Chapter : 60
The Marquis of Quind looked genuinely startled, staring at me with wide eyes.
“You’ve been hiding that you’re a magician.”
“I had no choice if I didn’t want to be forced to join the Mage Tower.”
“So, you’re an independent magician as well?”
I nodded, agreeing with the Marquis’s question.
At my response, her formidable aura softened slightly. She was well-acquainted with independent magicians. She knew that revealing oneself as an independent magician was essentially handing someone the key to your weakness.
“I already know your weakness, and now you know mine. Does that make things somewhat fair?”
“…I can’t understand this,” the Marquis said, furrowing her brow.
“You already seem to know all my weaknesses… so why did you bother revealing your secret? If you wanted to use me, you could’ve just exploited those weaknesses.”
I shook my head slightly at her question.
“But I don’t hold any ill feelings toward you.”
“…….”
“Manipulating someone solely for my own benefit using their weaknesses… I’ve grown tired of that.”
I had already experienced enough of it and had done it myself in the past. This life, I promised myself, would be lived a little differently.
‘Not that I won’t use anyone, but…’
People who aren’t worth my attention, or those who try to use me first, will naturally be handled accordingly. For instance, the Duke and Duchess of Seind?
Of course, there was no need to mention that aloud, so I lightly skipped over it and spoke:
“I may have used somewhat aggressive and rude methods to summon you, but my purpose isn’t exactly to manipulate you.”
“Then why did you go to such lengths to meet me? What do you want from me?”
“A deal.”
“A deal?”
Tilting my head slightly, I explained to her:
“I want to meet other independent magicians like myself. I thought you would be the perfect intermediary to connect me with them.”
“Independent magicians…”
The Marquis murmured to herself for a moment and then stared at me silently. After a pause, she moved and plopped down onto the sofa in my office.
“A deal means exchanging what we want from each other,” she said, folding her arms and nodding at me.
“If I introduce them to you, what can you offer me in return?”
This was a signal that she was ready to negotiate seriously. I couldn’t help but smile.
‘Right now, the Marquis is facing multiple crises.’
I had already given her helpful information several times during these crises, but it hadn’t elicited much of a reaction.
‘Except for one thing.’
Aside from her family matters, that is. So the help that would truly catch her interest was obvious. I sat beside her on the sofa and began:
“If the divorce proceedings go forward, I can help you secure custody of both children.”
Her eyes widened once again at my words.
“Actually, you care more about not losing even one child than about divorcing your husband, don’t you?”
“How did you figure that out…?”
“From the perspective of an outsider, it’s pretty obvious.”
‘People live here too. When a divorce arises, two issues inevitably appear.’
Property division and custody. If we set aside the property division tied to the hotel, only one issue remained: custody.
‘Then, as part of the deal, I should focus on that.’
“You can’t leave your beloved children in the hands of your husband, who’s under the control of the Mage Tower. That’s where I can help.”
“…Do you really have a guaranteed method?”
“Of course. If I weren’t confident, I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to contact you in the first place.”
The Marquis eyed me suspiciously at my confident response.
“Before that, let’s be clear. You figured out that man was under a spell of obedience using only your ability? And from that, you understood his connection to the Mage Tower?”
I nodded without hesitation.
‘The spell of obedience isn’t easy at all.’
Even independent magicians would fail trying to perform it. Perhaps only the Grand Magus or the head of the Mage Tower could manage it. Anyway, there was no more reliable evidence that her husband was a pawn of the Mage Tower.
At my confirmation, the Marquis pressed her lips together and fell silent in thought.
‘She’s probably calculating exactly what level of magician I am.’
Still, I believed I had given her enough of a hint. Identifying a spell of obedience requires exceptional skill, meaning I had demonstrated considerable ability.
‘And now that I’ve brought up her husband being under the spell, she has no choice but to calculate if I’m capable of helping her.’
Meanwhile, I rang the bell on the table.
“Oh, I haven’t offered a cup of tea to such a precious guest yet.”
Elyn entered, and I instructed her to bring the tea. The Marquis, silent until then, let out a deep sigh as Elyn prepared it and left.
“I heard you were young… no wonder the Crown Prince called you sly.”
Oh my, the Crown Prince said that?
‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’
The Marquis sighed repeatedly before taking a sip of the tea. Slowly setting down the cup, she spoke:
“Let’s make a promise first. Even though you’ve revealed you’re an independent magician, this is our first meeting. And even if your identity is known, it won’t cause much damage beyond the Mage Tower’s coercion.”
“Hmm, that’s not wrong.”
“I don’t want anything about our deal to leak. So place your hand here and swear.”
She placed a magical item on the table.
“This tool is imbued with an oath spell. If you swear to keep our secret, I’ll trust you a little.”
“Fine.” I placed my hand on it without hesitation.
‘I wanted her to keep things strictly confidential anyway.’
“I, Aeni Nasel, will keep all future conversations secret and faithfully uphold my contract with Tirdel Quind.”
The Marquis flinched slightly and furrowed her brow at my reaction. She seemed to be gauging my intentions, hesitating before placing her own hand on the item.
“I, Tirdel Quind, will keep all conversations here secret and faithfully honor my contract with Aeni Nasel.”
The item shimmered, signaling the oath was established. I smiled broadly.
“Now, can you tell me in detail how things are running inside the Quind household?”
“You already know most of it. Do you really need me to say it?”
“To help you properly, I need accurate information.”
“This is something I haven’t told anyone, not even my lawyer in detail.”
“Since the oath ensures absolute secrecy, you can afford to be honest, can’t you?”
“…Perhaps.”
The oath spell seemed to reassure her greatly. She relaxed her guard and sighed deeply again.
“I only recently realized that my husband is a puppet of the Mage Tower.”
Grinding her teeth, she continued, clearly angered just thinking about it.
“They targeted the Quind Hotel under the Tower’s orders and even… deceived me!”
Deceived…!
I narrowed my eyes, having somewhat anticipated that word.
“Could you explain in detail?”
Her voice firm, she began:
“The world believes my husband is a low-level magician, but that’s not true.”
“If that’s not true—”
“After marrying me, his magic disappeared, and he became an ordinary human.”
