Chapter 47
Seriously.
Seriously, this was absolute hell.
It felt just as awful as the time I’d poured my soul into spatial-temporal magic research, only to be denied even a thesis review because I didn’t have any magic power.
“Professor Altair Oswalley.”
“Ah, I-I’m not a professor anymore…”
“Former professor or not, please give some serious thought to the definition of ‘love.’
Discuss it with your wise High Priests and esteemed professors.
Please—just disprove my pathetic definition!”
“Gasp! Was there a flaw?!”
Altair flinched and started biting his fingertip, mumbling as he spiraled deep into thought. I grabbed both of his arms and locked eyes with him before he completely disappeared into his own world.
“You left out the most important part!”
“The most important part?”
“Reproduction.
Sexual attraction is also a component of love.
The magic I want to create includes becoming aroused because the target seems irresistibly attractive!
But you, former professor, clearly don’t feel any sexual attraction toward me!”
“…What?”
Altair blinked stupidly with wide, round eyes. I furrowed my brow and shot him a glare demanding agreement, but he just rolled his eyes around, pressed his lips together, and turned away.
“Excuse me? Former professor? You need to counter that statement.”
“…”
He avoided my gaze. That meant one thing: he was distracted by something else again. I tilted my head toward where he was looking and shook his shoulder.
“Altair? Are you listening?”
“…I-I’m thinking.”
Altair ducked his head low, mumbling vaguely. At least he still looked guilty, which meant his conscience hadn’t completely short-circuited.
“Haa… is this really something that needs so much thinking?
I’ve told you over and over—when you zone out mid-conversation like that, people misunderstand.”
I sighed in frustration. Altair looked even more pitiful, his eyes drooping as he fidgeted. He clearly wanted to say something but couldn’t organize his thoughts.
“Surely… you don’t see me as a sexual object, do you?”
“Well… I-I mean… are you saying… Roy wants to truly fall in love with someone who will bear an heir for the family?
And if you’re not actually suffering from ED, is that really something that needs to be solved with magic?
Also, right now, you’re kind of…”
“…Kind of?”
Altair took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, then sighed and started polishing the lenses.
“Never mind. It’s nothing.”
Huh?
“You’re right, Roy.
I may have let my emotions get the better of me for a moment.
I’ll consult other scholars and try to arrive at a clearer definition myself.”
What the heck? Why is the smart guy being so weird and vague?
Altair bit his lip and backed away, lips still pursed. After a few steps, he seemed to remember something and fumbled through his pocket.
“Ah, and this.”
He pulled out a stone and pressed it into my hand.
“I meant to bring you a refined one, but the purchase process was long and complicated.
This is just a raw stone, but it’s a high-grade magic stone.
It should come in handy.”
A magic stone.
I stared in shock, eyes darting between the magic stone and Altair.
“Gasp. W-Wait, isn’t raw stone harder to get?
Unless you stole it from a magic stone mine…”
“…”
Altair flinched and bit his lip again.
This bastard…
“Former professor?
You do realize that if you get caught stealing magic stones using teleportation magic, you’ll be branded for life, right?”
“I didn’t steal it. I found it. At a construction site.”
“…Not a mine?”
“It was a reservoir reinforcement project. I just happened to find it.”
“…What?”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
So this former professor skipped the Royal Academy and was out doing manual labor at a construction site?
Is he writing a novel instead of a thesis these days?
“I-I don’t need it, so Roy, you use it.
As I told you before, my coordinates are near the back bulletin board.
I’ll be going now. I’m busy…”
Altair gave a brief bow and turned on his heel, striding off. As he crossed the fountain, the tall mage vanished like smoke—and in his place, a side-character villainess appeared with a white parasol.
“L-Lady Roswelden! Wait a moment!”
Madam Mores lifted her dress hem and ran after Altair. I stared at his retreating figure—until I noticed Tessarion stomping toward me.
His silver hair and black cape billowed in the wind, like he was marching off to crush a million soldiers.
Hahaha.
I’m scared. I might piss myself.
I smiled sweetly… and dropped the magic stone into the fountain.
“It was a truly lovely time.
The lady apologized to me, and we cleared up the misunderstanding.
She even confessed to me.
I suppose it’s my turn to propose a meeting next time.”
“Is that so?”
Tessarion twitched the corner of his mouth and glanced around the fountain area. I tightened my clasped hands behind my back.
“Isn’t it beautiful?
I heard Madam Mores put a lot of effort into the garden for today’s welcome event.
Maybe we should consider hiring a new landscaper.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Don’t you like it, Duke?”
Tessarion scoffed and swept a hand horizontally, filled with a dark aura.
A surge of icy blue flames sliced the rose pergola clean in half.
“It’s annoying.”
The blooming flowers disintegrated to white dust.
The magical shimmer vanished.
Only the fountain remained, its sparkling water reflecting a lonely rainbow.
I stared at Tessarion in disbelief.
I was just about to suggest he take a walk with the imperial princess.
“Let’s go, Roy.”
I thought to myself—
If Altair remembers the past life…
Then maybe this bastard remembers too.
❖ ❖ ❖
I don’t know about the side villain Heliot, but main lead Tessarion and female lead Verieta definitely seem suspicious.
Now that I’ve started to suspect them, everything about them feels off.
I swallowed hard and bit my lip.
But I still couldn’t be sure.
There was no clear answer.
If the main male lead and female lead both remember the 9th life…
Could they truly love each other again?
It’s like telling a worn-out elderly couple on their 50th anniversary,
“Grandpa, Grandma, please forget your past and love each other passionately like honeymooners again!”
Just as Tessarion said, maybe I was being far too presumptuous.
My heart felt heavy and confused.
“Haa…”
Damn it… Why did the goddess only reveal this in the 10th round?
Other transmigrators get system windows and cheat skills.
But me? I…
“I didn’t get anything. No transmigration perks.”
I felt scammed.
At this rate, I should be able to storm the temple with a holy sword and throw a tantrum without anyone blaming me.
I grabbed my head and sighed.
I was stressed and constipated every day, and this damn main couple kept acting cold.
Verieta was sitting in front of the fireplace in the office, sipping tea, when she sparkled her eyes at me.
“Perks? Roy, do you need something special?”
“Ah, no, Your Highness… Just talking to myself. I apologize.”
I bowed and went back to my chores—dusting books and polishing covers.
It was all pointless busywork.
I had planned to laze around from today on, per the Duke’s orders…
But then Verieta showed up early in the morning to visit Tessarion.
So I had to pretend to be busy, pretend not to hear, and act invisible.
Of course, it’s normal and a good sign for the princess to visit her fiancé.
But for some reason, it felt…
Like she wasn’t here to see Tessarion.
It felt like she came to see me.
