Chapter 112. Laila’s Magic

One reason I became reliant on foresight was that the nature of the magic had changed.

Now, whenever I approached someone’s future, I could wander through time and space with a transparent body, like a ghost.

Today, as always, I found myself not in the present, but in the future.

Just to see Enoch. To confirm that he was safe…

I am here, but at the same time, I do not exist.

With hands that can touch nothing and reach nothing, I stroke his face. Praying that he is safe. My heart aches with longing.

“Supplies are ample. The problem is Navaroa, that crazy, multi-personality bastard. His magic has its limits. We need to surround him and push him to his limits.”

“But if it looks like we’re gaining the upper hand, he just uses teleportation magic to escape. While his other magics have clear limits, his teleportation magic doesn’t, does it?”

“Exactly, that’s always the issue. That’s why we keep losing him, that rat bastard…”

This place was a temporary conference room, and those sitting around the table conversing with Enoch were his commanders, including the head of the knight order.

Among them was a mage, someone I had seen a few times while coming and going, a person with dangerous magic capable of creating massive flames. I heard he spent six years at the Mage’s Tower until he could fully control his abilities…

The usual completion period at the Mage’s Tower is two years, but sometimes it takes longer, which is why some parents try to hide their mage children.

“No, teleportation magic has its limits too. We all know that each personality can only use one magic. If the personality changes, he can’t use teleportation magic.”

“…Come to think of it, Navaroa’s fifth personality rarely appears on the battlefield. We don’t even know what magic it possesses. Could that be his weakness?”

“You just realized that? Of course, that’s his weakness. That’s why we need to take this chance to draw out Navaroa’s fifth personality and find out why he hides it so carefully.”

Enoch looked healthy. His skin was still smooth, and his black hair gleamed like raven feathers. Although there were shadows under his eyes, perhaps from lack of sleep.

Even so, he led the meeting without a hint of fatigue, looking exceptionally remarkable.

‘You truly are an amazing person.’

He was born strong, but that alone wouldn’t lead to victory in war.

It was his outstanding insight that enabled him to seize victory.

I gently stroked Enoch’s cheek with my transparent hand. I wished I could touch him, but my touch passed through him in vain.

As time and space began to shake, showing signs that the foresight was dissipating, I stood beside Enoch and softly embraced him with both arms.

It was a ghostly hug. No warmth, no feelings, nothing conveyed.

* * *

“You can’t keep losing sleep like this, Your Highness….”

“It’s alright, Jasmine. I did sleep for three hours today….”

“Three hours… You should be sleeping at least eight hours….”

Jasmine sighed deeply, clearly upset. And she had every reason to be. I wasn’t in a normal state.

Worrying about Enoch had become a daily routine, and at some point, it solidified into insomnia. I had no appetite and my food intake had significantly decreased.

Moreover, I had become highly sensitive to the temperature differences between day and night, experiencing chills, mild fevers, and dry coughs.

My weight had also dropped noticeably. I looked sickly and gaunt from every angle, and I felt like I was really going to waste away.

‘I can’t. I have to stay healthy until the end of the contract. I can’t let Enoch know that I’m terminally ill.’

Today, once again, I barely resisted the urge to use foresight magic while bathing.

The reason my body had weakened was undoubtedly because of using foresight magic, so I had to restrain myself from now on. I didn’t want to greet Enoch looking like a patient when he returned…

But I couldn’t stop the anxiety that kept eating away at me, so I often bit my lips, fidgeted with my hands, and paced around the room.

Seeing my anxious symptoms, Jasmine seemed to ponder something, then brought Laila to my room and made a surprising suggestion.

“Your Highness, how about making Laila your second personal maid?”

Laila’s eyes widened in surprise, as if wondering what was being said suddenly. She wasn’t the only one surprised. I, too, blinked in astonishment at Jasmine.

“You’ve been seeing Laila frequently these days. It would be more enjoyable to spend time with the three of us together rather than just the two of us. I’ll take care of Laila’s training.”

I frequently sought Laila for Katarian practice, but that wasn’t the only reason.

Having traveled the world with her parents as a child, Laila surprisingly knew and could do many things.

She had skills in making accessories and items by weaving threads of various colors, sketching abilities akin to a painter, and she could even make traditional Katarian dishes.

Spending time with Laila allowed me to momentarily escape my anxiety, which was why I often sought her out.

“But, I don’t know anything about etiquette… I’m not from a good family… and I stutter….”

“Oh? That’s alright. You can learn etiquette, and Her Highness doesn’t consider origins or stuttering a flaw.”

Right? Jasmine looked at me for agreement. Still in a daze, I soon smiled faintly and nodded.

“Jasmine is right, Laila. You have many strengths, so you can be more confident.”

“……!”

“See, I told you so.”

Jasmine smiled brightly, and Laila, blushing to her ears, lowered her head. Though she seemed far from confident, her small “Yes…” suggested she didn’t dislike the idea of becoming my personal maid.

“First, let’s change your clothes. We’ll get new ones tailored to your size, but for now, you can borrow mine. Come along.”

The two left the room and returned a while later. In the luxurious and neat clothes Jasmine lent her, Laila looked quite presentable.

Still blushing to her ears, Laila faced me as I smiled warmly.

“Then, I’ll be counting on you again, Laila.”

After Laila became my second personal maid on Jasmine’s suggestion, she tried various ways to ease my anxiety.

One of them was card reading with 72 cards, and using such a divination tool despite having foresight magic felt strange.

Interestingly, whenever I asked about Enoch’s well-being through the cards, they always showed good results. I wondered if there was some trick, but it didn’t seem so.

Another amusing thing was that whenever I asked what kind of person Enoch was, the ‘Emperor’ card always came up. Power, wealth, honor, success, dominance, stubbornness, arrogance, ambition… It fit Enoch perfectly.

Imagining how delighted Enoch would be to hear these card readings, I went to bed earlier than usual today.

The last person to attend to me was Laila. She extinguished the candle and approached the bed, gazing down at me and whispering softly.

“Tonight… you’ll sleep well….”

Before I could respond, a strange sensation enveloped me.

My eyes closed on their own. Though I wasn’t sleepy at all when I lay down… suddenly, I felt overwhelmingly drowsy.

In the fading consciousness, I suddenly realized what the strange sensation I felt from Laila was.

‘Magic…’

It was undoubtedly magical power.

What Laila used on me was…

* * *

As soon as I woke up in the morning, I was certain.

Laila had used magic on me.

“Jasmine, where is Laila?”

“Laila went to the kitchen to get Your Highness’s breakfast… Why are you urgently looking for her?”

Jasmine tilted her head in curiosity, and I brushed it off as nothing.

After washing and dressing, Laila entered the room with breakfast. I took a sip of orange juice and signaled Jasmine with my eyes.

“Jasmine, could you step out for a moment? I have something important to discuss with Laila.”

“What? Hmm, alright, understood.”

Though Jasmine looked puzzled, she didn’t ask for a reason.

Once Jasmine had left, leaving just Laila and me, I faced her directly and asked.

“Laila, do you have magic?”