I Don’t Want Your Salvation - ✿ dusk blossoms ✿

the next update will come within the next three months~

‘Let me just look until he comes out.’

Melissa quickly scanned the desk.

The first thing that caught her eye was a bundle of papers full of traces of writing and erasing something extensively. It seemed to be organized magical formulas.

‘Hmm, I don’t know what this means.’

Melissa gave up trying to figure out what kind of magic it was.

With the level Melissa had studied so far, she couldn’t figure it out. From the start, it was ridiculous to think that she, who had self-studied using books available in the North, could understand Edgar’s formulas—the work of the next Tower Master.

Melissa quickly gave up and shifted her gaze.

There lay a letter that seemed freshly opened.

The sender’s name naturally entered her eyes.

〈Everden Armus.〉

The name of the woman Melissa always worried about.

Everden Armus.

The current undisputed master of the Magic Tower.

The most powerful mage in this world.

‘And the teacher who personally scouted Edgar.’

Melissa swallowed dryly while looking at the letter envelope.

On the envelope was stamped a blue emblem with a shining star overlapping within a circle. It was clearly the Tower Master’s seal.

Even though she already knew who the letter’s owner was, seeing that emblem made her breath catch. Such was the position of the Magic Tower’s master.

Something that made all the mages in the world bow their heads.

‘Moreover, Everden isn’t just any mage.’

No matter how much they say that staying in the Magic Tower makes one’s previous origins irrelevant, Everden Armus’s case was a bit different.

From the beginning, she wasn’t of a status that could be ignored as if nothing had happened. Melissa recalled her previous name.

Everden Esmira.

The Kingdom of Esmira that she had recently visited with Edgar.

Everden had been the precious princess of that place.

‘Though it’s a bit much to call her “princess” even now.’

Everden was the younger sibling of the king from two generations ago, making her the great-aunt of the current King of Esmira. She was an elder one generation above even being called the eldest princess. Despite being over one hundred years old, she maintained a young and beautiful appearance due to possessing a vast amount of magical power.

‘Moreover, humans with excellent magical power usually live for hundreds of years, so she’ll probably live long and well in the future too.’

What Melissa had worried about most before her regression was also that part.

Unlike her, who was an ordinary human except for having the power of precognition, Edgar possessed tremendous magical power.

So although she didn’t show it, she worried constantly whenever she heard news that he spent a lot of time with Everden.

Noble origins, ageless beautiful appearance, mighty power.

Everden Armus was a woman who lacked nothing.

She still frequently exchanged letters with the King of Esmira, so she had the foundation and reputation to return to her homeland anytime.

Come to think of it, Edgar might have known that the coming-of-age ceremony hadn’t been held yet in the Kingdom of Esmira because he heard it from Everden.

‘……She’s a very attractive person.’

Melissa’s eyelids trembled.

She had seen Everden once in her previous life.

It was because Everden personally came to the Shortiras ducal residence after hearing the news, following Edgar’s near-death experience due to his awakening period that came at a relatively young age.

At that time, Melissa was temporarily staying with her mother according to Lionel’s absurd claim that ‘the Lucid clan should minimize contact with the outside as much as possible,’ but she could tell just by sneaking a look through the window.

What kind of person Everden Armus was.

[……I’m envious.]

Those were the words her mother, who was likewise looking at Everden from beside Melissa, had muttered. A sentence that remained embedded in Melissa’s ears as if branded there, even though quite a long time had passed since then.

Her mother had literally envied Everden.

More precisely, she had yearned for her freedom.

Despite her impressive background as a Tower Master who was once a princess of the kingdom, she was like a bird flying without obstacles. Although her mother rarely expressed it, Melissa could sense it implicitly.

That her mother had always wanted to break the shackles of ‘precognition’ and leave for a place where no one knew her.

Yes, just like Melissa now.

Melissa envied Everden too.

Even now when she thought she had won Edgar’s heart.

‘I wonder what’s written in the letter.’

Melissa nervously opened the letter carefully.

She felt as if she should do so, even though it was already opened after Edgar had checked it.

To my disciple who never listens to a damn word I say.

Melissa flinched at the unexpectedly harsh vocabulary.

She had heard that Everden had such a personality, but she never thought she would speak this way even to Edgar.

Melissa glanced briefly toward Edgar’s room.

Fortunately, there was still rustling noise coming from the room, as if he was changing clothes. It seemed he was planning to change into his Magic Tower formal attire as usual.

Melissa felt somewhat relieved and continued reading the letter.

I’m sending another letter because you never answer your magical communication device. I heard you recently extorted a top-grade topaz from my secretary. Seems like you were trying to hide it from me somehow. You didn’t actually think I wouldn’t notice something like this, did you?

“……Ugh.”

Melissa barely managed to hold back a loud exclamation.

Anyone who wasn’t a fool would understand.

That the ‘topaz’ mentioned in this letter was the gem adorning the ring Melissa was wearing now. She never expected to discover the origin of this topaz in a letter from the Tower Master.

I still remember when I discovered that topaz. It was when we went monster hunting nearby shortly after you came to the Magic Tower. In all my life, I’d never seen such a topaz. Well, gems of that grade are rare to begin with. It even withstood quite powerful magic without breaking.

Melissa’s gaze briefly turned to her ring.

Come to think of it, Edgar had said he had cast a happiness spell on the ring.

I clearly told you back then. That when a new child was born in the Esmira royal palace, I would cast the highest-grade blessing spell on that gem and gift it. You haven’t forgotten what you did next, have you? I remember it so clearly because it was too outrageous.

You, you snatched the topaz from my hand and immediately flew up into the sky. You ungrateful brat.

……Oh my goodness.

Melissa’s feelings became increasingly indescribable.

It was an action she could never have imagined Edgar doing.

That Edgar Shortiras?

I was foolish. I should have immediately delivered it to the Esmira royal palace then, but I was relieved just to have taken it back from you. I should have properly recognized that greedy look in your eyes! Damn it.

Now that I think about it, even when you first snatched the topaz, you made a fuss about having someone you had to give it to. Why did I overlook that so carelessly? So, did you give your gift well to the person you wanted to give it to? You rotten bastard.

After that, a stream of curses followed.

Melissa glanced toward Edgar’s room again.

Was the Edgar in this letter really the Edgar Shortiras she knew? It felt somehow incongruous.

The content about the topaz seemed to end there.

Melissa put the letter back where it had been.

At that moment, a postscript at the bottom of the letter caught her eye.

Ah, I almost forgot to ask the most important thing. I need to know the reason now. Since you took the topaz and left for the Empire with just a brief note to me, you should answer this. Why do you keep telling people not to call you by your name? Is it because you’re a noble of the great Artzen Empire and want proper respect? Let me remind you, since you seem to keep forgetting, I’m royalty, you brat.

Melissa stopped moving and stood still.

She couldn’t move at all, even though the sound of changing clothes was no longer coming from Edgar’s room. It felt as if someone had grabbed her legs and fixed them to the ground. Soon, she heard the sound of the door opening. Her gaze naturally turned in that direction.

But her mind was still elsewhere.

On that single line from the letter she had just read.

[Why do you keep telling people not to call you by your name?]

The reason for that behavior that Everden was curious about.

Melissa knew the reason that even she, who had spent the last six years with him, didn’t know. She couldn’t not know.

Because it was the same reason why she still called Lloyd “Your Highness” even though he, a friend for quite a long time, had asked her to call him by his name.

[Edgar, it’s so strange. Everyone calls me the successor of Lucid. No one calls me by my name except for mother and you.]

[Don’t worry, Melissa.]

Suddenly, a conversation from long ago came to mind.

Edgar’s voice speaking gently back then.

[I’ll make it so no one except you can call my name either.]

At that moment, Melissa felt something inside her suddenly break. With a crashing sound, broken pieces covered the floor, beyond repair.

Without any chance to do anything about it.

Completely, helplessly.

Heat rushed to her eyes. Tears welled up instantly.

Her heart began to pound loudly.

Why am I…

“Melissa, what’s wrong?”