Chapter 69 ….
Camila felt cold sweat run down her back under Ant’s strangely sharp gaze. She quietly avoided his eyes and returned the ledger to his hand.
Ant looked once at the ledger in his hand, then once at Camila, who was avoiding his gaze. After letting out a long sigh, he called to her.
“Boss.”
“Uh, huh?”
“I’m okay.”
“……”
At the words whose meaning she couldn’t grasp, Camila’s eyes settled on Ant. He was looking at her with a calm expression.
“There are things in this world that just can’t be helped, right? Seeing that you came back like this, Boss…”
“……”
“It must have been unavoidable.”
Camila couldn’t say anything to the boy who had grown up far too quickly. There was no way for her to know what had happened to him during her absence. The boy looked as if he had sorted something out inside himself. Even after visiting Gilrota’s grave, he hadn’t worn that kind of expression.
After quietly watching Ant for a moment, Camila finally spoke. She called his name.
“Ant.”
There was a trace of impatience in her voice. Before he could answer, she hurriedly continued.
“It wasn’t unavoidable. It wasn’t something that couldn’t be helped. I just need more time.”
Camila hoped the boy wouldn’t give up. She hoped he wouldn’t resign himself just because something seemed inevitable.
“So… could you wait just a little longer?”
“……”
Ant pressed his lips tightly together. Memories he thought had long since faded resurfaced—his life in the slums before he came here.
His father, who had lived drowned in alcohol and gambling, left home. His mother, who sold her body at a tavern, also left. Listening to the shouting and harsh noise so common in the slums, the young child left alone in that house waited and waited.
And when they never came back, what he did was give up.
That was how it was. There were things in this world that simply couldn’t be helped. Even his mother’s words—that giving birth to him had been a mistake—were, to him, something unavoidable.
And the fact that those words stayed with him for the rest of his life.
So he had thought the boss’s return like this was also something that couldn’t be helped. It was enough that she had come back safely. Waiting was simply what time had left him.
But it was strange. The boss was telling him not to give up.
Ant suddenly wondered—what remained at the end of a time spent not giving up? Could the boss show him something different from what he had seen?
“…If I…”
After a rather long silence, Ant finally opened his tightly shut lips.
“Is it okay… if I wait?”
Perhaps it was just stubbornness. Perhaps it was childishness. Even so, the woman in front of him smiled.
“Of course. As long as you want.”
Ant didn’t mind when Camila’s hand ruffled his hair. Her smile was just too warm.
[You write the rest. You need to earn your keep too.]
[…But you already give me money for meals.]
“You little brat. You need to eat more. What am I supposed to do with you if you stay that skinny? Eat a lot and work a lot. Then I’ll raise your pay.”
Suddenly, a memory of one day surfaced.
The day he received his first paycheck—she had said that in a manner that was hardly what one would call educational. That day, what the child had thought was that he wanted to stay by this adult’s side.
And that hadn’t changed even now.
The child who had learned to give up first had come to hold hope once more. Now, the child who had grown closer to adulthood smiled.
“Then I’ll wait. As long as it takes.”
He wanted to become a good adult like her.
“…It really looks real.”
Libern muttered as he looked down at the figure lying on the floor. The Crown Prince’s magic was unbelievably precise. It was hard to believe this had been created through magic.
According to the Crown Prince’s words, Libern Letir was a dead man—at least within this cabin.
Looking at his own dead body was a rather strange experience. Even knowing it was an illusion, the texture felt vivid, which made it unsettling. The motionless illusion looked less like a corpse and more like someone peacefully asleep.
“Then shall you guide us to the study now, Sir?”
A gentle voice slipped into his ears. Libern tore his gaze away from the illusion and looked at the Crown Prince—and then at the duke’s daughter beside him. The young lady looked completely unfazed. It was hard to tell whether she was maintaining composure or had simply grown used to it.
“Please follow me.”
Libern walked toward the cabinet. After staring briefly at the dust-covered glass, he placed both hands on it and pushed.
With a heavy grinding sound, the cabinet slid aside, revealing a secret passage before their eyes. Not a single ray of light reached into the pitch-black corridor.
However, the passage soon brightened. Several large orbs of light, which seemed to appear from nowhere, floated in the air and illuminated the way. In the revealed corridor, signs of long neglect and corrosion were visible in many places.
Libern didn’t know much about magic, but he did know that using magic this precisely and continuously was no easy feat. The military occasionally worked with the Mage Tower, so he had seen wizards before. The mages of the Tower usually carried artifacts or magic stones. Drawing in endless mana and containing it within the body was said to be nearly impossible in this era.
The more Libern saw the Crown Prince’s magic, the more his thoughts shifted.
He had thought that mage was a monster.
But there was another monster.
The Crown Prince could not be defined merely as a genius mage.
The Crown Prince before his eyes… was also a monster.
Tap. Tap.
The footsteps of the three echoed through the corridor. As Aila walked, she examined the passage. As she suspected, the mage hadn’t been using this route. Just as Damian had moved earlier, the mage had likely marked coordinates and teleported directly to the count’s study.
Aila couldn’t understand why Damian insisted on using this passage. Now that it was clear the corridor hadn’t been used, there was no real need to come this way.
She glanced sideways at Damian—and their eyes met.
Damian gave her a playful smile.
Only then did she understand.
This was simply for his amusement.
Aila looked at Libern’s back as he walked ahead and silently offered brief condolences for the cadet who would likely be toyed with by Damian in the future.
The passage was fairly long. There were puddles where rainwater had seeped in, and moss had grown along parts of the walls. In some places, droplets fell from the ceiling.
Worried her clothes and shoes might get dirty, Aila walked carefully—but her concern lasted only a moment. Before she knew it, Damian had cast a protective spell.
Only on the two of them.
Libern was excluded.
After some time, they finally reached the end of the passage. At the end stood a long staircase.
“At the top of these stairs is my father’s study.”
Standing before the steps, Libern spoke—and then glanced at Aila and Damian before looking down at his own clothes and shoes.
Water droplets from the ceiling had left marks on his clothes, and his shoes were slightly dirty.
But the two of them were perfectly clean.
It seemed the Crown Prince had cast a spell.
Just not on him.
For a moment, irritation rose in his throat—why are only the two of you clean?—but he swallowed it. He didn’t want to commit further rudeness.
However, as if sensing something from Libern’s expression, the Crown Prince spoke.
“Got a bit dirty, didn’t you? I’ll clean you up.”
As soon as Damian finished speaking, a faint breeze passed by.
Libern stared silently at his now spotless shoes and clothes, as if they had never been wet. For some reason, he felt a strange sense of defeat.
“…Then, I’ll go up first.”
Turning, Libern climbed the stairs. The light orbs brightly illuminated the way.
Soon, reaching the top, Libern slowly pushed the wall. Just like when the cabin entrance had opened, the wall slid aside with a heavy sound, and bright light poured over them.
They had finally arrived at the count’s study.
Libern stepped inside first, followed by Aila and Damian.
And the moment the two of them entered, they knew.
The study was filled with a distinctive scent.
Candy made from Soledina.
That was the smell.
But for the fragrance to be this strong…
Behind Libern, Aila and Damian exchanged glances.
Damian nodded.
Aila swallowed a sigh.
The mage had anticipated they would come here.
And had left this scent deliberately for them to notice.
It felt as though they were dancing in the palm of the mage’s hand. Aila clenched her fists tightly to suppress her frustration. Then, as she slowly surveyed the study, her gaze fixed on one spot—
The desk where the count likely conducted his work.
On top of the desk sat a chessboard.
And the board was missing the many pawns that should have filled it.
At the very center of the chessboard, only a single queen remained.
Aila understood immediately.
This was a message left by that mage.
In chess, the queen is the most powerful piece.
Because it can go anywhere—
—and do anything.
