TUSM 5

Chapter 05

Silence settled over the reception room.

Caius rested his chin on his hand and stared straight at me.

Why is he reacting like this?

At least say something.

It’s scary.

Before long, he lifted the corner of his mouth in a graceful smile. Even now, that smile was deadly.

“What do you think I’m going to say?”

“…I think you’ll say you don’t need me.”

“You know me well. Fine. I’ll make a special exception and lock you up at the very top of the duke’s spire. Then—”

“But please hear me out.”

I hurriedly called out to him as he was about to rise from his seat.

Caius, who had been eyeing me askance, rubbed at his eyes and leaned back against the chair again, flicking his brow as if to say, Go on.

“Just one year. If you spare my life for that long, I’ll disappear from before your eyes without a trace afterward. Ah—of course, if you let me go.”

“And why should I do that?”

The question came back coolly. In the meantime, Caius’s face filled with boredom. He already looked like he was half tuning me out.

Before his patience ran completely dry, I spoke.

“…Well, it’s because I—”

“You?”

“I can find out who was responsible for the incident eight years ago.”

Caius, who had been sitting cross-legged and idly flicking his toes in the air, froze.

A blatant crack appeared on the face that had been displaying nothing but boredom.

Without realizing it, I clenched the tattered hem of my skirt.

Terrifying.

Way too terrifying.

Why are his eyes yellow of all colors?

It just makes it creepier.

…Well, I did write him that way. Right.

“And once you learn the whole truth, you’ll set me free. So I can cross the border.”

“…Oh.”

“…….”

“Well, well.”

A soft chuckle escaped him as Caius lowered his head.

And then, in an instant—

Shing.

A blade was at my throat again.

“Ghk.”

Why does he keep pulling a sword on me? I seriously want to cry.

“You’ll uncover the culprit, you say….”

Caius stood, his eyes narrowing without a trace of a smile.

“To me, that sounds very much like you’re connected to the incident eight years ago.”

“…I’m not?”

Prick.

At that moment, I felt the thin skin of my neck slice open, and something hot trickled down the nape of my neck.

I didn’t need to check. He was genuinely trying to cut me.

“You’d better choose your words carefully from now on, witch. My patience just ran out.”

Caius spoke in an unusually gentle voice. When his anger reached its peak, he tended to grow calmer instead.

…If I mess this up, I’m really going to die.

Sensing instinctive danger, I answered quickly without delay.

“I can track the culprit.”

Those bright yellow eyes still reflected no emotion.

But the fact that he hadn’t slit my throat yet told me he was more shaken than he let on.

“The target is a vicious criminal, and they’re in hiding now. So I can’t identify them right away, but if you give me a little time, I can trace their general background. You know I’m a magical prodigy, right? I can use a spell once a month to find clues. I’ll report to you every time.”

It was complete bullshit.

In truth, that bastard couldn’t be tracked with ordinary black magic at all. I only knew because I was the author.

“So you’ll provide clues about the culprit once a month, and in return gain your freedom after a year?”

“Yes!”

I nodded like a madwoman, inching myself away from the sword.

The reason I’d forced my way here was simple.

In one year, an ancient divine relic known as the “Stone of Longing” was supposed to appear here.

In the original story, the man Caius was hunting would obtain it—but this time, I planned to snatch it first.

With that, I could return to the real world. And after I left, Charlotte would regain her original body according to the laws of romance fantasy.

You won’t be able to set foot in the capital anyway, so leave the empire and live well somewhere no one knows you, Charlotte.

“This is something only I can do. No other mage could pull it off.”

“So you’re the worst witch in the capital, and your arrogance is impressive.”

“But it’s true.”

I hesitated, then added,

“…And thanks to you, Your Grace, most nearby black mages are already dead.”

Since he killed them all himself.

“…….”

Caius fell silent for a moment.

Seizing the opening as his killing intent waned, I hurriedly added,

“Think it over carefully. Even if you assume I’m lying and trust me for a year, you really have nothing to lose.”

It had been eight years since the former emperor and empress passed away. Despite seizing the black mages’ territory and slaughtering countless black mages, Caius hadn’t even caught a whiff of the culprit.

Naturally. The criminal behind that incident was the novel’s final mastermind.

It couldn’t be revealed yet.

“You’ll definitely need me.”

His face still showed doubt.

Maybe I needed one decisive blow after all.

“Just a moment. Wait.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, furrowing my brow as if concentrating deeply. With one hand, I conjured a dark violet mist, deliberately creating an eerie atmosphere.

Even through my closed eyelids, I could feel Caius’s relentless gaze.

To think I had to put on a show like this just to stay alive.

Life isn’t easy.

After roughly a few dozen seconds, I cracked my eyes open.

“A sword.”

I met his gaze as I spoke.

“The sword that disappeared that day—that was the culprit’s objective.”

“…What?”

At last, he showed clear agitation.

No wonder.

The sword stolen that day was an ancient divine relic the imperial family had secretly protected for five hundred years. Even after it was stolen, the fact itself had been kept under strict secrecy—something no outsider could possibly know.

“I just saw it. Faintly, but still.”

If I hadn’t become a writer, I might have ended up a con artist.

I never knew I could lie so smoothly without changing my expression.

Is it because my life’s on the line?

Caius tilted his head slowly, his expression unreadable.

An uneasy silence flowed through the reception room.

“…Still suspicious. I should kill you.”

“Hey!”

You unfilial bastard!

Oh god, I’m dead!

As Caius raised his sword again, I squeezed my eyes shut.

But even after several seconds passed, I felt neither my throat being cut nor even the chill of a blade.