Chapter 3
The Light and the Wrath
Contrary to my worries, the thick, sturdy-looking clump of roots gave way easily when I stabbed it with the dagger and twisted, creating a gap. I shoved my hand in, and the roots came away like dry grass, as if they had been waiting for it, releasing whatever they had been gripping with a limp surrender.
The torn roots immediately turned into glowing dust, sparkling several times before vanishing. But there was no time to marvel at this phenomenon—I was focused on digging through the roots.
“Ugh…!”
After a few attempts, a sudden wave of dizziness hit me. It felt as if all the blood in my body was being sucked out through my hand gripping the roots. Warm blood began to pour from my nose and mouth again, dripping down.
Even a fool would have understood.
‘If I go any further, I could die.’
Yet I couldn’t stop. I had to retrieve whatever was glowing inside.
As I groped through the hole with my weakening hand, my vision blurred. Just before losing consciousness, my fingers touched a slick, shell-like surface.
‘This is it.’
The sphere, whose light had been fading, began to glow again the moment I touched it. Though the glow was much weaker than before, it was enough to give me hope.
There was no time. I gritted my teeth and held it as tightly as I could.
“Ah…!”
In that instant, the roots that had covered the entire wall turned into glowing ash and scattered.
‘What…?’
Light began to return to the room. The scattered dust slowly settled, touching the remnants of dry roots, which immediately sprouted pale green shoots.
But I had no time to admire this miracle. Blood surged from my mouth once again.
“Ugh, cough!”
I coughed violently, clutching the glowing orb. My chest and diaphragm constricted painfully, making it nearly impossible to breathe.
As oxygen failed me, my vision blurred further. I felt my body tilting, the floor beneath me slipping away.
The sensation of falling into a bottomless void.
“…Cheh!”
At that moment, I thought I heard a familiar voice.
Then, I lost consciousness completely.
When I came to, it was all over. I hadn’t even cleaned myself up, and now I had to stand before my father, angrier than I had ever seen him.
“Finally thought you’d live quietly, did you?!”
Still groggy and disoriented, I could only watch as my father shouted.
“You insane girl! Now you dare covet the Holy Grail?! Have some decency! Even tarnishing the family name has limits!”
“Ho…ly Grail?”
Unable to contain his anger, my father threw the nearest ashtray right at me.
I quickly squeezed my eyes shut. The shards didn’t even scratch my face—I barely noticed the pain before my father’s furious voice thundered through the room.
“Don’t act innocent! Ezekiel was the one who found you collapsed, clutching the core of La Peregrina!”
La Peregrina.
Also called the Holy Grail, a legacy of the Golden Age, renowned as “the cup that can hold the world.” In the present, it was better known as the vessel containing the Ark—a magical construct designed by the first emperor to protect human lands from the corruption of demons and magic.
Without the Ark’s protection, human lands would fall to demonic and magical corruption. Worse, at its current decayed state, neither the Grail nor the Ark’s magic could be reproduced or replicated.
A single mistake could spell humanity’s destruction.
‘Why would that even…?’
I had no idea. But one thing was clear.
“I—I didn’t steal it! I really—”
“Don’t lie! The Magus Tower Lord has already confirmed attempts to corrupt the core. How wicked must your actions have been for the Grail to sprout purification flowers itself? And even those flowers lost their vitality and withered!”
My father clicked his tongue, muttering in disgust.
“It would have been better if you’d gone around the garden like a madwoman at night. Trying to act like a mage by destroying the Ark? Foolishness beyond measure! Where on earth did you learn such monstrous things?!”
“Father…”
My older brother, Ezekiel, standing silently beside me, supported our staggering father. I desperately tried to catch his gaze, hoping he might let me explain, but…
“….”
All I saw in his piercing, icy eyes was cold contempt.
In that instant, I realized:
‘No matter what I say… they won’t believe me.’
“Mother…”
At that moment, the only person I could cling to was one:
“Please call Mother! I didn’t do it, I swear!”
“There’s no time, Father. We must report to His Majesty before this escalates.”
Father pressed his lips together.
“That’s right.”
“Wait, Father! Don’t go! Please call Mother!”
They ignored me, ordering the servants to hold me firmly in place before departing.
‘What is happening…?’
Trapped in the study, I suddenly heard a commotion outside. One voice sounded familiar.
‘Mother!’
I didn’t even pause—I ran to the door and pounded on it.
“Mother! Mother! I’m here!”
Moments later, as if by miracle, the door opened. A flame of red hair, eyes like blooming roses—my mother.
“Mother…!”
“Shh, come inside, Riche.”
She pushed me back as I tried to cling to her skirts and stepped into the room herself.
Creeeeak…
The door closed on its own, the lock clicking shut. I wasn’t startled—my mother always used magic as naturally as breathing.
I urgently spoke.
“Mother, I—”
Whack!
A crack like a whip in the air. My head jerked violently from the force. Moments later, a burning pain stung my cheek.
“Mother…?”
I had been struck.
“Foolish and useless.”
Darkness filled my vision. If even my mother didn’t believe me, it was truly over. I knelt, clutching her skirts, and pleaded.
“Mother, I really, truly—”
“You must have limits even when the meal is done. You always ruin my work. And you, of all people.”
“…Yes?”
This…
…what…
…did she mean?
Like the slow turn of a latch snapping into place, a thought struck my mind.
“…It was you?”
“What are you talking about?”
I didn’t get a full answer, but it was enough.
“So it was you… who took the core of the Grail—”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is, daughter, that you ruined my work.”
Destroying the Grail and the Ark within it would doom the world. Even a child in the empire knew that.
“Why… why would you… with that…?”
“Obviously, so you could return the magic you stole from me, entirely.”
“Huh?”
“You little rat of a girl.”
Her nails, perfectly manicured, stung my cheek. For the first time, that touch gave me goosebumps.
“You not only grew inside me, feeding on my flesh, but you also stole my magic…”
“I never—”
“And yet you interfere with my work again. Did you not? Who else could it be? My magic began to fade the moment you were born. Did you not do this?”
“I didn’t! I’m not a mage!”
For the first time, I raised my voice at my mother, utterly frustrated.
“If I had stolen your magic, I would have to be a mage, but I’m not… not even once—ever—!”
“The day you were one hundred days old, you went to the palace for the measurement ceremony, as tradition dictates.”
“…No way.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“You broke the measuring device, and everyone said your potential would surpass mine. How loudly they celebrated… The Emperor confirmed your engagement to the Crown Prince that very day, and soon after tied the Knot of Thetis as well.”
The Knot of Thetis is one of the strongest binding magics in existence, linking bonds between people. While it granted various beneficial effects when they stayed close, it also bound their fates together—once complete, it could never be undone.
Because of this unbreakable engagement, I had spent my entire life the target of jealousy and ridicule.
“But that was just a coincidence—the device simply malfunctioned—”
“This is a legacy of the Golden Age. Even the most powerful corruption in history couldn’t destroy it.”
My mother spoke each word with a precision like fire fueled by hatred.
“That doesn’t happen by accident. You, my daughter…”
A strangely twisted smile appeared on her face.
“You were a mage, my daughter.”
