***

Leticia absently pondered the hallucination she had seen.
It was about the life of the first Herta. Mostly from the perspective regarding one woman…
‘Rather than the founder of a great empire, he seemed more like a patient with severe jealousy disorder,’
In the hallucination, Herta couldn’t understand why the woman he loved feared him, and instead only doubted her feelings.
Logically, how could anyone not be afraid of a man who was determined to eliminate every human around her?
‘Especially someone with both the will and ability to make it happen.’
Besides, she was just afraid, not that she didn’t love him.
From Leticia’s perspective, accepting a man who was obsessive, suspicious, and controlling as much as he did—if that wasn’t love, then what was?
‘If it were Lady Isana, she would have run away already, and if it were Master, she would have already smashed his head.’
Having naturally compared the men of Basilinte with Herta, Leticia suddenly frowned.
The silver hair and golden eyes belonged to Herta’s ‘her,’ but Herta’s behavior actually reminded her of Basilinte.
‘If you mix the two… it seems like you’d get Basilinte.’
With that thought, Leticia opened her eyes.
Blink, blink.
Her vision was blurry. She could feel raindrops hitting her face.
After wiping the moisture from her face with her hand, someone asked.
“Are you alright?”
At the sound of a man’s voice that shouldn’t be heard here, Leticia quickly sat up.
There was a splashing sound.
Only then did Leticia realize she had been lying in a shallow puddle.
“Lie down a bit longer.”
The man who gripped Leticia’s swaying shoulders met her eyes.
“Chamuka…”
Everything was strange.
Suddenly seeing a hallucination of the first Herta, opening her eyes to find Chamuka in front of her, and rain pouring all around.
The trap supposedly made by the Empire was nothing special.
To Leticia, it seemed merely a crude trick, without any sophisticated plan from someone meticulous.
‘But why suddenly, did I…’
In her confusion, she looked around blankly.
Nearby, under a large rock, Aina was sheltering from the rain with blue-tinged lips. The downpour was so heavy that it didn’t seem to help much.
Having thought that far, Leticia raised her hand. Raindrops fell steadily onto her palm.
‘Why is it raining?’
Chamuka stroked her cheek.
“You’re pale, Leti. I think the rain can stop now.”
Stop now?
Leticia instinctively shook her head.
She wasn’t the one making this rain. She hadn’t used any magic. She had been unconscious from the start.
However, perhaps misinterpreting Leticia’s denial as unwillingness to follow his words, Chamuka cupped her cheek and whispered.
“What if you faint again?”
He seemed to think that Leticia had lost consciousness because she had used too much magical power to make this rain.
But Leticia wasn’t a mage who would run out of power just from making it rain on this rocky mountain, and besides, this rain…
What was this rain?
Her confused eyes stared at the raindrops.
“It’s getting late. We should go back. If you can’t walk, shall I carry you?”
His hand wrapped around her shoulder.
Leticia suddenly thought his touch felt hot.
She reflexively shrank back, but Chamuka didn’t withdraw his hand. Rather, his grip tightened, confusing Leticia.
This wasn’t like Chamuka.
“None of the mages in that underground storage died. Although it might have been somewhat shocking for you to see…”
He frowned as he made excuses. He hesitated with his words and leaned closer to her.
That was really unlike Chamuka, and Leticia observed him openly.
“Mother is also reflecting deeply, and everyone regrets it. No matter how worried they were about Kalia, they shouldn’t have done that. I can promise you, Leti. Such a thing will never happen again.”
“….”
“So let’s go back.”
This was just talk to appease Leticia. He had said those nice words only to get to that final statement.
His tone when speaking of reflection lacked sincerity, and the mention of Kalia was even indifferent. The only words he whispered with genuine feeling were those last ones.
Leticia was bewildered by how “easily” she could read Chamuka’s expressions.
It was nothing like his usual expressionlessness, which made it impossible to know what he was thinking.
It was too easy. To guess his emotions.
His facial muscles weren’t moving more than usual, nor had his expressions become more varied. Why?
Without realizing it, she reached out and held Chamuka’s cheeks. Then she brought her eyes close, as if examining him.
His handsome face was the same as always. Only his cheeks were damp from the rain, and the eyes looking down at her were shy.
Shy…?
“…?”
Leticia momentarily doubted her own eyes.
She tried to observe his eyes more closely to correct this ridiculous description, and seeing their faces getting closer, Aina shouted.
“Your Highness!”
It was a desperate cry, as if trying to stop someone from putting their head into a beast’s jaws.
Only then did Leticia realize what she was doing and startled, pushed Chamuka away.
But like a solid rock, Chamuka didn’t budge.
Thanks to this, Leticia could see the emotions flashing across his face in real time.
The shyly reddened corners of his eyes and ears, his eyes darkened with dilated pupils, and his tensed jaw.
And how all that changed to murderous intent after Aina’s shout.
Witnessing all these reactions, Leticia almost screamed in terror.
Who on earth are you? Our Chamuka is not like this!
“Ch-Chamuka. W-why are you acting like this?”
“…I didn’t do anything.”
“Y-y-you’re fondling my hand right now!”
“Hmm.”
Chamuka looked down at his hand firmly gripping Leticia’s. A question like ‘When did I grab it?’ flashed across his face.
Leticia found it even more terrifying that she could read this so clearly.
“So you wouldn’t fall backward.”
The excuse lacked effort.
Leticia really didn’t want to know Chamuka’s true intentions as he fiddled with her hand.
“Really?”
“Are you uncomfortable? Should I let go of your hand and hug you instead?”
Leticia hastily shook her head. Somehow, she felt that if her answer was even slightly delayed, Chamuka’s hands would be fondling her shoulders.
“I can get up by myself.”
“Why get up alone when I’m here?”
“Because my arms and legs are fine.”
It was a logical answer that the usual Chamuka would have accepted, but this time was different.
“No. The rain makes the path slippery, Leti. I’ll help you.”
“…”
Had he hit his head somewhere?
The probability of Leticia slipping on water was the same as a fish drowning.
It was more likely that water would cushion her if she fell.
“Chamuka, why are you acting like this…”
She ended up repeating the same question she had asked earlier.
Why was Chamuka suddenly so emotional…
“…!”
…As if the curse had disappeared.
With this sudden realization, Leticia quickly looked at her hand held by Chamuka.
She couldn’t feel any magical power flowing out. Not even a bit.
Leticia swiftly examined her magical circuit connected to the five Basilinte members.
She could feel that the magical pathway flowing to Chamuka had disappeared.
As if the source of the curse that had been draining Leticia’s magic had never existed inside Chamuka.
“How…?”
Above her head, rain that she wasn’t causing continued to fall, and the Basilinte in front of her had found his emotions.