Chapter 16 (Part 5)

Iris, her face pale, searched frantically around the laboratory, muttering irritably.  

“It’s not here, not here. It’s gone!”  

Iris only realized she was missing a document when it was time to submit it.  

Though it wasn’t a critical document, it wasn’t something she could leave out either. 

Anxiety gnawed at her as she bit her nails. Then she remembered visiting Leonardo’s laboratory a few days ago.  

“…Did I drop it there?”  

There’s no way.  

That day, she had been so startled by the shocking news that she had hugged the documents tightly enough to get them wet. There was no way a single document could have fallen out.  

“But if it wasn’t there… I haven’t taken it out anywhere else.”  

She had gone to ask Leonardo to review the documents, so she must have brought them with her.  

But Leonardo hadn’t been there—only two suspicious sorcerers.  

When her thoughts turned to the sorcerers, Iris frowned and ground her teeth in irritation.  

‘Uncle didn’t even bother to hear what I wanted to ask.’  

After hearing that, Iris had left the documents in her laboratory and gone straight to her uncle.  

Being the first sorcerer born into a family that had produced mages for generations, he had been ostracized by everyone. But Iris herself hadn’t done so.  

On the contrary, she had been quite accommodating.  

‘And yet he dares to ignore my messages!’  

He had always been quick to meddle and contact her, but the moment she had something to ask of him, he locked his door.  

Then, as if everything she had seen so far was a lie, he told her to leave in a cold, icy voice.  

How dare he, a mere sorcerer.  

‘Does he think he’s really my uncle just because I call him that affectionately?’  

That sorcerer uncle was from a collateral branch of the family.  

As a child, she had been curious because she had often heard, ‘That damn sorcerer!’ 

What kind of person could he possibly be?  

‘He looked more decent than I expected, but still, he’s a sorcerer.’  

Her father had always said that one never knew when or how people might be used, so it was important to keep them in mind.  

So she had approached that “uncle,” who always wore an expression as if he were fighting alone against the family.  

“Ungrateful, crazy uncle.”  

Thanks to her, his standing in the family had improved somewhat, yet he treated her so coldly.  

Grinding her teeth, Iris felt a piece of paper in her hand and suddenly remembered the documents. Habitually biting her nails, she stood up.  

‘I have to go find it, no matter what.’  

The thought crossed her mind that by now, Leonardo might have returned.  

Even if he hadn’t, no one would have found the documents if they had fallen in some corner of the hallway.  

After all, Leonardo didn’t like people coming in and out of his laboratory.  

‘Yes, it’ll still be there.’  

Suppressing the anxiety that belatedly crept up at the thought that someone might have noticed her visit, Iris left her laboratory.  

As she made her way toward Leonardo’s laboratory, she passed by the 3rd Knight Order.  

“—Huh? Who’s that?”  

From a distance, she saw someone coming out of Leonardo’s laboratory.  

Judging by the servant-like attire, it seemed to be a maid, but it was a face she had never seen before, even when visiting Leonardo’s estate.  

“Who on earth was in Leo’s laboratory—!”  

“Ah, that girl.”  

Iris, boiling with anger and unaware that someone had approached her, flinched and stepped back when she sensed their presence.  

The person who had approached her was Liam, who smiled warmly.  

“My apologies for startling you, Mage.”  

At his polite words, Iris’s expression softened slightly.  

Thinking that he was different from the other knights who only knew how to swing swords mindlessly, Iris lifted her chin slightly and replied.  

“It’s fine. I’ll forgive you.”  

Though a smirk almost escaped him at her attitude, Liam pretended otherwise and bowed courteously again.  

“No, I’m sorry. I failed to consider your feelings, Mage.”  

His flawless apology, as if he were addressing a noble lady, completely disarmed Iris.  

With a haughty expression, she gestured toward the direction of Leonardo’s laboratory and asked.  

“Do you know who just came out of Leo’s laboratory?”  

Her gaze seemed to say, “You startled me because you recognized that girl, didn’t you?” Liam nodded.  

Then, in a friendly tone, he answered.  

“Yes, I do. She’s a maid close to Grace Lowell, the commander of the 2nd Knight Order.”  

At his words, Iris finally took a closer look at Liam’s face.  

Despite her scrutinizing gaze, Liam stood there with a warm smile, as if he were the perfect example of a knight.  

“Now that I think about it, aren’t you that woman’s Deputy Commander?”  

At Iris’s words, Liam feigned a sorrowful expression. Then, forcing a smile, he replied.  

“I resigned because I did something unforgivable to the commander.”  

“…Unforgivable?”  

For a moment, Iris wondered if what he had done was something heinous, and she instinctively prepared to cast magic.  

But his next words quickly dispelled that thought.  

“I confessed my feelings to the commander, despite my position.”  

Iris blinked rapidly.  

Her mind couldn’t quite process what she had just heard.  

“Confessed? To Grace Lowell?”  

“Yes, but it seems she already has someone else in her heart.”  

At the end of his words, Liam glanced toward Leonardo’s laboratory.  

Even in that simple action, Iris understood what he meant. Grace Lowell, beyond her station, had feelings for Leonardo.  

But that couldn’t happen.  

That shining thing was hers. It had always belonged to Iris Sherman.  

Grinding her teeth, Iris looked at Liam and spoke as if giving an order.  

“You, I need to talk to you. Wait here while I visit Leo’s laboratory.”  

Her tone was typical of an aristocratic young lady who believed herself superior, embodying the arrogance of mages. Yet Liam merely smiled.  

Bowing courteously, he replied.  

“If it’s possible, I’ll wait.”  

Iris, pleased with his answer, smiled brightly and quickly made her way to the laboratory. 

As soon as she turned her back, Liam’s previously kind expression turned icy cold.  

Dusting off his clothes as if they were dirty, he walked toward the training grounds instead of waiting as he had told Iris.  

When Iris returned after finishing her business, no one was there.  

* * *  

After an intense sparring session with Amelia, Grace collapsed onto the training ground.  

Since Amelia never went easy on her daughter, the sparring session ended up feeling like a fierce competition, and Grace was defeated.  

“Ah, seriously. That was too exhausting.”  

Amelia, surprised by her daughter lying casually on the dirt ground, put down the water she was drinking and asked,  

“Weren’t you the one who used to get disgusted at the thought of dirt touching you?”  

“Ah, yes, I did.”  

Grace responded with an awkward laugh to Amelia’s words.  

There was no way she could confess that, because of that blasted Golden Day Primrose, lying on the dirt didn’t feel like a big deal anymore.  

Amelia stared at her daughter’s subtle expression for a moment before letting out a small laugh.  

“You’ve grown up, haven’t you? Keeping secrets from your mother now?”  

Startled by the seemingly disappointed tone of her mother, Grace sat up straight.  

What she saw then was Amelia grinning mischievously with a playful look on her face.  

Realizing that her mother had said that to tease her, Grace’s face turned bright red, and she shouted,  

“Mom!”  

“What did I do? It’s true that you’re keeping secrets.”  

As Amelia calmly tidied up her clothes, Grace, unable to deny the truth of her words, found herself speechless.  

Amelia extended her hand to her daughter, who took it and stood up.  

As she dusted off Grace’s clothes, Amelia spoke.  

“I know how much you’ve struggled because of your unchanging skills all this time.”  

“…Mom.”  

“There must have been many people comparing you to me. Despite all that, you’ve overcome everything and achieved so much. I’m so proud of you.”  

Hearing Amelia’s words, Grace bit her lip, her face filled with emotion.  

Amelia, looking at her daughter with affection, patted her head and whispered softly into her ear with a smile.  

“It’s fine to date, but don’t leave any marks. If your father finds out, it’ll be a big problem.”  

With those words, Amelia raised her wrist and tapped it with her finger.  

Following her mother’s gesture, Grace raised her own hand and noticed the mark Leonardo had left. Startled, she looked at Amelia.  

“M-Mom! This, this is―!”  

As Grace tried to explain, Amelia placed a finger over her lips.  

Winking playfully, she waved her hand as if to say it was fine and left the training ground.  

Grace, unconsciously covering her wrist with her hand, stared blankly at Amelia’s retreating figure as it grew smaller.  

“…I’m doomed.”  

It seemed that deceiving her mother was no easy task.