Chapter 50
“I happen to know a thing or two about directions.”
Leaning against the railing of the deck, I muttered to myself as I watched the sun rise over the horizon.
It’s been nearly ten days since we set sail.
That faint outline of land far away must be the Austrian Empire.
Finally, the day I can escape this damned sea is almost here.
“But… why do I feel so uneasy?”
The Kingdom of Tian lies to the west, the Austrian Empire to the east.
The Bellutin set out from the Kingdom of Tian, crossing the Dragon Sea, sailing endlessly eastward.
It was a normal route, and it made sense that the Empire should be in sight by now.
Then why… why does something feel off?
“Ah!”
A sudden realization struck, and I jumped straight up.
I dashed over to the Grand Duke, who was still watching me from ten paces away, and practically shouted my question.
“Your Grace! That land over there—is that the Austrian Empire?”
“Of course it is.”
“But… that’s not the Lupellen territory, is it?”
“Of cour— wait, how did you know?”
“Ahhhh! Aaaaaagh!”
I stomped my feet and screamed, shaking the whole deck in fury.
Tricked again. At this rate, I should just change my name from Jiana to Fooled-Again.
“Calm down, Jiana. It’s still the Empire, isn’t it? What’s the problem?”
“The Lupellen territory is way up north from here, isn’t it? I’m not wrong, am I?”
“My diver has such annoyingly sharp instincts.”
“I knew it! We were sailing too straight east! Lupellen’s in the north of the Empire!”
Overwhelmed by the excitement of finally reaching the Empire, I’d overlooked the most important detail!
“Our contract ends when we arrive at the Grand Duke’s estate! But if we disembark here, how are we getting there? Don’t tell me you’re going to claim the land route is faster than the sea route or something absurd like that!”
“Jiana, there’s… a reason.”
“A reason? Oh, sure—a reason to extend my contract, huh? Are you planning to sell my kidneys next?”
“What would I even do with your kidneys? There are plenty of big, burly sailors on this ship with much healthier kidneys than yours. So, don’t worry about that.”
“You crooked shipmaster! This was your plan all along, wasn’t it? To keep me trapped and work me like a slave forever!”
While I was yelling and cursing, the Bellutin glided smoothly toward the Empire.
Having used up all my energy screaming on an empty stomach, I collapsed on the deck and muttered curses under my breath.
“You… you rotten scoundrel… worse than a dog… a man who wouldn’t even pass recycling regulations…”
“Don’t bother trying to separate something that can’t be recycled. Just keep it close by.”
The Grand Duke smirked and held out a pouch of gold coins.
“Here. Consider this a bonus for reaching the Empire. How’s that—feel any better?”
Before he could say another word, I snatched the pouch and tucked it safely into my clothes.
After all, everything we do is for a living.
At that moment, a sailor’s voice rang out.
“We’ve arrived at the Austrian Empire! Brace yourselves—there may be a bit of a jolt as we dock!”
Thud.
With a loud impact, the ship finally docked at the Empire’s port.
After nearly three months since leaving Chok Island, I was finally stepping onto solid ground again.
✦✦✦
“What are you all even good for?”
The Tower Lord, Rio Blair, scowled as he looked at the line of mages standing before him.
On one side of his desk, piles of disappointing C-rank research reports were stacked high.
He slammed his hand down on the desk with a sharp bang, making the mages flinch.
“You’ve got not a shred of creativity, and it’s not like you’re even competent! What on earth should I do with you lot?”
One mage, the only one with a hint of backbone, protested timidly.
“Tower Lord, creativity requires a bit of freedom. Please stop squeezing us dry and let us go home.”
“Home? You have the nerve to talk about home after submitting this as a report?”
Rio grabbed a handful of papers and waved them right in the mage’s face.
“And besides—don’t you smell home already?”
He gestured toward a circular fan mounted on the wall.
The fan was spinning lazily, wafting the scent of home the mages had brought with them.
“You said you missed the smell of your house, your children—so I got you this. What more do you want?”
The mages sighed deeply, staring at their boss who seemed to have misplaced his humanity somewhere along the way.
It looked like they weren’t going home today either.
“Yes, yes. Back to work…”
Like wilted greens soaked in boiling water, the mages trudged back to their stations.
Watching them with clear dissatisfaction, Rio suddenly thought of Princess Arines—and felt an ache of longing.
Princess Arines was a creature born utterly different from these dull mages.
A wellspring of creativity, brilliance, and always smiling when she looked at him—she was Rio Blair’s muse incarnate.
Drawn by impulse, Rio grabbed one of the less terrible reports from his desk and made his way to the royal palace.
“Oh my, Tower Lord! What a surprise. We weren’t scheduled to meet until next week, were we?”
Princess Arines blinked in surprise, though her expression quickly softened into a warm smile.
Her cheeks were tinged with a lively pink hue.
‘No rose in bloom could compare to that perfect color.’
He nearly lifted a hand to poke her cheek just to check if it was real—but managed to restrain himself, barely, and instead held out the report.
“I needed to discuss this section with you, Your Highness. It couldn’t wait.”
“Really?”
“Yes. No matter how I look at it, I think adjusting the hot air flow by 12.5 degrees instead of 13.7 would yield better results.”
Arines tilted her head curiously and reached for the paper.
Her hair slipped down like flowing silk, and a sweet fragrance wafted over him.
When their fingertips brushed as he handed her the report—
Zap! A tiny jolt of static electricity ran through his fingers.
“Your Highness!”
Startled, Rio grabbed her hand firmly.
‘If static builds up, touching briefly and pulling away only makes it worse. Better to increase the contact area to neutralize it.’
Startled by his sudden grasp, Arines’s cheeks turned an even deeper shade of pink.
“L-Lord Rio! If you do that so suddenly, I’ll be too hap—!”
“Have your attendants been neglecting your moisturizing routine?”
“…What?”
She blinked, clearly not following his train of thought.
“There’s static in your hands, Your Highness. That’s why I asked.”
“Static? I didn’t feel anything.”
Arines smiled softly.
“The humidity in the palace is always kept comfortable. But it’s very sweet of you to worry about me.”
At her gentle smile, something inside Rio’s head seemed to snap.
‘Huh… Could it be a mana surge?’
Sometimes, when one’s mana pooled too much in one part of the body, strange sensations could occur.
Still, Rio thought this shouldn’t be happening—not if the palace environment was properly regulated.
“You should step outside the palace for a bit, Your Highness.”
He led her toward the garden, still holding her hand.
Strangely, the simple act of holding her hand made him feel… happy. And perhaps that mage who wrote the fan-temperature report wasn’t completely hopeless after all.
‘I should install two fans near that mage’s desk as a reward.’
Though reluctant, Rio realized he had to let go of her hand soon.
But before he could, Arines tightened her grip and blurted out—
“I have poor circulation!”
“It’s quite warm today, Your Highness…”
“It happens even in summer! Cold hands and feet need warmth no matter the season.”
“…Is that so?”
If the noble princess said so, then so it must be.
Without further question, Rio took both her hands in his and gently warmed them, one after another.
He felt an inexplicable joy welling up inside him—but couldn’t quite explain why.
The next day. And the day after that.
The Tower Lord visited the princess’s quarters again, each time with a different report in hand.
“The rotation angle still doesn’t feel right. If we release it like this, users will definitely complain.”
“The color’s too plain, don’t you think? What’s your opinion, Your Highness?”
Each time, Arines smiled and held out her hands to him.
Her struggle with that “terrible circulation problem” pained him deeply—but at the same time,
the fact that he could hold her hands every time they met filled him with quiet happiness.
It was… a truly contradictory emotion.
