Chapter 8.2

Was it really okay to do this?

Up until now, the thing she had kept the farthest from herself and guarded against most was the pursuit of power. Yet now, she had used the noble power she hated most to satisfy her personal desires. Breaking the rules she had lived by all her life for the sake of private revenge was not something she welcomed.

“You look troubled.”

“Uncle Rezan, can you keep the promise you made me long ago? The one where you said you’d help me no matter what when I needed it.”

“A promise? Ah, you mean that one. So, you’ve finally made your decision.”

“Is it really okay for me to do this?”

“What is?”

Daphne pressed her lips together. Sensing her feelings, Isaac patted her on the shoulder and spoke.

“Are you so bothered by using someone else’s power for your personal desires?”

Daphne nodded, letting out a deep sigh and making a troubled face. Not just any noble, but a Marquis.

The people she had always been most wary of were those with power. She knew there were exceptions, but it was hard to change something that had been fixed in her mind for so long.

Anyway, the materials she had stolen when escaping the mansion would be enough to deal a blow to Baron Lewin. Well, he was already in custody for fraud anyway.

But that alone wasn’t enough to completely escape Baron Lewin’s shadow. She had to prove why she ran away from Baron Lewin’s manor, and why she lived as Daphne Grey and not Daphne Lewin.

She wondered if anyone would believe her even if she explained about the time that had already passed. But she did have one witness—one person who remembered those days.

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

Isaac shrugged. His attitude, as if her worries were nothing, made a wave of sorrow rise in Daphne.

Did he think she was doing this because she wanted to? If that man hadn’t shown up in front of her, she would have just spent another day working in the infirmary.

And next week, she would have gotten her salary and planned to treat herself to something tasty, but that man had ruined everything!

Just because she shared his blood….

Daphne clenched her teeth to keep from crying out of frustration. She had lived so diligently that sometimes she wondered if she would die working, but all she got in return were falsified documents and a mountain of debt. At times like this, she wondered what meaning there was in living like this, and as she slumped, Isaac tapped her on the head with his staff.

“Aagh!”

Clutching her head and glaring, she saw Isaac grinning as if daring her to do more.

“I thought you’d mellowed over the years, but I guess not.”

When he tried to hit her again with his staff, Daphne quickly grabbed it. Realizing he couldn’t win by force, Isaac relaxed his grip and spoke.

“Is there any need for you to worry about those people?”

“Well, that’s true, but….”

“So what? It’s not like you’re making up something that never happened. You’re just keeping an old promise—what’s there to worry about? Don’t tell me you don’t trust the great Grand Mage Isaac?”

Isaac raised one eyebrow playfully, as if suggesting they were just going for a stroll. Daphne couldn’t decide if he was shameless or just relaxed, so she kept her mouth shut.

‘After all that talk about handling things myself, it ends up like this.’

If she’d known, she wouldn’t have said those things.

Suddenly recalling the past, Daphne’s face darkened. Seeing her expression worsen, Isaac muttered something and then tapped her on the back of the head with his staff.

“Worrying too much is a bad habit—you should fix it. You really haven’t changed at all. Just wait here. I’ll take care of everything.”

Seeing Daphne’s uneasy gaze, Isaac lifted one corner of his mouth in a sly grin.

She had been just a girl in a rural village where he sensed a great magical disturbance. Shabby as she looked, her eyes were bright and her latent magic was enormous.

If no one helped her, she would probably die never knowing she had magic. That would be a real waste. To have such talent and never even realize it.

“Ah, but don’t blame yourself. We’re just keeping an old promise.”

Otherwise, there would have been no reason to go this far.

Daphne sighed deeply as she chased the traces of Isaac, who had vanished in an instant. She felt as if she had used up all the sighs she’d ever breathe in just a few days.

It had been a tiring day in every way.

* * *

Contrary to her expectation that something big would happen right away, nothing happened at all. She went to work by 8:30, did her job, and clocked out at 7.

No loan repayment letters arrived, and her daily routine of shuttling between her quarters and the infirmary was unchanged, so Daphne gradually began to relax and think of Evan.

‘Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I saw him.’

Even counting roughly on her fingers, it had been at least ten days. In that time, whatever Isaac had done, Brooks and the Knight Commander’s attitudes toward her had changed.

If they happened to run into her, they would rush over and ask after her well-being. Since she never gave them the answers they wanted, they looked as anxious as puppies needing to pee, which was honestly a bit pathetic.

It was a little bitter to realize that all of this was not because they saw ‘Daphne Grey’, but because of ‘Isaac Avery’ behind her.

And as soon as it became known that she was the Grand Mage’s disciple, Hailey came to ask if she was really going to the Magic Development Department. Since she had no intention of going, she said she would stay for now, and Hailey patted her chest in relief.

With everyone she knew coming to find her, Evan’s absence felt even bigger.

But….

He didn’t come.

She could have gone to him first, but she didn’t have the courage.

‘Because I like you, Sir Grey….’

Those were his last words, and the memory of her sharp reply, made in her sensitive state, pricked her conscience again and again.

How could she talk to him again after saying that?

She had promised herself to stop sighing now that everything was resolved, but she couldn’t help letting out quiet breaths between her lips.

“…Still, I should apologize, right?”

* * *

“To think it would be this anticlimactic….”

Daphne muttered softly as she looked down at the documents stamped with approval. What she thought would be a tough battle had ended so easily, it was almost absurd.

Of course, Isaac had pulled some strings behind the scenes, but if she hadn’t taken Baron Lewin’s corruption files when she escaped that mansion, things would definitely have gotten more complicated.

And the more she thought about it, the more she realized it might have been herself who assumed it would be impossible to beat Baron Lewin.

Still, after finally clearing away the old mess, the weight on her chest felt much lighter. Since it was a significant event, she carefully straightened the slightly crumpled documents and put them deep in her drawer.

With eyes full of melancholy, Daphne turned her head away from the window as if holding back tears, then muttered a curse under her breath.

Of all days, why did she have to be on night duty when she was in such a good mood?

If only she could go home and have a drink in this mood. She thought she’d have to watch out for Isaac, but maybe that was just her imagination.

It was late and dark, but the sky was clear, and the sound of birds that only sang at night was beautiful, yet she had to take Brooks’s place for night duty.

She’d heard the excuse that it was due to sudden family circumstances, but she didn’t believe it at all. She’d sooner trust Baron Lewin than that man.

Enjoying the feeling of flying after overcoming a big ordeal lasted only a moment before Daphne resigned herself to reality.

“Yeah…. If they say jump, I jump. It’s not like I have any real power.”

She might have a backer, but that was Isaac’s power, not her own. Daphne let out a deep sigh and got up from her seat.