~Chapter 124~
“Duke, you’re here. I’ll let His Majesty know you’ve arrived.”
A servant ran up and bowed to Leviathan.
Leviathan stood in front of the big audience room doors and quietly waited for permission to enter. It wasn’t long before the servant came back.
“You didn’t wait long! His Majesty says you may enter…”
The servant trailed off, glancing at the Duke.
“Um, sir… Did the door do something to upset you?”
He was poking the big jeweled doors with the end of his sword sheath.
“Why are there so many red jewels on this door?”
“Pardon?”
“Change them. To blue. At least then I wouldn’t feel so annoyed to come here.”
“…Sorry?”
“Are you slow at understanding? I mean bright and pretty blue jewels that sparkle even from far away. Jewels that make you think of curiosity and playfulness and just feel lovable—”
“Enough about your daughter. Come in already.”
Finally, an annoyed voice from inside cut Leviathan off.
“Tch. This is so annoying.”
Leviathan stopped talking, looking very grumpy, and went inside. The servant and aide shared a look behind his back.
Is he sick?
No, as always, he’s very healthy. …Physically, anyway.
When he entered, the first thing he saw was the Emperor’s surprised face.
“You’re acting like a moody teenager. Are you really that upset you couldn’t go to your daughter’s camp ceremony?”
Leviathan gave a crooked smile.
“I’m not that upset, but I think I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
“…”
He’s got it bad.
The Emperor shook his head.
“Alright, alright. Fix your face already. You can go to the last day of camp. What, should I make it a public holiday? ‘Zebbert Lady’s Camp Graduation Day’?”
Leviathan’s thick eyebrows twitched.
“Hmm, if you did, then the date should be—”
“You don’t even let me joke anymore. How did you end up like this?”
Where did my hero go? Bring him back.
The Emperor looked at him in disbelief.
Leviathan stared quietly at the man on the throne, then finally let out a long sigh.
He looked at the Emperor’s tired eyes and all the paperwork piled around him. He decided to stop complaining now.
“Sigh… So, what about the Continental Union? Is Arcadia doing something?”
The Emperor straightened up. The mood instantly became serious.
“Yes.”
The Emperor spoke. His voice was clearly lower now.
“It looks like the Magic King is acting strange.”
“…Strange, how?”
A dangerous light flashed in Leviathan’s purple eyes.
After eating, I was resting when Khalid came to see me.
Khalid and I decided not to use our magic communication here. My magic is unstable, and it’s hard to use magic in this area anyway.
“Can we talk outside for a minute?”
We went out to a small backyard near the dorms. A familiar squirrel sniffed around on his head.
“What’s up?”
“At the entrance ceremony… I think there was someone suspicious.”
My eyes went wide.
“What do you mean, suspicious?”
“She looked like a maid, but something was off. I couldn’t sense her magic well.”
I glanced at the squirrel and whispered,
“Did you follow her?”
Khalid clenched his fist and muttered,
“I tried, but I lost her. Sorry. I’m not good at controlling my magic here either.”
“It’s not your fault…”
I sat down on a tree stump.
‘A suspicious maid?’
It could have been a lost maid, but since I’m on the run, the Magic Kingdom came to mind right away. But…
‘It’s weird for the Magic King to act like that.’
If they wanted to catch me, they’d send a high-level mage, but all of them are busy right now.
“Is the Magic King still the same?”
“Yeah. He’s busy with the Delkan ruins past Eosia.”
When I heard that, I was sure the Magic King smelled black magic there.
‘But he can’t bring black magic back so easily.’
Because… I’m the one holding the key to that.
Anyway, it was a relief that the Magic King was focused elsewhere. All the magic trackers and other mages were sent to the Delkan ruins.
‘Except the mages guarding the palace.’
As I thought about that, I narrowed my eyes.
“I’ll keep tracking her. She looked like a maid from a noble house.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t an Academy maid’s uniform.”
Khalid spoke to reassure me.
‘A noble house’s maid… Which family?’
I thought hard and nodded.
“Alright. Still, I need to be as careful as possible.”
To be honest, my only reason for coming to the Academy was to find clues about my curse mark, so I didn’t plan to do anything that would draw attention.
‘If people knew at the entrance ceremony that I was Rubian Zebbert, things would be different.’
It’s embarrassing to say, but people seem more interested in the ‘Lady of the Zebbert family’ than I thought.
I played with the watch on my wrist out of habit.
Since coming to the capital, I always wore this. But it’s not really a watch—it’s a portable magic battery that Asha and I made. It holds magic and releases it a little at a time.
“How’s your condition? Are you okay?”
Khalid watched me carefully.
“Yeah! It feels about the same as when I was in Ipsen.”
“Tell me anytime if you need more magic.”
His dependable tone made me a little emotional.
“Thanks… my super battery…”
Khalid coughed a little.
“But don’t use too much magic here, okay!”
I told him off, but he just frowned. I ignored him and made a fist.
“Anyway, let’s just blend in! Nothing bad can happen!”
“Don’t worry too much. I’m here, and the Duke is right outside the Academy, so you’ll be fine…”
“Ah, Dad isn’t in the capital.”
I suddenly remembered and added,
My answer made Khalid’s face show rare surprise.
“…He’s not?”
“No, Dad…”
I remembered the letter the maid gave me right before I met Khalid.
“He had to leave on a trip by the Emperor’s order.”
“Sir, we’re ready.”
“…That was fast.”
Leviathan clicked his tongue, cursing the Emperor in his mind. So this was the plan all along—calling him to the palace.
He thought about the conversation in the audience room.
“What about the Magic King?”
“He sent mages to the Delkan ruins on the border between Eosia and Kasalia.”
“That’s a conflict zone.”
That area was changed by black magic during the war, which caused border problems between the two kingdoms.
Leviathan sighed shortly.
‘So the Kasalia king allowed them in.’
Kasalia, a desert country, uses a lot of magic tools and needs mages. The Magic King probably used that to get in.
“Why are the mages searching there?”
“They say it’s for magic stone exploration.”
“That’s definitely suspicious.”
“I agree. Why look for magic stones in empty ruins? But Kasalia allowed it…”
“So, why did you call me?”
“You’ve been to the Delkan ruins before, right?”
The Emperor didn’t hesitate.
“…You want me to go?”
“Your official reason will be to encourage a peaceful agreement in the border conflict, as part of a special envoy. But your trip is a secret.”
He added, very seriously,
“…One more thing. Don’t get into a fight with the mages. Just watch what they’re doing and see what their plans are. That’s enough.”
The Emperor still hadn’t decided if the Magic Kingdom should be excluded from the Continental Union.
Some countries, like Kasalia, depended on magic from the Magic Kingdom.
Magic was a useful tool.
So it was tempting to keep the Union together by keeping the mages happy.
But he still felt uneasy about the use of child soldiers in the war and the magic trackers. He definitely wanted to put some pressure on the Magic Kingdom.
“This is why I don’t come to the capital.”
Leviathan said coldly, and the Emperor just laughed.
That was the cue for the servant to bring out a big box.
