WHTL 05

“Tie.”

“Wait a moment.”

I stopped my older sister, who looked eager to deal with things quickly, and stared ahead.

“Why? If we don’t hurry, you’ll miss the time for your medicine.”

“That’s not what matters right now.”

The movements of the people gambling nearby were strange.

Men pretending to throw dice while hiding blades, and even a bartender presenting a drink to the prince after slipping something into it.

They were plotting so openly, and yet nobody noticed?

“Please subdue the people playing poker over there.”

“And you?”

“I’ll handle that drink.”

I tightly held Minabel’s hand and approached the prince.

“Excuse me.”

I removed the silver ring I was wearing and dropped it into his glass.

“What do you think you’re—”

The man, who had been about to express his displeasure, suddenly froze.

The ring was turning black.

At the same moment, a violent gust of wind erupted from behind us.

My sister’s wind magic overturned every table at once, and blades and hidden weapons spilled pathetically from the clothes of the men crashing onto the floor.

Lucian quietly surveyed the situation before turning to me.

“I think you owe me an explanation.”

“This doesn’t seem like a suitable place for a detailed conversation. Would you come with us? It’s rather noisy here.”

I had already prepared myself for rejection.

My goal was simply to provoke his curiosity.
After all, from his perspective, I was the one who had caused this entire uproar while claiming the place was noisy. Making him wonder what kind of person I was would be enough.

“Sure, then. My instincts are telling me it should be fine to follow you.”

I expected him to refuse—wait, what?

My eyes widened without me realizing it. Was he really going along with this so easily?

Thankfully my face was hidden behind a veil, or my expression would have given me away.

“We will guide you somewhere comfortable.”

“I wouldn’t mind even if it wasn’t comfortable. Who exactly would go to such lengths to treat me respectfully? I’m nothing more than a shabby wandering knight.”

Before I knew it, his blue eyes were fixed intently on me.

I knew the crimson hidden beneath that light.

“The young lady is very frail. Please show mercy.”

At that moment, Lucian’s gaze shifted from me to Minabel.

“A S-Sword Master…”

A Sword Master?

Well, now that I thought about it, despite my sister’s overwhelming magic earlier, he hadn’t moved an inch from his seat. My head was starting to spin a little.

Had I staggered slightly?

Someone supported me.

“Right. You don’t look well at all, and I wasn’t just saying that. Let’s walk and talk.”

It was Lucian.

A cool scent surrounded him—strong enough to completely drown out the foul odor of the place.

I barely managed to steady my voice.

“Thank you…”

“I never knew a place like this existed.”

“It is a place where no words spoken inside can leak outside.”

“That sounds rather unsettling.”

After riding in a carriage, we arrived at an old mansion deep within the forest.

According to Minabel, the owner of the estate, a spell had been placed upon this mansion that prevented anything occurring inside from being revealed to the outside world.

Lucian looked at us before speaking calmly.

“You seem to know who I am, so shouldn’t you reveal your identities as well?”

Unlike his casual tone, there was subtle displeasure and wariness beneath it.

I stretched out a hand to stop my sister, who was about to speak first, and slightly lifted my veil.

The face beneath was fake anyway.

“I am simply someone who knows the truth. Thanks to a very fortunate coincidence.”

“The truth?”

“Yes. In a sense, I may know the future. Enough to commit the rudeness of bringing Your Highness to a place like this.”

Lucian’s reason for following us so willingly was obvious.

He believed he could subdue the three of us if necessary.
After all, he was a Sword Master.

“So you intend to hide who you are until the very end. Well… fine. Even if you were spies sent by someone, I wouldn’t care.”

As expected, Lucian still looked completely relaxed.

Meanwhile, following Minabel, who was leading from the front, we arrived at a room tucked away on the second floor.

“It’s my first time seeing a place like this in the capital.”

“Yes. I apologize for bringing you somewhere so improper.”

Once everyone sat down, a maid whose face was difficult to make out appeared from somewhere and prepared tea for us.

Minabel traced letters onto my palm with her finger.

[ She’s a ghost living in the mansion, but she’s nice. ]

Right. At this point, even a living mansion no longer surprised me.

“Now that we’re here, why don’t you finally explain yourselves?”

Lucian didn’t even touch his teacup.

Even after my sister drank first to prove it wasn’t poisoned.

Yes, at this point, it was best to get straight to the point.

Without hesitation, I spoke.

“If Your Highness does not ascend the throne, this Empire will fall.”

“And you expect me to believe that…?”

At his distrustful tone, I glanced at my sister, and she delivered the line we had prepared beforehand.

“I came back through time. The last thing I saw there was the Empire collapsing as the prophecy came true. Nor will I pretend I traveled back for noble reasons alone.”

With those words, my sister revealed the traces of forbidden magic remaining on her body.

The brand placed upon sinners who reverse time.

Only then did Lucian’s expression finally change as he saw her exposing such a shameful mark without hesitation.

“What in the world are you—”

“But this is Minabel’s domain. Nothing seen here can ever be revealed outside.”

“And I know the divine will Your Highness has hidden.”

His fury pressed down on me like a crushing weight.

I barely suppressed the nausea rising within me and continued speaking.

“Heed the will of the gods, O owner of the crimson eyes.”

Clang!

It happened by a hair’s breadth.

Just as his sword was about to cut through my neck, my sister’s powerful protective magic enveloped me.

Even so, the energy that had already touched me made my vision swim uncontrollably.

Minabel, checking my condition, whispered urgently.

“Let’s run away. If you collapse, I’ll carry you.”

I barely clung to my fading consciousness and answered.

“No. I won’t run away. You said it yourself. You’re strong.”

“…If you die like this, then what was the point of any of this?!”

Minabel was overreacting.

In truth, it wasn’t that serious.

Lucian had intentionally restrained his power at the very last moment.

He never truly intended to separate my head from my body.

As proof, Lucian had already sheathed his sword and was staring directly at me behind my sister rather than at her.

Though honestly, even that alone was enough to leave me staggering.
But that was my own problem.

Not long after, his blue eyes slowly began turning crimson, like paint spreading through water.

“I think I’d like to hear how you know that. Didn’t you just claim you saw it with your own eyes?”

Now it begins.

To prove that I was telling the truth, I took out a magical artifact that compelled only truth to be spoken.

Do you know how hard it was to obtain this thing?

My sister barely managed to secure it by retracing connections she had made with the Mage Tower in her previous life.

It had been especially difficult lately because the Mage Tower was in conflict with the Crown Prince, making magical artifacts incredibly hard to acquire.

“I… happened to see it.”

“Happened to?”

“Yes. Your magic came undone while you were passing by. Pure coincidence. Haven’t you recently passed near the Rosena Ducal House?”

“…I did pass near there.”

His tone was full of disbelief.

But what could he do when it was undeniable truth?

“The magic unraveled there?”

My sister glanced at me before stepping forward.

“There are transformation-dispelling spells placed around the ducal estate. They exist to prepare for infiltrators such as assassins. Since multiple layers of ancient magic overlap there, they are normally difficult to detect.”

For a moment, I almost forgot we were hiding our identities and nearly blurted out, Wait, Sis, you can use ancient magic too?!

Though honestly, the moment we mentioned the Rosena Ducal House, it probably became impossible to hide our affiliation anyway.

“So someone knowledgeable about the Rosena family’s defensive spells and proficient in ancient magic is merely serving as a guard?”

I knew it.

There was no way to proceed while keeping absolutely everything hidden.

If we truly wanted to persuade Lucian, it was also time to show him that people like us could become powerful allies.

“And when Rosena’s dispelling magic activated, you happened to see me?”

But it really was a coincidence!

In fact, I wasn’t even the one passing by—he was the one who walked past and got exposed! And now he was pressuring me over it!

“At this point, why not just reveal who you are? If I find you interesting enough, I might even let you leave here with your heads still attached.”

Suppressing the many unpleasant retorts rising to my throat, I let out a long sigh.

The problem isn’t that I saw it. The real problem is that nobody else in this world notices things like this at all.