Chapter 18…………………………………………………
A Dark Night
A few days later, inside the tower deep within the forest where Leon and Lowell trained in magic.
Szzzt.
Lowell was staring intently at a dying flame. She had already lost count of how many times the fire had gone out.
The flickering light atop the small candle failed to last even three seconds this time before losing its strength.
She had come to Leon’s tower, where she could train comfortably for the first time in a while, hoping she would do better—but things weren’t going the way she wanted.
“Isn’t there something wrong with this candle?”
Unable to hold it in any longer, Lowell leaned back and complained.
“No.”
Leon replied without even looking at her.
“……”
At his indifference, Lowell puffed out her lips and glared at him. When she got no reaction at all, she fixed her posture and began chanting the spell again.
Szzzt.
But the candle flame quickly died once more. It had lasted at least three seconds earlier—now it went out the moment it ignited.
Repeating the same incantation over and over had probably exhausted her brain.
Fwoosh.
So Lowell chose a different method.
She lit the flame using only mana, without chanting a spell.
“What’s the point of using tricks like that?”
Leon, who had approached without her noticing, asked as he looked at the flame burning far higher than before.
“…To restore my confidence?”
Lowell smiled awkwardly and fidgeted with her fingers.
But when Leon kept a stern expression, Lowell waved her hand and extinguished the flame. She knew he was right.
“No matter how I think about it, magic incantations just don’t suit me.”
“So what? They don’t suit you, so you’re just going to give up? You said you’d find your proper place.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
As she answered, Lowell’s gaze dropped weakly to the floor.
“Incantations are tools. No matter how sharp a blade is, you can’t use it properly without a handle. In the same way, mana needs incantations to be properly manifested.”
Leon let out a short sigh at Lowell’s dejected 모습 and waved his hand in front of her.
Fwoosh.
At the same time Leon recited a fire spell, a strong flame sprang to life on the candle.
“You’re not failing because you can’t memorize incantations. It’s closer to not understanding their structure. Once you properly grasp it, you’ll pick it up quickly after that.”
“Is understanding the structure originally that hard?”
“It is. But once you get over the hurdle—”
The conversation abruptly stopped. Lowell had leaned closer, staring straight at Leon.
“…Why.”
Leon paused at the sudden, intense eye contact.
“No, I just thought you’d say something like, ‘How would you know if it’s hard? I’m a genius magic knight, so I’ve never struggled even once.’”
“…What?”
Leon looked at the violet eyes blinking right in front of him. After holding her gaze for a moment, he realized she was being sincere. With a sigh, he added,
“Unless you’re educated from childhood, learning incantation magic is difficult. The way normal humans think doesn’t align with the structure of incantation magic. I know because I’ve been through it myself.”
“Huh? You’ve been through it? I thought a genius magic knight wouldn’t have experienced that.”
Lowell was surprised to discover a setting she hadn’t known about the villain Leon Rifman from the book. Then again… she hadn’t exactly crafted his character with great care, so it wasn’t that strange she’d forgotten some things.
“Are you mocking me right now?”
“…A little?”
Lowell shrugged slightly and smiled mischievously, pinching her fingers together to show “a little.”
Leon watched that scattered smile. Seeing her playful expression, he unknowingly let out a breath that was half a laugh, half a sigh.
“My mana manifested when I was thirteen. Before that, I’d never received proper magic training even once. The Rifman family has handled finances for generations, and my parents and siblings believed knights were inferior, whether they could use magic or not.”
Leon paused, sighed quietly, then continued.
“My siblings were already attending a regular academy to become financial officials, so when I said I wanted to become a knight, no one took me seriously. So I read magic books and trained on my own.”
That was as far as Leon went. It seemed like there was more he wanted to say, but suddenly he felt a sense of futility.
What’s so remarkable about this story anyway?
That thought crossed his mind.
“I see. That must’ve been hard.”
After Leon’s gaze drifted emptily for a moment, Lowell spoke softly.
“Running forward believing only in yourself when no one recognizes or acknowledges you—that’s hard. You did well.”
As she said that, Lowell reached out and gently patted Leon’s head.
And the moment his silver hair began to scatter, Lowell realized what she was doing.
When Aria was upset, she used to gently stroke her head—it had become a habit. Her hand had moved reflexively.
Aria said being patted like that made her feel comforted.
“…….”
Judging by the way Leon was holding his breath and staring intensely at her now, that was apparently a trait limited strictly to Aria.
“Uh… I have a spell I’m actually good at now. Want to see?”
Lowell blurted out suddenly while looking into the blue eyes fixed on her. The tone was something like ‘I’m really good at eating, want to see?’—but avoiding this awkward atmosphere mattered more.
When Leon flinched slightly and leaned back, Lowell slowly began chanting the coordinates for a teleportation spell.
Shk.
A small magic circle formed over Lowell’s hand, and the necklace Leon had once given her appeared in her palm.
“Ah! It worked! I’d put this in a drawer!”
Lowell clenched the necklace and exclaimed brightly, beaming.
“You call that a spell you’re good at, yet you’re that surprised after succeeding once?”
Leon teased her, but the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. It was a pleasant smile.
After that, time passed quietly. Lowell practiced to understand incantations, and Leon read his book, without much conversation.
“This.”
Just as Leon finished reading one book, a basket of bread was suddenly pushed over the pages.
“What is this?”
Leon looked up at the person holding out the basket.
“No matter what, it didn’t seem right that you weren’t eating anything.”
Lowell extended the basket further, gesturing for him to take it.
“…I don’t normally eat when I’m researching.”
“There’s no such thing. Your brain works better when you actually put something in your body.”
Leon refused a few more times, but Lowell was firm. Memories of living on rice power as a Korean whispered to her that the man sitting in front of her had to eat properly.
In the end, Leon accepted the basket and closed his book. He was about to tell her to eat some too—but seeing crumbs stuck to Lowell’s mouth, he decided she’d clearly eaten her fill.
“Did you find anything?”
Now perched on the desk, Lowell leaned toward Leon and asked.
She glanced at the book he’d been reading. The title The Influence of Regression Variables stood out, along with several other books related to time spread across the desk.
“Just a slight step beyond what I found before.”
Leon answered briefly.
After the villa incident, Leon had accelerated his investigation. Until then, it had been hard to fully trust Lowell’s claims about regression—but with demons now involved, there was no longer a reason to doubt her.
“Do you think the demons are involved in the lady’s regression?”
Lowell suddenly straightened and asked.
“At this point, it’s likely. Ordinary magic knights wouldn’t even encounter time magic—especially regression-related magic. And like I said before, they obsess over spells they’ve cast, so the demons probably followed the young lady.”
“But why…?”
Lowell murmured, her gaze fixed on the floor.
“Still, you said this is the first time a demon has appeared. That means something went wrong with the regression. Just the fact that things changed from before makes it valuable.”
Leon added that when he saw Lowell’s shoulders droop.
“Is that supposed to be comforting?”
“No. It’s a fact.”
After that playful exchange, their gazes drifted apart again. But thanks to Leon’s words, Lowell felt the tight tension ease slightly.
“You know…”
Feeling more at ease, Lowell suddenly spoke.
“Yeah.”
“Why do you look so tired today? You seem kind of worn out.”
Lowell leaned forward and blinked right in front of Leon’s cheek.
“What?”
At the unexpected question, irritation flashed across Leon’s face. Then an incredulous question slipped out.
“…How does your train of thought even work?”
“No, I’m not just saying that—you really do look tired. Come to think of it, you haven’t been coming to the bedroom lately. Are you actually sleeping?”
“I manage my stamina just fine without sleeping at random like you do, so there’s no need to worry.”
Leon avoided Lowell’s eyes, recalling how easily she used to fall asleep.
“…Really?”
Seeing the shadows under his eyes, Lowell couldn’t easily believe him and pressed again, frowning.
“Yes.”
Leon answered firmly once more, so Lowell didn’t ask further. She wasn’t sure, but it didn’t seem likely that Leon—a genius magic knight and a veteran of the battlefield—would fail at managing his condition.
“What… are you doing right now?”
That night, in Leon’s bedroom filled with darkness, his restrained breath spilled out along with a question that had no clear direction.
“…….”
Beneath him was Lowell.
Her black hair was spread across the bed, and her pale skin shimmered in the moonlight reflecting off the sheets.
Lowell couldn’t move. Her right wrist was pinned by Leon, and his knee pressed between her legs, blocking her movement.
More than anything, what truly immobilized her were the blue eyes staring deeply into her from right in front of her face. They felt like they were binding her in place.
“I asked what you’re doing.”
As he spoke, the grip on her wrist tightened.
“Ah…”
A small moan slipped from Lowell’s lips. Pain shot up from her wrist pressed into the sheet. Her gaze automatically shifted there, and she saw her slender wrist quickly reddening and swelling.
“…….”
But Leon showed no sign of letting her go. Instead, he leaned closer, applying more pressure so she couldn’t move.
Lowell said nothing, staring into the flame burning in his eyes. She couldn’t answer—and she didn’t want to.
“Just what are you….”
So Leon tried to seize control of the conversation. Looking down at Lowell, whose eyes beneath him seemed strangely calm, he spoke in an angry voice.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
But, as always, he lost the initiative again.
“…Why didn’t you say anything.”
At those words, Leon’s eyes visibly shook.
A moment later, Lowell’s free hand rose and hovered near Leon’s cheek. It couldn’t quite bring itself to touch his face—but as her hand withdrew, unspoken emotions seemed to drip from the motion.
