Chapter 26
When Daphne opened her eyes, she found that, as expected, her whole body ached so much she couldn’t get out of bed.
It somehow felt even harder to move than the last time.
“It must be because I absorbed the dark magic directly.”
Of course, she had expected that much.
[Daphne Archion]
Mana: 50
She hadn’t expected her mana to rise this much…
“Not bad.”
At this level, she could probably cast magic two or three times with her original strength.
Given that, she started thinking maybe she should just go hunt down more dark mages from now on—absorbing their power alone would probably be enough to amass plenty of mana.
But to do that—to go hunting or even absorb anything—she first had to recover from the crippling muscle pain holding her body hostage.
“Ughhh…”
Ah, she was dying.
Groaning, Daphne barely managed to move her hand enough to grab the mana stone Teyti had given her before.
Then, as if it were candy, she popped it into her mouth and started crunching down on it.
“Gods, it tastes awful.”
But this was the only way to keep steadily gathering mana. To return to her former self, she’d need far more power than this.
“Aigoo, my miserable life.”
Crunch, crunch. Daphne muttered to herself as she chewed on the mana stone.
That was when—
“Lady Daphne!”
“You’re awake?”
Anne and Anna entered the room. On the tray Anne carried sat a thick sandwich and a cup of coffee. Daphne’s eyes sparkled as she reached out.
“I was just getting hungry.”
“Yes, I thought you might be, so I brought this. Shall we wash your hands first?”
Anne wiped Daphne’s hands with a wet towel and continued speaking.
“How’s your body feeling?”
“Better.”
“But you look paler than before. The weight you gained seems to have dropped right off.”
Anne’s eyes drooped sadly.
“This last incident was really dangerous. If something terrible had happened to you, I would’ve been heartbroken.”
Anne remembered when Daphne had been carried in—her face bloodless, vomit of blood staining her lips, body completely limp.
She had looked so much like a corpse that Anne had nearly fainted.
To lose Lady Daphne again… the thought alone had been unbearable.
“It’s fine to care for others, but I wish you’d think about yourself first, my lady.”
“Y–Yes, that’s true.”
The moment Daphne had seen the bomb, she had thought of herself first—that’s why she absorbed the magic—but that wasn’t something she could say out loud. She just smiled awkwardly instead.
“Anne, don’t say that. What Lady Daphne accomplished was incredible,” Anna interjected sharply.
“She saved so many people! Everyone’s singing her praises. Don’t you see the pile of letters over there? Unlike before, when no one cared, now they’re all desperate to invite her.”
She pointed to the mountain of letters on the table.
“I like it now. It feels like everyone finally understands her heart.”
Anna, who rarely smiled compared to Anne, was smiling now—smiling at Daphne.
“You did great, my lady.”
“….”
Something about it felt strange to Daphne.
Her chest felt… ticklish, somehow.
Was it because no one—not even another human being—had ever praised or worried about her like this before?
She’d never heard the words ‘You did well.’
And yet, she realized she didn’t hate it. Daphne felt a small smile tug at her lips as she took a deep breath.
“You said there were letters?”
“Yes. I thought it might be hard for you to read right now, so I just kept them aside. Would you like to see them?”
“Bring them here.”
Anne selected a few from the pile and handed them over.
The senders’ names included nobles who had been at the Marquis of Finch’s estate during the terror attack.
All the letters said roughly the same thing—
They owed their lives to her, their children wanted to meet her and thank her, they’d never forget this kindness, they begged her to visit their estates sometime… gratitude upon gratitude.
It felt different from when she’d received thanks from merchants before.
This time, it just made her… happy.
Simply being acknowledged, not rejected.
Daphne felt a soft, swelling warmth in her chest as she murmured,
“How curious. So easily can fate be rewritten…”
If Cellus had been a calamity, then this body of Daphne’s was nothing at all.
Meaning—calamity or not—it no longer mattered, and she could finally be treated properly.
“How fleeting.”
Memories flashed of the people she’d once saved with all her strength, only for them to turn and condemn her.
But now, it was all right.
Because she had received so many letters of gratitude that could finally bury those memories.
And from now on, perhaps even more…
Suppressing the swelling emotion, Daphne lifted her head.
“Ah, my lady, shall we return to the annex now? The physician said you can move around again.”
Anne offered her the coffee as she spoke.
This was the duke’s main residence. They had judged it too risky to send the collapsed Daphne back to the annex, where only a few servants stayed.
“I’ve had your room heated already. What would you like to do?” Anne added.
“Hmm…”
Daphne chewed thoughtfully on her sandwich for a moment, then shook her head.
“No. I shall stay here a few more days.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Because…”
Daphne licked the sauce off her finger and smiled slyly toward the window.
“It feels like a guest will be arriving soon.”
***
A silent night, with the hoot of an owl drifting beneath the moonlight.
A dark shadow slipped into the vast gardens of the ducal estate.
No matter the direction of the light, the shadow crept steadily forward—reeking of death.
Hiss, swish—past the shadows of trees, past the walls, past the guards’ own silhouettes, the aura of death crept upward toward the second floor.
Unlike the annex, which was lined with countless magic circles, the main residence had almost no magical defenses.
After all, wasn’t the fact that the empire’s strongest swordmaster—Heros Archion—lived there already the best security one could have?
The man’s senses were so sharp he could hear the crunch of leaves from a hundred meters away.
That was why almost no one dared to target House Archion. People even joked: “If you want to die the moment you breathe, go there.”
But tonight was different. Heros had been summoned to the imperial palace for the investigation of the dark-magic terror and the chimeras. The main house was more defenseless than ever.
“I have to kill that brat before she returns to the annex.”
The dark mage, wreathed in the aura of death and targeting Daphne Archion, muttered to himself.
If Daphne went back to the annex, things would get complicated—the barrier there was said to be so strong that even a dragon couldn’t break through it. That was why, during the last assassination attempt, they had struck when she was in the main house.
“I definitely killed her before.”
She hadn’t breathed, her heart had stopped, and he had even altered everyone’s memories.
And yet—she lived.
“How the hell…?”
Normally, failure meant death. But his master had given him one last chance—to properly finish off Daphne Archion.
“This time, for sure!”
He couldn’t fail again.
Hiding his body in the shadows of the doorframe, the dark mage slipped into the room and expanded his sight. Then he spotted the bed. The bulge in the blanket suggested Daphne lay beneath it.
Quickly, he wrapped his right hand in the aura of death. Like a finely honed blade, it would rot flesh on contact.
“Die!”
He thrust his hand toward the heart beneath the blanket, releasing the deadly energy.
He meant to destroy her heart completely—so that no matter what, she couldn’t survive.
Just like before, he assumed the frail, powerless Daphne would never withstand the attack.
But he was utterly wrong.
“Bind.”
Whoosh!
From the floor, a shadow surged up and coiled around his body.
“You foolish human.”
The shadow gripped his throat tightly and lifted him into the air.
“This is how you use magic.”
“Guh—! Gack!” The dark mage struggled, clawing at the shadow constricting him, but it was useless.
After all, the one controlling this magic was Daphne—the Black Dragon herself.
“H-How…!”
He screamed, his face ghost-white with terror, but Daphne remained perfectly calm.
“I am a being of greatness.”
The cold moonlight glimmered in her eyes.
“Now then—let’s have a little talk.”
