Chapter 29 – About the Emperor’s Fiancée
A familiar man, whom she hadn’t invited, was at the party. Seisil was riding a rocking horse, laughing excitedly.
“Wahaha! Run! Go!”
He seemed to have brought people from the Mage Tower, as children were begging the adults near Seisil to show them magic. Thanks to those mages, the party was getting even more lively.
“Hah, is that really the Mage Tower Master? Riding a rocking horse and laughing like a kid?”
Even the Empire’s Emperor seemed to have nothing to do, but the Mage Tower’s magicians looked even more idle. The dignity of the top administrator was missing.
Even more surprising was Solei. No matter what Seisil did, Solei delighted in it like a child. Whether Seisil wore an invisibility cloak and startled people or threw golden acorns and pinecones around, Solei found it all innocent and cute.
Solei was probably the one who invited Seisil. She asked him brightly,
“How are you so pure, Lord Seisil?”
Even though ‘pure’ didn’t sound entirely positive in this context, Seisil answered bashfully and happily,
“Haha, isn’t that part of my charm?”
“A pure magician—like a national treasure. You know, I always thought magicians were gloomy and dark.”
“I’ll break that stereotype for you. Hoo!”
Maybe those two would end up together.
Anyway, Seisil was good at magic, but his mental age seemed closer to Lily’s.
“Oh, isn’t that the mother of the party’s star? Nice to meet you. Sorry for the late greeting!”
Seisil finally came over to greet Ethea. He must have already greeted Gin, since Gin watched his mother and the magician guest interact with satisfaction.
Ethea didn’t want to chat with the talkative Seisil. She didn’t want to connect with anyone related to Lyle. She tried to cut the conversation short and turn away.
But then, a man caught her eye. Had she invited such a man?
“So pretty…”
The man had snow-white skin, short hair, and wore light clothes, but it was clear from his robe that he was a magician.
Seisil had once called himself a ‘pure-type pretty boy,’ and appearance-wise, there was no objection, but this man was even more pure. He was talking to little Lily, and his smile and voice were androgynous and subtly attractive. Lily looked up at him in awe.
“You’re a god!”
Solei might need to rethink Lily’s education. If she calls any man a god, Lily will follow her example. Of course, those who’d been called ‘god’ were handsome, but for a six-year-old to say that to an adult man was a bit much.
“Will you marry me?”
‘Lily, didn’t you say you wanted to marry Gin?’
Ethea watched Lily in disbelief, and the man smiled brightly at Lily’s cute words, sitting down to meet her eyes.
“How cute. What’s your name?”
“Lily.”
“Lily, I can’t marry a little kid. Ah. Maybe it’s not because you’re a kid, but some other problem?”
As he spoke to Lily, he suddenly muttered to himself. Then he shouted to Seisil,
“Hey, Seisil.”
Not ‘Mage Tower Master’ or even a surname, just ‘Seisil.’ And Seisil responded, running over like an obedient puppy.
“Yes, Big Brother?”
Big brother?
The man told Lily to close her eyes for a moment, then punched Seisil hard in the stomach.
Thud!
“I told you not to call me that.”
“Yes, Brother!”
Thud!
“Don’t call me that either.”
“Yes, Brother!”
Thud! Thud!
“Ah, I’m sorry! Please don’t hit me! Brother!”
The dignity of the Mage Tower Master was being pulverized.
The man almost hit Seisil again but sighed instead. Even his sigh was cool.
“Call me properly. Not those titles, just my name. I put a magic recovery spell on my name, so every time someone calls it, my magic condition improves for the day.”
“Oh, I see. But what was your name again?”
Thud thud!
Seisil ended up getting hit again. After the relentless violence, Seisil begged for forgiveness like a fly, hands together.
“Sorry, sorry! Azure! But I want to call you big brother…”
Azure crossed his arms and thought deeply. Then he asked Seisil,
“Come to think of it, wasn’t I… engaged to someone once?”
“Oh my. So quick to remember, how admirable. The only person who can forget being engaged to the Emperor of the Empire is you, big brother—no, big sister.”
Big sister? That handsome man was actually a woman? And…
Ethea’s thoughts stopped at their words.
‘What?’
That man—no, that woman—was Seisil’s older sister?
***
Azure Lint. She was the daughter of the previous Mage Tower Master, and the twelve-years-older sister of the current Mage Tower Master, Seisil Lint.
Her father was Mage Tower Master, her mother was Deputy Mage Tower Master. Born to such parents, Azure had a higher magic power—even higher than Seisil—and a deep passion for magic. Naturally, her dream was to become the greatest magician.
But Azure couldn’t pursue her dream. Her mother opposed her working in magic, saying it was too rough for a delicate girl, and her father said it wasn’t good for the whole family to become magicians, urging her to focus on socializing with the nobility through marriage.
So, at eighteen, she faced the crisis of an arranged engagement. The candidate was the son of the Chancellor, famous as a playboy.
Azure hated her parents’ interference more than anything, even if they were family. Not only did they not support her path as a magician, they wanted her to marry someone she didn’t care about. The fact that Seisil, uninterested in magic, was encouraged to inherit the Mage Tower just because he was a man was ridiculous.
Azure couldn’t stand it.
She didn’t have ambitions for the Mage Tower itself, but working there allowed her to research freely, so she had to secure it, ambition or not. She couldn’t leave the Mage Tower without being officially recognized as a magician, but to just get married? In an age of advanced magic and alchemy, a woman with tremendous magic power wouldn’t be satisfied with a life of marriage.
But her father’s power was absolute. Whether by family hierarchy, magical strength, or even physical fighting, she would lose.
So what to do? Azure came up with an answer. Rather than letting her father push her into marriage, she would marry first!
Azure searched for a candidate—someone with higher status than her father’s choice, younger, likely to allow her freedom in marriage, and with a reason not to refuse her proposal. Most importantly, the engagement had to be so sudden her father couldn’t object.
Out of nineteen candidates, she chose the thirteenth prince, Lyle Hillus.
He was six years old—not just young, but a child. So he wouldn’t care what his wife did. He might barely even understand the concept of a wife.
Plus, this young prince had no reliable faction, and could disappear from the palace at any time. Azure thought she could help him, and also avoid marrying the unwanted playboy.
So she approached Lyle’s mother.
‘Please give me your son. If you let me get engaged to him, I’ll protect him for life.’
She was bold. For Lyle’s mother, it was an appealing offer. With no reliable faction and no way to reach out, Lyle’s mother couldn’t afford to let go of Azure’s hand, given her status as the Mage Tower Master’s daughter and her immense magic power.
Lyle’s opinion wasn’t important. He was just six, a prince growing up precariously under a precarious mother.
‘Please take good care of Lyle.’
The engagement was arranged that very day. Azure boldly met the Emperor and handed over the engagement contract, asking him to witness it. The Emperor thought it wasn’t a bad deal and accepted immediately. Azure’s parents were forced to step back from their daughter’s marriage issue.
Thanks to this, Azure avoided marrying a man she didn’t like. She was cut off by her father and had to dodge her mother’s nagging, but she was satisfied.
Helping with the endless work at the Mage Tower meant she was never short on money. And as the sister of the Mage Tower Master, she could research magic as much as she wanted, so her path as a magician was smooth. Plus, she wasn’t officially affiliated with the Mage Tower, so she didn’t have to swear loyalty. If a crisis ever came, that would be a useful card.
An independent person who didn’t need to rely on her parents. Azure, who had achieved her dream, now had only one wish left.
Assuming she could continue her magical pursuits safely, she wanted to live a peaceful and happy life with someone she liked. Since the only people she regularly met were Mage Tower staff, finding a romantic partner was urgent.
So she came to today’s party, but it seemed she’d been tricked by her brother. The party was full of children, their parents, or the same Mage Tower people she saw every day.
“Well, the kids are cute, though.”
Azure felt a gaze on her and turned her head toward it.
There was a girl. She was short, with long black hair falling down her back. Her impression was on the cute side. At most, she looked around nineteen years old. Of course, calling someone that age a girl might be odd, but to Azure, who was over thirty, she looked like a girl.
But she wasn’t just any girl.
“Mom, can I show the wooden dolls I made in the attic to my friends?”
“Yes, Gin.”
There was a boy who called her ‘Mom.’ It was Gin, the star of today’s party.
“My gosh, so young and he calls her ‘Mom’?”
She must have spoken too loudly, because the girl shifted her gaze from her son Gin to Azure. Seisil whispered nearby.
“You haven’t greeted the party host yet, have you? Go say hello. She’s the owner of this lovely house, and the one His Majesty can’t help but pine for.”
“His Majesty?”
Azure asked Seisil, watching Ethea as if to study her.
“Yes. She’s ‘the one’ for His Majesty.”
Azure nodded quickly and approached Ethea. If Lyle was so devoted to a woman, Azure wanted to cheer her on.
“Ah, sorry for the late greeting. I’m Azure Lint, a magician. I came along with Seisil, hope you don’t mind.”
Azure offered her hand for a handshake. Seisil chimed in,
“My big broth… no, my big sister.”
Ethea, still bewildered, took Azure’s hand.
Afterward, things felt a bit awkward. She wasn’t used to this kind of greeting, and wasn’t sure if she was supposed to grip so tightly.
“Ah, hello.”
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