Chapter 85

Tristan’s magic circle had disappeared. Only the magic circle created by Aitor remained, pulsating with an enormous amount of light as if roaring in victory. The unpleasant lights, as if flowing from the lava of hell, danced as if they were ready to drag Tristan into hell at any moment.

In the midst of it all, Aitor was pressing down on Tristan’s neck as he lay collapsed.

“Ugh! Gah!”

Tristan struggled to break free from Aitor’s grasp, as if suffocating. His movements were futile.

“Let go, ugh.”

Tristan managed to choke out the words as he grabbed Aitor’s hand.

“Why should I? Even if you die here, the Mage Tower won’t take any action, so why should I spare you?”

At Aitor’s words, Tristan’s resistance intensified.

“Just die quietly here. That’s the price you pay for messing with someone you shouldn’t have today.”

Aitor tightened his grip on Tristan’s neck. Tristan’s snake-like gray eyes bulged as if they were about to pop out.

“Ugh! Your father! Ca… Caspian.”

At the mention of his father’s name, squeezed out with all his might, Aitor applied even more pressure.

“How dare you put my father’s name in your filthy mouth.”

Aitor’s eyes grew colder as he growled lowly. Tristan’s frantic struggling gradually diminished.

Then, as if he had run out of strength, Tristan’s movements almost ceased.

Watching the scene, Vivian’s chest heaved rapidly. She covered her mouth to stifle the scream that threatened to escape.

At that moment, Zero blocked Vivian’s view.

Zero, with his large body, sat in front of Vivian and pressed close to her. Vivian hugged Zero tightly with trembling hands.

“…I know… who killed… ugh.”

Then, with bloodshot eyes, Tristan squeezed out his voice.

“What?”

“You, ugh. The person who killed your father.”

At Tristan’s words, spoken just before he was about to die, Aitor’s gaze wavered violently.

“Ugh. Gasp. Cough. Gasp.”

As Aitor released his grip on Tristan’s neck, Tristan began to cough and gasp for air.

“Do you know… who killed my father?”

Aitor grabbed Tristan by the collar and lifted him. Still breathing heavily, Tristan smirked and nodded.

“Who is it?”

Tristan, held by the collar, let out a small laugh. Then he slowly turned his head to look at Vivian, who was hugging Zero.

“If you don’t tell me right now, I’ll show you what pain truly is. You’d better speak quickly.”

Aitor released Tristan’s collar and grabbed his hair, pulling it.

“If you… cough. Ugh. If you promise to spare me, I’ll tell you.”

“You bastard!”

Aitor shook Tristan’s head, but Tristan began to laugh like a madman.

“Caspian was such a great wizard. Heh heh. He was so kind that he took in and raised an abandoned child. Cough.”

Even while coughing up blood, Tristan continued to laugh. Aitor, looking down at him with cold eyes, pushed his head aside as if discarding something dirty.

“I momentarily forgot that you’re a conman. How can I believe anything that comes out of the mouth of someone as cunning as you?”

Tristan, who had been sprawled on the floor, propped himself up on his elbows. Saliva and blood dripped from his mouth onto the floor.

“There’s… cough. There’s evidence.”

At Tristan’s words, Aitor’s brow furrowed.

Seeing this, Tristan smirked and spat out the saliva and blood pooled in his mouth, looking at Vivian.

“Isn’t that right, Young Lady? You saw it too.”

Tristan smiled at Vivian, revealing his bloodstained teeth.

Vivian’s hands, which had been holding Zero, dropped limply to her sides.

“That, that…”

Aitor’s gaze, fixed on Vivian, urged her to respond. Vivian’s hands trembled so slightly that she didn’t even notice it herself.

She couldn’t lie. But she also couldn’t easily speak. Just nodding slightly felt like pushing the friendship of the three of them off a cliff with her own hands.

Vivian clenched her trembling hands tightly.

At that moment, a ‘pop’ sound was heard.

While Aitor’s attention was focused on Vivian, Tristan pushed Aitor away and created distance between them.

“Heh heh. If you want to know the whole truth, come to that place. You know where it is.”

A bizarre smile appeared on Tristan’s pain-distorted face. As Aitor got up to catch him again, Tristan pulled something from his pocket and threw it forcefully to the ground.

“Vivian! Get down!”

As Aitor’s urgent voice ended, an explosion sounded. Though it was a small explosion, dust and stones mercilessly covered Vivian.

“Are you okay?”

As the dust cleared, Aitor, who was looking at Vivian with concern, began to come into focus.

“A-Aitor! You’re bleeding!”

Vivian reached out her hand as she saw dark red blood flowing through Aitor’s blond hair. The warm blood quickly soaked Vivian’s fingers.

“I’m fine. Something sharp must have grazed me. Are you okay?”

Aitor asked as he lowered Vivian’s hand. After examining Vivian for a while, Aitor let out a deep sigh of relief.

The spot where Tristan had thrown the object was deeply dented.

“I shouldn’t have let my guard down…”

Aitor clenched his fists tightly as he looked at the depression Tristan had created. The veins in his neck stood out.

“Zero. Search the area. He can’t have gone far in that condition.”

At Aitor’s command, Zero snorted and dashed off somewhere. Watching Zero’s retreating figure, Aitor patted Vivian’s head.

“It was scary, wasn’t it? It’s okay. I’ve informed the Crown Prince of this location, so he’ll be here soon.”

Vivian burst into tears at Aitor’s touch. Tears pooled in her large eyes and fell onto her already messy dress.

“Vi-Vivian.”

Aitor, flustered by Vivian’s tears, reached out to wipe them away, then quickly withdrew his hand.

“Oh. My hands are too dirty…”

Aitor looked at his clothes, which were dirtier than his hands, and sighed deeply.

“I want to wipe your tears, but… my hands are too dirty. I even patted your head with these hands… Ha. I wish I could clean them with magic… but I can’t right now…”

Seeing Aitor like this, Vivian began to sob. Aitor, increasingly flustered, stood up and looked around.

He was searching for something to wipe with. Even though there was unlikely to be anything in the abandoned warehouse, Aitor circled around, not straying far from Vivian.

Vivian bit her lip tightly and roughly wiped her eyes.

“Aitor…”

Swallowing the tears that threatened to burst forth, Vivian called Aitor. At her call, Aitor, who had been wandering around, quickly approached her.

“Why? Are you hurt? Is something wrong?”

Concern filled Aitor’s eyes as he sat a little distance from Vivian and met her gaze. The cold look he had shown Tristan was gone, replaced by his usual warm eyes.

“Why, why aren’t you asking?”

At Vivian’s question, Aitor smiled gently and shook his head.

“Not now, later… You’ve been through a lot, Vivi. I wish I could take you back right now…”

At that moment, blood flowed from Aitor’s nose.

“Aitor!”

Startled, Vivian reached out to Aitor. Aitor, equally surprised, recoiled.

“Oh? Oh… It’s a nosebleed.”

Even as he looked at the blood droplets on his hand, Aitor nonchalantly wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

“That kind of magic takes a toll on a wizard too. Oh! But I’ll get better with some rest. So don’t worry.”

Aitor smiled foolishly, and more blood trickled from his nose.

“V-Vivi! What are you doing!”

As Vivian suddenly lifted her dress hem, Aitor turned his back and shouted.

“The outer fabric is dirty and damaged, but the underdress is clean.”

Vivian pulled at the underdress she wore to puff up her dress.

“Ugh! Why won’t this tear?”

Despite her efforts, the fabric was tougher than expected, and Vivian struggled.

“I’m fine, Vivi.”

Aitor, still with his back turned, tried to dissuade Vivian.

“Aitor. Help me with this.”

At Vivian’s words, Aitor flinched.

“N, no. I said I’m fine.”

“Has the nosebleed stopped?”

Aitor wiped his nose again. The nosebleed hadn’t stopped, and it seemed like more blood was flowing than before.

He discreetly wiped the blood-stained hand on his clothes, hoping Vivian wouldn’t notice.

“Isn’t the nosebleed getting worse?”

Aitor flinched and shook his head vigorously. Watching Aitor’s back, Vivian bit the fabric with her teeth.

A ripping sound was heard, followed by the sound of fabric being torn, and Aitor turned around in surprise.

Vivian, holding the torn white fabric, nodded resolutely with a proud look. Aitor’s mouth fell open.

Vivian approached Aitor with the torn dress fabric.

“You’re bleeding a lot.”

With a worried expression, Vivian gently wiped around Aitor’s nose with the fabric. But as the nosebleed continued, she struggled to tear the fabric into smaller pieces.

“I’ll do it.”

Aitor took the fabric from Vivian’s hands, easily tore it, rolled it up, and stuffed it into his nose. Then he smiled foolishly.

“Aitor, your adoptive father… What was he like?”

Aitor looked at Vivian quietly and thought of his father. Though the memories should have faded, the image of him smiling brightly at Aitor remained vivid.

“He was a very playful person. Sometimes he would play pranks more childishly than I did. In fact, when I was very young, I didn’t even know he was a wizard. I only found out he was quite a capable wizard by chance after joining the Mage Tower.”

“Aitor, you must take after your father.”

“Is that so…”

Aitor’s expression softened instantly. Just thinking about his father changed Aitor’s demeanor. Vivian’s heart ached as if pricked by a needle at Aitor’s faint smile.

“That person…”

Vivian struggled to speak.

“What that person showed me…”

Vivian couldn’t bring herself to look at Aitor. Avoiding his endlessly warm blue eyes, her lips trembled.