‘This won’t do. Let’s stop here for today. Any more use of holy power would be dangerous.’

Alicia, who was about to open the book again, tried to stand up due to the continuing headache. But in that moment, a soft light emanated from her blindfold, and she felt a strong force from behind. Startled, she turned her body around. And there stood a small statue of the Goddess of Light.

‘What…… Ah!’

Golden waves unfolded before her even though she hadn’t used holy power. At the same time, a soft cluster of light emerged from the goddess statue and touched Alicia’s blindfold.

‘If you’re truly sorry for me, end my life just as you killed my family. So I won’t have to see you anymore!’

A screaming woman and man. And herself sitting not far from them. Though she knew who the two people were, a scene she had never seen before was drawn in Alicia’s mind.

“Ah…… Augh.”

The dream-like scene disappeared in an instant, and pain unlike anything she had ever felt before pierced through Alicia’s head. She grabbed her head and staggered, bracing herself against the desk.

Swoosh.

The sound of pages turning was heard, though there was no wind. Alicia stared at the desk as if enchanted. Though her head felt like it was splitting, she somehow couldn’t stop using holy power.

And soon, a part of the book that had stopped began to shine. Alicia read the glowing letters.

—The blind mage, betrayed by the radiant princess, was from the Vistius Empire and wielded great magic. Before dying after being betrayed by the princess, golden light would emerge from his fingertips, splitting the earth and raising lakes. Thus, his enemies trembled in fear and called him this, the Monster with Red Eyes.

* * *

“Lady Yerena. I’ll be back soon.”

Jane, who had packed her belongings, came to say goodbye to Yerena. Yerena blushed, embarrassed that her feelings of disappointment might be showing.

“You don’t need to make that face. Have I served you well all this time, Lady Yerena?”

Jane smiled with a playful expression. Yerena momentarily puffed her cheeks at Jane’s voice and replied,

“Hmph! Don’t misunderstand, Jane. I’m just disappointed that we couldn’t settle the game.”

“My goodness. After losing to me ten times……”

“I won everything except archery.”

The archery Yerena mentioned was a game where several stones were placed on a board, and the goal was to hit the opponent’s stones to knock them off. Yerena was particularly bad at this game and had never beaten Jane even once.

“Alright. Alright. Then practice archery while I’m gone.”

Yerena nodded at Jane’s words. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she handed something to Jane.

“Have a good trip, Jane. And this……”

“What is this?”

Jane, who opened her hand with a puzzled face, widened her eyes. Three gold coins glittered on her palm.

“Lady Yerena. I don’t need this. As I said before, the wages are sufficient and……”

Since Jane hadn’t mentioned it, Yerena couldn’t know the details of her family situation. But after noticing that what Jane occasionally held while sighing was a letter, she took out some of the gold coins she had hidden.

“Think of it as a personal vacation bonus from me.”

“But……”

Jane adamantly refused to accept it. But Yerena stepped back quickly, avoiding her hand. Then, hiding her hands behind her back, she said,

“Just go. It’s been a long time since you’ve seen your family’s faces.”

Jane finally put the gold coins in her pocket. In truth, she needed to get home as quickly as possible. She straightened her hat and bowed to Yerena.

“Then, Lady Yerena. I’ll see you in a week.”

“Yes. Take care and see you in a week.”

Yerena waved her hand to see Jane off. Jane looked back several times before opening the door.

‘I’ll come back quickly, Lady Yerena.’

Though Yerena tried not to show it, Jane had noticed days ago. That Yerena was anxious about her vacation. Well, currently she was the only one Yerena had proper interaction with in this tower.

Jane began descending the tower with her luggage in quick steps. The jingling sound from her pocket echoed inside the tower.

Roshan, who had been eavesdropping on Yerena and Jane’s voices from the corridor, subtly revealed himself as Jane disappeared. He looked at the closed door once and then turned his head toward the stairs Jane had just descended.

* * *

It was a sudden summons. James pondered why his lord had called him as he walked down the corridor of the Blue Palace.

‘I’ll do it with my eyes.’

Since that day, Roshan had neither summoned James separately nor met him directly to give orders. But since he hadn’t explicitly dismissed him either, James had silently continued his duties.

“……It’s good to take care of it well.”

Knox, walking beside him, commented on the eye patch over James’s left eye. Only then did James realize his hand was resting on the eye patch. He lowered his hand and spoke,

“This? It’s not like I lost both eyes. Don’t worry about it.”

“Body balance is scary; once it’s off, you suffer for a long time. Besides, reading documents with one eye must be very tiring.”

It was true. Since losing an eye, James had found both daily life and work more difficult than before. Especially given his role of reviewing hundreds of documents daily, his eyesight had worsened, and the monocle he wore had become thicker.

“What can I do? It’s what I chose.”

James shrugged. Though his body was damaged, what could he do? He had paid the price for his actions.

“I should have listened to you back then, Sir. Tsk, only after ending up like this did I gain insight.”

Of course, he had some regrets. However, though not equal to what he had lost, he had gained something. James had found another driving force in life besides the goal of making Roshan emperor.

‘At least I must be more useful than that woman.’

Surpassing his mother and having Roshan acknowledge that fact. Though this mindset was incomprehensible to Knox, James had added a new goal to his unfulfilled one and was working more zealously than before.

“……Your method was certainly wrong then, but I value your loyalty. The lord probably knows this too.”

“The lord? Sir Knox, do you know our lord so little? By now, he’s probably forgotten even that my eye ended up like this.”

Knox couldn’t particularly refute James’s words. Over the past few months, Roshan had seemed to forget not only James’s eye but his very existence. So when he ordered Knox to bring James today, Knox was actually quite surprised.

“More importantly, Sir Knox, do you know why the lord is calling me?”

After a brief silence between the two, James spoke first this time. Knox shook his head while looking ahead, then considered before parting his lips,

“Just…… His mood hasn’t been very good lately. So be careful with your words.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t want to lose this eye too.”

James said, placing his hand on the eye patch again. Not long after, the two arrived at the door of the room where Roshan was. Knox knocked on the door.

“Your Highness. It’s Knox. I’ve brought James.”

“Come in.”

Knox opened the heavy door. The well-maintained door opened smoothly despite its weight. At the far end of the room, Roshan could be seen, casually dressed in just pants and a tunic.

“Your Highness. I heard you were looking for me.”

James spoke calmly and prostrated himself. But Knox saw it. That James’s steps toward Roshan were faster than before. Though he didn’t show it, he had clearly been anxious about the lord not calling for him for the past few months.

Knox stood a little distance from James. Then he slightly raised his head to examine Roshan’s face. Despite some light shining on his face, the lord’s face looked cold and dark.

‘Still…… Is it related to the princess?’

Knox guessed that the lord’s mood was connected to the Sedas princess in the tower. Since the princess’s arrival in the empire, she had been entangled in all the emotions the lord displayed.

Knox suddenly found the princess remarkable. Not just the lord, but Hayden and Frederick too. Though imprisoned in the tower and unable to do anything, she actually shook and moved many people.

“James. There’s an urgent task for you.”

“Please speak.”

As Knox was thinking about Yerena, Roshan, who had been creating a steady rhythm with his hand on one armrest, spoke. James immediately bowed his head deeper, awaiting his first command in months.

“My brother displeases me. I no longer wish to just watch the emperor.”

And at Roshan’s words, both James and Knox opened their eyes wide. The emperor displeases him? This was something that had never come from Roshan’s mouth despite all that had happened. And not wanting to just watch? That clearly meant…

The two stared at Roshan, knowing it was rude but too shocked not to. But Roshan, unconcerned, commanded,

“Find a way. I need to take my brother’s throne.”

* * *

The house was a mess. Though from outside it looked good with its blue roof and considerable size, inside not a single piece of furniture was intact, and the wooden walls had dents here and there as if something had hit them.

“I didn’t waste money on useless things like sisters Widna or Rose! I only studied. So why can’t I go to the academy? Do you know how hard it is for a commoner like me to get accepted there?”

“Cal. That’s not it, right now the situation is……”

“Enough! I don’t want to hear it!”

Moreover, somehow, the family was in worse shape than Jane had thought. Widna and Rose, who had always liked dressing up, had gone shopping and weren’t home, while Cal’s tuition had disappeared into their mother’s medicine costs. Jane sighed and gave up trying to stop her younger brother as he ran out of the house, then climbed to the second floor.

“Ann. Can we talk a bit?”