Chapter 16 (Part 9)

Iris whipped her head around so quickly it created a breeze, and there stood Caleb, drenched in sweat.  

He was gripping a communication device so tightly it looked like it might shatter. As soon as he shouted, he dropped it to the floor.  

The communication device rolled across the floor, and Iris collapsed to her knees, her legs giving out.  

“Haah… Haah… Are you insane?!”  

Caleb’s shout made Grace awkwardly lower her kicking foot, her face sheepish.  

“Iris Sherman! What on earth are you doing?!”  

Caleb’s thunderous voice startled Iris, making her shoulders jump.  

He roughly pushed Iris aside, pressed a button, and opened the device’s door. Grace leaped out with ease.  

Stretching her stiff body, Grace asked,  

“Where’s Leo?”  

Her expression seemed to suggest the question was obvious, making Caleb snap,  

“How should I know?! You’re the one who should know!”  

At Caleb’s words, Grace scratched her cheek awkwardly.  

Her mind, overwhelmed by the sudden situation, was spinning.  

“Uh, the last time I saw him was with Liam, so… probably… Rodin Mountain, second lot. The second abandoned house there. He should be there.”  

As soon as Grace stammered out the location, Caleb bolted out the door, shouting,  

“We need to arrest her as a criminal caught in the act!”  

Only then did Iris seem to realize the gravity of her actions, trembling violently.  

Grace, arms crossed, tilted her head and asked,  

“So, what’s your deal?”  

“……Do you think you can capture me?”  

Seeing Iris’s eyes filled with hatred, Grace innocently asked,  

“Why? Are you stronger than me?”  

At Grace’s words—something Leonardo would never say—Iris clutched her head and screamed,  

“Aaaargh!”  

As if wishing everything was a bad dream, Iris let out a piercing scream.  

Grace approached her and lightly struck the back of her neck.  

“―Ugh!”  

Iris’s eyes widened in shock before she collapsed to the side.  

Looking down at Iris, Grace muttered awkwardly,  

“You were too noisy. Sorry about that.”  

Grace lifted Iris’s limp body and placed her haphazardly on a sofa. Then, she rummaged through the office to find restraints for magical use.  

After securing the restraints on Iris’s hands, Grace looked down at her with a peculiar expression.  

‘Did she love Leo, or did she just want to own him?’  

What had gone so wrong to lead to this outcome?  

Moreover, Grace didn’t believe that the Liam she saw this morning was unrelated to the current situation with Iris.  

And, though she felt sorry for Liam, she wasn’t particularly worried about Leonardo being kidnapped.  

‘Leo is more skilled than Liam.’  

Besides, people would underestimate him because they thought mages couldn’t use physical force.

‘She wouldn’t have sold our situation to anyone else, would she?’  

Honestly, what use could selling the fact that a knight and a mage had swapped bodies possibly have?  

But then again, since the mage in question was Leonardo, whose skills were at the level of a Grand Mage, it was hard to be certain.  

Grace looked down at Iris, who had fainted—or rather, whom she had knocked unconscious—and sighed.  

“Well, fine. I can understand it, I guess.”  

She must have thought of Leonardo as the most magnificent trophy she could possess, something no one else could have.  

Judging from Iris’s behavior so far, that seemed to be her reasoning.  

And then, out of nowhere, Grace Lowell, whom she must have seen as filth, appeared and clung to Leonardo.  

“Actually, now that I think about it, that’s pretty infuriating.”  

Grace crouched down next to Iris and poked her soft, pale cheek with her finger, muttering to herself.  

“To treat someone like that… What kind of mindset does it take to become like this?”  

As Grace sat crouched, muttering to herself for a while, a refreshing scent tickled her nose.  

She instinctively turned her head, only to feel someone wrap their arms around her waist.  

Recognizing the familiar hands she had seen countless times, Grace placed her hand over them and grumbled,  

“You’re late, Leo.”  

“Is that how you greet me? Then who’s going to console my disappointment at not being rescued by the princess herself?”  

At Leonardo’s words, as if he had been waiting for her to come and save him, Grace chuckled softly and placed her hand on his cheek.  

She then leaned in as if to kiss him but suddenly frowned deeply.  

“Why are you stopping?”  

“Well, it’s just… It’s my face, and it feels kind of… like I’m committing a crime.”  

As Grace stepped back with a strangely contorted expression, Leonardo let out a low laugh.  

“For someone who says that, you—”  

“Ahhh! Shh! Stop!”  

Realizing exactly what he was referring to, Grace quickly covered Leonardo’s mouth.  

As Leonardo burst into hearty laughter, his gaze turned cold as he looked down at the unconscious Iris. He spoke in a frosty tone.  

“Iris Sherman. If you’re awake, get up already.”  

“……”  

At his words, Iris slowly opened her eyes and sat up.  

Turning her head away haughtily and lowering her gaze, Iris’s behavior made Grace look at Leonardo with wide, surprised eyes.  

“Wow, how did you know she was awake?”  

“You can always tell by the change in breathing when someone wakes up.”

“Oh, that’s true.”  

As Grace nodded in agreement with Leonardo’s words, Iris, as if she could no longer bear it, shouted angrily,  

“What are you two doing in front of me right now?!”  

Grace responded with a look that suggested Iris was saying something utterly ridiculous.  

“Why? By now, shouldn’t you have realized? Whom Leonardo Fernandez belongs to?”  

At her words, Leonardo sighed and covered his face with his hand.  

“I belong to no one.”  

Hearing this unexpected statement, Grace widened her eyes and looked down at him.  

Then, her eyes sparkled as she asked again,  

“…Really?”  

“No, that’s not true. I misspoke.”  

Unable to deny it outright in front of her sparkling eyes, Leonardo stammered as if making an excuse.  

Satisfied, Grace laughed and wrapped her arms around Leonardo’s waist, saying,  

“Then wake up from your dream.”  

Iris buried her face in her hands as she watched the two embrace affectionately.  

Caleb, who had been watching the openly affectionate display with an annoyed expression, cleared his throat and stepped forward.  

He grumbled in a voice full of irritation,  

“All right, enough. Move aside now. We need to escort her to the Magic Department, so please cooperate.”  

At the word “escort,” Grace asked in a mockingly concerned tone,  

“Will she be put on trial?”  

“Yes. She attempted to use ancient magic recklessly without the authorization of the Magic Department or the Mage Tower, so she’ll face appropriate punishment.”  

Saying so, Caleb secured Iris’s wrists with even firmer restraints.  

The cold metal made Iris flinch, and she let out a whimper.  

Her voice, pitiful like a child’s, made Grace turn her head toward her.  

“……!”  

As their eyes met, Iris’s gaze briefly sparkled with hope, as if wondering whether Grace might forgive her.  

Grace stared at her silently before speaking.  

“You tried to ruin two people’s lives. You’ll pay the price for that.”  

Caleb, who had been quietly listening, looked at Grace with surprised eyes for a moment before nodding.  

“Yes, of course.”  

As Grace finished speaking, Iris’s face twisted with betrayal.  

To her, Grace said,  

“If you tried to destroy someone else’s life, you should have been prepared for the consequences.”  

“I just wanted to help Leo!”  

At Iris’s desperate cry, Grace replied in a cold voice,  

“Then you should have done it the right way.”  

With that, Grace waved her hand dismissively, as if telling them to take her away.  

At her indifferent gesture, Caleb and the Magic Department staff stepped back, dragging Iris, who let out a piercing scream, away.  

“So, where’s Liam?”  

In a cheerful voice, as if nothing had happened, Grace asked.  

Leonardo answered just as casually,  

“I turned him into a pulp.”  

“You didn’t hand him over to the guards?”  

At Grace’s incredulous question, Leonardo smiled and replied,  

“Of course, I handed him over to the guards as well.”  

“Well done.”  

Then, pulling a potion from her pocket and shaking it, Grace said,  

“Now, let’s switch bodies back.”  

As she smiled at him, Leonardo gestured for her to come closer.  

Bending down curiously, Grace listened as Leonardo whispered into her ear.  

“My sister has returned.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. And the antidote has been completed.”

The meaning of his words didn’t immediately sink in, and Grace blinked rapidly.  

After a morning filled with terrible events, she had thought the entire day was ruined, but now she was hearing such good news!  

Finally understanding the situation, Grace let out a cheer and hugged Leonardo tightly.  

“Hoorayyyy!”

“Ouch! That hurts! W-wait a moment!”

Ignoring Leonardo’s protests, Grace lifted him into the air and spun him around, shouting again,  

“Hooray!”