112. Riddle
Sunlight streamed down through the leaves, scattering into halos of light as a gentle breeze passed by.
The path leading to the Magic Tower was still quiet and mysterious. Outside the tower, snow lay thick on the ground, yet here it was filled with warm sunlight and a soft wind, as if one had stepped into a dream.
Even the sound of the wind was cut off by magic, leaving only an eerie stillness.
“Tch. All this useless pretension.”
Duke Errington, who had joined late after hearing of the visit to the Magic Tower, was shaking his head as he glanced all around from beside Velia.
His tone was openly disapproving.
Velia responded by mentioning something she had once read in a book.
“This forest is protected by a magic circle set up by the first master of the Magic Tower. I heard it detects visitors and prevents intrusions.”
The duke swished his hand through the air a few times. Then, as though he had grasped something, he clenched his fist and, at Velia’s puzzled look, said:
“Hold out your hand.”
Velia did as he instructed.
The duke placed something into her palm.
“Ah?”
It was a single, glittering golden thread.
“This is part of that magic circle.”
“What? But then…”
Seeing Velia about to voice her worry about damaging the spell, the duke briskly dusted his empty hands and said:
“Taking a tiny bit like this won’t cause a problem, don’t worry.”
The golden thread soon crumbled into pieces and vanished.
“Besides, there’s no one left to operate the circle now. It’s just ornamental, something that looks mysterious. I’m sure there’s a way to break the spell from inside the tower, but they leave it like this just to impress ordinary people who don’t know any better.”
Good heavens.
Velia stifled her surprise with her hand at the duke’s cutting remark.
“They’re probably enjoying the way people look at the Magic Tower and mages as something mystical. And honestly, I can’t say I completely blame them. A little of that reputation can be useful.”
Velia nodded in agreement.
Then the duke, after pausing a moment to choose his words, murmured softly:
“I know it’s inconvenient that I suddenly decided to accompany you… but I taught myself magic. I’ve been wanting to see what today’s mages are like. And I wanted to talk with you.”
Velia looked at him curiously.
“I heard there’s a Magic Tower in the north as well. Haven’t you visited it?”
The duke gave a wry smile.
“The northern tower is the Emperor’s eyes on me. At some point he started to suspect me, seeing I do not age as he does. The mages there spend all their time investigating me.”
Velia stared at him, startled by this new revelation. The duke continued with a faint smile:
“Well, I suppose it does look strange. A man whose younger brother looks the same age as his son. It’s as if I held some unnatural power, wouldn’t you think?”
For decades the Emperor had been keeping a constant watch on Duke Errington—despite holding the greatest power in his hands, he still fretted about losing it.
Velia glanced back to estimate the distance to the knights following them, making sure no one could overhear. Then she asked carefully:
“This is something I heard from the future… if it’s all right, may I ask?”
The duke nodded for her to go on.
“Through Raul, I heard that in the previous life the Emperor’s throne should have been yours. Is that true?”
For a moment the duke said nothing. His gaze grew distant, as though reaching back into a far-off past.
“…In the end, I didn’t take that position, so it wasn’t mine.”
Having refused the crown prince’s seat himself, the duke had been granted the northern duchy by the late emperor.
And, worried that the current emperor might harm his younger brother, the late emperor had arranged to send him to the north while still alive.
“He was a man full of worries. So worried I might be killed by my brother that he could hardly sleep at night.”
The faint smile on Duke Errington’s face looked tinged with sadness.
“He sounds like a kind man.”
“Yes. Perhaps because my elder brother was greedy and I seemed less so by comparison.”
“Then… how about now?”
Velia’s question was quiet but sharp.
In the future Khalid had described, he had returned to the past instead of becoming emperor himself.
Perhaps Duke Errington was still hiding an ambition for the throne.
“To become emperor in this unaging body… If nothing happens, I’ll outlive everyone by far. People would surely see me as a monster.”
Velia was about to tell him that wouldn’t happen, but stopped. She couldn’t be sure.
Even she herself sometimes flinched at the reminder that the man who looked her age was actually older than her father.
The duke’s expression seemed to understand all of this. He deliberately went on in a lighter, joking tone:
“And besides, I much prefer studying and researching magic tucked away in the north to ruling a country. Can you imagine how many truths of the world I’ve uncovered by now?”
“You mean…”
“I have no intention of becoming emperor. My support of the second prince is nothing more than goodwill—and the price of a contract. So the crown princess need not worry.”
Velia recalled the blue sapphire he had once given her, and the many mentions of a “contract” during their conversations.
She had never made any contract with him.
At first she thought he was referring to her agreement with Khalid in the previous life. But the duke spoke as if there were a contract between himself and her.
Velia stopped walking and asked:
“What exactly is this contract?”
“Patience. It’s still too early to tell you, Crown Princess.”
The duke’s seasoned face was gentle but firm.
“…Did I make a deal with you in my previous life?”
“You could say yes… or no.”
“It’s like a riddle.”
The duke began walking again, speaking slowly.
“Ha ha ha. I suppose it is. Hm. Shall I give you a hint, then?”
Couldn’t he just tell her outright?
It was as if some constraint prevented him from speaking now. Yet he didn’t seem malicious or playful about keeping the truth.
“Long ago, I didn’t believe in the gods. I thought the truths of the world lay within the world itself. I scoffed at the idea that we were God’s creations and wondered, if there really were gods, why they abandoned us as we were. So I delved deeper into the magic that permeates the world.”
His eyes turned to some faraway place.
“But then… as if mocking my doubts, there came a day when I stood face-to-face with the chief deity. The old texts call it ‘enlightenment,’ I think.”
The duke looked like a sage.
On his youthful face was the bearing of a man who had lived a lifetime.
“My body stopped aging around then—on the day I felt the god’s gaze upon me…”
He fell silent, stood still, and lifted his head to the sky.
An aura of something untouchable seemed to radiate from him.
Velia quietly watched him. After a moment, the duke lowered his gaze and met hers. In a clear voice he said:
“Crown Princess. Divine power and magic are not different things.”
With that enigmatic statement, the duke strode quickly toward the Magic Tower.
Velia stared blankly at his back, turning his words over and over in her mind.
“Habisa.”
Velia called warmly to Habisa, whom she hadn’t seen in a while.
Startled out of her research, Habisa leapt up and hurried over to her.
“Your Highness! It’s been so long. Have you been well?”
“We’ve kept in touch, but it’s been ages since we met in person. You’ve always helped me so much.”
“Oh, come now. You buy everything anyway.”
Habisa replied playfully, her voice bright. Velia pulled out a list of magical items from her coat.
“I’m here to buy more of the items I purchased last time, and I have a few special orders too.”
“I heard there’s been a lot of trouble with the weather. Our tower has decided to support you fully this time, so just say the word! I’ll sell everything at cost, very cheap!”
“Thank you, Habisa.”
She had arranged to purchase not only Habisa’s creations but also magical devices crafted by other mages in bulk. They needed to quickly establish routes to connect isolated areas.
The relief goods had to be delivered to save those people.
Velia’s expression grew a little dark.
Just then, as she checked the list of magical tools Velia handed her, Habisa suddenly remembered something and said:
“Oh, by the way, His Highness the First Prince visited not long ago.”
Raul?
“And he knew about the Bracelet of Blessing too… Did you tell him about it?”
What?
“He even said he knew you had given the bracelet to the Second Prince…”
At Habisa’s words, Velia could finally be certain.
The existence of the Bracelet of Blessing had only become known shortly before her death, when someone had survived an accident thanks to a magical tool they had bought long ago at the Magic Tower.
She had thought Raul, with his incomplete memories, could not possibly know of the bracelet. But the fact that he knew both of Habisa and the bracelet meant—
Raul has regained all his memories from before regression. I’m sure of it.
She had suspected. Perhaps he had deceived them. She had even thought his ties with the Kingdom of Yakum were because he’d recovered his memories.
But judging from how he acted toward her, she could never be certain.
This was the man who had once begged her to die, claiming to love another woman.
The man who had shoved poison into her mouth, wishing her to die sooner.
Why…?
Velia had thought she knew everything about Raul.
His little habits, his quirks.
But he was slipping further and further from her predictions.
Velia clenched her teeth.
What is it you want from me, Raul?
