Chapter 31
Karina paused for a moment. Her piercing blue eyes stared at me.
I was a stranger she met based only on a letter. Though she generously invited me to her home because the situation seemed urgent, it was natural she didn’t fully trust me.
‘She’s a cautious person.’
“There was something I wanted to ask when we met. How did you think to send me a letter? I doubt anyone outside knows what investigation I’m conducting.”
If a noble lady were in danger, her family would have taken some measures before asking a mere soldier for help. That was common in Bainan. So, the letter I sent was suspicious in many ways.
“Well, that is…”
I gave an embarrassed smile and brought out the answer I had prepared in advance.
“Actually, I’m an orphan sold to the Count’s family. Though I use the surname High-Learn for certain reasons, I couldn’t rely on the Count’s family for help.”
From our first meeting, I had revealed my secret origins. Karina clearly thought so. Her sharply shining eyes wavered momentarily, as if lost. She must have been flustered that I shared such personal information so freely.
“If you ask why it had to be Lady LeMont… there is no other woman in the military police but Lady LeMont. If you want to meet while deceiving the Mage Tower Lord, there are more excuses with a woman than a man, aren’t there?”
“I see. I understand. I’m sorry for unintentionally prying into your personal matters.”
“It’s fine. What’s face when your life is in danger?”
Knock. Knock.
The knocking on the door made me close my mouth quickly. A maid entered carrying the tea and snacks Karina had requested. While the table was being set, we chatted, looking out the window.
“The snow is starting to fall again.”
“The snow from last night hasn’t melted yet. I worry the roads might be icy.”
Karina’s words reminded me briefly of my way back to the Mage Tower. Since few people came and went from the hunting grounds, the snow was probably still piled up.
‘If it snows heavily…’
I glanced toward the coat I had laid out, worried if I could use what I had prepared. Meanwhile, Karina resumed the conversation.
“May I ask something that might help your investigation? Of course, it would also be important for helping Lady High-Learn escape.”
Karina’s tone, changed into a military police officer rather than Lady LeMont, became noticeably firmer. I nodded and focused on the conversation.
“Are there women with brown hair and green eyes detained at the Mage Tower?”
“Yes, many. All the servants and researchers are like that.”
I pointed to my hair and eyes.
“You mean all those people have brown hair and green eyes?”
Karina’s voice suddenly rose. For someone with little emotional fluctuation to raise her voice so much meant she was extremely excited. I nodded firmly. Karina rubbed her brow with three fingers.
“All, the victims are there…”
It was her habit when deeply thinking about something. She seemed to be imagining the scene at the Mage Tower while counting the reported missing persons.
“They aren’t locked away like in a prison. They all live daily lives there. Some were kidnapped, but others came on their own without knowing the Mage Tower Lord’s true identity. There are even senior maids who seem bewitched, assisting the Mage Tower Lord.”
I thought of Tara, Selly, and Karen in turn as I spoke.
“So there are no victims?”
Karina’s face showed earnestness as she asked. I knew well what she hoped for. She wanted those long-missing persons to safely return to their families. Even if trapped in the Mage Tower, as long as they were alive, there was hope.
Speaking of Aeon’s inhumane and bizarre acts made my lips dry. Before answering, I took a sip of tea.
“Don’t be shocked. There’s a saying that people get ‘kicked out’ of the Mage Tower.”
“Kicked out?”
Karina echoed my words, probably wondering why I said something so serious using a common phrase.
“Of course, it’s a bit different from the usual meaning.”
I began to explain slowly. I tried to be as calm as possible, but sometimes my voice grew louder or I spoke faster without realizing. Especially when talking about Tara, I had to hold back tears.
After I finished, silence lingered in the room for a while.
“It’s worse than I thought.”
Karina’s tightly gripped teacup looked like it might shatter.
“At first, I intended to ask Lady High-Learn to investigate, since information from outside has its limits. But now, Lady High-Learn escaping the Mage Tower must come first.”
Karina repeated what she had briefly mentioned when I arrived.
“But it’s certainly not easy, right? Otherwise, she could have escaped by now.”
It was time to explain the cursed binding contract. I rolled up my sleeve and rested my wrist on the table. A red ink-like mark appeared on my skin.
“What is that?”
“That’s why I can’t escape right now. I have a binding contract with the Mage Tower Lord. The master is the Mage Tower Lord, and the bound is me. The Mage Tower Lord knows where I am and can telepathically command me.”
I explained further to help Karina understand.
“He can even read my feelings and thoughts…”
“Wait, isn’t that dangerous? He might be listening to our entire conversation right now.”
Karina looked around cautiously, then instinctively put her hand on her waist, realized she wasn’t wearing her sword, and clenched and unclenched her fist.
“Calm down. But I think that might have been a lie. I’m just telling you this in case of the worst.”
“To escape from him, Lady High-Learn must first break the contract.”
Karina’s eyes asked if there was a way. I shook my head.
“Though I’m a researcher, I have little knowledge of magic. I only make potions with alchemy. Besides, if it’s the Mage Tower Lord’s magic, it won’t be easy to break.”
“That’s troubling.”
Karina rubbed her brow and tapped her foot anxiously.
Meanwhile, I poured the remaining black tea from the teapot into my cup and drank it in one go, as if it were liquor. The over-steeped tea was astringent and bitter.
“As I wrote in the letter, I don’t expect to escape just because I met Lady LeMont. I only hoped there would be someone who knew my situation and could help.”
Of course, I could say that because I trusted Karina, the protagonist. Having discovered the culprit much earlier than in the original story, she would find a way to stop Aeon before he ran amok.
“I will, I will try to find a way somehow.”
Karina spoke the words I had longed to hear.
“If there is anything I can do inside the Mage Tower, I will. It’s painful just watching people die or become exhibits. Oh, and…”
I explained some of what I had read in books as if I had discovered it inside the Mage Tower. It was information that could save Karina some trouble.
‘But this isn’t enough.’
I still needed Ludis, who could fill Karina’s gaps. It was irresponsible to expect the protagonist to meet someone after revealing Aeon’s true identity several months earlier than the original story.
“There is someone who seems to know about the binding contract. Maybe that person could help Lady LeMont with her investigation.”
“Really? Who is it?”
Karina leaned toward me eagerly.
“Do you know a man named Ludis de Pardien?”
“Ludis…”
Karina rubbed her brow again. She seemed not to remember who he was.
“Could it be the novelist?”
“The novelist.”
We answered at the same time. Karina was surprised and asked.
“Was his novel based on a true story?”
Karina probably hadn’t read Ludis’s novels. The original story said she hadn’t read a single one of his works either.
“Even if it’s not true, his novels seem to have a lot of knowledge about magic. Being from the Eastern Continent, he might know forgotten magic in the Bainan Empire.”
“Oh… is that so?”
Karina trailed off with an uncertain expression. She didn’t seem to think a mere fictional story could help. I felt she might start treating me like a child obsessed with novels.
I quickly corrected myself.
“I’m just saying that. If we can get help from other magicians or priests, that would be even better.”
I gave a nervous smile.
The conversation paused for a moment.
Ding.
The chime of the grandfather clock from the living room echoed into the room.
Ding.
I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it ringing several times already.
Ding.
‘Wait, then the time is…’
Ding.
‘I have to be back in the Mage Tower by five.’
‘No matter what, by five.’
‘Five o’clock!’
‘By five!’
With the last chime, that strange song echoed again in my ears. Holding the table, I hurriedly asked,
“What time is it now?”
