Chapter 100

“The gate is ready. You can leave now if you’d like.”

Rayden burst into the inn, brushing dust off his hands and clothes as he spoke. Louis pressed his hat down low again, took a gold coin from his pocket, and placed it on the table.

The horses seemed to have rested enough, as they neighed happily when their owner appeared. Louis untied the reins and mounted his horse lightly, adjusting the reins as he watched the Duke position himself on his horse.

“Just one question.”

“Yes.”

“Does Vivian have a type of man she likes?”

Duke Dinever tilted his head as if he didn’t understand Louis’s question. Having received this question from the person who had occupied Vivian’s heart for so long, he couldn’t grasp the point of the question.

“Well…”

“Like appearance, personality… things like that.”

What good is being smart? He’s so clueless.

Rayden, who had mounted his horse late, shook his head as he looked at his lord’s back.

Duke Dinever thought for a moment before speaking with a meaningful smile.

“Vivian often said she wanted to marry a man like her father since she was young.”

Louis stared blankly at the Duke’s response before kicking his horse’s side hard. As Louis quickly rode away, Duke Dinever and Rayden suppressed their laughter and began to follow him.

* * *

“What is that watch? It looks really expensive…”

Lucas asked as he watched Vivian fiddling with the pocket watch, opening and closing it. It was clearly an item of considerable value.

“It’s from my fiancé.”

Vivian, about to leave the room to head to the Emperor’s forest for the hunting competition, had brought the pocket watch as a talisman to calm her anxiety.

Lucas nodded, mumbling something to himself.

Vivian raised her head at Lucas’s barely audible voice. With purple eyes, light pink hair, white skin, and a small face, Lucas had such a faint impression that Vivian found herself staring at him without realizing it.

“Um, it’s a bit uncomfortable being stared at like that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Vivian realized she had been rudely staring at Lucas’s face. Startled, she lowered her head and turned her gaze back to the pocket watch.

“So… what kind of person is the Crown Prince? Aitor always just said he was impressive.”

“Did Aitor say that?”

“Yes.”

Vivian felt her chest tighten, as she seemed to understand how Aitor viewed Louis and what emotions he must be feeling as he waited for him now.

“He’s an impressive person. Rational, efficient, and responsible. He’s so perfect that sometimes he seems arrogant, but that’s also what makes him Louis…”

Vivian gently caressed the pocket watch with her thumb, thinking of Louis. As she recalled Louis’s last appearance, tears welled up in her eyes.

“Aitor is a fool.”

“Sorry?”

Vivian was holding back tears, her hands clenched tightly, when Lucas’s unexpected comment made her look up.

“Never mind. It’s not something I should be saying.”

Lucas left an enigmatic answer, then stood up to check the time. The hour Aitor had mentioned was quickly passing.

If Aitor didn’t return to the cabin within five minutes, they had to leave, pass through the barrier, and rush to their master.

Lucas tried to calm his rapidly beating heart as he watched the ticking clock hands.

“Get up.”

Lucas spoke to Vivian.

“We need to leave this place now.”

“But…”

Vivian’s eyes trembled. She checked the pocket watch and realized that one minute had passed since Aitor and Zero left the cabin.

“Can’t we wait a little longer?”

Lucas shook his head firmly at Vivian’s words.

“We need to leave here right now. Aitor is an extraordinary guy. He was always top of his class at the magic school, and by the time he graduated, he was such an incredible genius that even the high-ranking mages of the Mage Tower were wary of him. If he could have returned, he would have done so by now.”

Lucas glared at the cabin door and then took a step toward Vivian.

“Getting through the barrier isn’t too difficult for me, so don’t worry too much. Just follow me closely, and we’ll get out easily. The problem is once we’re in Palterno.”

Lucas approached the cabin door and took a deep breath.

“There might be people in Palterno who recognize you, Young Lady. So we need to meet the Master without being noticed.”

Vivian caught Lucas’s tension and nodded as she moved behind him.

“Aitor will be okay, right?”

“…He’s a tenacious guy, so he’ll be fine. Let’s just focus on getting out of here safely. Now, let’s go.”

Lucas carefully pulled the doorknob. The creaking sound of the hinges seemed unusually loud.

Following Lucas outside, Vivian wondered if there really was a barrier. It was a small forest with an end in sight, and the cabin was within it.

“Don’t look anywhere else, just follow my back.”

Vivian looked around but quickly nodded and moved her feet at Lucas’s words. After about fifteen steps, Vivian turned to look at the cabin they had left and her eyes widened.

“T-the cabin is gone.”

“Of course. As soon as we left the cabin, we entered the barrier.”

Vivian swallowed dryly at Lucas’s words, realizing she couldn’t be separated from him here, and followed him even more closely.

Thus, Vivian began walking for quite a while, only looking at Lucas’s back. There were moments when she was almost distracted by the rapidly changing scenery, but Lucas would always turn back to check on her.

“Anyway, this guy made things unnecessarily complicated.”

Lucas, who had been moving forward without hesitation, paused to catch his breath and surveyed the area. Then he turned back to see Vivian’s anxious expression and smiled.

“We’re here.”

As soon as Lucas finished speaking, a bright light burst behind him.

Startled by the sudden, intense light, Vivian squeezed her eyes shut.

“You can open your eyes now…”

At Lucas’s voice, Vivian cautiously opened her eyelids. Her eyes widened at the dimly visible scene.

“Th-this place.”

It was a narrow alley between buildings, filled with wooden boxes and barrels of unknown contents. At the end of the alley, through the incoming light, people were walking briskly.

“Is it your first time in Palterno?”

Moments ago, they had been in a forest with a cabin, but in the blink of an eye, Vivian found herself in a bustling city, staring blankly at the noisy street at the end of the alley.

Lucas, watching Vivian, took off his cloak and handed it to her.

“Put this on and wear the hat too.”

Vivian took the blue cloak from Lucas, draped it over her shoulders, and put on the hat. Lucas, who had been peeking outside the alley, nodded and gestured for her to follow.

As Vivian began walking, following Lucas’s small back, she found herself constantly distracted by her surroundings.

“Hey! What if you keep falling behind like that? What if you get lost? Hurry up and follow!”

Palterno, where the Mage Tower was located. The streets, people, and shops looked quite different from the Empire. The clothes were different, and naturally, there were so many mages, unlike in the Empire.

Vivian quickened her pace at Lucas’s urging.

Lucas, confirming that Vivian was following closely, kept a vigilant eye on his surroundings as he moved forward quickly. After walking for a while, Lucas stopped in front of a building.

He opened the door, which had patches of purple paint peeling off, and nodded for Vivian to come in. As Vivian stepped inside, the door closed on its own. Startled, Vivian stared at the firmly shut door, while Lucas, who was climbing the narrow stairs with magic stone lanterns embedded in the floor, turned back.

“Why aren’t you coming up?”

“What is this place?”

Vivian asked, taking off her hat and looking uneasily between the closed door and Lucas.

“This is our Master’s research space. She’s a bit eccentric, but she’s a good person, so don’t worry too much.”

Vivian took a step onto the stairs, looking at Lucas, who seemed indifferent to her concerns

At the top of the stairs, Lucas opened a small wooden door and entered. Following him inside, Vivian involuntarily let out an exclamation.

“Wow.”

The room was filled to the brim with various magical tools, from the floor to the ceiling. Colorful magic stones of various sizes emitted light, creating a dreamy atmosphere.

A breeze blew from somewhere, causing the magic stones hanging from the ceiling to clink together.

“Master.”

“Why are you here again?”

A cynical female voice came from beyond a pile of books at Lucas’s call.

“It seems Aitor has caused some trouble.”

“What! That brat again!”

A tall woman emerged from the pile of books with an enormous voice.

“It must be true that he’s plotting something with those Inferna bastards, right? Right? I’ll catch that brat and tie him up right away…”

The tall woman, who was seething and heading toward the door, noticed Vivian looking up at her.

“And who is this cute young lady?”

The woman, with her silver hair tied back and sharp red eyes, looked Vivian up and down.

“Uh, how should I explain… So…”

Lucas was unsure whether to introduce Vivian as Aitor’s friend, the Crown Prince’s fiancée, or the woman Aitor had kidnapped.

“Why aren’t you answering quickly?”

As the woman, called the master, glared at him, Lucas stood at attention and shouted.

“She’s Vivian Dinever, Aitor’s friend, the fiancée of the Crown Prince of the Empire, and the woman Aitor kidnapped.”

The woman’s straight, thin silver eyebrows twitched at Lucas’s explanation.

“That brat really caused a big mess, huh?”

Clenching her fists and trembling, the woman started striding toward the door.

“Where is that brat? I’ll spank him!”

“M-Master! Please calm down and listen for a moment, okay?”

Lucas, smaller than the woman, tried to hold her arm and pull her back with all his might, but his master began dragging him along effortlessly.

“What are you doing! Come help hold her back! At this rate, Aitor will die at the hands of the master before any suspicious people!”

Startled by the mention of Aitor dying, Vivian quickly grabbed the woman’s hem.

With Vivian joining in, the woman looked down at the two small figures clinging to her and yelled.

“When I meet that brat, I won’t let him off! Seriously!”

At the overwhelming menace, Vivian and Lucas trembled and backed away from her.