ABDB – CH 05

Chapter 5

She poked his solid arm a few times and then sighed.

‘Is that why I can’t see his Karma score?’

Was it because an evil mage’s fate was already decided? But she could see the Karma score of Stefan, who was also an evil mage like Caron.

‘It’s probably not because of the madness…’

Quietly, Jeril moved to Caron’s bedside and stared at the hazy panel above his head. Wasn’t there any way to see it clearly?

‘Should I just… wipe it? Like cleaning a window?’

Once she made up her mind, Jeril started rubbing the floating system screen with her sleeve.

From afar, it would’ve looked ridiculous—but she was dead serious.

“Huh?”

After some hard scrubbing, the last digit became visible. She figured if she rubbed a bit more, the first digit would appear too.

“This actually works…”

She was dumbfounded at the absurd solution, but only for a moment. Then she bit her lip with determination.

‘I’m finishing this today, no matter what.’

She adjusted her posture to start cleaning properly. Placing both hands beside Caron’s head, she pursed her lips to blow warm air on the screen—

That’s when she suddenly felt a piercing gaze.

“…Are you trying to eat me alive?”

“Ahh!”

Jeril fell backward. Her butt hurt, but what really stung was the look in his eyes—as if he’d caught a pervert.

“I feel insulted.”

“I wasn’t doing anything like that!”

Caron clicked his tongue and sat up. Jeril grumbled inwardly.

‘I was so close to seeing it!’

It felt too wasteful to stop now. After a short internal struggle, she shut her eyes tight and said,

“Can we… meet again next time?”

His expression cracked for a brief second. He raised an eyebrow.

“Why?”

“There are still places I want to show you. The capital’s big—you haven’t seen the market yet, and there’s going to be a festival soon…”

(And I still need to finish cleaning the top of your head.)

Caron, who of course couldn’t read minds, gave her a puzzled look.

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“Of what?”

“You said the Duke of Repert is terrifying—violent, a killer. I’m the same. I’m an evil mage. I’ve killed people.”

He said it as if he wanted her to be afraid. Jeril’s gaze softened slightly.

‘Is he scared of being hated? He’s more tenderhearted than he looks.’

(Of course, he wasn’t thinking that at all.)

“I’m not afraid of you. You helped Stefan, saved my life, and promised to keep my secret. You don’t seem like a bad person to me.”

“…”

Her words made him go quiet. His eyes lingered on her face with an unreadable expression, and she coughed awkwardly.

“So… will you meet me again next time?”

(So I can finish wiping your karma bar.)

“…Fine. I will.”

As expected, Caron, who couldn’t read minds, nodded slowly.

***

“The boy you brought in will be raised as a family mage.”

It was during one of Jeril’s occasional breakfast meetings with Marquis Rubian—just the two of them.

“Do you mean Stefan?”

“Yes.”

Then came silence again. The Marquis was always like this.

‘He’s too distant to feel like a father, but too close to be a stranger.’

That distance had never changed. Jeril poked her food with her fork, thinking that the old her might’ve been hurt by it.

“What made you bring him here?”

Oh, so the conversation wasn’t over yet. Jeril set down her napkin and smiled politely.

“He was abandoned by his parents. I thought it would be wrong to just ignore him.”

“…”

“And he’s an evil mage, too.”

The Marquis slowly nodded. “Abandoned child…” he repeated that phrase under his breath several times.

“I’m sorry if I caused trouble.”

“No. You did well.”

“…What?”

“You were abandoned too.”

She already knew that, of course. She had possessed this body as an infant.

When she first opened her eyes, the first thing she saw wasn’t a person—but a snowstorm. It had been absurd.

The original “Jeril Rubian” must’ve died in the cold, and she’d possessed her body.

But what the Marquis said next was completely unexpected.

“Your hair was already blue, and you were covered in blood.”

“…Pardon?”

“Someone must have tried to kill you. You barely survived because the Blue Mage’s defensive instincts kicked in.”

“Someone tried to kill me?”

“I believe your sibling was involved.”

“…Sibling?”

She almost spit out her juice. Wow, this day just keeps getting better.

“There were two bundles in the box where you were found.”

“Meaning…”

“You had a twin. Only you were found. I don’t know who took the other.”

So, after 24 years, she was learning the truth about her birth. But she didn’t feel much emotion about it. What shocked her more was the part about someone trying to kill her.

“Are you upset I didn’t tell you sooner?”

“No. It’s not like I suddenly feel a sibling bond or anything.”

Naturally—Jeril was a transmigrant. It wasn’t her original family.

“I did sense a sinister energy from the other blanket,” the Marquis added quietly. “It was the opposite of your aura.”

“…”

“Even if you’d grown up together, you and that child could never have coexisted.”

After saying that, the Marquis calmly resumed his meal, looking relieved to have finally shared an old secret.

‘…A sinister aura?’

***

“Why did that idiot Emperor call me here?”

“Your Grace! This is the imperial palace! Please, watch your tongue—”

Caron ignored his panicked butler and continued cursing.

“Maybe His Majesty wants to talk about marriage? Rumor says Lady Rubian stood you up…”

Caron slowly turned his head, and the butler hurriedly changed topics.

“Cough—well, if Your Grace lost your royal title, the Emperor would probably celebrate, so he’s likely trying to stop you from marrying!”

They had already arrived at the audience chamber. The butler whispered,

“His Majesty is being unreasonable. Honestly, you should just marry Lady Rubian already!”

Caron froze. His red eyes flickered like fire, then went cold.

“What did you just say?”

“Uh—well, she’s the perfect match. Neutral faction, noble background but not too powerful, good bloodline… That’s why the marriage meeting was arranged in the first place!”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Just then, the door to the audience chamber opened.

There was no warmth between the brothers who met inside. No greetings—just straight to business.

“You’re getting married,” the Emperor said.

“So you believe in baseless rumors now? Have you finally lost what little wit you had?”

Caron stared at him. The Emperor’s face was aged. Between them lay twenty-five years of history.

The Emperor already had a crown prince nearly as old as Caron himself.

“Let’s talk about the Crown Prince instead.”

“…He’s a fine young man.”

Caron chuckled humorlessly.

“Then what exactly has he been doing with the saint?”

“I don’t know what you’re implying.”

“The monster incident in Mekel province—you think I wouldn’t find out?”

Silence fell.

“All the monsters there were weak—something even trainees could handle. Yet the entire village was wiped out.”

“Even weak monsters can still be dangerous.”

“And yet… none of the corpses showed monster attack marks.”

“…”

“Then who killed those people?”

A crack formed in the Emperor’s expression. Caron’s voice lowered, his red eyes narrowing.

“I heard the victims had blue rashes on their skin. Maybe a local disease, sure. But…”

“…”

“While the people were dying, where were the Crown Prince and the saint?”

“…I think we should return to discussing your marriage, Duke.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“The Marquis of Rubian’s daughter, wasn’t it?”

Caron’s expression went blank for a second—so brief that no one noticed.

“If you’re not interested in the throne, perhaps I’ll find her a suitable match instead.”

“So that’s the only reason you called me here?”

Caron’s tone was indifferent, but his hand, hidden in his pocket, was already tightening.

“The Duke of Persch’s son would do nicely. His name was Ian, wasn’t it?”