Chapter 82
Once I accepted Niyan as an ally, two advantages emerged.
The first was that I could now command a grand mage as if he were my subordinate. This was truly an unexpected gain, and the best part of it was, without a doubt, the free use of teleportation!
Niyan engraved a magical mark on the back of my hand so that he could come immediately whenever I called for him. If I brushed it lightly with my other hand, the signal would be sent. Since he was currently bound to the Mage Tower and the Imperial Palace, I wouldn’t be able to summon him frequently, but it would be possible in an emergency. For now, just knowing he was there was reassuring.
The second advantage was that I could escape the emperor’s surveillance. Before parting with Niyan, I grabbed him and asked,
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
“Ask me anything, Lady Aileen.”
“What about the orb? You can’t hide it from the emperor forever, can you?”
“Oh, that? It’s fine. We can just repeatedly play footage of Lady Aileen staying at the duke’s residence.”
“Huh. You can do that too? It’s really like CCTV.”
“Pardon? What is that?”
“Well… you don’t need to know.”
I waved my hand, telling him to go on his way.
Once my restrictions were lifted and I was free, what was the very first thing I did?
That would be indulging in fandom activities. Of course—recharging with my favorite!!
The next morning, I took Koa with me and went to see Raymond. The moment we met, I rushed straight at him and nestled quietly into his arms.
“Aileen.”
Raymond looked flustered again, but that wasn’t important right now. This was an emergency! I hadn’t been able to see him properly for almost a week, so I needed to absorb at least his scent.
“Hff, hff.”
As I buried my face in his chest and breathed in, I felt the steady heartbeat I’d been hearing near my ear gradually speed up. When I lifted my head, sure enough, his face was bright red.
He was like this last time too—does he feel hugs more deeply than kisses, maybe?
I’d been curious about it for a while, so I decided to ask him outright today.
“Raymond.”
“Hm?”
“We’ve even kissed—are you embarrassed just by hugging me?”
“It’s just… because you hugged me first, Aileen.”
“Ah-ha.”
So he likes it when I make the first move.
I thought he’d always exude nothing but charisma, but it turns out my favorite is unbelievably cute. The more I indulged in this fandom, the deeper I fell, and my satisfaction kept skyrocketing.
I settled myself in a corner, propped my chin on my hand, and stared intently at Raymond. The pinnacle of fandom is watching videos—but this was enjoying it live.
He reviewed documents and spoke with his subordinates. They say a person is sexiest when focused on work. I carefully captured every moment with eyes practically spilling hearts, as if taking photographs.
“Oh, right.”
Just as I’d recharged enough to come to my senses and thought I should tell him about Niyan—
Kugung.
A loud noise, like an explosion, echoed from afar.
What was that?
Sensing something wrong, I snapped my head up. Raymond quickly moved to the window and looked outside. In the distance, thin gray smoke was rising.
Moments later, the door burst open and Evan rushed in with an urgent report.
“Your Grace. The mages are destroying the factory.”
“What?”
“What did you say?”
Startled, I jumped to my feet.
The mages’ actions were shocking, but the biggest shock of all was the question that surged through my mind.
The leader of the mages dispatched to the imperial city is on my side—so what is this supposed to mean?
There was no time to waste. Raymond and I immediately mounted our horses and headed for the factory. The closer we got, the thicker the smoke became.
By the time we arrived, the mages were already gone. Water tanks had been smashed into pieces and were burning fiercely, while auxiliary facilities lay shattered across the ground. Since the factory’s setup was simple, it seemed they had destroyed it quickly and retreated.
Fortunately, because I’d been isolated, factory operations had been greatly reduced for some time. Melas, who had arrived ahead of us, told us that only Nix and Chloe had been working when the attack happened.
“Where are Nix and Chloe?”
“Over there.”
Following the directions, we found the two taking shelter in a nearby safe area. Nix had suffered burns on his arm while trying to fight back against the mages, and Chloe, who had tried to stop him, had several small cuts on her arm.
“I’ll treat you right away.”
I brought out a bottle and water, made a healing solution, and used it on both of them. The redness and swelling on Nix’s arm subsided, and Chloe was restored without a single scar.
“Miss, you’re amazing!!”
As Nix experienced the pain fading in real time, he shouted excitedly. Overcome with joy, he moved to hug me—then noticed the duke reaching for his waist and immediately stepped back. Chloe calmly said, “Thank you.”
After treating them, I pulled Raymond aside. Curious about what was going on, he listened as I briefly explained about Niyan. Then, to summon him and hear the explanation directly, I brushed the back of my hand.
Shrrrk.
A gust of wind from the teleportation blew, silver hair fluttering in all directions. A moment later, crimson eyes gleamed beneath lifted lids, and upon spotting me, they curved beautifully to the side.
“You summoned me, my master.”
Niyan stepped toward me, took my hand, and pressed his lips to the back of it. As I screamed “No!” internally, Raymond roughly knocked his arm away. Startled, Niyan frowned and protested to me,
“Huh, Lady Aileen. Who is this rude fellow?”
“That’s what I should be asking.”
First it was the emperor and Raymond locked in a power struggle, and now it was Raymond clashing with a grand mage.
Suddenly exhausted, I grabbed Raymond’s arm and clung tightly to him.
“This is Duke Ruslow, Your Grace. My….”
“My guardian.”
I hesitated, about to add “my favorite,” but he cut in first.
Guardian? A guardian?
So that’s how Raymond thinks of himself in relation to me.
As I was moved by this unexpected realization, a strange light flickered in Niyan’s eyes.
“So this is Duke Ruslow.”
When he began emitting a gaze that was both intrigued and dangerous, I sensed the need to block his interest. I quickly stepped between the two and added,
“He’s very precious to me, so I’d appreciate it if you treated him well—just like you do me.”
“Ggh… understood.”
He didn’t look pleased, but after I put it that way, he conceded.
“Anyway, the imperial mages attacked the factory. What happened?”
“Ah, that.”
At my question, Niyan began explaining with a grim expression.
The mage unit dispatched to the imperial city was effectively divided into two factions. One was the hardline group supporting the current Mage Tower Master, and the other was the moderate faction supporting Niyan, the next in line. Even though he himself obediently followed the current master, the mere fact that he was the successor caused the division. Politics had always been like that.
In this situation, an urgent order from the emperor was delivered to the mage unit. Seizing the opportunity, he urged them to destroy the duke’s factory. The hardliners and moderates split over what to do—whether to carry out the emperor’s command immediately or wait for Niyan, who was absent at the time.
The two sides argued fiercely, and in the end, only the hardliners moved to carry out the emperor’s order. In other words, it was the hardline mages who destroyed the factory and fled.
“So in the end, it was Kyle’s order.”
“It seems he knew Raymond was running it and moved to weaken his forces.”
“Most likely.”
The emperor appeared ready to actively move against the duke now. In that case, we couldn’t just sit back and take it. After surveying the somber interior, I shouted boldly to lift everyone’s spirits.
“Then we can’t just stay still. Let’s strike back.”
“Strike back?”
“Yes. It’s unfair to just take it lying down. Do you happen to need money?”
I winked one eye as I looked around at everyone.
And so, after a long time, I took out my knowledge from the original story.
In exchange for covering up corrupt nobles who exploited the people, the emperor faithfully collected bribes, storing them in secret warehouses scattered across the empire. From now on, I planned to loot those very warehouses.
“Please look here.”
Back at the duke’s hideout, I took the map Evan had procured and spread it wide across the table. Everyone gathered around and leaned in. It was a fairly detailed map of the Prales Empire.
“When divided into east, west, south, and north, there are three warehouses, four, seven, and two, respectively.”
As I tapped the exact locations with my finger, Eden exclaimed in admiration.
“Wow, how can you know this so precisely?”
“She has prophetic dreams, remember?”
“If it were me, I’d forget everything the moment I woke up.”
At Drew’s explanation, Eden rubbed the back of his head. Evan, who had been staring intently at the map in thought, spoke in a serious voice.
“Still, there are only two in the north.”
“And as expected, seven in the south.”
The northern region, with its harsh environment and geographical distance, naturally had fewer warehouses. On the other hand, the southern region, home to the capital and the emperor, had many—only natural.
Picking up the thread, Raymond slowly stroked his smooth jawline. Without realizing it, my eyes followed his long fingers—then, when our gazes met, I snapped back to my senses and quickly turned away.
“It’d be best to execute this all at once. We should target the southern and eastern warehouses. I’ll issue orders to the territory as well.”
“Is it all right if it’s revealed that we did this?”
“Of course. It’s better if it is revealed.”
“I’ll mark the locations.”
Nodding in agreement, I realized what needed to be done and moved. Ten black dots appeared where my fingers wriggled.
Once the meeting ended, Raymond immediately issued orders. Not only to subordinates in the capital, but also to the territory—distributing maps marked with locations, dates, and times. He even added instructions to scout the locations in advance to ensure flawless execution.
Preparations in the capital were also completed thoroughly, with advance reconnaissance. Raymond decided to personally step in to make up for the lack of manpower.
D-Day was ten days from now.
At three in the morning, while everyone slept.
All that remained was to wait, preparing for that day
