~Chapter 19~
There didn’t seem to be any special advantages for someone from another world in this place.
“What’s the point of having powers if I can’t even use them properly…”
Eliana had come looking for the villain to survive, but she still couldn’t do much.
While she was feeling frustrated and helpless, suddenly—crack!—thunder crashed outside.
Eliana jumped up in shock.
She thought the timing was strange, but then thunder struck again and a cold wind rattled the windows.
Curious, Eliana got up from bed, pulled back the curtains, and looked outside.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“Snow? In this weather?!”
The Empire’s climate was usually mild.
There were magic stones set up to keep each direction around the palace in spring, summer, fall, and winter, but she was in the center—there shouldn’t be any snow here.
But now, heavy snow was pouring down, not just sleet, but big, thick flakes.
“Eliana?”
Just then, Verkley knocked on her door.
Eliana hurriedly fixed her clothes and opened it.
“Is something wrong?”
“Ah, it’s just… it started snowing all of a sudden.”
“Snow?”
Verkley tilted his head.
Even though he’d heard the thunder, he hadn’t checked outside.
Now he walked over to the window, opened it, and reached out his hand to feel what was falling.
Snow blew in through the open window.
After standing there in the snow a moment, Verkley spoke quietly.
“Is a dragon playing tricks or something?”
“What?”
“This isn’t natural snow. It’s magic.”
“…What?!”
Eliana, shocked, moved closer to Verkley.
She ignored his startled reaction and stared at the falling snow.
She remembered thinking to herself that she wished this world would just end.
No way… Could it be…?
No, it can’t be.
Eliana nervously rolled her eyes, convincing herself it couldn’t be her doing.
She couldn’t even freeze the water in a teacup, and now it was snowing?
She didn’t know how to stop the snow or make the fallen snow disappear.
If she did, Fin wouldn’t have needed to visit House Musieux.
But her denial was shattered by Verkley’s next words.
“That’s strange. Why do I sense your energy in this snow?”
“Oh no.”
Eliana rubbed her face in panic.
It looked like her magic had gone wild on its own again.
She also noticed that only the central palace had snow—the seasonal and main palaces were normal.
Eliana, close to tears, confessed to Verkley,
“Your Majesty, I think this might be my fault.”
“…What?”
“What do I do? I don’t know how to stop magic. The whole palace might get buried in snow!”
“Wait… you’re a nature magician?”
Verkley, clearly unsettled, asked again.
He’d heard from Hera that Eliana’s powers had awakened, but he hadn’t known she was a nature type.
But Eliana didn’t have time to react to his shock.
She anxiously stomped her feet and muttered nonsense spells like, “Stop, abracadabra!”
Of course, the snow didn’t stop.
“…Eliana.”
‘What do I do… what do I do?’
As Eliana panicked, she sensed someone behind her.
Verkley reached out and took one of her hands.
Somehow, he ended up holding her from behind, making her freeze in place.
He spoke softly in her ear,
“That’s not how you stop magic. You’re more innocent than I thought.”
“T-then how do I stop it?”
Eliana’s face went red as she mumbled.
Still holding her hand, Verkley said,
“Relax your body and focus on your mana core.”
“M-my mana core? Where is that?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve been using magic without even knowing where your core is?”
“…I only found out about my powers recently.”
Eliana answered quietly.
Of course, as someone not from this world, she had no way of knowing these things.
She’d been an ordinary woman in Korea. Suddenly being a magician didn’t mean she instantly gained magical knowledge.
Verkley gently took both her hands and spoke softly.
“Close your eyes.”
“Okay, I did.”
“If you don’t stop the snow, your core will be overloaded. I’ll send you some mana now—try to feel where it goes, and tell me where it is.”
“O-okay.”
Eliana, alarmed at the thought of overloading her core, squeezed her eyes shut.
No wonder she felt tired and sore lately—she’d been using too much magic without knowing it.
After a moment, she felt something flow into her hands from Verkley’s.
It was a strange feeling—like getting an IV that made her less tired.
The energy entered her body and flowed to her shoulder blades.
Eliana opened her eyes and said,
“It’s… near my shoulder blades!”
But she stopped mid-sentence—not because Verkley’s face was closer than she expected (though it was), but for another reason.
Verkley was also surprised, but now his eyes were red.
On his right eye was a clear mark—a contract symbol.
Eliana muttered without thinking,
“Your Majesty… your eyes.”
“This…”
Verkley let go of her hands and wiped his mouth, looking like he didn’t know how to explain.
‘He’s not… going to kill me for finding out, is he?’
In the past, Verkley had quietly gotten rid of anyone who noticed his powers.
A chill ran down Eliana’s spine.
She nervously checked his expression.
His eyes had turned blue again.
Only then did Eliana laugh awkwardly and act like nothing had happened.
“It looked like we made eye contact! Sometimes, Your Majesty, it really seems like you can see, you know? Haha…”
Verkley said nothing.
Feeling uneasy, Eliana turned away.
Looking in his eyes always made her afraid her lies would be discovered.
Snow was still pouring down.
Eliana, serious, asked quickly,
“Now that I’ve found my mana core, what do I do next?”
“You said you feel it here, right?”
Verkley calmly brought his hand to her shoulder blades.
A cool feeling spread across her back—she was just wearing pajamas, so she felt it more.
She sat up straight, not wanting to look nervous.
He mumbled something she couldn’t make out.
A moment later, her back grew hot—then intense pain hit.
“Ah!”
“Shhh. It’s okay.”
Verkley stroked her shoulder.
Her heart pounded, and her breathing quickened.
Just when she thought she couldn’t handle it anymore, the snow slowly faded and finally stopped.
Even the snow on the floor melted away.
“How… how did you do that?”
“I reversed the magic you cast.”
“Oh.”
Eliana let out a small gasp.
She suddenly felt that he really was from the Owen bloodline.
On the day of his manifestation at 18, Verkley had awakened magical power, not holy power.
His ability wasn’t attack-based, but focused on boosting other people’s spells or weakening enemy magic—a support type.
‘If he hadn’t lost his sight that day, people would have known about it.’
It wasn’t impressive for an emperor, but for someone who used demonic power, it was perfect. He could even separate demonic power from himself.
He probably undid Eliana’s magic the same way.
Eliana, curious, said,
“I’ve never seen support magic before.”
“It hurt, didn’t it? Are you alright?”
Verkley gently stroked her hair.
It really had hurt, but she was relieved she could stop it.
If Verkley hadn’t helped, she might have kept draining her power until she passed out.
Eliana, with a face like she’d just escaped death, replied,
“No, I’m fine. I can’t control my powers yet, but you saved me.”
“I didn’t know you had this kind of power… Don’t you want to learn magic properly?”
Verkley asked, as if hinting at something.
Eliana nodded,
“Actually, the Empress Dowager said she’d introduce me to Duke Hafons to help…”
“Should I help you instead?”
Before Eliana finished, Verkley offered.
She looked up at him silently.
Even though his eyes didn’t focus, he didn’t seem hostile at all.
When she just stared at him, Verkley repeated himself as if making a promise.
“I’ll help you.”
“Th-thank you.”
After hearing him say it again, Eliana accepted, even if she felt awkward.
As soon as she agreed, Verkley smiled kindly.
Her shoulder blades still felt warm.
