Chapter 120
Blanche, who had gone out on reconnaissance, did not return to the Coral Estate even after the sun had completely set.
There were two possible explanations.
Either the reconnaissance was taking longer than expected, or she had finished scouting but encountered circumstances that prevented her from returning.
Either way, it meant something unexpected had happened. And in both cases, it was a bad sign.
If something had truly gone wrong, I couldn’t just sit here and wait endlessly for Blanche to come back.
After all, while we hesitated, that suspicious demon wearing Kana’s skin might be plotting something else.
With unease weighing on my heart, I finished preparing to leave for the Winter Estate.
Lucas kindly saw me off as I was about to depart.
“Have a safe trip, Danae.”
Neither Lucas nor the people of the Coral Estate had the slightest idea that I was heading off to beat down the Demon King.
They probably thought I was just going to report the situation to the Grand Duke.
If Lucas had known the truth, there was no way he would be smiling like this as he sent me off.
“Yes. I’ll be back.”
There were three people in the party heading to the Winter Estate.
Myself, Rien, and Ska.
‘And on top of that, we’ve got the Great Mage’s soul with us….’
On the surface, it looked like a small group, but in truth, it was more than enough to take down one suspicious demon.
As soon as I finished saying goodbye to Lucas, Ska casually snapped his fingers and cast a teleportation spell.
Since I had introduced him as a companion of the Great Mage, we could now use teleportation freely without worrying about prying eyes.
At Ska’s gesture, the surrounding space warped, and a chilly wind swept past us.
Entrusting myself to the familiar sensation, I squeezed my eyes shut. Before long, I felt the air around us change.
We had arrived at the Winter Estate.
Holding my head as a faint dizziness washed over me, I looked around.
I’d been worried that Blanche’s failure to return meant something serious had happened, but contrary to my fears, the estate looked no different from the last time I’d visited.
The servants who greeted me, the overall atmosphere—everything was just as peaceful as before.
If there had been trouble at the estate, the servants wouldn’t be this calm.
‘Then where did Blanche disappear to?’
“Young Grand Duke.”
As I tilted my head in confusion, the butler stepped forward to greet me on behalf of the servants. His face was filled with undisguised relief.
“You have no idea how long we’ve been waiting for you. His Grace has been pressing us relentlessly…”
As if recalling the ordeal, the butler shook his head and sighed in complaint.
Since his granddaughter had vanished suddenly while lying quietly in bed, the Grand Duke must have severely grilled the servants in his panic.
“Was he very angry?” I asked.
“Rather than angry…”
The butler gave an awkward smile and let out a sigh that seemed mixed with relief and exhaustion.
“He was extremely worried. Still, once he sees your face, he should finally be able to put his mind at ease. And we’ll survive as well.”
“I thought Lucas already contacted you.”
“Yes. The young master did inform us of the situation, but… seeing with one’s own eyes is quite different.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
After all, I hadn’t been satisfied just hearing that Baratheon’s condition had improved—I had gone to see him myself.
‘Ugh. I completely forgot about someone who worries about me this much….’
Deeply remorseful, I turned toward the Grand Duke’s office.
If it were him, there was no need to ask—he would surely be working in his office.
But before I could even take a proper step forward, the butler stopped me.
“His Grace is currently meeting a guest. Would you like to wait in your room for a moment?”
“A guest?”
The Winter Estate was a closed-off place. Visitors were extremely rare.
Perhaps sensing why I was questioning him, the butler readily explained.
“With the issues surrounding the Great Mage’s revival and the invasion of magical beasts, things have been rather noisy. Someone from the Mage Tower has come.”
The Mage Tower was the organization responsible for maintaining the barrier created by the Great Mage.
With it now clear that the barrier had problems—and rumors spreading that the Great Mage’s soul had appeared—they couldn’t possibly stay idle.
Understanding the situation, I nodded.
“Then I’ll wait in my room.”
While waiting for the guest to leave, I briefly considered going to track down the demon wearing Kana’s skin.
But if something went wrong, the Grand Duke would only worry more.
‘I just reflected on not doing that, didn’t I?’
This time, I wanted to properly greet him first before dealing with the suspicious demon.
“Let me know when the guest leaves.”
“That won’t be necessary. Once I inform His Grace that you’ve arrived, he will come to your room immediately.”
The butler smiled as if he could clearly picture the scene, then gestured to a maid standing behind him—apparently telling her to escort me.
“There’s no need for that. Do you think I’ve forgotten where my room is just because I’ve been away from the Winter Estate for a few years?”
“As you wish. Then I’ll have tea prepared and brought up.”
After deftly dismissing the maid, the butler bowed to me and then looked toward Ska and Rien, who had been standing silently.
“And would the two of you be able to spare a moment?”
“Why?” Ska asked curtly.
Despite his blunt tone, the butler remained unshaken.
“His Grace has requested that I bring you both to him.”
“Yeah, but why?”
“He did not explain the reason to me. To begin with, I’m not in a position to know such things.”
At the butler’s polite response, Ska’s expression softened slightly as he looked at me.
His eyes seemed to ask, What should I do?
“Go on.”
“Birdbrain still hasn’t come back.”
Was that his way of saying, With Blanche missing, I’m uneasy leaving you alone?
Caught off guard by the unexpected concern, I stared at Ska with wide eyes.
“Ska. Are you… worried about me right now?”
“We’re friends now, aren’t we? Even though you didn’t protect me, I at least know how to honor friendship.”
With an irritated shrug, Ska glanced at Rien beside him.
“And if something happens to you, who knows what this guy will do? Then I’ll end up being bothered again.”
“‘Again’?”
When I questioned the oddly irritating word choice, Rien quickly stepped in front of Ska and changed the subject.
“We’ll be back shortly.”
“…Rien. Isn’t that a little too obvious?”
“If anything happens, please seek the Great Mage’s assistance.”
“Wow. Now you’re straight-up pretending you didn’t hear me.”
Leaving me laughing in disbelief, Rien and Ska followed the butler toward the Grand Duke’s office.
I watched their retreating backs for a moment before heading to my room.
Even after several years away, finding it wasn’t difficult.
‘It’s like my body moved before my mind even realized it.’
Passing through the still-familiar corridors, I arrived at my room.
When I opened the door, the sight that greeted me was no different from when I had left for the Coral Estate.
The arrangement of the furniture, the condition of the decorations, the clothes filling the dressing room, even the soft-looking bedding.
‘They said they kept maintaining the room after I left.’
It was as if the room from my memories had been perfectly recreated.
How much care would it take to preserve the past so completely?
‘It’s so familiar that it almost feels unsettling….’
Unsettling.
The moment that word crossed my mind—
Bang.
The door slammed shut behind me with a loud noise.
‘It’s not like the wind blew…’
This door was far too heavy for that.
‘Which means….’
Narrowing my eyes, I scanned my surroundings.
Once I started feeling the unease, it became easy to recognize that something was wrong with this space.
‘It’s well made. Some kind of illusion?’
It was so elaborate that I had almost been fooled to the very end.
<The mirror is strange.>
Pamel, having realized it was an illusion as well, whispered cautiously to me.
The mirror on the vanity reflected my figure. It seemed to be the source of the illusion.
There was only one way to break free from an illusion.
‘I need to destroy the medium.’
I stepped in front of the mirror and swung my fist without hesitation.
There was no sound of shattering glass, no pain in my hand. Instead, as the mirror broke, the surrounding scenery collapsed with it.
The space revealed beneath the illusion was dark and filthy.
Cobwebs clung everywhere, and a damp stench assaulted my nose.
Since when had this illusion ensnared me?
As I frowned and searched my memories, a familiar voice rang out from behind me.
“Just as I thought—you came to save me, my king!”
Turning around, I saw Blanche, tightly bound with ropes, staring at me with tear-filled eyes.
