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Chapter 10
Noah stumbled out of the room and lazily gestured to the people in the hall.
“You heard me, right? It’s an emergency. Everyone go home. We’re closed today.”
The people didn’t move and began murmuring among themselves. Among them, a gruff-looking middle-aged man stepped forward, pointed aggressively, and shouted.
“Move aside—what kind of nonsense is that? I’ve been waiting in line since the crack of dawn, and just when it’s finally my turn, you tell me to leave?”
Noah looked at the man with a crooked posture and gave a half-hearted smile.
“But it is an emergency, isn’t it? The butler of the estate himself came all the way here to say it was an important matter.”
“How great could it possibly be that you’d send away all these people who’ve been waiting?”
“If it’s urgent enough to need me, then it must mean the North is going to be destroyed today, or tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow.”
“……”
“It’s a huge incident, right? Well, I’m busy dealing with this huge incident, so please head back for today.”
“……”
The once-boastful middle-aged man gaped and couldn’t say a word.
I was also a bit taken aback.
‘Why destruction of all things…?’
Considering the original story, it wasn’t entirely nonsense. What is this? Such insight from the administrator of the North?
“We’ll notify you once a destruction response plan is established. Now that you’ve heard everything, please leave.”
Noah said nonchalantly and gestured for the guards. The gathered people whispered among themselves, glanced around, and dispersed. I quietly whispered to the butler.
“Everyone’s misunderstanding, but is it really okay to send them off like this? I’m worried bad rumors might spread.”
“It’s fine. Besides, an incident close to destruction has indeed occurred.”
“Excuse me? What happened?”
“The broken engagement.”
The butler replied with a gloomy face. I blinked blankly and whispered again.
“Is a broken engagement really that serious an incident?”
“Perhaps for others it wouldn’t be, but for us… yes, it is. Because it’s Jestian-nim’s broken engagement.”
The butler’s face was clearly dark as he said that. Is a broken engagement frowned upon in the North? Is the North more conservative than the capital?
Ah, maybe that’s why Jest treated me so coldly in my previous life. Because I was the one who made him go through an engagement he was reluctant to break.
‘Then do all Northerners marry their fiancés? What do they do if they don’t get along or their relationship sours?’
Thinking of a broken engagement as an absolute last resort, a final measure used only when unavoidable, I suddenly felt a flicker of hope. But it faded just as quickly.
No. Perhaps, as Lady Hilde said, he truly hated me, couldn’t bear it, and ultimately decided to break it off.
Maybe he didn’t even want to see my face and hoped I’d leave while he was away. In the span of a few seconds, my mood soared to the sky and then plummeted.
After chasing everyone out, Noah closed the door and returned, eyeing us with displeasure.
“So. What’s so important that you’d bother me at this ungodly hour?”
“Jestian-nim has broken off the engagement.”
“What? A broken engagement?”
Noah jumped as if he’d spring into the air, his mouth opening and closing in shock. But surprisingly, he calmed down quickly.
“A broken engagement? Broken engagement… Well, I suppose he’s wrapping up the betrothal and getting married. He’s about that age, after all. So you called it a broken engagement? I suppose I’ll have to send wedding congratulations, though it’s a bother.”
“That’s not it at all! It’s a broken engagement, plain and simple—a broken engagement!”
“Oh, come on. Say something that makes sense. Jestian-nim isn’t the sort of person for that, is he?”
“That’s exactly the problem, that’s it!”
Noah frowned at the butler’s scolding.
“A real broken engagement? But Jestian-nim never ordered a letter of annulment, and I haven’t received any separate communication about it.”
I cautiously interjected.
“I received the annulment letter. About a week ago.”
“A letter of annulment? Was it issued from our side?”
I nodded toward Noah, who asked urgently, and explained the situation. That a priest sent from the Grand Temple had brought the annulment letter, and that I had signed it. Very simply.
“I suppose it was unavoidable since I can no longer use divine power.”
I tried to smile awkwardly and pretend it was no big deal. That this wasn’t something worth gathering here and fretting over. That if I left, it would all be over.
But before I could continue, Noah, with wide eyes, opened his mouth first.
“You can’t use divine power? Have you been cursed or something?”
“Uh, no. It’s not that. It just disappeared. I don’t really understand it myself, but these cases do happen sometimes.”
In fact, several of the children I grew up with had lost their divine power this way and left the temple. I suppose I lasted longer than them, so that’s something.
“Is that so? You’re not feeling any physical abnormalities, are you?”
“No. My divine power just vanished.”
Noah sighed and said something unexpected.
“That’s a relief. I’m glad it’s not an illness or a curse or anything.”
Before my regression, whenever news of my lost divine power spread, everyone either criticized me or treated me with annoyance. I had never heard such worried words. I fidgeted with the hem of my clothes for no reason.
“By the way, most documents leaving the Lefgaen estate pass through my hands, but I’ve never seen this annulment letter.”
“Then the annulment letter must have been forged.”
At the butler’s words, Noah silently writhed on the sofa.
“Why would you say that!”
“What?”
“Th-that, that word!”
“Forgery?”
Noah flailed again. This time more violently, causing a cushion on the sofa to tumble to the floor.
“Don’t utter such unlucky words!”
“Then what should I call it? A fabricated annulment letter? A doctored annulment letter?”
Noah plopped off the sofa. He lay still for a while, then muttered in a low voice.
“That’s why I told you to create a new seal or change the signature to make forgery harder, but you never listened.”
“Ahem.”
As the butler cleared his throat and cut Noah off, I fell into thought.
‘The annulment letter definitely had Jest’s signature and the Lefgaen crest. Did I misread it?’
A sudden wave of anxiety made me gnaw on my lower lip. Could it really have been forged? I was quite flustered at the time, and there were priests around, so I hadn’t even thought to suspect anything.
In fact, the Lefgaen crest is so famous and simple that anyone can recognize it. A blue holy sword planted in white snow symbolizing the North. What if that really was forged…
My heart raced. I wanted to see that document again.
“I’m not sure. The annulment letter…”
As I trailed off, everyone seemed to grasp my feelings, and the atmosphere in the room sank.
“What’s done is done. For now, the important thing is to resolve this, so I’ll send a message-bird to Jestian-nim.”
The butler smiled gently and offered a small comfort. I lowered my head gloomily.
“If it was forged, hmm. By any chance, can we check the security magic stone in Jestian-nim’s office? We need to see if anyone has been sneaking in and out.”
“The mage is away right now, so it’ll be difficult immediately.”
Noah showed clear disappointment. The magic stone can only be used if you know the formula engraved on it, and unless you’re the mage who created it, it’s hard to decipher what formula was used.
‘Wait a minute. I know a lot of magic formulas.’
Before my regression, I had no particular hobbies to occupy my time, so I used to read magic books whenever I had free time. Thanks to that, I could memorize not only basic magic formulas but also quite a few rare ones.
“May I take a look?”
“Huh? At what?”
“The security magic stone. I can figure out what magic formula it uses in about two days.”
Noah blinked, then furrowed his brow.
“You’ll figure it out? The magic formula? How?”
“I know a bit about magic formulas. Besides, most formulas used in security magic stones are similar, so they’re easy to identify.”
I felt the attention of everyone in the room focus on me. I scratched my flushed cheek lightly, hesitated, and added.
“Is two days too slow?”
“……”
“Then, I’ll get it done within a day.”
I had nothing else to do anyway, and I thought I could manage it if I stayed up all night. Noah opened and closed his mouth a few times before springing up from his seat.
“Good heavens, what a relief.”
Noah’s small exclamation, Sylvia’s applause, and the butler’s apologetic yet relieved expression. It was embarrassing, but my heart felt a little lighter. I had found something I could do.
“Oh, Noah-nim.”
The butler called Noah as if remembering something, and Noah replied with a sour tone.
“What now.”
“Would it be alright for Linea-nim to stay here for a few days?”
“Why would she stay here when there’s a spacious estate?”
“Because of Lady Hilde.”
Noah sighed as if he understood.
“That woman, honestly. What is her problem? Fine. Stay as comfortably as you like until Jestian-nim returns.”
I glanced around hesitantly and quietly asked.
“But this is also within the estate, isn’t it? Will it really be okay?”
Given Lady Hilde’s temperament, it seemed she might chase me all the way here and harass me.
“It’s fine. I may be one of the North’s vassals, but I’m also an official directly appointed by His Imperial Majesty. And this mansion is mine, so even that woman can’t act recklessly here.”
Noah snorted, then curled the corner of his mouth and added.
“Make yourself at home. Feel free. Except for my room. And as for the lodging fee, I’ll collect it separately from Jestian-nim, right? I’ll write the message-bird to Jestian-nim myself, including the matter of expenses.”
Noah rubbed his palms together, grinned with satisfaction, and picked up a pen.
“Let’s see. Roughly calculating land value, about 300 gold per night? Mm, mm. Good.”
The butler made a fed-up expression and hurriedly left, saying he would bring the magic stone. Sylvia, standing beside me, beamed and whispered.
“What a relief. From tomorrow, I’ll come to escort you here.”
I only nodded in response. I could stay in the North a little longer. For now, that alone was enough.
