Chapter 39
When we returned from Illium to the capital, chaos erupted.
Many of the mages we’d captured turned out to be high-ranking veterans with long, respected careers.
“See? We told you before we were just following orders! Why didn’t you believe us, Lady Salice?”
“That’s right! We were just poor, overworked researchers!”
Excuse me? It’s been only a year since I personally wrote the report proving you were skimming funds.
Those mages, already serving labor sentences, got way too excited when they heard the news.
“You know, the ones caught this time are stronger and more experienced than we are! Maybe we can get transferred to a cushier post?”
“Oh merciful and generous Lady Salice, please, please say yes!”
Absolutely not.
The ones already working here were only given light punishment because their crimes weren’t as severe.
The new ones? The old master-level mages who got caught this time? They were all headed for mana-sealing and hard physical labor.
And since these were people who hated moving their own legs, their screams would probably echo through the whole capital soon enough.
But noisy prisoners weren’t the only problem — the media had lost its mind, too.
***
[A Rebellion in the Mage Tower? What Does This Mean for Relations With the Temple?]
[The Winter Palace Devils Strike Again!]
Honestly, these reporters clearly didn’t understand the meaning of “devil.”
“We did something good this time! Shouldn’t they be calling us heroes instead?”
I grumbled and picked up a red pen, crossing out every stupid word I saw in the article.
By the time Cassian returned from the imperial council meeting, I was already fuming — so I immediately asked about the person whose reaction I was most curious about.
“How was Her Majesty the Empress today?”
“She smiled,” Cassian said dryly, “but the corners of her lips and eyes twitched quite noticeably.”
He smirked.
“She even made sure to praise my dear elder brother for handling things so smoothly.”
Ah, that was so like her.
“She really does hate losing control,” I sighed.
“She’s an expert at erasing her tracks,” Cassian said with a shrug. “This time was no exception.”
Since the Empress had tried to profit indirectly from this scheme, it was no wonder her traces were almost invisible.
“I heard Duke Lopez also came to the palace for questioning?”
“Yes. It’ll probably end with a simple investigation.”
“And Lady Wilhelmina?”
“She stayed quietly at her family’s estate, just as you predicted. Good call.”
“So there were people trying to approach her?”
Cassian nodded slowly.
“Yes. They turned out to be apprentices of the mages involved.”
“And they knew what was going on?”
“Pretty much. We found teleportation marks near her favorite shops and around the duke’s mansion.”
“If Wilhelmina had met them even once…”
“She would’ve been implicated immediately,” Cassian said grimly.
“The Empress doesn’t like leaving loose ends.”
Of course not — it was the same in the original story.
Cassian had tried to propose to Roselita back then, but the emperor disapproved because she came from a weak baron family.
Meanwhile, Lady Wilhelmina, the duke’s daughter, adored Cassian — so the Empress feared the potential “synergy” if the two ever got together.
Duke Lopez himself was ambitious but cautious; he hated losses.
Once it became clear Wilhelmina wouldn’t marry the First Prince, he started weighing his options between Cassian and Prince Charlie.
Would he side with Cassian — the people’s hero, respected but politically weaker?
Or would he back the First Prince — the safer bet with imperial favor?
At one point, the duke even tried to assign his sons as aides to both princes, just to see which side would win.
But when the Empress found out, she was furious — and shut it down completely.
No wonder she wanted every potential threat erased.
And this time, she’d tried to do just that — going so far that Cassian had nearly died.
But thanks to my quick intervention, her perfect plan had unraveled completely.
That was why Cassian had gone alone to report to the imperial council — to keep my name out of the discussion.
Honestly, it terrified me.
I shivered a little and asked quietly, “Your Highness…”
“Yes?”
“I think I need to avoid Her Majesty for a while, don’t I?”
Cassian smiled gently.
“I’ll make sure to keep you out of her sight.”
…Great. Now I really wanted to run away.
***
Cleaning up the aftermath of the Illium incident took a long time.
More and more people were arrested in the following weeks.
There had been so many aboard the cruise ship that even the knights couldn’t possibly catch every single one in one go.
That’s why I’d thrown those gold coins around that day.
Each coin had been magically treated — not only could they be retrieved later, but they also worked as trackers.
They reacted especially well to mana, which meant any mage who touched them could be traced instantly.
‘Honestly, it’s a blessing that all our cooperating mages have such terrible personalities,’ I thought.
They had no sense of loyalty — only spite. If they were suffering, they wanted everyone else to suffer too.
Cassian and I made excellent use of that.
‘At least the Mage Tower’s gone quiet now.’
The Tower was technically as independent as the Temple — not under direct imperial authority.
It was like those martial arts sects in novels that claimed “the government doesn’t interfere in the martial world.”
Of course, the Mage Tower still tried to push back, demanding explanations and privileges.
Cassian and I ignored them completely.
In short: starting this year, the Tower’s research budget would be cut.
The remaining lesser offenders — the mages who weren’t dangerous enough to seal — were already being shown mercy by being assigned to manual labor instead of imprisonment.
That alone was generous.
‘If only the Tower knew how much flak Cassian took from the Temple for that decision,’ I thought.
The Tower had existed for over 500 years, and its “independence” had become more symbolic than real.
Yet every time one of their mages got arrested, they’d start chanting about their “sacred ideals” and “the pursuit of higher magic.”
When did the Mage Tower become a cult?
Anyway, by the time we’d processed all the administrative reports, arranged medical care for drug victims, and finished court paperwork…
Summer had arrived.
Which meant only one thing—
‘It’s midyear budget review season.’
The most dreaded time in the Winter Palace.
***
“Lady Salice, the documents you requested are all sorted.”
“Good. Leave them there. And organize them like the red file folders on the low table.”
“Ma’am, the Second Princess’s palace says they’re struggling to complete their budget reports and are asking for your help again.”
“Why do they say that every time we have budget season?”
“Also, ma’am, the Empress’s palace—”
“Put it on His Highness’s desk.”
“And the Solar Palace—”
Can everyone just stop calling my name?
It was ridiculous — every budget season, the lines between allies and enemies completely vanished inside the imperial palace.
Even the Empress’s own staff came crawling to us for help.
To be fair, Cassian’s Winter Palace did have the most competent staff, thanks to how hard he worked (and overworked) us.
‘Seriously, what are the Treasury Department people even doing?’ I thought.
This was all because people who were supposed to handle it themselves kept offloading their work — and Cassian, as always, had taken it all on.
It was partly strategic, of course.
‘Control the budget, and you control the power,’ he’d once said.
So, even though I complained endlessly, I still helped him handle the flood of requests from other palaces.
Mostly out of survival instinct.
And also because Cassian himself was drowning in nonsense.
“Your Highness, this document needs review—”
“Your Highness, the Emperor says this must be handled urgently—”
“Prince Charlie says this isn’t the First Prince’s palace’s responsibility—”
Cassian was being bombarded from every direction.
‘I really should filter out the useless ones,’ I thought grimly.
Especially the First Prince’s Summer Palace.
They had twice as many aides and administrative officers as we did — yet every time they actually had to think, they just dumped their work on us.
“That’s it. I’m going to the Summer Palace myself,” I said.
I couldn’t stand it any longer.
Cassian saw me gather a huge stack of files and hand them to a knight, and he winked.
It meant: Go and crush them.
***
Unlike our Winter Palace — where no one had time to breathe — the Summer Palace was full of laughter.
Aides and officers were strolling lazily after lunch, chatting happily.
Even the assistant secretaries looked relaxed.
“Ah, another busy day, isn’t it? Budget season really is tough on everyone.”
“Oh, we just follow our aides’ instructions! It’s hard work, but that’s life during audit season.”
“Yes, but our aides are so competent that we hardly feel it.”
They were thriving.
Absolutely thriving.
“Look at the Winter Palace — they’re so inefficient they work late every night. Proof of incompetence, unlike our Prince Charlie.”
“Oh, really? Since when did ‘efficiency’ mean dumping your work on someone else?”
The laughter stopped.
The First Prince’s aide blinked when he saw me standing there — then gave a mocking little chuckle.
“Well, well. What brings the Winter Palace witch here?”
…Did he just call me a witch?
Congratulations.
Now I’m going to ruin your perfect little world.
