Chapter 17: Yesterday’s Friend, Tomorrow’s Enemy (2)

“So, what are you scheming?”

Chloe refused Lucas’s suggestion of having tea. However, she agreed to his proposal to sit and talk, crossing her legs as she settled on the sofa.

The black-robed figures, who had been trembling in fear over what punishment awaited them for being followed, had long since left the room. Now, with just the two of them left, Chloe folded her arms and stared at Lucas suspiciously. His response was a burst of laughter.

“Don’t be so wary, Chloe. What could I possibly do to you?”

“You never know. You hate my lover, after all.”

At the mention of the Grand Duke Escalante, Lucas flinched. However, instead of reacting impulsively, he remained calm and smiled.

“I regret that you’re dating him, but what’s done is done. Since it’s come to this, how about making a deal with me?”

“A deal?”

Chloe raised an eyebrow.

Regardless of how she looked at him, Lucas calmly explained.

“Yes, a deal. The Emperor and the Grand Duke—they don’t get along, right?”

“……”

Chloe neither affirmed nor denied it. She simply tilted her head, silently signaling him to continue.

Taking her reaction as permission, Lucas shrugged and continued.

“As you probably already know, my first target is the Emperor. Not Tehis Escalante, but Kiberun Harpeon. Someday, I may have to face the Grand Duke as well, but for now, we share a common enemy. So why not join forces temporarily?”

To summarize, he was asking Chloe to help him take down the Emperor. He wanted her to set aside her personal feelings and form an alliance.

At first glance, it sounded reasonable, but Chloe’s expression turned incredulous. She habitually raised her hand to brush back her hair but stopped when she felt the hair ornament and lowered her hand instead.

“First of all, Luke, this is something you should be saying to the Grand Duke, not me. Knowing he won’t help you and using that as an excuse to ask me for help—it’s a bit pathetic, don’t you think?”

“But Chloe…!”

“And second, don’t you think you’re asking me to commit treason a little too casually? I may not be an Imperial citizen, so it doesn’t directly concern me, but do you realize how much damage this could cause Escalante if things go wrong? You planned this, didn’t you?”

“That’s not…!”

“And third, no matter how much I’m dating the Grand Duke, I’m still a mage of the Mage Tower. Don’t drag me into the Empire’s politics for your own ambitions.”

“Chloe…”

“And lastly.”

Cutting off all of Lucas’s excuses, Chloe stood up. Facing her childhood friend, who was looking up at her with desperate eyes, she spoke slowly and clearly, enunciating each word.

“I am not a black mage, Lucas. I don’t condone killing.”

Even when her friend had gone down a reckless path in the name of revenge, she had only watched. Before she could stop him, he had disappeared, only to reappear as a black mage, making a grand debut by terrorizing the capital. That was when their bond had been severed.

She still welcomed him and helped him out of gratitude for what he had done for her in the past. But there was absolutely no reason for her to assist in assassinating the Emperor.

Especially not when she was in a relationship with the Grand Duke. There was no way she would commit such an absurd act.

“No matter what you offer as a condition for this deal, my answer won’t change. I’m sorry I can’t help you, but this proposal was far too rash.”

“…I understand, Chloe. I get your position.”

After a long silence, Lucas finally responded. With his head lowered, he stared at the floor for a moment before slowly apologizing.

“I’m sorry for being selfish. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I know. It’s good that you’ve come to your senses now.”

Chloe accepted his apology, but she no longer had any intention of wasting time here.

Tehis might be waiting for her, so she intended to ask only about the purpose of the magic stones and leave quickly. But Lucas beat her to it.

“By the way, Chloe.”

“Hmm?”

Lucas still hadn’t raised his head. His voice, low and hollow, carried a certain gloominess as he continued.

“Why him? Why Escalante?”

It was the same question he had asked during their first reunion. Interrupted by Tehis back then, Lucas hadn’t been able to hear her answer.

Now, as he slowly lifted his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Chloe. His lips, bitten and torn multiple times, were smeared with blood.

“Why, of all people, Escalante?”

The voice that asked again carried a thick, dark emotion.

Rage? Murderous intent? Jealousy? Resentment?

Chloe couldn’t pinpoint Lucas’s exact feelings, but one thing was clear.

‘This is dangerous.’

It was as if the emotions he had been suppressing throughout their conversation had finally erupted. The mana in the room, resonating with him, trembled ominously.

Though Chloe had lost the priority of neutral mana, she immediately attempted to interfere. That was when she heard the sound of Lucas grinding his teeth.

“Why? Why him? He’s a murderer, Chloe. I’ve killed people too, but that bastard wouldn’t even blink if the entire continent perished!”

“You’re wrong, Lucas. He only did what he had to in order to survive. And you—you know it was the Emperor who killed your family. That’s why you made the Grand Duke your second target.”

“You don’t understand, Chloe. The Grand Duke, that insane Escalante…! He tore my family’s bodies to pieces!!”

His bloodshot eyes glistened with unshed tears.

Upon arriving at the estate, no one came out to greet him, leaving him confused as he flew toward the house. Thoughts crossed his mind when he saw the mansion burned and collapsed.

It seemed like it had rained midway through the fire, leaving parts of the building unburned, exposing the gruesome scene inside.

Fragments of human remains. Headless corpses strewn about. The floor soaked with blood, hardened and overflowing—blood, blood, blood.

<Ah, ah… ahhh!! Mom, Dad! Sera!!>

Lucas, who had just come of age, lost control. He lifted the entire building and frantically searched for anything resembling a human body.

With trembling hands, he pieced together each fragment, desperately trying to find traces of his family.

Fortunately, his family’s bodies were not among the carnage. However, from the maids whose names he knew, to the nanny, to the butler—he couldn’t accept that the warm, kind people he had known had turned into cold, lifeless corpses, and he screamed in despair.

For some time, he couldn’t leave the ruins. It wasn’t until that afternoon that he learned the truth behind the incident. That was also when he discovered the whereabouts of his missing family.

It was enough to overhear the conversations of those who had come to clean up the scene.

<Shh, keep it down. We’re just here to clean up.>

<Let’s finish up quickly and leave. I heard the ghost of the North was involved this time too. Bad luck.>

<He’s nothing but a bloodthirsty murderer. Be careful what you say—he might still be around.>

Lucas ran out at those words. He flew to the castle wall, and there, his family’s mutilated bodies were indeed displayed.

The signs accusing them of treason didn’t even register in his mind. He knew that the people who had been content with their daily lives could never have committed such a crime.

Absurd false accusations and an equally absurd death.

Shedding tears of blood, Lucas half-destroyed the castle wall and clung to the three bodies with his entire being.

He swore revenge. He would kill them all.

The Emperor who ordered this, the young Duke Escalante, the Imperial Knights who accompanied them—everyone.

Years passed, but his hatred never subsided. Instead, it festered, eating away at Lucas’s mind day by day.

He felt exhilaration from planning his revenge, anger at its slow progress, joy, sorrow, and eventually, he lost all patience. His emotions began to overpower his reason.

Even now, standing before Chloe, it was no different.

The mask of normalcy he had barely managed to maintain slipped away. The madness of a man who had lost his loved ones radiated from his golden eyes.

“Don’t stop me, Chloe. I will kill both the Emperor and the Grand Duke, no matter what. Even if you try to stop me, I won’t back down!”

Chloe took a step back at Lucas’s frenzied voice. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. After a deep breath, she finally spoke.

“Calm down for now…”

“How can I calm down? Huh, Chloe? You’re supposed to take my side. How could you, how could you side with Escalante?”

“Luke…”

“Don’t call me that! It’s because of you, because of you…!”

Lucas clutched his head and groaned. His trembling hands were drenched in cold sweat.

Chloe, witnessing his abnormal behavior, grew calmer instead. If nothing else, one thing was clear.

‘He’s not in his right mind.’

The way he kept jumping between topics, the sudden outbursts of emotion, and the increasingly erratic behavior every time they met—all of it raised countless questions.

‘Do I recognize these symptoms?’

Narrowing her eyes, Chloe observed Lucas closely. The trembling of his hands, as if he had a headache, didn’t last long.

Instead, the mana around them began to ripple and move strangely.

Rumble…

The entire space shook violently, as if it would explode at any moment. The black mage’s emotions caused the mana to run wild and erratic.

Then, all of a sudden, everything stopped.

“Sorry, Lucas.”

Chloe’s calm voice filled the room. The books that had fallen to the floor returned to their shelves, and the cracked ground mended itself.

“You can’t beat me.”

A senior mage, superior in both sensitivity and control, would never lose to a high-ranking mage. During the time Lucas had been showing his instability, Chloe had gradually taken control of the mana. Now, this space was entirely under her domain.

Leaving Lucas frozen in place, Chloe returned to her seat. With a flick of her hand, Lucas was pushed back into the chair opposite her without resistance.

After a brief silence, Chloe, who had been quietly staring at Lucas’s wounded eyes, finally spoke.

“Serve some tea. Let’s start over from the beginning. Let’s talk rationally, like mages.”