Chapter 45: Maximilian
December 15, 2023
Contrary to everyone’s worries, what unfolded was something completely unexpected.
“What took you so long? The sun’s about to set.”
“Isn’t that… Maximilian over there?”
“Yeah. That’s my adorable little brother.”
Leonard chuckled as he stomped on Maximilian’s head. Baron gently set Veluce down against a tree and rushed over to Leonard.
“Are you alright? What about Dilroana…”
“Oh, that? I was just about to take care of her.”
[Let me out of here this instant!]
Before leaving, Baron had seen a small silver fox—but now, Dilroana had turned into a wolf the size of a house, thrashing around wildly.
Unfortunately, she was trapped inside a magical prison and couldn’t move an inch. Though she snarled and slammed her body against the bars, they didn’t budge.
“I was extracting Maximilian’s mana when she tried to sneak up on me from behind. I was going to kill her, but I didn’t have enough time, so I just caught her for now.”
Leonard spoke so casually that it took a moment to register what he’d actually said. Baron could only nod blankly, saying, “I see.”
Dilroana had chosen the worst possible time. She tried to attack Leonard when he was drained from fighting—but at that exact moment, he had been absorbing Maximilian’s mana, making him even stronger than before.
[Hahaha.]
Loti, who had followed behind, burst into laughter at the sight of Dilroana in the magical cage.
[Look at you now, Dilroana.]
“Raustonio! How did you get here?!”
[I was just passing by.]
“Wait, why is it talking?”
Leonard pointed at Loti, puzzled. Cordelia quickly explained everything that had happened.
“…Loti appeared just in time. Then he took down all ten beasts. Oh right, he’s not a low-grade monster at all—turns out he’s a powerful beast even in Glendeny.”
“Hmph. I thought he was just a scrappy mutt, but I guess he’s useful.”
At that, Loti stretched his neck proudly and introduced himself in a dignified tone.
[I am the Fifth Calamity of Glendeny—Raustonio.]
“Great. A calamity. Take good care of my student from now on.”
[…]
Even the usually composed Loti was left speechless by Leonard’s dismissive response. But Leonard paid him no further attention and walked back toward Maximilian, who was crawling on the ground.
Cordelia trailed behind him.
“How did you catch Maximilian? He was following me from Wilas, wasn’t he?”
“Yup.”
Leonard answered each question despite making it clear he found them annoying.
“Were you planning to kill him here?”
“Nah. I’m gonna use him for mana extraction.”
“Why? Is that some sort of torture among mages?”
“Torture? Who has time for that? I’m turning him into a medium for soul transference magic.”
“…Huh? Then what about me?”
“What are you even talking about? Ugh, stop bothering me and go stand over there.”
Leonard waved her away like shooing a fly. Cordelia froze in place, lips trembling. Baron stepped in.
“Using Maximilian as a medium… Truly, you are wise, Master!”
“You weren’t going to use me as a medium?”
“Why would I use someone as weak as you?”
Leonard scoffed and stabbed a dagger into the back of Maximilian’s right hand as he squirmed like a worm.
“Aargh!”
“To be a proper medium, you need to be at least as strong as my brother. Isn’t that right, Max?”
“I’ll… I’ll kill… you…”
Maximilian trembled like a specimen pinned to a board. Having already lost a significant amount of mana, even speaking was painful for him.
“So… can I… still learn… magic… sniff… in the future…?”
“What’s she even rambling about now?”
When Cordelia finally burst into tears, Leonard groaned in frustration. Baron stepped in with a brief explanation of what had happened.
After hearing it all, Leonard glared sharply at the knight passed out against the tree.
“Veluce… That bastard and his big mouth…”
“Lady Cordelia has suffered a great deal. On the way here, she said she’d give up everything for her Master. It was incredibly touching.”
“Hmph. So that’s why she’s been pouting like a duck and avoiding her homework. Double homework for you from now on.”
“You could’ve told me beforehand… sniff…”
“You should’ve just asked me in the first place. Instead, you kept it to yourself and imagined all sorts of nonsense.”
He was right from start to finish, leaving Cordelia with nothing to say. If she had just asked honestly, she wouldn’t have suffered alone like that.
“Ugh… It hurts.”
Now that the tension had lifted, pain rushed in all at once.
After several rounds of combat and running around, her entire body ached—especially her side. It must have been scraped by a branch.
When she clutched her side and staggered, Leonard sighed.
“What now? Did you trip over a rock?”
“Not quite, but I think I scraped my side.”
“Come here.”
He reached out and touched her side. She thought the pain would vanish quickly with a simple healing spell—but it didn’t. Leonard’s expression stiffened.
“When did this happen?”
“I don’t know. I was running so much, I guess a branch scratched me.”
“You fool. That’s not a scratch from a branch!”
“Why not?”
He suddenly raised his voice. Cordelia blinked up at him, startled.
“Ugh. Doesn’t it hurt?”
“A lot.”
“This isn’t from a branch. That looks like a monster’s claw wound. And it’s deep too. I can’t believe you didn’t say anything.”
Baron came over and groaned after seeing the wound.
“No way. If it were that bad, I’d have passed out like Veluce.”
“Exactly. It’s odd that you didn’t.”
Cordelia tried to brush it off.
She couldn’t see the wound herself—it was too far on her back—but she didn’t think it warranted this much fuss.
Apparently, the others disagreed.
“What should we do? Maybe we should just knock her out…”
“Yeah. Knock her out and lay her next to Veluce. No way she can endure sutures while conscious.”
Before Cordelia could protest, Baron handed her a small vial.
“Please drink this.”
“What is it?”
“A strong sleeping potion. It’ll take away all pain and thought.”
Cordelia took it and downed it in one gulp. Thankfully, it wasn’t bitter—and it didn’t make her sleepy.
“But isn’t this a slee—”
Leonard caught her just as she slumped over. He placed a hand over her wound and cast a healing spell. As the white light faded, her expression became more relaxed.
“Take her back. I need to finish up with Maximilian.”
“Yes, Master.”
* * *
Her memory came back in fragments.
Baron’s worried face, someone’s back, Loti’s dull gray fur—they all floated up and disappeared repeatedly.
It felt like waking up from a very long sleep.
Cordelia realized she was moving. That was the first thing she sensed.
When she managed to lift her eyelids, light poured in.
She frowned and shut her eyes again, but someone shaded her face with their hand.
“Awake now?”
It was a voice she’d never heard before. When she first heard Rosenblur’s voice, she thought it was like a bell—pure and clear. But this one was deep and velvety. Hard to say which was better.
Thanks to the makeshift shade, she was able to open her eyes fully.
The jostling sensation was from being inside a carriage.
Looking up, she saw a platinum-haired angel with mysterious violet eyes.
“…Um. Who are you?”
Cordelia was immediately enchanted. Her mouth hung slightly open, eyes locked on the angelic figure.
The angel rested his chin on his hand and snorted.
“You don’t even recognize your Master now?”
“My Master doesn’t look like this.”
“This is what I originally looked like.”
“No way. My Master… my Master…”
Her mind slowly cleared. The memories before she passed out came rushing back—going to Dilroana’s domain with Leonard, the life-or-death battle with Veluce, Loti’s rescue, and finally clearing up her misunderstanding with Leonard.
“Wait, what?”
“Close your mouth or a fly will fly in.”
“You’re saying this is your real face?!”
“How many times do I have to say it?”
Leonard got annoyed at her repeating the same question. His personality was familiar—but the face was completely foreign.
Cordelia had thought there was only one face like Rosenblur’s in the world, but apparently, there was another in the same league.
“How’s the wound?”
“Wound? Oh, the side… huh, it doesn’t—ow!”
“Guess it’s not fully healed yet.”
“Ouch, why’d you poke me!”
“You’re starting special training today.”
That phrase sparked a wave of déjà vu. Cordelia instinctively shook her head.
“But I just woke up! I’m still recovering from a serious injury. And now I’ve got a headache too…”
“Nah. You slept for three days and recovered plenty. No need to worry.”
“Three days?! I was out for three days?!”
“Yeah. I was starting to think Baron had poisoned you instead of giving you a sedative.”
Knock knock—
Just then, someone knocked on the carriage. Cordelia quickly opened the window to escape the special training topic.
Baron greeted her warmly.
“Lady Cordelia! You’re finally awake!”
“Yes, just now.”
“Thank goodness. I’ve spent the past three days under suspicion of poisoning you. Master grilled me nonstop…”
There was a reason Baron was so excited. But sadly, he couldn’t finish his sentence.
Leonard got up and slammed the carriage window shut.
Cordelia stared at him in disbelief.
“Hey, he was talking…”
“So?”
“…Never mind.”
What good is a face like an angel when the inside is rotten?
Leonard crossed his legs and leaned back arrogantly. When he did that in Craig’s body, it looked ridiculous. But in his original body, it radiated nobility.
His face looked so holy, it was hard to imagine him ever saying a curse word.
“What are you staring at?”
“Was Maximilian adopted or something? How can you two look nothing alike?”
Maximilian was handsome, sure—but Leonard was on a different level. Cordelia had never seen such dazzling platinum hair before. His eyes were so mystical they didn’t even seem human.
“Adopted? I wish.”
“Oh, right—what happened to Maximilian?”
The last she remembered, he was writhing on the ground like a worm.
Leonard pointed upward with his finger. Cordelia assumed he meant the sky and nodded.
“Ah, so you did kill him after all.”
“Nope. Didn’t kill him. He’s up there. With your husband.”
“Up? Where up?”
Cordelia looked up. If not the sky, then… the roof of the carriage?
“Don’t tell me you put him on the roof? Alive?”
“How could I kill my only brother? Of course he’s alive.”
“With my dead husband too?”
“Yep. There’s plenty of room up there.”
Only now did Cordelia begin to understand how Maximilian could be related to him.
She shook her head in disbelief.
