WHFIO 57

Chapter 57

‘Weren’t you sleeping…?’

Elcez quickly covered up her surprise.

“I was getting a little restless staying indoors all day, so I thought I’d take a look at the back garden.”

“I told you not to leave my sight.”

“I thought you were asleep.”

“Whether I’m asleep or awake — stay by my side.”

His tone was commanding, almost oppressive, but for a fleeting moment, Elcez saw a shadow of the boy Rasiel once was.

“Don’t go… Stay with me.”

That desperate plea, the way he had once clutched her hand — it all came rushing back.

She couldn’t turn away from that memory, nor disobey the orders of her employer. So Elcez quietly returned to his side and sat down again.

But this time, Rasiel rose to his feet.

“Get up.”

“What?”

Didn’t he just tell her to stay beside him?

When Elcez looked up in confusion, Rasiel tilted his head toward the balcony.

“You said you wanted to see the garden.”

With an overcoat draped over his shoulders, he was already walking out of the library.

Still a little dazed, Elcez followed him.

Once they stepped into the back garden, her eyes widened.

The vast courtyard was overflowing with blooms — roses of every color imaginable.

While admiring the neatly maintained flowerbeds, Elcez noticed a patch of blue roses.

“There are blue roses here? I heard they’re hard to come by.”

At that, Rasiel — who had been looking at the flowerbeds with indifference — froze for just a second.

“…Really?”

“I always thought blue didn’t suit roses, but seeing them now, they’re beautiful. They go well with the white of the mansion, too.”

He scanned the field almost absentmindedly before belatedly realizing that Elcez’s gaze wasn’t on the flowers — but on him.

Why is she looking at me, not the roses?

Normally, someone would follow the direction of the thing being talked about.

Before Elcez could even realize where her eyes had wandered, Rasiel spoke again.

“If you want, take a few. As a keepsake.”

She simply stared at his back as he walked ahead.

Sometimes… he still feels like the Rasiel I used to know.

Over the past three years, Rasiel had changed.

It was only natural — she was no longer “Luelle,” and his attitude toward her had changed accordingly. But even setting that aside, something fundamental about him was different.

Gone was the calm, leisurely boy she once knew. Now, he seemed dangerous — uneasy, volatile.

Almost like the frightened child she’d met long ago.

Rasiel… what happened to you?

What on earth had happened in those three years she’d been gone?

To find out what happened to him, I have to be sure first — whether this whole incident really has anything to do with him.

She quickened her pace to walk beside him.

“Lord Rasiel.”

He turned toward her.

“Is this case… connected to you in any way?”

Their eyes met in the soft breeze of early spring.

Instead of an answer, a question came from his lips.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t think so.”

“On what grounds?”

“Because three years ago, you saved this world. You risked your life for countless others.”

“…”

“I believe in that heart of yours.”

“Then why ask me that question at all?”

“Because… outside these walls, everyone’s calling you a traitor. If that’s not true, doesn’t it bother you?”

“…”

“Say something. Tell them it’s not true.”

It was, in truth, little more than Elcez’s wishful thinking.

But once again, Rasiel didn’t give a yes or no — only another question.

“And what if the rumors are true?”

Elcez stared straight at him before answering.

“Then I’ll hear your reasons first. Why you did it.”

She’d long suspected that the man in the mask might truly be Rasiel.

Even if that were true, she could never condone the crimes he had committed — yet still, she wanted to understand.

“And after that?”

“…Then you’ll have to face punishment — in whatever form it takes. No reason can justify endangering innocent lives.”

He had endangered countless people and impersonated a member of the royal family — all to resurrect a demon god.

If he were punished for that, it would surely be execution.

But Elcez could never let Rasiel die.

Even if it meant helping him flee and live as a fugitive forever, she would bear that sin with him.

Because that would be a punishment far worse than death.

Elcez waited for a reaction, searching his eyes for any hint of the truth.

But what she found there was not anger toward a subordinate who dared to question him, nor the panic of a man caught in his own crime.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“No… it didn’t matter.”

“Whether it’s true or false, whatever people said behind my back — it never mattered…”

Rasiel reached out, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

“But now… I think it might start to matter.”

In his eyes — only she existed.

As Elcez stared into those eyes that trapped her reflection, her brow furrowed faintly.

His fingers brushed lightly over the edge of her ear. His hand was cold.

As twilight fell, Elcez — still disguised as Anna Ritz — entered an abandoned house on a quiet street.

Moments later, she emerged, her disguise undone.

It was one of the safe houses Treysia had arranged for her.

Walking down the alley, she recalled her earlier conversation with Rasiel.

“It never mattered… but now it might start to matter.”

He’d said those cryptic words and then left with his butler before she could ask what they meant.

So what does that mean? That he really is behind it, or that he isn’t?

As she pondered his words, she passed through the plaza — and froze.

There, on the public notice board, was a new proclamation:

“A bounty of 100,000 Luke to whoever brings the head of Rasiel Celeste, Archmage of the Tower.”

The imperial seal was stamped beneath it.

Well… I guess even the stingy royals wouldn’t let someone impersonate them and walk away scot-free.

True to that, imperial knights now guarded every entrance to the Mage Tower, scrutinizing all who entered or left.

But that was all.

For something this serious, the empire’s response seems… oddly restrained.

The city was far too peaceful — no chaos, no uproar, no sense of impending war between the Empire and the Tower.

It was almost as if the empire was simply waiting — a hunter quietly watching the trap it had already set.

Whatever the crown prince is planning… we can’t afford to waste time.

Elcez sighed, rubbing her temples.

She had tried probing Rasiel to uncover the truth before the empire moved in earnest, but his answers were all riddles.

Time is running out… and the road ahead is long.

With those thoughts, she finally reached her home — and stopped short.

A carriage was parked at the gate.

The Duke of Littenhouse?

She knocked, and Lenny greeted her with a flustered smile.

“Welcome back, my lady!”

Elcez returned the greeting, her gaze drifting past Lenny’s shoulder — to the young man waiting in the lobby.

She didn’t recognize him, but she could tell immediately that he was one of Tezet’s men.

When their eyes met, Felix bowed politely.

Elcez returned a light nod and headed to the parlor.

Tezet, coming to see me out of nowhere? That can’t be good.

She felt uneasy — that man was unpredictable.

Sure enough, when she entered the drawing room, Tezet was standing by the window, waiting.

A cup of tea sat untouched before him, long gone cold.

Elcez couldn’t help a small smile.

Some things never change.

He’d always hated bitter things — refused to drink coffee or alcohol, even medicine. He once ran a fever for days because he wouldn’t take a bitter tonic.

He might have grown up into a man since then, but in that small detail, he was still the same boy.

Tezet watched her quietly as she approached, forcing a polite smile.