“Master of the Tower.”

When Aster entered the tent, he was immediately confronted by Kylance. It was as if he had been waiting for him without even sleeping.

Aster’s eyes glanced briefly at the wooden, unused-looking field bed before quickly moving away.

He turned his attention back to the Grand Duke.

And for a moment he froze. He had intended to come straight to the point, to say that he was withdrawing from the search. Brutal as it might seem, kindness was not in his nature to begin with.

But he found himself unable to open his mouth.

For he noticed that the darkness surrounding the Grand Duke had grown even deeper than it had been yesterday.

Even though the sun was shining brightly outside, the Grand Duke seemed to be surrounded by nothing but an overwhelming darkness. His haggard face and the despair slowly consuming his dark eyes were obvious. No, perhaps it wasn’t slow at all, he seemed to be sinking into the mire of despair at a frightening rate.

It looked so deep that there was no end in sight.

I had never encountered such a deep abyss before.

That’s why I hesitated and even lost sight of my own essence. Aster wondered for a moment: Was I like this when I lost Faelin?

Perhaps that’s how others saw me.

Back then, I too was consumed by grief and lost my mind.

All day long, all I could think about was an endless wave of regret. But now it’s too late for both my former self and the current Grand Duke to regret anything.

After all, neither of us could protect the ones we loved.

Aster finished his short thought and spoke coldly:

“Your Grace, the Grand Duke. From this moment on, my Mage Tower will withdraw from the search. As we have failed to carry out your order properly, we will not accept any payment.”

Kylance let out a dry sigh.

Last night, Lowell had informed him that the Mage Tower Lord had had a confrontation with his aunt’s head maid, Caroline.

After that incident, the Mage Tower Lord suddenly disappeared and was nowhere to be seen until dawn.

Instinctively, Kylance felt that something had gone wrong. Perhaps the Mage Tower Lord would not return after all.

But the Mage Tower Lord was indispensable to him. He was the person with the most powerful abilities to help find Ariel.

So Kylance waited anxiously all night for the Mage Tower Lord. In the end, his ominous prediction did not prove wrong.

Still, he couldn’t just give up.

Kylance pleaded earnestly.

“Mage Tower Lord, I have heard that my aunt, the head maid Caroline, caused an unfortunate incident last night. I am truly sorry that I couldn’t prevent it. Since you said you didn’t need any compensation… if you wish, I will even kneel before you. Please, just don’t withdraw.

“To kneel.”

Lowell jumped when he heard these words, but Kylance was sincere. If the Mage Tower Lord were to withdraw all the mages from here now, it would clearly make finding Ariel… very difficult.

The Mage Tower Lord stared at Kylance with an inscrutable, intense gaze before speaking softly.

‘You said the same thing when I arrived yesterday. That I could even use offensive magic if you wanted to. But neither then nor now do I have the heart to do that to His Grace, the Grand Duke. Of course, this does not mean that I dislike His Grace. It’s just that I can’t bear to look at him right now.’

He reminds me of my former self.

Aster swallowed, biting her lip.

Kylance showed no reaction. Even though Aster was openly rude, he just listened quietly.

Aster understood the reason better than anyone.

Because he was aware of his own mistakes, he welcomed any criticism.

Trapped in deep regret.

The day Faelin died, he felt exactly the same.

That’s why I couldn’t stand Kylance.

If it was so valuable, you should have protected it immediately. You shouldn’t have done something you’d end up regretting.

Even though you knew it was wrong, you made the decision in the end. But what’s going to change now, even if you regret it?

He swallowed the thoughts that were forming in his mind and spoke coldly.

“And besides, even if I don’t attack you, you’ll collapse on your own, won’t you? I don’t need to get my hands dirty.”

“The Mage Tower Lord’s words are too…”

Lowell, who had been standing in a corner of the barracks listening incessantly, couldn’t hold back and was about to say something, but Kylance stopped him.

Kylance slowly parted his lips.

“So you’re not going to withdraw because of last night’s incident?”

So that was it. Kylance felt, as he listened to Aster’s words, that Aster harboured only hatred for him and no other anger.

And his prediction was correct.

“Yes.”

“Then why exactly do you want to withdraw? Surely you won’t answer that it’s because you can’t stand me, will you? If that were the case, you wouldn’t have come in the first place. You came because you valued Lady Blante more than you disliked me, and even though you knew that Lady Blante had jumped off of her own accord, you didn’t leave and stayed, did you?”

“Even though you know my role in Ariel’s extreme decision.”

Kylance added seriously.

Aster replied calmly.

“That is true. I came here and stayed because I respected Lady Blante more than I despised His Grace, the Grand Duke. And I did some research to find out why Lady Blante made such an extreme choice.”

“……!”

Aster stared blankly at Kyance’s trembling expression and spoke.

“I was curious. You may have backed Lady Blante into a corner, but the last time I saw her, she wasn’t desperate enough to make such an extreme choice.”

“…….”

“What exactly happened that made her try to get back up only to jump off the cliff? And I happened to find out the reason.”

At that moment, Kylance felt a chill run through his veins. He knew the reason… Could it be ……?

As Kylance’s eyes began to tremble with fear, Aster turned his head briefly.

Not at Kylance, but at Lowell.

Looking at Lowell, Aster muttered softly.

“It seems your assistant doesn’t know the truth.”

“……Magic Tower Lord.”

Just as Kylance called out to Aster in a trembling voice, Aster replied coldly.

“You manipulated Marquis Blante’s letter to label him a traitor. You did that, didn’t you?”

“What nonsense is that?”

It wasn’t Kylance who shouted, it was Lowell.

Lowell was truly furious. No matter how much he was the Lord of the Mage Tower, and no matter how much he needed his help, Aster’s attitude was extremely rude.

Kylance was a royal of the most powerful nation on the continent and the Grand Duke who ruled the North, yet he went beyond mere rudeness to manipulating evidence!

Unable to tolerate such an outrageous remark, Lowell stepped forward.

“Grand Duke, what you have just said is something even a Grand Duke cannot overlook…”

“Mage Tower Lord, what you just said is something even a Mage Tower Lord cannot ignore…”

Just as Lowell was about to demand an official apology from the Mage Tower Lord, a heavy voice rang out.

“It is the truth.”

“What…?”

As Lowell turned to Kylance with a stunned expression, Kylance spoke in a dry voice.

“I manipulated the evidence and turned Marquis Blante into a traitor.”

“Why… would you… do such a thing?”

Lowell couldn’t believe it. The gentleman he knew would never do such a despicable thing.

Besides, the Marquis Blante was Lady Blante’s father.

How could he, who loved Lady Blante so much that he was now in despair and remorse, turn her father into a traitor?

In fact, when the Grand Duke personally presented the evidence that the Marquis Blante was a traitor to the Emperor, Lowell didn’t understand it, but he thought it was the right thing to do and that there was nothing to be done.

But now to learn that the evidence itself had been forged…

As Lowell struggled for words and stared at the Grand Duke, Aster spoke.

“Wouldn’t it be better if His Grace spoke for himself rather than me? After all, you are a loyal servant of His Grace.”

He would surely want to hear the truth straight from his master’s mouth.

He probably wouldn’t believe anyone else’s words.

Kylance stared at Aster for a moment in silence. He’d hoped it wasn’t true, but Aster really did seem to know all the truths.

How he had found out, Kylance didn’t know, but if Aster knew that he had manipulated the evidence, he probably also understood why he had done it.

Kylance looked at Lowell.

Lowell was a loyal servant, but Kylance had never told him the truth about his parents’ death.

Officially, it was a carriage accident, and from a young age his aunt had repeatedly told him not to trust anyone until he found the real culprit and avenged them.

He believed he had to bear it alone and find the culprit himself.

There would be no advantage in revealing that a member of the royal family had been murdered, so he thought it better to finish his revenge quietly and alone.

Of course, he had failed at everything.

He hadn’t found the culprit, and instead had framed an innocent man, causing his death. Furthermore, blinded by his desire for revenge, he had lost the woman he loved.

So there was no longer any need to hide the truth.

That is, if he wasn’t ashamed to reveal to his loyal servant how foolish he had been.

Since the Mage Tower Lord, who was neither his relative nor a citizen of this land, already knew the truth, Kylance slowly opened his mouth.