{ Chapter 33 }
“From now on, I have to find the crack, retrieve the diary, create a new spell to send Shiz back, and make sure I don’t look suspicious or get blamed for interfering with the timeline.”
And Aska—that jerk.
Even if I didn’t want to think about him, I couldn’t help it. His last words when the train left still echoed in my mind:
“Take care of it.”
Take care of what? The Crown Prince? What exactly was he going to do?
A strange, uneasy feeling poked at the back of my neck. It felt like something had happened—something serious—that I didn’t know about yet.
“Ugh, no. Don’t think like that. You’ll just fix it.”
I blamed this bad feeling on being tired. Watching over Shiz constantly to make sure she didn’t get hurt had left me on edge.
“Okay, okay. Let’s just sleep. I’ll feel better after a nap.”
I shifted around in bed, trying to get comfortable. I must’ve been exhausted, because even though the bed was hard and uncomfortable, I slowly began to drift off.
“Mmm…”
Just as I was dozing off—somewhere between dream and reality—
BOOM.
The whole building shook. I sat straight up, wide awake.
“W-What the heck?!”
Shiz also woke up, rubbing her eyes.
“Huh…?”
The lights in the hallway turned on, and people started talking outside.
“Was that… an earthquake?”
I was trying to figure it out when suddenly my skin prickled.
“…Mana. It’s shaking.”
That meant a magic user was nearby—someone very powerful.
There was only one person I knew who could cause this kind of reaction.
“No way… Aska?”
Hah. That’s ridiculous.
I had erased all traces of where I was going. How could he possibly find me?
“…But still.”
Aska Willovis was exactly the kind of person who could do something this ridiculous.
Suddenly, a chill of magical power washed over the building like a wave. It was searching, sweeping every corner.
“A search spell!”
The mage outside was clearly looking for something—or someone.
I quickly strengthened the barrier I had set up to block detection.
In magic, spells are like fingerprints. Even if two people use the same spell, the structure and feel are always slightly different.
And this magic—
It was exactly the same as the one used by that genius I had admired, envied, and tried to copy when I was younger… but never could.
I remembered what he had said.
“Don’t go.”
In our last conversation, Aska had said he was going to “handle” the crown prince.
And it seemed like he had actually done something—just to stop me from leaving the capital.
But why?
Why would he go this far?
Was it because he got attached to Shiz?
That’s impossible. Aska isn’t the kind of person who forms emotional bonds.
Because he was worried about me?
That’s even more ridiculous. He’d be more worried about the honor of the Duke’s family than about me.
As I crossed off all the possibilities, only one was left.
“…Did he find out I interfered with the timeline?”
As much as I didn’t want to believe it, everything made sense if I assumed that was the reason.
Telling me not to leave. Searching the house tonight.
If he thinks I’m a criminal who broke the timeline, this all adds up.
A cold chill ran down my spine.
I didn’t think anymore. I just stood up immediately.
Shiz, surprised, grabbed my hand.
“Sis? Why are you getting up?”
“We need to go. Get dressed.”
“Right now?”
“Right now.”
Shiz quickly threw on a coat in a panic.
I grabbed her hand and led her through the confused crowd of other guests and out of the building. A lot of people had already gathered outside, making it crowded.
“Where are we going? Are we not sleeping anymore?”
“Shhh, don’t talk loudly. We’re going somewhere else.”
“B-But I don’t wanna leave…”
Shiz looked back sadly. She didn’t understand what was going on, and I didn’t have time to explain.
“Shiz, I’m really sorry but we can’t—”
BEEEEEEP—
Just then, a loud noise came from my bag.
The connector was activating on its own.
“Ugh, Aska again! Forcing a call—”
Even though I wasn’t wearing the device, the sound kept getting louder until his voice came through the static.
[Rel, I know you’re there. I can sense you.]
I didn’t answer. I stayed quiet. But he kept talking.
[I already talked to the crown prince. Your resignation was just canceled a few moments ago…]
“What?! Ngh—”
[And your secret is safe. That was part of our deal.]
“…”
[So now, there’s no reason for you and Shiz to leave. Right?]
Aska’s voice came through the earpiece—gentle, like he was trying to soothe a child.
But my mind was racing, trying to make sense of everything.
‘A deal? What does he mean by a deal?’
From what I could understand, not only had Crown Prince Reyester canceled my dismissal, but he also agreed to keep quiet about the fact that I have a daughter (who isn’t even mine).
And all of this… was because Aska asked him to?
‘What is going on here?’
I knew exactly how much Reyester hated me.
I could still see his smiling face when he accepted my resignation. There’s no way he’d change his mind in just one day.
‘He’s lying. This is just a trick to stop me from escaping!’
I started walking again.
Clearly, Aska already knew I was in this inn. He wouldn’t be making such a scene otherwise.
But still…
‘You think you’re the only genius here?’
I wasn’t going down that easily.
What Aska didn’t know was that I had already found a way to block him—by analyzing how the connector worked when it first broke.
‘Once you understand the structure, disabling it is easy.’
So this little trick of his ends here.
Zzzzzzzzt! A sharp noise rang out as I shut down the mana channel. The connection between us was completely cut.
Yes!
Feeling the rush of victory, I quickly rushed away from the inn.
‘You’re not catching me, Aska! Keep looking around—waste your time!’
But… I made one mistake.
Suddenly, I heard his voice again—clear and mocking—inside my head.
[That’s useless, you know.]
This lunatic.
[This isn’t fun anymore, Relshiz.]
I had forgotten that Aska Willovis was a completely crazy, rule-breaking magician.
In just a few seconds, a massive magic circle spread out beneath our feet—so huge I couldn’t even see all of it.
An eerie cold swallowed up the spring night.
“Ah-CHOO!”
Shiz sneezed from the sudden chill.
The ground started to freeze with a horrible cracking sound.
“H-Huh, Sis… look over there…!”
RUMBLE…
From the earth, sharp blue ice began to rise up.
“Ah…”
I couldn’t help but gasp.
A shadow fell over us from above, and then—just like that—the sky disappeared. It all happened in a few seconds.
A giant wall of ice had formed a dome around the entire inn, trapping everyone inside.
This was Ice Prison, Aska’s signature spell—one of the strongest types of binding magic.
Only the caster can break it… from either inside or outside…
Sure, I could try to break it. But doing that would instantly let Aska know exactly where I was.
I was trapped.
It was clear now—this mad magician had no intention of letting me go.
Am I supposed to fight? Here? With civilians everywhere? And Shiz right beside me?
If two high-ranking magicians fought seriously, the destruction would be massive.
Aska didn’t just use this magic to trap us—he used it to hold the innocent guests hostage.
He doesn’t want me to fight back!
Only a total lunatic would think like that.
Time was ticking, and even as I stood frozen in shock, Aska had more than enough time to find me and Shiz.
Right in front of me, sparkling petals floated in the air and slowly formed the shape of a man.
At the same time, the magic barrier I had put around us shattered like glass.
I could feel the effort I put into that spell being ripped apart. It was awful.
“Ah.”
A gentle breeze blew through his silver hair.
“Found you.”
Aska had fully appeared, standing there with that calm, fake smile on his lips.
“Let’s go home, Rel.”
It was terrifying.
Just absolutely terrifying.
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