TYHL 78

~Chapter 78~

“Your face looks a little red. You’re not getting a fever again, are you?”

Khalid asked seriously, but I shook my head hard.

Then, unlike before, he poured an overwhelming amount of magic into me in one burst. My eyes widened as my body instantly filled with energy.

“Repayment,” he said casually, pulling his hand away and stretching.

“Alright. That’s enough reflecting. I can’t keep upsetting my master.”

He turned toward the pond. I slowly followed, staring at his back.

Was I really low on magic?

Is that why my heart was racing?

But now that my chest had calmed, I lowered my hand from it.

“Not coming?”

“I am!”

I shook off my thoughts and dashed toward him. But the closer his beautiful face came into view, the faster my heart pounded again.

Ah, that’s just from running!

…Right?

Deeper inside the greenhouse was a tiny artificial pond with stepping stones across the middle. We hopped back and forth across them, playing.

“What—Asha was in prison?” I asked in shock.

“She’s out now, thanks to the others’ testimony. But she was still considered a suspect in the kidnapping attempt.”

I vaguely remembered hearing something like that in my sleep.

“So where is she now?”

“Drafted as staff for the Verdant Festival. She pretended that’s why she came north.”

“Poor Asha.”

Khalid crouched beside me as I inspected the seedlings in the flowerbed.

“So? Do you still need Asha Druccan?”

“Huh?”

“You came here to make her your ally, right? To hide that you’re a magician.”

“Well, that’s true…”

“But your gender’s already been exposed. So I was wondering if you still plan to hide the fact you’re a magician.”

“Mm…”

I groaned quietly. I couldn’t tell Khalid about the dreams. That was knowledge only I had—from the “original story.”

The magician who kills Dad—I don’t know who it is, and it bothers me.

I smacked my head. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember.

Why can’t I remember the whole thing?

If I moved recklessly, I could trigger unpredictable changes.

I had already altered the original so much.

So far it’s worked in my favor. But will it keep going that way?

If Dad found out I was a magician, he’d pay even more attention to the Magic Kingdom. That worried me. I didn’t know what consequences that interest might bring.

Knowledge was power. Ignorance was poison.

The “original story” I knew was a weapon—but I couldn’t be sure if it would stab the enemy’s heart… or aim for my own throat.

So I had to be careful.

First, I need to find out who the magician that kills Dad really is.

At the very least, I needed to know my enemy.

But I had also learned from this incident that no secret lasts forever.

Even if I didn’t reveal the “original,” I couldn’t hide being a magician forever.

“At least… I’ll wait until we return to Zerox to tell him,” I muttered.

Khalid nodded, as if agreeing.

“Well, with the Verdant Festival going on, everyone’s too busy anyway.”

“Yeah. That, and… Khal.”

“What?”

I lowered my voice.

“I’m going to properly look for a way to erase my brand.”

Khalid’s eyes widened slightly.

“The emblem of the Magic Kingdom? But you said even your power wasn’t enough.”

“Yeah. But I have to….”

I hesitated.

“I won’t be the real Rubian Zebret until I’m free of it.”

That was my true feeling.

Not the “seventh of the Demon King.”

But Leviathan’s real daughter. A Zebret.

“I hate being the child of the magician who tormented Dad.”

Only by tearing off that label could I accept Dad’s words—It’s okay—without guilt.

“…Alright,” Khalid said after a pause.

“If you can’t figure it out with what you know, I’ll help too.”

“Huh? No, it’s my problem. I’ll do it.”

“Master. You saved me from that cave even though it had nothing to do with you.”

His blue-gray eyes shone stubbornly.

“That’s because I could.”

“Exactly. And I’ll do whatever I can for you.”

“….”

“I’ll help look.”

His firm words left me no choice but to nod slightly.

“…Okay. Thanks…”

Well, his animal friends were useful.

Better than struggling alone.

We fell silent, both lost in thought. Then I heard Hazel’s cart rattling closer from afar.

Khalid stared at her for a moment, then spoke again quietly.

“By the way, Ruby. After the festival ends, I need to go somewhere.”

I blinked.

“Where? Outside the north?”

“Yeah. Just for a few days. There’s a place I want to check—about your brand.”

I almost asked where, but closed my mouth. Just like I had secrets I hadn’t told him, he must have things he couldn’t tell me.

After all, no matter how close friends are, they can’t share everything.

“…Alright.” I nodded.

“Young lady, I brought tea!” Hazel sang cheerfully, setting tea and snacks on the table by the pond.

My goal hasn’t changed. I’ll protect Dad’s life.

Steam curled up from milk topped with honey and cinnamon. Clearly something Dad had ordered because of my lingering cough.

And I’ll be free of the brand, to become this family’s youngest daughter completely.

I clenched my fists.

Tap, tap.

Leviathan’s finger drummed rhythmically.

“She’s still coughing,” he said coldly.

Borvel wiped his forehead.

“Yes… That’s the fifteenth time you’ve said so. I’ve already adjusted her medicine for her sore throat. And now I suppose this is the sixteenth time. As for my advice about keeping her warm drinks often… thankfully, that was only the tenth time you’ve repeated it.”

Tch.

He can’t even fix my child quickly.

Leviathan’s eyes grew darker. But he still ordered a servant to bring Rubian warm honey milk.

Tap, tap.

His finger drummed again. Beneath it was a crumpled letter.

“So… what will you do?” Borvel asked carefully, glancing at the desk.

“Should we send someone back to Eosia?”

“….”

Leviathan stayed silent.

There had been no boy like Rubian in Eosia. Of course not—Rubian was a girl.

But if they searched for a girl this time… would they find her past?

Something felt wrong.

Ruby was timid and defensive, afraid of abandonment, unable to speak about her gender and suffering in silence. That much he understood.

But was that really the only reason?

What else was there?

His brows furrowed.