~Chapter 22~
“Oh, Anton. The owl says it’s willing to answer your question.”
When I translated, Anton smiled and gently patted the owl on the head. The owl glared at him in clear displeasure.
[If you want the oracle willingly, stop with the irreverent gestures.]
“He says to stop touching his head.”
“Well, got it.”
Anton awkwardly withdrew his hand and placed the owl back on his right arm, like before.
“Kallen, you wait outside for a bit.”
“Yes.”
Without protest, Kallen stepped outside.
Now only Anton, the owl, and I remained in the room.
“Well then, please tell us what we asked for, dear owl.”
I requested politely. The owl pressed its wings tightly to its body, straightened up like a divine messenger, and spoke with a dignified voice:
[Before one birth, there were three deceptions.]
It was solemn, like a passage from a holy scripture.
“Huh? That’s the oracle?”
It was too abstract—I couldn’t understand what birth or what deceptions it meant.
[Yes, that’s all. I won’t mention who the high-profile recipient of the oracle is. But I think he knows.]
The owl pointed its beak toward Anton.
“…What’s that bird saying? Was that really the oracle?”
“Oh, yeah. It said, ‘Before one birth, there were three deceptions.’ That’s it.”
[Before one birth, there were three deceptions.]
Anton repeated it slowly, then shut his lips tightly.
His golden eyes widened, and his complexion paled. He looked as though something had just struck him hard.
He didn’t speak for several minutes. His expression was locked in tension. He only raked his fingers roughly through his hair once.
I watched him in silence. It seemed like he understood the oracle right away. Could he be the one who was deceived three times? Maybe he had been swindled out of something huge.
From what I knew about Anton… he didn’t seem like someone who would forgive such deception easily. Was he about to go seek bloody revenge now?
[What’s with this guy? Why isn’t he saying anything?]
The owl tilted its head at Anton.
I wanted to ask the same thing, but the tension in the room made it hard to speak.
Eventually, after calming down a bit, Anton finally opened his mouth.
“…Owl. If you want freedom, I’ll release you. You can go live somewhere where no one will recognize you.”
[Nah. Out in the wild, I’d be weeded out anyway. I’ll return to the temple. They feed me tasty meat there without having to hunt.]
I relayed the owl’s wishes to Anton.
“If that’s what you want.”
Anton respected the owl’s decision.
The owl chose comfort. Anton returned it to the cage, covered it, and handed it off to someone outside—a soldier dressed similarly to Kallen.
Once the owl was gone, only Anton and I were left in the room.
Silence descended again.
My mouth felt dry. It felt like I had learned something I shouldn’t have.
I had so many questions.
What was the relationship between him and Kallen? Why did Kallen end up as my personal attendant?
Now that we got the oracle, did I pass the test? Could I finally stop being held as a hostage?
…And was last night’s kiss going to be ignored like it never happened?
All these questions were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t say a word.
Anton gave off a threatening aura now. Like black smoke was seeping off his body.
“I’d like you to keep what the owl said a secret.”
“Yeah, I will. I didn’t even understand it anyway.”
“Even if you come to understand it someday, don’t ask me to explain.”
Anton licked his dry lips. He spoke as if I would soon come to understand the oracle’s meaning.
But I didn’t have the resources or insight to interpret it.
“Okay, I won’t. So… did I pass your test?”
I mustered my courage to ask. Anton had said I could escape my hostage status if I proved myself.
Now that the third prince Javier had noticed me, my fate mattered more than ever.
No matter who he chose as his bride, he’d remain in the imperial palace until the wedding. He’d eventually try to find me.
I needed to avoid that at all costs.
“Yes, Josephine of Iote. You’ve proven yourself. I’ll accept you into my Order.”
The way out of my hostage situation was joining Anton’s knight order? That was… unexpected.
“I don’t have any combat skills. Can I even be part of a knight order? And more importantly… it’s the Emperor who decides the fate of hostages. We’d need his permission.”
“We’ll get permission. And knights don’t only fight. We need other kinds of magic users too.”
“Magic users…?”
I was confused. I had never learned magic. What was he talking about?
“Did you ever suffer a severe fever when you were young?”
“…Yes.”
How did he know that? Had he investigated me?
I remembered—I was about five when I fell severely ill. I couldn’t even leave my bed for months.
While I hovered near death, my sister Joanna awakened the family’s gift, Xenoglossia—the ability to understand and speak foreign languages never studied before.
I eventually recovered, but never received any such blessing.
“That fever was a precursor to magic awakening.”
“What?”
“Your country probably doesn’t have common access to magic, so no one could properly diagnose it.”
“What are you saying? That I have magic? But as you saw, all I can do is talk to birds.”
“Don’t you think your ability is different from your family’s?”
Anton scanned my face as he brushed a lock of hair behind my ear. I didn’t mind the intimacy, but still stepped back, a little embarrassed.
“Well, yes, it’s different. I understand birds, not foreign languages.”
“To communicate with non-human beings, one must be born with magic. You’re no different from that owl. You’ve just never understood your own power.”
“Magic…”
I opened my hands and stared at my palms. I even tried focusing power into them. Nothing happened.
“Most who suffer that fever die. Without learning how to circulate magic at the time, it festers and eats away at your life force.”
“…I was close to dying.”
I remembered gasping for breath every night, with physicians watching over me constantly.
Every day felt like climbing a giant stone mountain.
“Surviving it makes you a miracle. In the Magic Continent, people like you are called ‘Vessels.’”
“Vessels…?”
“That’s your condition for joining my order. Regularly receive my magic. Then your ability will blossom even more. I don’t know what form it will take yet.”
“You’re giving me your magic…? Is that even okay?”
It was hard to believe you could just give magic to someone else.
“Unlike your empty Vessel, my magic is about to overflow. I need to release some of it periodically.”
“How do I receive magic?”
Instead of answering, Anton grabbed my hand. He interlocked our fingers.
Our palms pressed tightly together, and I could feel his warmth. My ears flushed.
At the same time, something warm entered through the point of contact—like a subtle energy flowing into me.
“Go on. Try it.”
Anton tugged my hand toward him. Without much resistance, I was pulled right in front of his chest.
“W-what am I supposed to do?”
“What? You managed just fine last night.”
“L-last night?”
I quickly averted my gaze. Thinking about last night’s kiss brought sweat to my brow. That same warm, almost overwhelming sensation was rising again, just like last night—a strange fullness welling up under my ribs.
“Skin contact works, but oral contact is more efficient. Don’t tell me you don’t remember last night.”
His face came closer. Just as our noses nearly touched, he tilted his head.
His lips were about to meet mine.
