Episode 19
It was a ridiculous thought.
Hayang was a perfect white fox.
Even if someone was part beast (called “suin”), everyone knew they couldn’t fully turn into real animals.
If Jeznox told anyone his theory, they’d laugh at him or think he was crazy.
Still, Jeznox couldn’t shake the suspicion.
After all, he had been born looking exactly like a wolf.
Maybe Laria was like him — a rare case, a mutation.
But then he shook his head.
“No way.”
Even he couldn’t stay in his wolf form for more than a few days.
But Hayang had lived as a fox for half a year.
Also, there was nothing suspicious about Laria’s records.
If Laria was Hayang, there would’ve been a missing period in her life.
But she had never disappeared or left home — not even once.
‘If a noble lady had gone missing, it would’ve caused a big scene. But nothing like that happened.’
So the most logical answer was that Laria had taken Hayang in.
Thinking of Laria again, Jeznox frowned.
He couldn’t forget the scared look in her light blue eyes.
When she walked into the study, she had a mild seizure.
Did she have a traumatic memory about fire?
Jeznox looked around the burned-down study.
What had happened that day?
Hayang wouldn’t have set the fire on purpose, so it must have been an accident.
A deep regret, one he couldn’t let go, filled his head.
If only he hadn’t left the house that day…
If only he had taken Hayang with him…
After regret came worry.
Was she badly hurt? She must have been scared by the fire.
How did she escape with such a small body?
These thoughts always led him to the same fear:
‘What if… she’s not coming back because she hates me now?’
Hayang was smart… and she had tried to run away before.
A shadow fell over his tired eyes.
This time, he wouldn’t let her go.
No matter what.
***
At the far edge of the capital stood the Headquarters of the Sorcery Tower — an unusual building.
It was so tall that you could see it from anywhere in the capital.
Its white walls were already special, but golden magic symbols on the outside made it even more unique.
The wizard who built the tower had carved those symbols, and they still worked even after his death.
Thanks to them, people could teleport inside the tower without casting spells.
Without those enchantments, most sorcerers would’ve spent the whole day walking up and down.
Also, the higher your room in the tower, the more powerful you were.
“Skill is authority.”
That was the belief in the Sorcery Tower — ability mattered more than status.
So if someone had a lab on the upper floors, it meant they were a top sorcerer.
A quill pen snapped and splattered ink across the page.
Siena, who had been writing, sighed.
She turned her head and looked out the window — from her room high above the ground, people looked like tiny dots.
Most sorcerers her age couldn’t even dream of reaching her level.
But Siena wasn’t satisfied.
She still had many floors left to climb.
She closed her eyes.
She couldn’t stop thinking about the spell Laria Rohan had used at the fox tribe meeting.
‘I’ve never seen a spell like that before.’
It was a teleportation spell — but different from any Siena knew.
Every spell has a basic formula, and teleportation spells are usually long and complex.
No one should be able to cast them instantly, like Laria did.
“And it was a long distance too…”
The gatekeeper had said Laria just “suddenly appeared” at the entrance.
Siena pulled out a new pen and tried to recall the spell from memory.
The others sitting nearby that day hadn’t even noticed it — useless.
She tried twisting and reshaping different spell formulas, but nothing worked.
“What kind of trick did she use?”
After days without finding the answer, Siena started to doubt Laria.
Laria had been born a fox suin, with no magical power at all.
She couldn’t even do partial transformations and was often mocked as “a half-breed.”
Siena had once pitied her — and felt relieved.
Only Siena was considered a true genius in this generation.
She had always been sure Laria could never match her.
Until she suddenly heard Laria had become a sorcerer.
Siena growled and scribbled faster.
After burning through hundreds of sheets of paper…
“Ah… finally…”
She had finally recreated Laria’s spell.
She hadn’t eaten or slept for a week — but she had figured it out.
Siena burned all the papers in her room without leaving even a speck of ash — she was talented in fire magic.
She thought of reporting her results to her father — but stopped.
Lately, he had seemed different.
As head of the Sorcery Tower, he was always busy — but now he smelled of blood and looked troubled.
She didn’t want to get scolded, so she changed her mind.
She walked to the center of her floor.
By stepping onto a magic circle, she could teleport to another level.
She went up — to the very top, where only a few rooms existed.
[Samad Lapel]
Siena stood before a door with that name.
He had once taught her and was one of the top sorcerers in the Tower.
After she knocked, he told her to come in.
Inside, an old man with graying hair welcomed her.
“Oh, Lady Siena.”
“I finished a teleportation spell. Can you take a look?”
“Of course!”
“I’ll teleport us to the Tower’s entrance.”
Siena cast the spell she had copied from Laria — it wasn’t as fast, but much quicker than usual.
Samad followed shortly after, looking amazed.
“This is incredible! You shortened the time this much?!”
He was thrilled and praised her loudly.
“You really are a genius!”
Siena smiled shyly.
“I still have a lot to learn.”
“Don’t be too modest — it makes people feel awkward. Did the idea just come to you suddenly?”
“…Lately I’ve been thinking more about teleportation, so it just popped into my head.”
Siena was used to lying.
She wasn’t a real genius — just a hardworking student pretending to be one.
She didn’t tell him she had spent a week studying or that she had copied Laria’s spell.
If she admitted the hard work or failures, people might not think of her as a genius.
She remembered what Laria had once said:
“Youngest ever? That’s amazing. You must’ve worked really hard.”
How annoying.
“You’ve improved a lot lately. I think you’ll be ready for the top floor soon.”
The top floor?
Siena had always dreamed of reaching it, but it had felt so far away.
This was the first time Samad had brought it up.
“Is this spell really that impressive?”
“As someone who has studied teleportation for years, even I couldn’t come up with this method.”
He smiled kindly, without pride.
“I’d say you’re among the top five spell crafters in the whole Tower.”
Samad, unaware of the truth, laughed cheerfully.
But Siena couldn’t laugh with him.
All she could do was force a tight smile.
‘Is Laria Rohan really that talented?’
She had thought the spell was decent — but hadn’t expected this much praise.
Even if it was just about spell crafting, it meant Laria was far above her.
‘No way.’
Someone born without any magic couldn’t possibly surpass her.
A shadow fell over Siena’s red eyes.
‘She must’ve cheated somehow.’
She had to investigate Laria.
After leaving her lab, Siena went to an information broker she had used before.
It was a secret place where the client’s identity stayed hidden.
She wore a wide-brimmed hat to cover her face.
Inside a hidden shop, she approached the woman at the counter.
“I want to meet the Golden Crow.”
The woman didn’t react.
Siena dropped a jewel on the counter.
The woman silently pointed upstairs.
Upstairs, a man with an eye patch greeted her.
He was well-known in the capital — the best info broker who could even uncover secrets taken to the grave.
Nicknamed “The Golden Crow.”
“I want to buy information on Laria Rohan.”
His expression changed.
When Siena dropped a heavy bag of gold coins, he smiled widely.
“What kind of information?”
“Everything.”
In less than 10 minutes, he handed her a stack of papers.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t that thick.
“This is all?”
“I promise no one else has more than this.”
He seemed confident, so Siena nodded.
She quickly flipped through the papers.
It helped a little, but none of the most important answers were there.
There was nothing about how Laria had suddenly become a sorcerer or how she had gotten so strong.
So she’d have to spy on her directly.
“Can I hire someone to follow her?”
“Of course. What kind of person do you want?”
The Golden Crow said he could connect her with mercenaries, messengers, or even sorcerers.
“Someone skilled enough to keep an eye on Laria Rohan.”
The man, Solike, narrowed his eyes and smiled like he was holding back laughter.
“I have just the person.”
“Can I meet them now?”
“I’ll call them. Here’s the fee…”
It was expensive — but worth it.
Siena paid upfront.
Solike whistled and sent a message via a crow.
Soon, someone wearing a hooded robe entered.
Siena had no idea.
The person Solike had called was none other than… Laria Rohan herself.
