[CHAPTER 116]
As soon as Sylvia finished speaking, a door opened. I forgot her words in surprise and wondered if I should hide somewhere, but Sylvia grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the wall.
Two people walked down the corridor toward us.
When they were almost close, I unconsciously held my breath. But they passed right in front of us without noticing.
As soon as they completely disappeared down the corridor, I exhaled in relief and admiration.
“It really works, amazing.”
“…It’s a simple spell. Now we’ll really begin. It might be too late, but.”
White streams of light flowed from Sylvia’s fingertips, splitting into four and heading toward the nearby doors.
I watched silently.
Regardless of the success or failure of this, I envied her ability.
‘If only I had such abilities.’
Maybe I could face the past and future with more confidence.
As the vision ended, Sylvia moved forward. I carefully followed behind her.
“The other rooms were nothing special, and we just need to check this one. There’s no one inside. Check the second drawer.”
Sylvia decided to keep watch outside while I went in. I deliberately walked slowly toward the drawer while keeping an eye on her.
Opening the second drawer, I found a small crystal bottle.
It contained amber-colored liquid, but anyone would have thought it was an ordinary perfume bottle. I opened the lid and smelled a strong floral scent.
‘This isn’t it.’
I scanned the rest of the room but found nothing particularly suspicious.
I stepped out of the room and delayed a little again.
“The bottle just contained ordinary perfume.”
“Really? Then we need to try the vision again. But… next time, we should switch roles.”
Sylvia spoke anxiously, probably because I took longer than expected to come out.
“Alright.”
I agreed without protest and waited for the next vision. Before starting, Sylvia tilted her head from side to side and sighed softly.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, it just consumes quite a bit of mana… I’ll do it again.”
Seeing her concentrate so hard, I felt a bit sorry. She was putting in so much effort…
But it was better than causing large-scale casualties. I just regretted that I couldn’t explain what I saw properly to Sylvia or Vincent.
As I waited quietly for Sylvia’s vision to end, suddenly footsteps echoed from the other end of the corridor.
Reflexively, I turned and nearly screamed, but managed to hold it back.
“Sylvia, behind us… the Master of the Mage Tower.”
Startled, Sylvia quickly canceled the vision spell and pulled me close to the wall again.
Thud, thud, thud.
Count Layton Ascard walked down the corridor without hiding his presence, his face expressionless.
I anxiously wondered if he could hear my pounding heartbeat. Failure of the mission was one thing, but being caught here by him was another.
As he got closer, I prayed silently in my heart.
‘Just pass by, don’t notice us, please.’
At that moment, Count Ascard’s gray eyes swept exactly where Sylvia and I were, and our eyes met.
I froze, unable to breathe.
Was I caught?
Perhaps deceiving the Master of the Mage Tower with Sylvia’s invisibility magic was impossible. But he soon turned his head and continued walking.
‘Didn’t see us…?’
Strange, he had looked directly at me.
Anyway, the Master of the Mage Tower passed three doors from here and opened the next one.
As the door closed, I immediately checked the time with Sylvia.
“What time is it now?”
“Right now…”
Startled by my question, Sylvia took the watch from her clutch and checked.
“Just before 8 o’clock. But why suddenly ask about the time?”
“Nothing, I was just curious.”
“Huh… anyway, this mission failed. He will probably take the medicine as soon as he enters the room.”
“Phew…”
I unconsciously exhaled in relief, then looked at Sylvia. She seemed disappointed about the failure, constantly glancing at the Master of the Mage Tower’s room.
“Let’s go back. It would be troublesome to run into him again.”
“Yes, but…”
Sylvia slowly moved toward the hall and called me.
“Yes?”
Her expression was tense. Her gaze at me wasn’t very good, as if she had something to say. She bit her lip.
“Nothing, really. Since it ended like this, we’ll have to wait for the next opportunity.”
“Yes, next time we should prepare more thoroughly.”
After I finished speaking, Sylvia walked ahead. Watching her back, I felt uneasy.
‘Did she notice?’
That I wasn’t keen on this task.
But it couldn’t be helped. The horrific scene I had seen in the vision still lingered in my mind.
‘I need to think of another way.’
I followed the corridor back to Lumiere Hall, where a grand ball was taking place.
***
Click—
In the room lit only by moonlight, Count Ascard reached to the bottom drawer.
‘Almost late.’
Purple smoke rose from his fingertips, and the drawer opened with a clatter.
Inside, four small bottles rolled around.
Count Ascard picked up the bottles and twisted one corner of his lips upward.
Earlier in the corridor, he had noticed Amelia and Sylvia. It wasn’t that Sylvia’s invisibility magic was sloppy—it was Amelia’s scent he detected, the one he had smelled when she hugged him at the ball.
The nervous young women were amusing in a trivial yet entertaining way. Perhaps they had already searched the room, but the magic track showed no marks, so it seemed they had failed.
What if they had taken the medicine?
The moonlight calmly illuminated his twisted face. Count Ascard looked out the window at the Mage Tower, then took a jeweled necklace from his chest.
Casually glancing between the tower and the necklace, he returned the necklace to his chest. Then, one by one, he poured the medicine from the bottles into his mouth.
His previously distorted mouth and nose returned to their normal positions, restoring his usual face.
Count Ascard looked silently at the empty bottles in his hand.
“What a pity.”
Partly, it really was a pity.
It could have been an opportunity to take several companions with him to end his boring life. He chuckled and crushed the empty bottles in his hand; the fragments immediately turned to dust.
***
After the ball ended, the carriage carrying the three of us was silent.
Vincent sat next to me but was looking out the window, and Sylvia quietly watched her fingertips on her lap.
I had nowhere to look, so I stared at the window opposite Vincent.
The Mage Tower was releasing puffs of smoke. It was night, so the color was unclear, but probably the usual purple.
‘Should I retrieve the bracelet I discarded in the garden?’
If someone discovered it, would they recognize it as a magic stone? Or just a red jeweled bracelet?
I tried to keep my thoughts light.
Otherwise, my mind would soon be filled with ominous images.
What if my foresight was wrong, and I was merely an obstacle? Or if Sylvia guessed my intentions and told Vincent?
The latter seemed more likely than the former.
I glanced at Sylvia, and she kept her eyes lowered, expression unreadable.
