~Chapter 72~
After a whole week of being absent without notice, I finally went to the garden.
“Welcome, Lady Bella!”
“…Took me long enough.”
The atmosphere was quieter than before, yet strangely full of energy.
The other mages looked at me directly, though only the Duke and Aisha openly acknowledged me.
And the difference in their reactions made it even stranger.
The Duke was excited, while Aisha looked drained.
“By the way, may I call you Lady Bella? I hope I wasn’t too forward.”
“I don’t mind.”
“That’s a relief.”
The Duke winked.
“If I keep calling you that, someday you’ll accept me as your father—ugh!”
Smack!
“I told you to stop trying to steal daughters.”
The Duke crouched down, holding his head, while Aisha clicked her tongue.
“Bella already has both parents alive. They may not be her birth parents, but they hold her legal guardianship. So give up, you daughter thief.”
“That’s… absolutely unacceptable. To let strangers take my daughter when they don’t even share my blood!”
“She wasn’t your daughter to begin wi—”
“I must look into this.”
From beginning to end, the Duke ignored Aisha’s words and vanished.
“That lunatic, really…”
Aisha glared at the spot he disappeared, then shook her head.
“Sorry, but I have to go too. If I leave him alone, he’ll cause trouble. He calls you here and then vanishes right away, sorry, but could you wait a bit?”
“…Alright.”
It wasn’t hard.
I waited in the central building, where only masters could enter.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
“Lady Aisha?”
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
“Lady Aisha, are you inside?”
Instead of Aisha, a mage with urgent business came.
He kept pounding on the door without even trying the handle—it wasn’t even locked.
“She just left. What is it?”
When I opened the door, it was the apprentice mage who always made sarcastic remarks next to Lian.
He glanced quickly around the room, then his eyes landed on me.
“That is…”
Rumble—
A vibration shook the ground. Far off, something roared like a beast.
He bit his lip. I guessed that was why he came.
“What is that?”
I frowned.
“It’s all… my fault.”
He hung his head.
“Let’s move outside first.”
The man, who introduced himself as Ganesha, led me out of the building.
Right away, I saw it. A monster standing in the middle of the garden.
The monster was huge—about the height of three grown men stacked up.
Its whole body was pitch black, even its eyes. It looked like it was covered in burned ash.
It staggered on its long legs, crushing the garden structures beneath its feet.
Mages gathered at a distance, casting spells where its feet didn’t reach. From a glance, none were higher than mid-level.
Their spells couldn’t hurt the monster. Each time magic struck it, the monster just twisted its body once and kept walking.
The noise was overwhelming, yet the mage tower where high-ranking mages stayed was strangely silent.
Later, I learned that senior mages rarely left their labs. But at that moment, I didn’t know.
‘No one will help…?’
Right now, the only one who could deal with the monster was me.
Only me.
“W-where are you going?”
Ganesha hurried after me.
“It’s destroying buildings.”
“Still, wait a minute, Lady Bella!”
Among the mages present, no one could beat the monster. Most of the tested ones had already fled.
The only one left was Lian.
“Fire.”
His weak magic vanished the moment it touched the monster’s leg.
Lian gasped and tried again, clearly exhausted. He strained to gather mana and shouted—
“Die, you black fossil-looking thing!”
“You summoned it, and now you’re insulting it?”
Ganesha clicked his tongue. The monster roared again.
Kreeeeech!
Like sharp claws scraping metal. Many covered their ears. I grimaced.
“!”
In that moment, I saw the monster about to stomp Lian.
No time. I gathered power roughly and fired.
Boom!
The monster’s foot was blown off. It turned to me, while Lian sat gasping.
“…Lady Bella?”
“Step aside.”
Right now, Ganesha was only in the way. He quickly retreated behind me.
“Y-yes, of course.”
Bang, bang, bang!
The second time, I gathered much more mana.
The compressed energy burst into the monster, leaving a huge hole in its body.
The black fragments scattered and vanished completely. Such an empty end.
Lian couldn’t stand. His face was drenched in cold sweat.
“Are you alright?”
“W-what does it matter to you?”
Face red, he slammed his staff on the ground, refusing my hand.
“Sorry about him. He’s all pride and nothing else.”
Ganesha scratched the back of his head.
“……”
“You’re awake?”
Even in the darkness, I knew who lay beside me.
Armin.
Since the day I clung to him, he had stayed by my side every night. He never did more than that, keeping his word.
Either way, him being here meant I was at the Grand Duke’s estate.
“Why am I here? I was in the Imperial Palace, wasn’t I?”
“You fell asleep not long after defeating the monster Lian summoned. I carried you home.”
“I see…”
“You don’t remember?”
Honestly, I remembered casting the spell, but not suddenly falling asleep in such a crowded place.
“…No.”
It didn’t make sense.
“You must’ve been tired. The Duke said great magic consumes a lot of energy.”
“…I guess.”
While speaking, I yawned. Armin chuckled.
“Why are you laughing?”
“You don’t seem tense around me anymore.”
“Ah…”
I hadn’t even thought it strange for him to be next to me. Compared to when we first met, my fear that he might kill me had lessened.
“I’m glad.”
“…?”
“It means my presence gives you comfort now.”
“No, I…”
“I know. Bella doesn’t love me yet.”
“!”
It felt like my hidden heart had been exposed.
I froze, watching him.
“Of course. Bella has no memory of loving me.”
Armin smiled sweetly.
“But now, you feel safe with me… and I like that. Step by step, things can grow. One day, Bella will love me too.”
“….”
“So, may I hold you?”
“Uh… didn’t you already?”
“This time, I want your clear permission.”
“…Then, alright.”
The moment I said it, shameless hands slid around my waist.
Strangely, it wasn’t him who felt unfamiliar—it was me. Instead of resisting his warmth, I closed my eyes, lulled into drowsiness.
“Good night, Bella.”
Did he know?
I was slowly being drawn into him.
The next day.
“Greetings!”
“Greetings, Lady Bella!”
When I arrived at the garden, I was shocked.
Just yesterday, most mages passed me like air or stone. Now they were greeting me openly.
“Welcome! It’s been so long since we’ve had a new mage in the garden.”
Among them was even a senior mage with gray hair.
“Have you been assigned a lab yet?”
“No, not yet…”
“I see. If you don’t have an interesting project, why don’t you join me to change the Empire’s histo—”
His rambling was cut short as he was shoved aside.
“Stop trying to recruit slaves and get lost.”
It was Aisha.
Even the old mage couldn’t resist her. From where he had fallen, he tried again to persuade me.
“But my experiment on the transformation of mana elements has value!”
“Right, your test of casting 101 spells on a wooden chair and observing every little change is very valuable. So do it alone. Got it?”
Thud!
She kicked him away.
“Contact me if you change your mind! My name is Mervan Esio! Remember, my lab is on the 3rd floor of the tower—”
His voice faded as he rolled away.
Clearly, this wasn’t the first time. Aisha looked fed up.
“Come on. If you stand around, more weirdos will approach.”
Indeed, I could see others watching us.
I quickly followed her.
“What happened? Why are they suddenly like this?”
“What do you mean? It’s all because of you.”
“Me?”
“Don’t you remember the incident yesterday?”
