Chapter 79
Caught.
And of all people, by someone from the temple.
So this is what it feels like for the mind to go blank—like every color in the world had been stripped away, leaving nothing. A chill she hadn’t noticed before seeped into her skin. Forcing himself to gather his thoughts, Noah spoke.
Thankfully, his voice did not tremble.
“Please… don’t tell anyone.”
Benjamin looked down at Noah, who clutched his hand and pleaded, with a troubled expression.
Clearly the boy was begging, yet he didn’t look pitiful in the slightest. His straight, steady gaze seemed to pierce right through him. For a fleeting moment, Benjamin almost promised to keep it a secret. He barely came to his senses in time and instead snapped.
“What nonsense is this? This is no ordinary curse!”
“So it really is a curse?”
“Just the structure of the magic circle tells me that much. Half of it was already completed—it wasn’t difficult to interpret.”
So it had progressed that far already? Ah, right. Three times had passed, after all. Unlike Noah, who sat there in a daze, Benjamin’s face was still dark with concern.
“Is Priest Lines involved?”
The time for lies had passed. And this man was trustworthy. Noah nodded obediently.
“They all got dragged into this because of me. Any punishment or discipline….”
“You don’t need to worry about that. More importantly, I suspected as much, but the one I met earlier wasn’t you after all.”
Benjamin’s eyes swept over Noah slowly. No wonder something had felt off.
From the moment he saw him today, he’d felt a strange dissonance that vanished only once he saw the magic circle and began speaking to this Noah. Even when giving similar answers, the one he met before fainting had seemed far more brash.
“Can you read that much from the magic circle?”
“Something like that.”
Benjamin sounded reluctant. He picked up a neatly folded shirt from the side table and handed it to Noah. As Noah hurried to put it on, Benjamin added, his face still heavy.
“Even just finding the caster will be a grueling task. I understand now why you didn’t want to seek help.”
In the capital, magical crimes fell under temple jurisdiction. And curses were rare to begin with. It wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of rumors would spread if this became known—or what the temple would insist upon.
The thought alone was exhausting, even shocking.
And Benjamin knew well that many in the temple were hardly in their right mind. They might even demand Noah be handed over in the name of “research.”
Whatever the political angle, he didn’t want this decent young man dragged through something like that.
“In any case, this kind of sorcery is unfamiliar. It resembles a curse, but….”
He trailed off, shook his head. No need to voice uncertain theories, especially when sorcery wasn’t his area of expertise.
“Just one question: do you happen to know magic yourself?”
If so, the response would need to change.
“Eh? No. Not at all.”
“Since you don’t seem well-versed in magic, let me explain. Having a magic circle engraved on your body is rare. Usually, such marks appear only when something goes wrong in the casting process—backlash imprinted on the caster’s own body.”
“Well, technically, I’m on the receiving end of magic. I wished on a crystal orb, and then this happened.”
“A crystal orb?”
“Yes. After making the wish, my body changed, and…”
Noah pulled off his glove and held out the back of his right hand. Benjamin’s eyes narrowed at the geometric figure—originally a hexagram—now with three lines missing.
The mention of a medium made the situation clearer. Rather than explain his suspicions, Benjamin chose instead to press Noah gently back down.
“Lie down for now. If my guess is correct, you’ll need at least half a day’s rest.”
But instead of resting, Noah suddenly remembered something and went pale.
“I—I fell down the stairs.”
“…What?”
“I have to go. If something happened….”
He tried to brush off Benjamin’s hand and stand, but nearly collapsed immediately. The pain in his skull, still reeling from the earlier impact, split his head as soon as his feet touched the ground. He sank back onto the bed, where Benjamin firmly held his shoulders.
For someone who didn’t look it, his grip was iron. Perhaps Noah’s own weakness made it worse.
“If you’re that worried, at least tell me what’s going on. I’ll send someone to check.”
“It’s fine.”
“No, no. Patients must rest. If I let you go, your guardian will cause an uproar. I’d rather not get dragged into any more trouble.”
Shaking his head as he muttered Tyraine’s name, Benjamin’s gaze was unwavering.
***
“Rumors seem to be spreading among the public.”
The finance minister, Irens Binz, reported blandly, his neatly groomed gray hair brushing his shoulders. The king’s eyes, resting on him, were indifferent.
“Shut them down.”
“Yes, already handled. Whoever the culprit is, this must have rattled them.”
Irens answered without hesitation, a faint smile tugging at his lips—so unlike his sovereign’s utter lack of expression.
“We need to force them into showing a crack. The more people know, the harder it will be to identify the culprit.”
“They’re far too cunning for their own good. Though I suppose no one is eager to die needlessly.”
Despite the trace of amusement in his voice, there was a chill to it. This was a man merciless toward anything that inconvenienced him.
King Franz himself muttered his irritation.
“Isn’t this rat’s lifespan far too long?”
“My apologies. I never imagined they would be at large for nearly a year.”
Had the connections between the cases been recognized earlier, things might have been different. But after generations of manipulating weak kings with little more than flattery, the noble families had grown arrogant and stiff-necked.
They refused cooperation, believing they could handle the culprit on their own without royal aid. They sent their own men, only to muddy the investigation and achieve nothing.
In truth, even the royal family’s discovery of the links between cases had been a near miracle of coincidence.
And now, after their stubborn silence, the nobles acted as though the matter had been entrusted to them all along. It was enough to make the king’s patience snap. If not for the queen’s intervention, another bloody purge might already have taken place.
“Since we can’t use bait like last time, this is troublesome.”
“I heard reports that some clues were uncovered.”
“Yes. Well, when it comes to this sort of thing, his instincts are beastlike.”
Irens answered halfheartedly, but in his mind’s eye appeared a man’s laughing face. Tyraine. His easygoing personality was sometimes irritating, but he was undeniably capable. If he weren’t, he wouldn’t have lasted so long at the king’s side.
Otherwise, his life would have been cut short long ago.
The thought made Irens crease his brow, then smooth it again.
“My only concern is that, for all his sharp instincts, he has a knack for getting tangled up in troublesome matters.”
Well—what could possibly happen?
Something did.
“Seriously, why are you here?”
“I told you, I was invited. How many times do I have to say it? Anyway, shouldn’t you get treated first?”
“That’s my problem to deal with later.”
Even after draining her water bottle, Cordelia pressed him relentlessly with questions. Tyraine brushed her off vaguely, muttering inwardly, A mountain is a mountain, and water is water….
His evasive answers only sharpened Cordelia’s glare.
“Don’t you brush this off. This is Baron Delos’s mansion, isn’t it? And there were all those rumors about ties to Count Elerrand’s family.”
She shrugged lightly, mentioning one of the vassal houses that had once served the Marquess of Boderrois.
“Of course, it was dismissed as nonsense in the end. But would you, of all people, come here without a serious reason? This is just asking for suspicion.”
“Why do you only remember inconvenient things so well….”
Tyraine fiddled with his hat in mock despair, while Cordelia straightened her shoulders proudly. Her eyes then darted to the hat itself, which had been bothering her for a while.
“And what’s with that shabby old hat? Did you pick it up off the street?”
It didn’t look cheap, but it was very worn. Well-maintained, yes, but hardly appropriate for an event like this—it stood out in all the wrong ways.
“My sister gave it to me. Whenever I wear it, I seem to have good luck.”
“Ah, that explains it. It may be old, but the color’s still nice.”
Cordelia changed the subject smoothly. Tyraine gave her a look of exasperation before speaking again.
“Anyway, shouldn’t you be more worried about yourself? This was attempted murder.”
“…What?”
“Looks like someone pushed you down the stairs.”
Cordelia froze at the words. Someone had tried to kill her, deliberately. Her eyes soon blazed with fury. She’d been lucky to escape with no major injury—otherwise she’d be dead.
Grinding her teeth, she whispered, barely keeping her voice low.
“I’m about to lose my temper.”
“Understandable.”
“No, seriously—who the hell dares to try something like this on me? Not that anyone should push people down stairs, but still! Didn’t you see the culprit?”
“Not that far. My man only saw you falling. He was too busy hiding you and checking your condition.”
“Then what the hell were you and your men doing here in the first place?”
Tyraine only smiled faintly, offering no answer. Cordelia’s eyes narrowed. So he’d just keep his mouth shut?
The stench of a nasty scheme hung heavy. Simple interrogation wouldn’t work—she was sure of it. So Cordelia slowly changed tack.
“Either way, I’ll need to find whoever tried to hurt me.”
“You plan to lock down the entire mansion?”
“What? Of course not. If my family hears, they’ll make a huge fuss. They’ll seal off the estate and interrogate every guest for days. And wouldn’t that cause problems for you too? You’re clearly here looking for someone.”
“That might be for the best…”
Tyraine began to answer without thinking, then trailed off. But it was too late—Cordelia’s lips curled in a triumphant smile.
“Aha.”
So, you really are here looking for someone.
As she looked at him with eyes that said exactly that, Tyraine’s mouth twitched with foreboding.
