CHAPTER 151……………………………………………….
His touch froze abruptly.
The air around them turned cold in an instant.
It became difficult to breathe, as if water were filling his lungs after being swept away by a wave.
Feeling a deadly sense of danger, Rosha desperately tried to reason with Kaiden.
“You, who agreed with the Wizard Management Bureau to capture Trinity, would be in trouble if you got involved with me like this.”
Her body trembled violently at the vibrations of Kaiden’s heavy breathing.
It felt as if she were standing before a wild beast with its jaws wide open, and she shrank inward.
“I won’t appear before you again. If you want, I’ll organize and send you all the formulas and methods of mana manipulation you’re curious about. Please, just return the necklace.”
She apologized for deceiving him in the past and promised that she would never act that way again.
As a gesture of apology, she offered what he wanted as compensation.
It was the best apology Rosha could give.
Yet all she received in return was Kaiden’s deadly voice.
“It’s already too late.”
A chill brushing her skin made Rosha flinch, and she turned to face him.
His gaze, looking down at her, felt like it pierced her heart.
“The Wizard Management Bureau has already noticed. They know I’m connected to Trinity. They already know that I pretended to capture you in the smuggler’s warehouse but let you go.”
Kaiden had already earned the bureau’s ire for the incident where he attacked a civilian with magic.
Any misunderstanding about his connection to Trinity would be fatal on top of that.
“There’s no evidence, so they remain silent. Even now, they’re watching me. They might try to find a link to Trinity.”
Kaiden’s chilling question cut into Rosha’s ears.
“But you’re going to disappear all of a sudden?”
“…….”
“They say I’m a failure you’re helping, but without reason, without a trace, you just disappear?”
“…….”
“Kantea will contact the Wizard Management Bureau to find you, and they’ll notice immediately. The moment you become a suspect, I’ll be implicated as your accomplice.”
Rosha, stunned, couldn’t speak.
“Karen Westwood and Jordy Everett, who helped you, won’t escape suspicion either. Everyone knows Jordy Everett took you out of school on the last day.”
Kaiden moved his hand again.
The blouse, which had slipped weakly, now covered the back of his hand, but he ignored it and pressed his hand against her wound, merely stroking it.
It was a completely different touch from the careful one moments ago.
Sticky and viscous, as if spreading glue.
Kaiden’s low warning seeped into Rosha’s ear, trembling like a butterfly trapped in sticky sap.
“So finish the lie you started. Complete the plan you originally intended.”
As Rosha gritted her teeth and endured his touch, Kaiden leaned in closer.
His shadow fell over her like a dark blanket.
Breathing so close that their noses nearly touched, he whispered lowly:
“You knew, didn’t you? That two academic warnings mean expulsion. That’s why you pretended to be a failure.”
Kaiden’s wine-scented breath brushed against Rosha’s stiffened cheek.
“Hide the truth that it’s Trinity, no matter what, until the expulsion is legitimate.”
Having said this, Kaiden withdrew from her.
His hot hand lifted from her wound.
Cold air seeped into her stomach and left side, as if a part of her body had been torn away.
A merciless chill enveloped her, and her whole body trembled.
“You said you came to get this, right?”
Straightening up, Kaiden glanced at Rosha and took the necklace from his pocket.
He looped the chain around his fingers and lifted it. The radiant red gem swayed temptingly.
The Regalia.
The necklace her parents had risked their lives to retrieve, protecting Rosha from a demon’s threat.
Instinctively, Rosha reached out toward it.
But Kaiden, with a decisively cold motion, kept it out of reach.
“Important enough to be worth more than your life? Good.”
Kaiden shook the Regalia in front of her.
“Having this with me means you can’t escape recklessly.”
The red jewel glimmered in his violet eyes like blood.
It was right there, yet she couldn’t touch it.
Desperate, Rosha cried out.
“Kaiden!”
Kaiden turned his gaze away from her, focusing on the Regalia.
The shadow cast by his long, thick lashes swept over the necklace like a viscous caress.
“I’ll be at the eastern border for a while. I’ve been asked to join the joint investigation of Mount Leolai.”
He placed the jewel in the palm of his other hand.
His movements were slow and deliberate, as if to show who possessed the necklace.
“Wait quietly until I return. Don’t do anything.”
Kaiden’s fingertips, which had stroked her wounds, now traced the smooth surface of the Regalia.
His calm voice, chilling in its composure, flowed down along the chain.
“If it’s such a precious necklace, if you want it back—”
Kaiden didn’t look at her at all.
He stared at the necklace with drooping, orphaned eyes, as if it were truly Rosha herself.
Rosha shivered at the piercing cold on her skin.
“Don’t run away. Come to school.”
Kaiden gripped the Regalia tightly, as if to demonstrate.
His large hand enclosed the necklace completely.
Even the silver chain that slipped through couldn’t be grasped with strength.
The chain swayed, reflecting light that cut sharply into Rosha’s eyes.
“Keep pretending to be a failure, just like before.”
Kaiden’s shadow, cast by his slightly tilted body, fell over her.
He touched nothing, yet Rosha was trapped like a bird caught in a net.
As she looked up in bewilderment, Kaiden’s low breath flowed down.
“By my side.”
At the temporary reception hall at the entrance to Mount Leolai, a certain tension lingered.
Preparations for the launch ceremony of the joint investigative team, tasked with examining the gate in the city hall square, were in full swing.
Decorative paintings to soften the stiff atmosphere, light refreshments, and a pledge promising a fair investigation under mutual respect.
“Now we just need the representatives of both countries to sign.”
Felix, Minister of Magic and head of Escalona’s investigative team, handed the finalized pledge to his assistant.
“Not yet?”
The assistant, following behind, took the document with both hands.
“They should arrive within ten minutes.”
“If they’re going to dawdle like this, they might as well leave it entirely to us. Why do they insist on meddling and holding us back?”
Felix clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“If we had acted alone, the matter would have been resolved already. Now, who knows if any trace of the gate remains.”
Felix shook his head.
It had been ages since monsters had invaded the capital of Escalona, and only now could they set foot on Mount Leolai.
Absurd, yet since Mount Leolai was jointly administered by both countries, procedural formalities were unavoidable.
“Everything’s ready, right?”
Noticing his superior’s unease, the assistant replied immediately.
“Yes. We’re on standby to investigate Mount Leolai as soon as Hicalerion signs the pledge.”
“Who is the representative of Hicalerion’s team?”
“Priest Konstantin has been appointed as their team leader.”
“Priest Konstantin?”
Felix narrowed his eyes.
“Never heard of that nobody, right?”
The assistant leaned close and whispered in his ear.
“According to our contact, Priest Konstantin is the real power behind Hicalerion. The king consults him whenever important decisions are made.”
“Is that so?”
“They say he was the one who directly suggested forming a joint investigative team this time.”
“What’s his real intention?”
Felix’s eyes gleamed sharply as he instructed his assistant.
“We’re here to find those who attacked Escalona. Under no circumstances should we let Hicalerion take the lead. Warn those on standby to stay alert.”
“Yes.”
After the assistant left, Felix looked around for a final check.
Staff from the Ministry of Magic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Wizard Management Bureau were mingling.
As Felix scanned the reception hall, his gaze landed on Kaiden from the House of Kalscronin, standing to the side.
“Blood thief, indeed…”
Tall and bearing a ducal resemblance, Kaiden mirrored the late Duke of Kalscronin in his prime.
Felix, who had once fought alongside the duke, approached Kaiden with delight.
“Prince Kalscronin. Long time no see.”
“Greetings.”
Kaiden, rumored to be a prodigy who would lead Escalona’s future, wore the Kantea uniform.
Felix, recalling Kaiden’s legendary academic schedule, expressed his gratitude.
“Thank you for coming all this way despite your busy schedule.”
Kaiden lowered his eyes politely.
“It’s the work I must do.”
Though brief, his answer reflected his composed and unwavering character.
Felix, thinking of his own children who couldn’t even be seen due to their idle ways, sighed enviously.
“If only I had a son like you, I wouldn’t have worried.”
It was natural that Felix, as head of Escalona’s investigative team, first contacted the head of Kantea Magical Academy.
Kaiden had experience with monster subjugation along the eastern border and had witnessed the incident in the city square firsthand.
It was only right to request that Kaiden join the team.
Felix, thinking of how much he bragged about his son when stamping the dispatch papers, felt a twinge of regret but immediately understood the pride of the academy head upon seeing Kaiden.
“Prince Kalscronin is enviable.”
Felix’s gaze, filled with admiration, naturally fell on the necklace even while they were talking.
“Must be important, huh?”
