenary market.
Roselina dropped her gaze, reminded of her place. She wanted to look more closely at her changed friends, but even that risked misunderstanding.
Why did Dantes come?
The question sprouted in her chest. He’d stormed out in anger at lunch. Now he stood there with sharp eyes, but he didn’t snap at her. Did he really just want to understand the situation? Or was there something more he still wanted to hear?
But she had nothing left to say. She held her tongue, wishing only for them to leave quickly.
When Marco noticed Roselina clamming up as if she’d swallowed a heavy stone, he shrugged.
“How can someone stay so consistent? Once the business is done, that mouth just shuts tight.”
“Better that than being noisy like you, Marco. And her information is usually more valuable anyway,” Cesario retorted.
“Che.”
Marco wasn’t offended. He only pretended to sulk as he waved his friends toward the exit.
“Alright, let’s interrogate Monterno directly. Our old friend’s given us precious intel—we can’t let it go to waste.”
Marco had always been the quickest to read discomfort on Roselina’s face—or the dark shadow over Dantes’s. With a mischievous grin, he herded them out like sheep.
Dantes lingered for a moment, staring at Roselina, before leaving without hesitation. His long strides carried him out first. Marco shook his head at his friend’s unsubtle display.
“He’s not a child, yet he can’t even hide his emotions. Tsk, tsk. Roberto, thanks for the info. We’ll keep you updated if anything new comes up.”
Roselina didn’t answer. She couldn’t. Marco didn’t expect her to anyway. The trio followed Dantes out of the prison.
Roselina gazed at the space they left behind. Where four men had filled the room, now there was nothing. She stared at the emptiness for a long time, as if making up for not having looked at them enough while they were there.
