“That too… I tried it, but it had no effect. Instead, it triggered a seizure.”

“A seizure?”

“Yes. It was a seizure caused by a magical reaction.”

“Reaction? Are you saying that Lady Blante’s subconscious rejected your magic? But Lady Blante isn’t even a mage…”

Aster furrowed his brow, unable to understand, before suddenly falling silent.

For he had discovered the cause – the force that rejected Seoden’s magic and erased Lady Blante’s memories.

The powerful ancient magic contained within the pocket watch.

The ancient magic had been unsealed and used to save Lady Blante’s life, driven by the power of a human’s desperate will.

He had suspected as much when he first saw her serene, almost peaceful expression.

Her deepest wish was probably not to survive.

When Lady Blante had thrown herself from the cliff, the Grand Duke of Seyerd had been there, hadn’t he?

Aster remembered the Duke’s ashen face – the hollow, lifeless look of a man utterly consumed by despair. Despite everything, he had clung to the unshakable belief that Lady Blante was alive.

So the wish that had activated the ancient magic and saved Lady Blante’s life was…

“It was the Grand Duke’s wish.”

And as for Lady Blante’s wish, it wasn’t to survive.

“It was to forget everything.”

Aster’s blue eyes darkened, a shadow of gravity settling over them.

The two wishes were very different, yet both were so powerful that they had combined to unseal the ancient magic.

For a moment, Aster was at a loss for words.

To be honest, when Seoden had informed him that Lady Blante had regained consciousness, Aster had been more inclined to send her back to the Empire.

Throughout the day, as he investigated what had happened to her, he learned that the remaining members of House Blante were deeply shaken by the incident.

He’d planned to listen if she chose to speak, and if not, simply to help ensure that she didn’t make such a reckless decision again. To step back and allow her to rebuild her place in the Empire.

After all, as Seoden had said, she was a citizen of Pentium.

Not to mention that Grand Duke Seyerd was searching for her relentlessly, almost in a frenzy.

Any misstep could lead to the kind of national crisis Seoden had feared. Aster had decided to approach the situation rationally.

But now, knowing that she had wanted to forget everything – to the point of erasing her own identity?

What kind of event could cause someone to abandon themselves so completely?

Aster thought of the one person who could provide the answer.

“Caroline.”

“Caroline? Who’s that?”

Seoden asked, his expression filled with curiosity at the unfamiliar name Aster had just mentioned.

Instead of explaining who Caroline was, Aster simply placed a firm hand on Seoden’s shoulder. But before Aster could do anything, Seoden interrupted.

“No. Absolutely not.”

“What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“I mean whatever it is you’re planning – don’t do it. Just stop.”

Seoden shook his head vehemently, his determination obvious. Even though Aster hadn’t elaborated, Seoden instinctively understood.

Aster was about to become even more involved in this matter.

Seoden quickly tried to stop him, speaking urgently.

“Tower Master, as you know, I haven’t quite mastered the hypnosis spell yet, as it’s relatively new. Why don’t you try it instead? If you do, Lady Blante’s memories might…”

“They won’t come back. Her memories aren’t repressed, they’re sealed by ancient magic.”

“Sealed by ancient magic? But why… I thought the ancient magic only worked to save her life…”

Seoden’s confusion was obvious, his expression filled with disbelief. Aster interrupted him firmly.

“It wasn’t just to save her life. There’s more to it. That’s why I have to go out for a while. When I come back, I’ll decide what to do about Lady Blante. Just give me some time.”

“Tower Master…”

“It won’t take long.”

Aster released his grip on Seoden’s shoulder, cutting off any further argument. His gaze shifted to Lady Blante, who remained motionless, her eyes shadowed with determination. Without another word, he activated a teleportation spell and disappeared.

Not to Cascade Beach, but to the Pentium Empire, to the Ducal Estate of Viasteus.

Once again alone in the room, Seoden murmured softly the words he had been unable to say aloud earlier.

“Lady Blante… is not Princess Faelin.”

Sigh.

Seoden let out a bitter sigh, one that Aster would never hear.

—

As the clock approached midnight, the silence of the grand lobby of the Viasteus Ducal Estate was shattered by the sharp sound of a slap.

Smack- Smack!

Not once, but several times.

A noblewoman with her dark hair in an elegant updo raised her hand again. Her palm struck a chestnut-haired woman hard across the cheek, leaving a bright red mark.

The woman’s lip had split, leaving blood on the duchess’s fingertips. Despite her own injury, the woman immediately approached, ignoring her pain, to clean the blood from the noblewoman’s hand.

However, the Duchess coldly swatted her away, refusing the gesture. Instead, she took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the blood from her fingers, her expression filled with contempt.

The Duchess cast a sharp glance at the silent woman, who stood with her head bowed in submission, and clicked her tongue in irritation.

“Caroline, you fool.”

The noblewoman who had administered the harsh punishment in the now empty lobby, cleared of all servants, was none other than the Duchess of Viasteus, Melish. The woman who endured the rebuke and slaps was her head maid, Caroline.

No matter how hard Melish tried to calm herself, her anger refused to subside.

She had given Caroline a simple task: to discreetly gather information about the search for Lady Blante.

And yet, less than two hours later, Caroline returned not with any useful information, but in disgrace, escorted back to the estate by Lowell.

“On top of that, you were caught by the Archmage himself, wearing a mage’s robe, no less – an unforgivable blunder!”

“The Archmage was merciful this time.”

Lowell had said, repeating Kylance’s words before leaving the manor.

“But if things had escalated, even the Duchess would not have been spared the consequences. Do not attempt such a thing again. Next time I will not interfere.

How could Melish not be angry? Her already fragile relationship with Kylance was now on the verge of collapse, and Caroline’s actions had added fuel to the fire.

To add insult to injury, her head maid had not only been discovered, but had tarnished the Viasteus name in the process.

The Duchess’s sharp voice echoed through the lobby.

“Stealing a mage’s robes? Knowing the Archmage was there? You must be mad! What possessed you to make such a reckless decision with a mage?”

“Security was too tight, there was no other way…”

“Silence!”

Melish’s voice snapped, sharp and unyielding. She was not interested in Caroline’s excuses. What mattered was that she had given an order and Caroline had failed to carry it out – miserably.

Her anger rose again and she raised her hand as if to strike, but her face contorted in frustration as she lowered it.

There was no point. Another strike would only stain her hand with blood again.

A part of her wanted to get a whip and whip Caroline until her skin was in tatters, but that would have been beneath someone of her stature.

As Melish clenched her fists in anger, Caroline dropped to her knees and bowed deeply.

“This is all my fault, I have committed an unforgivable sin, madam.”

Even as blood dripped steadily from her split lips onto the immaculate floor, Caroline pressed her forehead to the floor and bowed repeatedly with an audible thud.

Thud. Thud.

The skin on her forehead had peeled away, leaving bloodstains on the cold marble floor, but Caroline felt no pain. 

All her focus was on the Duchess of Viasteus. 

To outsiders, her loyalty might seem ridiculous, but Caroline was sincere. Were it not for the Duchess, she would have met her end long ago in the slums, beaten to death. 

Melish stared coldly at Caroline, who lowered her head to the ground before finally giving up. 

“Enough.” 

Caroline’s movements stopped instantly. Melish’s brow furrowed as she approached Caroline. 

“I am deeply disappointed in you. I trusted you too much. I thought your intelligence would be a great asset to me, and yet you’ve done something so foolish. And on top of that, you haven’t learned anything. 

Just as she was about to order Caroline to leave her sight, Caroline raised her head. 

“Even though… I was caught, I did not come back empty-handed. I’m well aware of the search situation.” 

Melish froze for a moment. 

“Earlier you claimed to know nothing… So you were lying because Lowell was there, weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Melishe’s sharp expression softened slightly, prompting Caroline to speak quickly.

“That’s right. I couldn’t tell the truth in front of the helper. But from what I have observed, the search situation is grim.”

“Grim? Explain.”

“Everyone believes there’s no chance of Lady Blante being alive. They even doubt that her body can be recovered. Besides, a corpse with red hair was found near the cliffs, and His Grace personally inspected it.”

“Personally? Don’t tell me… No, if it had been her, the search would have been stopped long ago.”

“Exactly. The body wasn’t Lady Blante’s. But after its discovery, the search teams became even more convinced.”

“That Lady Blante is dead, is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes”