Episode 20
Lionel’s face darkened, and Lindsay instantly realized something was wrong.
Wait… did I just say something I shouldn’t have?
“…Are you already tired of me?” he asked quietly.
Lindsay froze.
She hadn’t meant it that way.
She wanted to clear up the misunderstanding fast.
“Where would I ever find another worker like you? It’s just… You have to stick with me to survive, right? Being forced into someone else’s life, that can’t feel—”
“Witch,” Lionel interrupted, his voice low, carrying across the mountain top.
“I got this damned illness four years ago.”
Lindsay shut her mouth.
He spoke slowly, each word heavy like stone.
“My life used to be fearless. Even the emperor would watch his words around me. Nobles tripped over themselves just to get close to the Tower. Inside the Tower, it was even worse. Magicians worshipped me like I was untouchable. I thought that was how it would always be.”
His voice sank lower and lower.
“Then one ordinary day… after a council meeting, when I went to start a new line of research, I felt it. The moment I tried to move my mana, it was like my whole body was burning alive.”
His face twisted in pain at the memory.
Mana Corruption.
A disease with no known cause or cure—unlike mana deficiency, this one slowly rotted both body and mind.
Truly incurable.
“After that, I stopped all outside work. Every day was about trying to find a cure. And failing.”
Lindsay already knew this part from the novel.
Eventually, Lionel never found a cure, and the story began there.
But hearing it in his own words, raw and bitter, was far heavier than the little paragraph she’d once skimmed.
Her hands clenched tight.
Something about hearing his suffering firsthand hit her hard.
“I was just waiting for death… until I met you.”
He suddenly stood, then dropped to his knees in front of her.
Pressing his forehead against the navy skirt covering her knees, he grabbed her hand desperately.
Lindsay couldn’t bring herself to pull away.
His hand was cold, trembling with nerves.
“Please keep me by your side. At least until you can’t stand me anymore. Don’t throw me away.”
Lindsay stared down at him, conflicted.
She tried gently pulling her hand free, but Lionel gripped tighter.
His lavender eyes dimmed, chasing after her hand as it slipped away.
She pushed at his head instead, meaning to get some space.
But his silver hair brushed against her palm, rubbing against her like a spoiled pet.
What the… are you a dog now?
“Don’t abandon me. Without you, I’ll die.”
Lindsay froze.
The man who always flirted shamelessly was now clinging to her like a child.
She had no idea how to react.
She never intended to abandon him—in fact, she had only brought it up because she wanted to help him find stability.
She planned to work him hard, sure, but also to look after him in return.
“Don’t leave me… Please… why won’t you answer?”
“…I’m not leaving you. I won’t. So let go already, and let’s eat before the meat gets cold.”
Seriously, even the shadows were sulking as they watched the food cool.
The shadow-hands drooped like melted wax over the grill.
Awkwardly, Lindsay patted his head. She kept patting, and only after she promised—for now—to stay with him did Lionel finally pull away.
Later, after dropping Lionel back in the capital, Lindsay returned to the Molten Mountains completely drained.
She slumped into the chair they’d eaten dinner in, feeling like a wilted vegetable.
Behind her, the campfire still glowed.
Warmth pressed against her back, while a breeze from the barrier above cooled her flushed skin.
Her body slowly loosened, her mind drifting back to earlier that night.
Lionel, kneeling in front of her, begging not to be abandoned… She wrinkled her nose in discomfort.
It had felt like she was holding a leash over him.
She never wanted to see him that way again.
What had she told Nero once, when he asked why she was so soft with Lionel? Something about his face?
“…Yeah, right. Not his face…”
She groaned, throwing her arm over her eyes.
Now she was sure—her weakness toward him wasn’t because he was handsome.
It was a pity.
Pure pity.
She just couldn’t turn away from the weak and pitiful.
Before sending him home, she had absorbed some of his corrupted mana.
And this time, his reaction had been… different.
His cheeks flushed red, his eyes lowered, no teasing or smirking.
He looked like a puppy desperate not to be abandoned.
How could she not feel sympathy for him?
The irony stung—he had everything in the world, yet his illness reduced him to depending completely on others.
That, more than anything, made him pitiful.
His obsession with her was only natural—she was his lifeline.
I’ll look after him.
But once we find him a way to survive, I’ll let him go.
That’s the right thing to do.
With her decision made, Lindsay stood.
She cleaned up the dining spot with magic, then teleported.
She appeared deep underground, in the very core of her “house”—the Power Room.
Her home had six levels, from the mountaintop log house down to the lowest floor.
This place was the most important: the engine that powered everything.
The barrier, the fake sky, all the magic of the house—it all came from the massive glowing stone stored here.
Lindsay placed her hand on the giant green crystal.
She began adjusting the spellwork.
Originally, she had blocked teleportation completely to keep intruders out. But now, she rewrote the formula.
Once finished, she stepped back.
A small fist-sized stone nearby flickered faintly, almost hidden in the rough floor.
She picked it up with both hands, poured mana into it.
The dim light blazed brilliantly for a moment before dimming back to a weak glow.
Then she pulled out a dagger, slashing her palm without hesitation.
Dark red blood trickled down her fingers, dripping onto the stone’s base.
The ground around the crystal drank her blood greedily.
Once it was soaked through, Lindsay healed her wound and pressed her hand to the bloody earth.
She whispered a low incantation:
“I offer this sacrifice. Grant me the promised return.”
The blood hissed, burning away into black smoke.
She channeled the energy she’d gained back into the earth, the deadened soil slowly reviving, glowing faint green along its veins.
Light spread outward, wrapping the giant stone, pulsing like a living heart.
When Lindsay finally stood, a pair of yellow eyes glowed in front of her.
At some point, the black cat had appeared, silently watching her.
