TLDWAE 07

Chapter 7

The golem looked back and forth between her pale, delicate hand and its own hard, gray one.

Why were she and he different? Why was her body so fine and his so dull?

The newly born golem was curious about everything it saw, but at this moment, its curiosity was not something its weary master wanted to consider.

“So, if you really hate doing it, then you don’t have to. I can just erase you and make another golem who will follow my orders.”

Erase me?

Please wait, Master! Try persuading him a little more…! In your current condition, creating new magic will be difficult!

At Andion’s worried words, Karia instead felt a surge of irritation. She had been holding herself back since the moment she opened her eyes that morning—again and again, swallowing her temper.

It was already infuriating enough that someone who had once commanded the entire continent now lived a life like unwanted baggage, unwelcome here and there.

And now, after revisiting her past, she found nothing but old, faded glory—no trace of what once was—and even the golem she had personally made dared to defy her orders!

“Do you know who I am? Asmof Rubaltberh is the greatest alchemist on the continent and the strongest sorcerer! On the battlefield, I fought at the vanguard after more than ten days without food! Something like this, something this trivial—Ugh!”

Her heart suddenly pounded violently, and her legs faltered.

Master!

Magic was the art of rearranging the mana spread throughout nature to produce wondrous phenomena. But just because it drew from natural mana didn’t mean it came for free.

Moving mana required the caster’s mental strength. Mental strength grew through amplified emotions, but this meant that starting magic always brought extreme fatigue.

Furthermore, if a mage began casting while angry or depressed, they could fall into a state of dangerous overexcitement—hence why a mage had to maintain composure at all times.

“Damn it—”

Her strength gave out, and Karia collapsed on the spot.

Only then did she realize that she had been cornered enough to forget even such basic principles of magic.

Yes, that was right. She was not only the once-great Asmof Rubaltberh.

She was also Karia Pandeon—a woman who had spent her life never raising her voice, always reading the room. And Karia did not have the mental fortitude to handle such situations with grace.

M–ster! Mas—!

Her vision slowly darkened, her ears rang. Her body felt heavy, while her mind grew strangely light. The darkness behind her eyelids beckoned her toward a peaceful dream.

She found herself staring up at a wide-open sky filled with stars. Beneath that sky stood a woman.

The woman’s cheeks were flushed red, and the tip of her nose was frozen from the night wind as she stood there under the heavens.

The place was the terrace of Rubaltberh Castle—the largest and most magnificent fortress in the capital, save for the imperial palace itself.

Madam, what brings you here?

Ah, Guilford.

A voice, rich and sweet like melted sugar, called out to her. She turned to see a man with silver hair shining like starlight.

He was as beautiful as a god of myth, and just looking at him brought a smile to her lips.

The silver-haired man called Guilford wrapped a thick shawl over her shoulders with a concerned expression.

The wind is cold.

The stars were beautiful.

Ah, I see. Perhaps because it’s been so clear for the first time in a while.

She could not tell him she had been thinking about nights on the battlefield. Back then, fighting desperately to stay awake for fear of a sudden attack, no matter what happened on the ground, the sky above had always been filled with beautiful stars. How heartbreakingly beautiful they had seemed…

But that was all in the past. The woman took her husband’s hand and looked up at the sky with a soft smile.

She gladly enjoyed the peace earned at the cost of countless friends and foes. For the dead, she was all the more grateful for it.

Ah, a shooting star.

Ah—gone already. No time to make a wish.

There was a saying that if you wished on the same shooting star three times, your wish would come true.

The man’s fine brows lowered in disappointment, but the woman’s serene smile didn’t fade.

It’s fine. I have you, and I have Eddie in this beautiful castle. I don’t wish for anything more.

Her words were pure truth. In childhood, she hadn’t even been treated as a person—sometimes unable to get even one meal a day. Now, she was a duchess, a wife, and a mother.

What more could life possibly need? The man answered her with a smile, saying nothing.

Surely, his thoughts were no different from her own.

Then come inside slowly. I was upstairs writing a letter when I saw you and came out to give you the shawl.

A letter? To whom?

—That’s a secret.

Oh my, surely not to another woman? She asked with mock jealousy, and he bent in a playful bow, joking about how no one could dance with the husband of a great mage without her noticing.

They both laughed at the silly exchange, and he kissed her cold hand before heading inside.

Wow, I didn’t know the Captain could smile like that.

A low, rough voice cut across the terrace at that moment.

The woman frowned and looked down. A large, callused hand gripped the terrace railing.

Up from the darkness climbed a man dressed entirely in black from head to toe. Clicking her tongue in disapproval, she said:

Noah, I must have told you a hundred times to use the door.

This is a door. A window door.

She pressed her fingers to her forehead as if she had a headache, advising him to at least change his outfit if he didn’t want to be mistaken for an intruder. But as always, Noah ignored her advice and spoke his own mind.

Wow, isn’t this too much? The difference between how you look at your husband and how you look at me is huge! I’ve known you longer, and I’ve put up with more from you!

Then be as handsome as he is.

Handsome? He looks like an unfinished elf sculpture.

He muttered like a sulky child, and she couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of this huge, bull-sized man whining.

So, Sir Noah, what brings you to the elf couple’s house?

—No reason.

This isn’t a tavern you drop by when you’re bored; it’s a home.

No reason! I just came because the stars are pretty.

She frowned sharply. The man she knew was not one to say something so sentimental. Seeing her expression twist as if she’d bitten into a rotten apple, Noah flushed, turned away, and avoided her gaze.

The stars reminded me of you, Captain! It made me think of all the times we kept watch under them! What? Is that not allowed?

I never thought you’d ‘fondly remember’ the countless nights on the battlefield. Especially not the times you got whacked for dozing off.

She laughed openly, genuinely amused. She hadn’t expected him to recall the same thing she had tonight.

Noah scowled at her laughter, but hearing that clear, bright sound made his own lips twitch upward.

They had met as superior and subordinate on the battlefield ten years ago, and as fellow orphans of the world, a deep bond had formed between them.

The Captain’s hand packs a sting, you know. Once you get hit, you never forget it.

Seems the title and land have made you bold. If you miss it so much, I could beat you under the moonlight until dust flies—how about it?

Ow! I’m too old for that! Back then, I—!

Once old stories began, they didn’t stop. What they reminisced about were fleeting peaceful moments amid hardship, but like stars shining brighter in the dark, the harder life had been, the more those tiny happinesses stayed with them.

Mom!

But their long, cheerful conversation was cut short by the voice of a drowsy child.

Ah, Eddie’s awake. If you don’t have anything important, you should go.

I’ll wait until you put him back to sleep.

Next time. It’s late, and the night’s chilly, so dress warmly.

She took off the shawl from her shoulders and tossed it to him. It draped long and awkwardly over his frame.

Without even watching him leave, she strode quickly back inside. Even after she was gone, the terrace held traces of life for some time.

That’s troublesome. If Eddie wakes up midway, it’s hard to get him back to sleep.

From far away, the child’s small, whining voice echoed in her ears. Calling for “Mom, Mom,” Eddie drove her to run down the castle’s long corridor, manners forgotten.

But no matter how far she ran, the hallway had no end.

Mom.

Had the castle’s halls always been this long? And had Eddie’s voice always been so thin?

Mom!

Her once-clear vision warped little by little. As though she were rising up from the depths of a lake, she drifted away from the Rubaltberh Castle of her past.

“—Eddie?”

When she blinked her eyes open, Karia realized she had been dreaming. Cold air tickled her nose, and something heavy pressed against her chest. Looking down, she saw a pile of stones sitting on top of her.

“You…”

You’re awake?

“Were you the one calling me?”

Yes, Mom.

Hearing the golem’s confident reply, Karia’s expression twisted. Unless she had misheard, the golem had just called her “Mom.”