Chapter 12
In front of that gentle gaze, Alei’s lips moved on their own, voicing a question.
“What kind of relationship… did we have in the past for you to look at me like that?”
“This is the last question for today,” Ophelia replied naturally. “I said you could only ask one.”
But Alei knew.
She had looked quite troubled for a moment.
“Is she avoiding the question because of the mermaid?”
Even though he had finally received the answer to the question he had been curious about, it felt like he was falling deeper into a maze. Alei didn’t like this change at all.
Sometimes it felt like she was opening a path for him, only to shut it again the next moment. It was frustratingly unclear. Every time their eyes met, his brows furrowed.
He didn’t want to face Ophelia while feeling like this.
But unfortunately, she was his superior.
Even if it wasn’t about recovering his lost memories, he would still have to see her regularly.
Luckily, most of the pending reports had been dealt with the day before, so there wasn’t much reason to accompany her today—except for one important matter: the road reconstruction.
Naturally, a low-ranking magician like him wasn’t being asked to rebuild the road himself. Rather, he was to assist—like halting the water flow or moving materials across hard-to-reach places.
So, before heading to the construction site, he had no choice but to report to Ophelia.
Alei had never once complained about being at the bottom of the ranks—but today, he was particularly annoyed by his position.
Still, there was nothing to be done. Neglecting his duties would be misconduct.
“I have something to return as well…”
Alei gave up complaining, took a deep breath, and knocked on Ophelia’s door.
“Come in.”
At her soft reply, Alei opened the door.
The guest room in Radin Castle was quiet even as it welcomed him. Without a sound, the door opened, and Ophelia, who had been reading, looked up.
“What is it, Alei?”
Their eyes met. Alei instinctively furrowed his brow but quickly lowered his gaze. He saw the book she had been reading.
The letters were small and upside-down, so it was hard to tell exactly what it was, but the small illustrations and drawings inside were easy to recognize.
Alei briefly doubted his own eyes.
“Is that a book about mermaids?”
“Yes. Since this is a coastal region, there are a few books like this around.”
And that confirmed it.
All the suspicions he had on the way to her room solidified into certainty in an instant.
That dream had been a memory, and there was clearly a connection between the red-haired mermaid and Ophelia.
The questions that had been festering in his mind were suddenly resolved all at once.
“He looks oddly relieved. Did something finally click for him?”
And Ophelia noticed the change in Alei’s expression immediately.
In fact, it had been a while since she realized that Alei was internally conflicted. He probably thought he was hiding it well, but for someone like Ophelia, who had spent her entire life reading people’s emotions, it was hard to miss.
Still, she had kept quiet. Anyone would be confused upon learning details about their forgotten past.
“Besides, I haven’t had the mental space to worry about him either…”
Ophelia’s gaze, full of conflicting thoughts, lowered to the book she had been reading. It was about mermaids—but more accurately, it was a collection of myths and legends about them.
From the beginning, mermaids—like the Sirens—were believed to be more myth than reality.
Still, she had opened the book hoping for some helpful information, but it turned out to be more useless than expected. Ophelia likely knew more about mermaids than what was written here.
“I was hoping to find something useful about mermaid scales… What a waste.”
The reason she was looking for information about the mermaid’s scale she had swallowed was simple—she needed to understand why she had returned to the past.
And in case this wasn’t just time travel, she needed to prepare for that, too.
After the teleportation she had used yesterday to catch the carriage, she’d been struck with a severe bout of motion sickness. Only once the dizziness subsided was she able to check on Alei’s condition.
“I hope we don’t have to teleport again any time soon. Are you okay?”
Unlike Ophelia, who looked visibly drained, Alei was perfectly fine.
He nodded and answered calmly.
“Of course. Teleportation sickness usually only affects those with low affinity to mana.”
“You’re a magician. So I suppose you wouldn’t experience that.”
“Well, yes, but…”
Something about his expression seemed off.
“…Something’s strange. May I see your left hand for a moment?”
When Ophelia held it out, he took the ring he had given her before and examined it, still looking puzzled.
“Have you ever taken off this ring?”
“No, I tried, but it wouldn’t budge. Is something wrong?”
“That’s normal. A non-magic user wouldn’t be able to remove a magical artifact.”
She had already assumed it was a magic item because it had resized itself, but hearing it confirmed made her feel odd.
But what was the problem that made Alei so sensitive about it?
Ophelia’s question was answered quickly.
“The magic I imbued in this artifact was meant to enhance the wearer’s mana affinity. Normally, even an average person would be able to withstand teleportation while wearing it.”
“Then… why did I still get so sick?”
“There are two possible theories.”
He slowly rolled the ring between his fingers as he continued.
“One is that your mana affinity is exceptionally low.”
Alei explained that while rare, such cases did exist.
But from his tone, Ophelia could tell that he didn’t really believe this applied to her.
Even if others wouldn’t know, she was well aware that this couldn’t be the case.
“You know that the royal family of Millicent is born with a basic level of mana affinity.”
“Yes… that’s true.”
“So that’s what’s strange. That only leaves one possible explanation.”
Alei continued.
The other theory was that someone else’s magic was already affecting her.
The moment he said it, something flashed through Ophelia’s mind.
The mermaid’s scale.
She had found it strange from the beginning.
What had Ariel wished for when she died—what had caused her to return to the past? And just how far did the scale’s power extend?
“If this isn’t just time travel…”
She needed to know what Ariel had wished for, if only to ensure her plans wouldn’t go awry.
But knowing something through suspicion and hearing it out loud were two different things.
Alei had mentioned that long-standing self-cast protective spells could sometimes mutate and cause adverse reactions, but Ophelia knew that wasn’t the case.
The Emperor had never once cast a protection spell on her.
“Do you have any guesses?” Alei asked.
“…I do. But I don’t know how to undo it.”
Alei let out a small sigh.
“If it’s not resolved, it could interfere with your daily life. You’ll end up unable to accept any other magic.”
But he didn’t seem to have a solution either, and in the end, he simply retrieved the ring. Their conversation ended there.
“It’ll be a problem if I can’t even receive healing magic later…”
For now, her plan was to meet Ariel again. But since the one who gave her the scale was already dead, she wasn’t confident that meeting the present-day Ariel would resolve anything.
It would’ve been nice to ask Alei for help, but Ophelia remembered how startled he had been upon seeing the Sirens last night.
He truly knew nothing about non-human species.
“If he doesn’t even know about Sirens, expecting him to know anything about mermaids is pointless.”
So, in a desperate attempt to find some clue, she had borrowed a few books from Radin’s library today.
The results were disappointing.
With a sigh of regret, Ophelia closed the book. In any case, it wasn’t polite to be lost in thought in front of someone.
“So, what brings you here?”
“I’m heading to the road construction site, so I came to report.”
“Is it something I need to accompany you for?”
“No, I just need your approval. I don’t think it’ll take long.”
Ophelia pulled the documents Alei had placed on her desk toward her and signed them.
She recalled that Alei had also been dispatched to the canal road construction in the past. There shouldn’t be any issues.
Just as she returned the signed documents, Alei placed something else on the desk.
It was the ring that had been on Ophelia’s finger just yesterday.
