Chapter 5

“…….”

“Magical tools are more dangerous than monsters outside the barrier. Do you really think so, Reverend?”

“That’s not exactly what I meant. The temple merely warns against making magical tools recklessly.”

“Good heavens. Are you saying the Duke might just make magical tools recklessly and threaten people?”

Melody made good use of the technique she had learned from the magical tools department manager — catching someone in a contradiction.

When Melody showed a shocked expression, the Reverend was startled and quickly waved his hands toward Deonis.

“Oh, no! That’s absolutely not what I meant.”

“You don’t even send a magical tool maker to someone who dedicates their life to exterminating monsters for the country. Even though all I make daily at the temple is just a wall lamp for a tavern.”

“Most who seek magical tools are merchants, so it can’t be helped. Hmm, hmm. What benefits the temple also benefits the empire.”

The Reverend seemed to flinch at that and went on a long-winded defense of the temple’s actions.

“It can’t be helped. If the temple’s stance is so strict, then I have no choice but to give up.”

Deonis stared at her as if asking what she meant. Melody glanced at the Reverend and continued.

“Duke, you said recently the monsters are becoming fiercer day by day, and you’re worried the barrier might break. That’s why you wanted a magical tool maker to come along. How about asking the Pope to let the Reverends join the extermination party instead of a magical tool maker? They probably know more about the runes used in the barrier than we do.”

The Reverend’s eyes widened, and just as if he read her intention, Deonis responded casually.

“Not a bad idea. Mahil, was it? Will you go in my stead? Someone needs to check the barrier.”

Deonis’ summons carried a weight unlike any other. The Reverend nervously fiddled with his now cold teacup.

“I… I will recommend other young Reverends who are knowledgeable about the barrier.”

“I don’t like that.”

“How…?”

“You’re the first to insult me. Wouldn’t it be more honorable to die fighting monsters and return to the goddess than be punished for insulting royalty?”

Deonis said with a shameless face, “You’re the first to hit me like that.” If Mahil had been a woman, the two might have fallen in love. While Melody indulged in foolish thoughts, Mahil bowed her head like a prey trembling before a predator.

“I swear to the goddess I did not mean to insult you, Duke.”

“But you insulted me.”

“Th-that’s…”

“If you want to be punished now for the crime of insulting royalty, go ahead.”

The crime of insulting royalty was a serious matter punishable immediately. Mahil, who had been trembling, suddenly straightened up at that moment.

“Now that I think about it, the Reverend’s judgment was short-sighted… Your Excellency does not wish for chaos in the empire. I will be right back.”

Mahil left the room and returned with a temple contract.

“Take the magical tool maker with you. How can one refuse the task of protecting the holy barrier?”

Then she burned the contract.

Watching the contract turn to ashes before her eyes, Melody clenched her fists.

“I did it.”

But the joy was short-lived.

As soon as she arrived at the old log cabin, Deonis placed a new contract before her.

“Congratulations on signing the contract you so desperately wanted.”

“…Yes, I did.”

With that signature, the contract was sealed. She had no choice but to work for Deonis. Melody swallowed hard and asked.

“May I ask what I am supposed to make?”

“Shouldn’t you have asked before signing?”

“I’m going to do it anyway. If I’d asked earlier, it probably would have been harder to persuade you.”

She clearly showed she didn’t want to persuade. Deonis exhaled deeply and spoke.

“You just have to cure my dreadful illness.”

“Ah…”

The man in front of her looked perfectly fine, so she had almost forgotten. But in the novel, Deonis was responsible for illness and obsession. The reason he met the novice Reverend Rihellin was for treatment.

‘Maybe because of his illness, he hated contact with others.’

He was the only male lead who didn’t have a relationship with Rihellin. Maybe that was why. Deonis vowed rebellion right after seeing the Crown Prince and Rihellin together in bed.

If he sought a magical tool maker for an incurable disease that even holy power couldn’t heal, why did it have to be him?

Melody looked at Deonis suspiciously and spoke.

“Magical tools can’t heal people. No matter how skilled I am, I can’t make magical tools that heal.”

“But you did heal me.”

“Me…?”

Though she had made some genius-level magical tools, none were related to healing.

At that moment when Deonis took a deep breath, black smoke began crawling along the floor, and everything it touched started to crumble.

The wooden chair turned to ash, the floorboards began to decay, the walls collapsed, and the roof was already gone. The scene of everything around him turning to ash and dispersing was spectacular.

He had used magic.

In awe, Melody raised her hand to cover her mouth. Goosebumps spread all over her body.

Deonis staggered and held his head. It was a scene of barely enduring unimaginable pain.

Still in shock, Melody struggled to think. So that’s why he sought me. Because I discovered the magic-nullifying machine.

“He was a magician…?!”

“It’s too late for regrets now.”

He said, grinding out the words.

“Before I cure myself, you won’t be able to go anywhere.”

Melody woke up still in shock. She was in a small inn room. On the floor lay a lone luggage bag. Today was the day she would enter the Duke’s household.

[“Can I help you?”

When Rihellin asked, Deonis looked devastated.

“No one can save me from endless pain. There was a time I deluded myself that there was hope. Now it’s meaningless.”

“Deonis…!”

“You only make me suffer.”

Tears rolled down Rihellin’s cheeks.

“When I see you, I can’t help but resent the goddess.”]

The novel never directly described Deonis’ illness. But now knowing he was a magician, the empty pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit.

‘I never imagined.’

It was only natural no one suspected Deonis was a magician. It was unimaginable for a magician to endure inside the barrier without lucky devices like a magic-nullifying machine.

Melody couldn’t even guess how Deonis endured his pain.

‘Giving up the succession right was probably because he was a magician!’

And enduring inside the barrier as well. She thought it must have been a decision for the sake of the royal family.

“I wonder if Marlon went off well.”

Marlon had been released and sent outside the barrier. Probably she would never see him again. Melody silently prayed for his safety.

‘I’m not safe at all.’

Carrying her luggage, she went downstairs. The innkeeper sweeping the floor looked up at her.

“Are you the guest who came last night? Leaving already?”

“I’ve lived here for two years.”

“Then why do you seem like we’re meeting for the first time?”

Because of overtime work, she hadn’t come home much and often slept in the temple’s side room instead of her own lodging.