“Even though my uncle was a magician, he was a mage of considerably lower caliber compared to Charlotte. How could he have known what kind of magic it was when even Charlotte herself didn’t know? He must have bothered Charlotte alone. He had no choice but to speak.”

On the face of the emperor who spoke such words, there was a deep human compassion towards my mother.

Suddenly, I realized.

He had only ever referred to himself as ‘I,’ never once as ‘we.’

(Note: the ‘we’ here is written as ‘Jim’, it’s like how emperors in Korea address themselves, similar to ‘zhen’ in Chinese.)

So, this person was a friend of Dad and a cousin of Mom from start to finish.

Rather than Evan, the emperor.

“Anyway, well, that’s not important, so let’s move on. That day… it must have been Uncle, not Charlotte, right? The Astariol he marked as the scapegoat, was the most annoying Duke Chelsiers.”

Evan spoke calmly.

“He was the person most opposed to the emperor’s tyranny, and it seemed like he was hiding his nephew.”

I could picture a scene of a young, emotionless, calm-looking dad entering through the door of the hall.

And mom, with a flushed face, anxiously tapping her toes as she waited for dad to come in.

The image came to mind so vividly that my whole body shuddered.

“And the moment Ashel entered the hall, Charlotte must have activated her magic, and Ashel must have seen Charlotte.”

“…so?”

“So? Ah, this is a bit awkward to say outright.”

Evan narrowed his eyes.

I remained silent. I didn’t feel like marveling or exclaiming ‘wow’ at all.

“It’s cruel… alright. Ashel fell in love. A very, very, very severe love.”

I couldn’t help but glare at Evan. Tell me stories I didn’t know, not the ones I already knew.

He didn’t joke further.

“But the problem is… this is more akin to a curse or dark magic, isn’t it? Astariol had a high resistance to curses. Extremely, truly high. Enough to deflect most curses.”

But dad was affected by this magic.

I struggled to swallow that statement, but Evan shrugged as if to indicate a silent query.

“Astariol was affected by such a curse? Even though he was fine for fifteen years, it seemed like he would be fine in the future too. So… he must have needed truly tremendous power, right?”

My eyes widened.

“Charlotte completely depleted her magic that day. Not only the magic she had accumulated until then but also the magic she would accumulate in the future.”

“… then?”

“If you’re smart, you’ll understand what that means, right? All of Charlotte’s magic is now bound to this spell.”

Ah.

I couldn’t even sigh.

The book <Basics of Magic> was filled with fingerprints and underlines, and Mom skillfully handled magic potions.

At the age of ten, she wore a wizard’s robe, and at eighteen, she was called the next Archmage. She was once the person with the greatest talent in magic.

Now she was rereading <Basics of Magic> and living a life without magic.

The depths of despair, palpable even to someone who knew nothing about magic.

…the endless abyss after the original sin of one’s own choosing.

Evan said quietly.

“The next part is probably what you expect. Ashel wanted to take Charlotte out, and Uncle lost interest in his daughter who had lost her magic. So, ironically… Charlotte ended up forcibly marrying the victim of her own chosen magic.”

“… but Mom was really Tara.”

“At that time, everyone thought Ashel had turned away because of magic.”

Of course, everyone would have thought so. It’s an irrefutable story.

Astariol was enchanted.

No one knew exactly what that magic was, and even the woman who cast it was the daughter of the tyrant emperor.

And if the Astariol said that woman was his Tara and wanted to marry her…

Who would congratulate them willingly? Even the woman herself fiercely opposed the marriage.

“At the wedding ceremony, have you ever seen a bride pull out the ring the groom put on and throw it to her father? It was a real mess.”

“…yes?”

“Really. I was there disguised as Ashel’s knight. He picked out that ring so carefully… you should have seen Ashel’s expression when Charlotte threw it away.”

The story had now progressed to the point where it was almost a joke.

All the important parts must have been concluded.

As soon as I realized that my body collapsed like a scarecrow at the end of its life.

Even the strength to stand up forcibly had been exhausted.

Evan kneeled on the ground nonchalantly, then lifted me up. When a knight offered to carry me instead, he shook his head.

Then, as if everything had been said, he walked out of the hall.

I murmured faintly.

“That magic… it was the second time you used it today, right?”

Evan paused for a moment, then continued walking.

“Why do you think that?”

“Unless Dad tried it at least once to find out what kind of magic Mom didn’t know. When my father tried to swear to Fermata, I can’t imagine you didn’t try to stop it by giving an order as the emperor.”

“…is that so?”

Slowly, the fever rose in my body, freeing me from the oppressive discomfort and pressure. With relief, my vision became blurry.

“Dad isn’t stupid…”

The man was quiet.

“From the moment you realized what that magic was, you never gave a serious order again. As a friend, even though he has an Astariol daughter, he brought us all here trusting Your Majesty….”

“You just met me today. How can you trust me?”

“…really, if you had intended to betray my father. Your Majesty wouldn’t have said such things today… you would have prepared enough magic power and used that magic again.”

I muttered other reasons inside my mouth.

It was strange that he didn’t seem godlike at all. The emperor’s attitude was cheerful and light-hearted.

He was extremely cautious not to ‘command’ as an emperor, even if by mistake… making the way he spoke seem frivolous.

But including that, countless reasons I noticed sank relentlessly into my closed eyes and sealed lips.

And between the boiling heat and the confused consciousness, I dreamed.

It was a dream of looking at the door trembling in someone’s sight.

– I can’t help it, I can’t help it, I can’t help it.

‘I’ murmured those words like a prayer.

– This shouldn’t be like this, really shouldn’t be like this. But still, I can’t help it….

Then the door opened. Someone came in.

A man with very cold purple eyes, slightly wrinkling his face.

His chilly face was cool and elegant, and his red lips were tantalizing. His cold and distant appearance was so perfectly chilling that it wrapped around an even more eerie atmosphere.

Although he had a young and smooth face, it was not vulgar at all, but rather dignified…

The man’s gaze fell directly on ‘me’.

Slowly, the man’s lips parted. ‘My’ gaze also completely fixed on his lips.

The man spoke slowly. It was a bewildering voice.

– Is this… happening right now…?

Completely enchanted by him, I suddenly regained consciousness.

‘I’ hastily summoned magic from my heart to my fingertips.

While facing directly the purple eyes of the man pouring entirely onto me.

 

* * *

 

I suddenly opened my eyes.

The purple eyes I saw in my dream were right in front of me. I whispered in a daze.

“…Dad.”

Dad calmly sat at the head of the bed and lifted me up in his arms.

His hand bringing a glass from the bedside table and handing it to me was as steady as ever, reassuring me even more.

I drank the water as he led me, quietly nestled in his arms.

The silence enveloped the cozy spot. Quiet and peaceful.

Like a bird snuggling in its mother’s embrace, I was momentarily hidden from the outside world, nestled in Dad’s embrace, then asked.

“Are Mom and Eciel okay?”

“They both fainted from crying too much. They’re sleeping now, exhausted.”

“Um… then, is it okay for you to be here with me?”

Dad chuckled softly.

“Of course, I have only one body, and although I love Charlotte and Eciel deeply.”

He gently stroked my head and forehead.

“You’re also my young and precious daughter, Claire. The one I love.”

I blinked my eyes and smiled a little.

I leaned slightly, instinctively seeking more from Dad, who always seemed to already know everything I wanted to hear.

Slightly relaxed, I leaned more against Dad. He accepted me with reassuring stability.

“Claire, I have something to ask you.”

I slowly woke up again from a drowsy state, opening my eyes to his gentle, smooth voice.

Very low, soft, and even affectionate.

It felt like stroking the soft, glossy fur of an animal.

“Did you go there?”

At that moment, I was fully awake.

…it feels like there’s a beast in front of me.

Sharp claws. Sharp fangs gleaming in a slightly open mouth. The calmness of preparing for the hunt while breathing softly.

Under the glossy fur I had been fondling and enjoying until now….

A spine-tingling tension ran along my spine as if I were facing the eyes of a living beast.

He smiled softly.

He noticed. That I understood….

Dad gently asked.

“Did he cast a spell on you?”

Even though I knew it wasn’t a threat, I couldn’t bring myself to speak, even though I knew.

I just shook my head, trembling.

Hmm….

A clear, low, spreading vibration, like a breath.

Dad took a long breath and suddenly brought up a completely different topic.

“I’ve never told you about my abilities. I call my ability ‘Possession’.”

I thought of the disappearing and reappearing snacks. The taste of the milk pudding that melted sweetly in my mouth.

“If I want anything, I can pull it into my space. I can bring it out again from there, or just discard it.”

The power that disappeared when I tried to push him away when we first met. The chilled tea water that never appeared again.