YWPWYLFDM 79

Chapter 79

Winfred couldn’t help but be intrigued by that proposal.

From what he’d heard in passing, commoners were freer in matters of romance, and there was plenty to see and learn from. If Binka could offer some guidance, it might really help.

“Really? Please do! Ah! Not now, though—later. My economics class is coming up soon.”

Feeling as if he’d gained a thousand reinforcements, he accepted her offer with a bright, relieved voice. Then, sifting through the pile of documents on his desk, he found his assignment, tucked it under his arm, and left the room.

His steps were light, almost as if he were walking on clouds.

Left alone, Binka watched Winfred’s retreating figure and smiled with satisfaction. But this smile was slightly different from the innocent one she showed in front of the Crown Prince—there was a faintly sinister edge to it, as if she had some hidden agenda.

Ophelia, in the darkness, relied on a small lamp to study a painting. It was a portrait of her daughter, drawn by Winfred.

The secret space hidden behind the bedroom wall of the Duke and Duchess wasn’t ideal for storing paintings—it was poorly ventilated, though it kept light away.

But this painting was one that could not be seen by anyone else.

For the sake of her daughter’s safety—now only accessible through this painting—Ophelia had no choice but to hang it in this cramped, damp space and look at it.

“My beautiful daughter…”

With eyes brimming with tears, she gazed at the painting, gently reaching out as if to caress her daughter’s cheek. Her movements were soft, tender, almost as if she could feel her child through the canvas.

But the painting could not convey Eyla’s soft skin or warmth. Only the coarse texture of the canvas was there to be felt.

The stark reality brought tears rolling down Ophelia’s cheeks.

The reason she wept in this tiny space was because of a dream she had the previous night, in which her daughter appeared.

It wasn’t unusual for Eyla to appear in her dreams—she had appeared almost every night since she’d been lost.

But last night’s dream was different.

Eyla, who always appeared as she had been when lost, seemed frozen in time, had appeared grown—larger, almost resembling how she looked now. She gazed at Ophelia with silent, sorrowful eyes, as if wanting to say something, and then quietly left.

There was clearly a reason her daughter appeared in the dream in that form.

Still staring at the portrait of her beloved daughter, Ophelia took out a small hand-mirror-like object from her pocket. It was a magical communication device that allowed her to keep in touch with her helpful friend Candice, who had tracked Eyla across a distant foreign land.

Activating the device, a signal transmitted, and soon Candice’s face appeared where her own reflection had been.

“Hey, friend! What brings you to contact me all of a sudden?”

Her cheerful friend grinned widely, then widened her eyes at the sadness on Ophelia’s face.

“You cried? What’s with your face?”

“No, I didn’t cry.”

Ophelia offered the inevitable lie. But the redness around her eyes and nose, and her hoarse voice, betrayed someone who had been crying thoroughly.

Candice, being a kind friend, chose to accept the lie. Even the closest people sometimes didn’t want to show their sadness.

“So, what’s up?”

“Where are you now? Still in the Inselkopf Kingdom?”

“Ah, yes. I thought it’d be tiny on the map, but it’s bigger than I expected.”

Candice frowned, surprised at the difficulty. A strange male voice nearby interrupted.

“Ah, miss! Tiny kingdom, you say? The citizens of this ‘tiny’ land are insulted!”

“Bernie, go away! We’re talking right now!”

Ophelia let out a small laugh. Every time she shed tears thinking of Eyla, Candice somehow managed to make her smile.

“Who’s that?”

“…Just a subordinate I happen to have.” Candice muttered with a haughty expression.

Ophelia smiled lightly and explained the reason for her call.

“Candice, I think… we can stop looking now.”

“What? What do you mean?”

She hadn’t even reached Eyla’s vicinity, yet Ophelia said they could stop searching. Candice couldn’t understand.

“Did you already find her?”

“…No, not exactly.”

Quietly collecting her thoughts, Ophelia tried to explain the feeling she couldn’t quite articulate.

“Somehow… I don’t think she’s there.”

Strangely, from the moment she awoke, Ophelia had felt this way. She had a strong intuition that Eyla had already returned to the empire.

Sometimes, she had such certain instincts. When she was once dispatched to the empire as a research assistant at the Magic Academy, she’d had the feeling she might never return to her beloved hometown. And she hadn’t.

Even if she could visit her family’s home someday, it would never be as it once was. She now considered the Peles Empire her home.

“That feeling again?”

Candice sighed, resigned, knowing how often Ophelia’s intuitions were correct. Coming all the way to this foreign land only to leave without finding Eyla was exhausting.

Ophelia wasn’t always right, but when it came to things connected to her personally, her convictions often proved accurate.

“And it’s a good time for him to return to the empire too,” Candice added with a nod. She had already suspected that Byron might take advantage of the chaos from the Sekim tribe’s incursion to sneak back into the empire.

“Alright, if that’s your decision… then it’s time to return.”

With the home country already urging her to come back quickly, it was about time to head back.

After repeated thanks, Ophelia ended the communication. Staying in the secret space too long would arouse suspicion, so it was time to leave.

She cast one last glance at her daughter’s portrait. Once again, like in the morning, an inexplicable, strong premonition filled her mind: she would soon reunite with Eyla.

“Did you hear? That’s what’s happening.”

Candice pocketed the communication device and looked at Bernie. His eyebrows formed a deep frown, and his expression was sorrowful.

“You’re really going back, miss?”

They had grown close traveling across the Inselkopf Kingdom, so parting this way left him regretful.

“Yes, I have duties to attend to.”

She had indeed been away too long.

“…Duties? Now that I think about it, I don’t even know what you do.”

Bernie’s expression grew sadder, looking like a lost puppy.

“Well, that’s true, haha.”

Candice scratched her head awkwardly. At first, revealing her identity had seemed dangerous, and later she’d never found the right moment to explain. Bernie likely assumed she worked in a similar field. If she told him she was actually the chair of the Tamora Republic’s Wizard Council, he might have fainted.

“Miss, may I… come with you?”

Suddenly, Bernie’s eyes sparkled with this request.

“Follow me? You? Nonsense. Do you know who I am, that you’d leave your home for me?”

Candice, surprised he’d even consider leaving Inselkopf, soothed him. He pouted in frustration.

“I have no home. No family. Even if the Inselkopf Kingdom is my homeland, I have no place to feel attached to.”

“Hmm…”

Candice thought for a moment. She had relied on his sociability and information-gathering skills. If she could use him again legally back in Tamora, it wouldn’t be bad.

Of course, she’d have to gather information legally now and start fresh in a foreign land without acquaintances or informants. But from what she had seen of him, even on a deserted island, he seemed capable of gathering information among monkeys. Surely, he could adapt to a new foreign land.

“Alright? Shall we?”

Candice adjusted her glasses and said so, and Bernie’s face lit up with gratitude. Finally, he had found someone who truly recognized his abilities.

Candice smiled slyly at him, silently vowing to extract as much useful information from him as possible.