Chapter 23
Lillia, her face frozen in shock, finally managed to move her trembling lips to speak.
“You… you truly mean to bring disaster upon this household…!”
Truth be told, although she didn’t show it outwardly, Ella herself was also taken aback by the situation.
It had been a gamble of sorts — forcing magic into the restraint device she held in her hands.
She had no idea how to properly use magic, but she had long been aware that the power flowing within her was anything but ordinary.
Would it make any sense for someone with such magic to be unable to break something as simple as this restraint?
That thought drove her gamble — and the result was more effective than she’d expected.
When she forcibly pushed her magic into the restraint, she could feel it cracking.
With a whatever happens, happens attitude, she tightened her grip, and in an instant, the restraint crumbled away.
Ella was startled herself, but upon seeing the horrified faces before her, she composed her expression — making it look as if it had all been intentional.
The effect was tremendous. Ella couldn’t care less about the knights’ reactions, but Lillia was staring at her with trembling eyes, her whole body shaking like an aspen leaf.
The woman’s gaze flicked nervously toward the restraint, now reduced to nothing but ash, her eyes filled with fear.
For Ella’s purposes, it was far better for Lillia to fear her.
So Ella deliberately put on a bright smile, like a fully-bloomed flower.
“You should speak accurately, Mother.”
“…”
“It’s not that I couldn’t break it. I just didn’t, because it was bothersome.”
Lillia, who thought her goosebumps couldn’t possibly get any worse, felt them rise again across her arms.
She herself had procured and secured that restraint — a magical artifact so strong that only an Archmage could break it.
Yet Ella had destroyed it more easily than breathing.
No… even “destroyed” wasn’t quite right — she had erased its very existence, as if returning it to nothingness.
Ella rose from her seat, gazing at Lillia, who still stood frozen in shock.
Casually brushing the dust off her dress, Ella fixed her eyes on Lillia, who was now like prey frozen before a predator.
“I will never come to this house again.”
“…”
“And you’d better keep what happened today as quiet as you always have. Oh — but then again, if it comes out that I’m a mage, the ones who’ll lose everything are you and Father, so I suppose that’s nothing for me to worry about.”
Glancing with annoyance at the dust on her hand, Ella stepped past the still-speechless Lillia.
She felt the woman’s trembling gaze on her but didn’t bother to look back.
“Never summon me again. From now on, I’ll meet His Holiness the Pope directly myself.”
Even at this curt announcement, Lillia couldn’t open her mouth. She feared her own child — feared the power she possessed.
What… what on earth have I given birth to…!
Still trembling with her head lowered, Lillia suddenly collapsed to the floor.
Two knights rushed to help her up, but she only stared blankly ahead, her eyes unfocused like someone who’d lost her mind.
“That look suits you quite well, Mother,” Ella remarked, glancing back with a mocking smile before leaving the basement.
By the time she climbed the stairs, the outside world was already blanketed in darkness.
Ella looked down at her fingers — they were trembling pitifully.
She hadn’t noticed it while keeping up her bravado before Lillia, but now her hands were shaking from the backlash of using unknown power.
The force scared her, but the incident had made one thing clear to Ella.
If I use it well, this power could be of great help to me.
Even as a near-beginner, the accidental release of that power had been immensely destructive.
So what if she learned to control it?
The answer was obvious.
The crisp scent of winter night air brushed her nose. Breathing it in deeply, she exhaled.
“Haah—”
It was the most refreshing, intoxicating night air she’d ever breathed.
In the carriage back to the Myers estate, Ella focused on calming her ragged breathing.
Breaking the restraint had caused her magic to surge abnormally through her body, flooding her from within.
“Huff…”
She braced herself against the carriage wall with slender fingers, trying to steady her breath.
Conscious breathing always felt burdensome.
“Haa…”
Her sweat-soaked hair clung uncomfortably to her skin, but she didn’t even have the energy to fix it.
At last, familiar scenery came into view — the estate where he was. She almost wished they’d never arrive.
With a clatter, the carriage stopped.
Fearing she might run into the servants, Ella hurriedly smoothed her disheveled, damp hair.
Finally composing her expression, she stepped down slowly. Her feet and legs felt heavy.
She looked fine on the surface, but anyone could see she looked terribly unwell.
If anyone saw her like this, needless concern would follow — concern she didn’t want.
Please, don’t let me run into anyone…
But once again, fate didn’t grant her wish.
“What have you been doing until this hour?”
The voice was like a death sentence. Ella’s eyes trembled as she looked up.
Blue eyes, as deep and unreadable as a bottomless lake, stared back at her.
Diazi…
Of all people, the one she least wanted to face right now was waiting for her return.
She wanted to give her usual sharp retort, but not a single word came out.
Frustrated that her body wouldn’t obey her, Ella bit her lower lip.
She didn’t want Diazi to see her like this. She knew he wouldn’t worry for her, but still… she hated it.
Call it petty pride if one wished — she simply didn’t want to show weakness to him.
…Avoid him.
Abandoning the idea of verbal sparring, Ella walked past him without a word.
Diazi’s brow lifted in irritation. Not only had she ignored his question, she was blatantly disregarding him.
This woman…
As Ella moved to pass him, he spoke again.
“Am I invisible to you, milady?”
“…”
“When someone speaks, you answer. Didn’t you receive that basic education?”
“…”
Her continued silence made Diazi snap — he reached to grab her wrist. But Ella’s frail body swayed before he could.
“…!”
Losing her balance, she began to fall forward, and startled, Diazi instinctively caught her by the waist. Blue veins stood out on the back of his pale hand.
Frozen in place, holding her, he stared at the woman in his arms.
Seeing her limp and unconscious, the anger that had flared up in him dissipated like smoke.
In its place came sheer disbelief.
What the hell has she been doing to come home and collapse like this?
She looked like a white lily stripped of all color — from her moonlit hair to her forehead, eyelids, and cheeks.
Not a trace of warmth remained.
Only the faintly visible tip of her tongue between slightly parted lips still held any red, and that made him grit his teeth.
“Hah…”
The out-of-season sweetness of peaches reached his nose. It gave him a headache.
When Diazi appeared carrying Ella in his arms, the Myers servants bustled about in alarm, leading him to her room.
While Diazi waited in the adjoining sitting room, Ariane wiped Ella’s sweat-soaked body clean and dressed her in fresh clothes.
Pulling the blanket up to her neck as she lay on the soft bed, Ariane quietly stepped out.
Hearing the door close, Diazi, lost in thought on the sofa, turned his head to look at her.
“It’s all done, Your Grace.”
“Leave.”
“…”
Normally she would have left immediately, but this time Ariane stood rooted to the spot.
Guessing what she wanted to say, Diazi spoke as if it were nothing.
“I’ll stay here until she wakes. So don’t worry — go.”
Twice now he had given her a merciless dismissal. His tone was cold, revealing his irritation — yet his words meant he would remain by Ella’s side until she woke.
Relieved, Ariane’s face brightened.
“Yes. Please call me if you need anything, Your Grace.”
No reply came.
The door shut with a heavier sound than usual.
Slowly closing and opening his eyes, Diazi looked down at his hand — the one that had held Ella’s slender waist.
With that body, it’s a wonder she can even walk around alive.
He had known she looked weak, but not that frail.
He normally kept his distance from women and had little reason to touch them.
So when Ella had fallen into his arms, he had been more startled than he showed.
After breakfast that morning, she’d said she was going to her family home and hadn’t returned.
Afternoon passed, then evening, and even as the full moon rose high and began to sink, she was still absent.
It wasn’t that he’d been worried — he simply found it irritating to think about what conversation she could be having there for so long.
He hadn’t even been waiting for her. He’d just happened to see her carriage return while stepping out for a cigarette.
Her complexion had been poor as she got down from the carriage, but given she’d been ill for days, he thought little of it.
Even when she didn’t answer his usual harsh words, he hadn’t thought much — just wondered what was wrong with her today.
But to actually collapse…
He let out a short, incredulous laugh through his lips.
Running a hand through his hair, Diazi rose from the sofa, making it shift slightly beneath him.
“Well then, shall I go see the delicate princess in her chamber?”
His tone was light, even teasing — but his face was utterly expressionless.
