~Chapter 111~
Leviathan sat alone in his office.
Rosetta had taken Rubian to bed, and all the servants had left.
He leaned back in his chair and tilted his head. A sigh escaped his lips.
‘Was I just being paranoid…?’
Earlier, in the garden, Leviathan thought he felt a strange power from Rubian.
Of course, a non-magician can’t really sense magic power.
But Leviathan had gone beyond the normal limits of the body. Now, Rubian’s presence was so familiar that he sensed it naturally, like breathing.
There had been a wild wind, a magic explosion right before, and Asha Drukan’s magic in the air…
‘Maybe it was easy to get confused.’
He kept repeating the words he hadn’t managed to say earlier.
“Ruby, did you save me in the garden?”
If Adolf hadn’t knocked, Leviathan might have actually said those unbelievable words out loud.
He sighed to himself.
The escaped magician had been caught, and the kingdom had stopped searching.
The red-haired magician must have kept doubting Rubian, not knowing the truth.
‘It’s not like I meant to kill him.’
But since he tried to approach Rubian again, who knows what might have happened after questioning him.
In the end, maybe things turned out for the best.
Just then, the office door opened and Rosetta came in.
“She’s asleep, Rubian. Really fast asleep.”
She calmly walked over and checked Leviathan’s wound.
“I’m sorry for scaring you today.”
Rosetta shook her head with a tight face.
“It’s fine being scared, but next time, tell me first if anything happens with our daughter. Or I’ll really get mad.”
Leviathan’s throat tightened at her icy blue eyes.
“I will.”
“But why was that magician so desperate to get Rubian?”
“Her hair.”
“What?”
“He said the silver hair matched the escaped magician’s. And… he didn’t get a good look at Ruby’s face, so that made him even more obsessed.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Rosetta slammed the desk, angry.
“What? Sneak into the house? Looking for who?”
“…”
“She should be thankful there’s no body left.”
If there had been a body… what would my wife have done?
Leviathan swallowed, feeling tense for some reason.
“But what was it you wanted to say to Rubian earlier?”
Rosetta asked.
“Ah… it was nothing. Really.”
“Really?”
Leviathan took Rosetta’s hand and kissed it.
“I just wanted to say not to do anything reckless, even if you’re worried about me.”
His heart hurt, feeling like he was lying.
But even after thinking about it, it really was just a silly suspicion. He didn’t want to make Rosetta even more worried.
“Really. That’s something our daughter definitely needs to hear.”
Rosetta nodded, saying she’d be sure to tell Rubian.
She wrapped his bandage more tightly. Then she let out a tired sigh.
“Whew. The bleeding stopped. I’ll check on Void and Liam, then come upstairs. Go to the bedroom first.”
“I can—”
“Excuse me, mister patient? Do you want to see our daughter cry again because your arm is bleeding?”
Leviathan shook his head quickly, looking pale. Rosetta smiled, gave him a quick kiss, and left.
When the door shut, Leviathan tidied his messy desk.
Just as he was about to get up, he stopped, staring at a glass bottle on the desk.
“…”
He suddenly felt frozen in place.
It was the glass bottle that had helped him so many times.
It still had an old ribbon stained with blood from carrying it through battle. The ribbon was a bright blue—like Rubian’s eyes.
“Dad, watch out!”
He remembered the voice calling to him.
Leviathan tilted his head slowly.
But that voice…
‘Before the magician broke the magic bead.’
Didn’t I hear it then…?
He grabbed the glass bottle.
The tracking magician was dead, and the Magic Kingdom had caught the runaway magician.
Everything had ended, no doubts left.
‘But…’
Something wasn’t right.
Something kept piling up inside, when everything should have been clear.
He wondered what picture these puzzle pieces would form in the end.
For the first time, Leviathan felt afraid.
Chirp, chirp. Birds and sunlight woke me up.
I stretched and slowly opened my eyes…
‘Huh.’
I opened my eyes…
“Are you awake, Ruby?”
“Khal.”
“…”
“My eyes won’t open. What’s wrong with me?”
Khalid came all the way in, opening the door wide.
His face looked so serious in my blurry vision.
“Did you cry?”
“No, not that much.”
“Did the Duke die?”
“Don’t say stuff like that!”
I yelled, and Khal flinched.
“If not, then why did you cry so much?”
He sounded annoyed. I picked up a mirror to look at myself.
Wow. Can eyes really get this swollen?
It was kind of amazing.
“I think I was just really shocked yesterday…”
I felt totally drained.
Yesterday I fell asleep so fast, but thinking back, it really was an incredible night.
“Hing. Help me.”
I sat on the bed with my hands hanging down. Khal sighed.
“Does my magic help with swelling?”
“I don’t know.”
“What.”
But he still kindly shared his cool magic with me.
My weak body felt straight and strong again!
I felt a bit better, so I did some morning stretches.
“Weren’t you questioned? I thought you’d get caught using magic.”
“Well, there was that news from the Magic Kingdom.”
“Oh, so you didn’t have to explain.”
Khal frowned like he understood.
I bent backward, pressing my back. Khal’s face was upside down.
On my back, the mark hidden by magic. I pressed on it harder.
‘This mark is growing.’
I felt a chill on my scalp just thinking about it.
At the hot springs with Rosetta, I thought the shadow was a mistake… but it wasn’t. The mark really is growing.
‘Get it together. You already cried yesterday.’
I took a deep breath and tried to remember my priorities.
‘I need to learn about this mark. That comes first.’
The Sword Planted on the Ruins.
That awful original story had changed a lot because of me.
But one thing stayed the same.
This mark.
‘It’s not hurting me much yet. I just can’t attack the Magic King directly.’
I stretched my fingers out toward my toes.
My thoughts stretched out too.
I remembered the skinny arm of the “Seventh” in my dream. The branch of the world tree running down it.
‘If the mark grows until it covers my arm… I won’t be able to disobey.’
I tried to ignore the goosebumps rising on my neck.
I’d do anything to avoid that fate. And also…
“That mark looks painful. Maybe it’s because of the air here.”
That line stuck in my mind.
In the original, Leviathan seemed to know about the mark.
And it seemed like the mark growing had something to do with this place, with the north or Zebert.
‘It’s not good if Dad finds out about this.’
And I wasn’t sure how much Dad knew about the magician’s mark.
So, for now, I decided to just watch and wait.
“How long are you going to do that? You’re in the middle of a conversation with me.”
“Oh, sorry! Just a second.”
I stopped stretching and checked my eyes in the mirror again… Still puffy and swollen.
Ugh, why isn’t my blood flowing right!
“Ugh. I give up.”
I flopped down on the sofa.
It was a little embarrassing to look so ugly in front of Khal.
“While the kingdom is quiet, this is what I need to fix.”
“This?”
“My mark.”
Khal said, “Ah,” remembering our past talk.
“You said you need to get rid of it to really be part of Zebert?”
“Yeah… something like that.”
I didn’t want to tell him the mark was growing—he already worries about everything.
“True. It is a good time to act, now that the kingdom stopped chasing you.”
Khal soaked a cloth in cold water and handed it to me.
I glanced at him (well, tried to with my eyes so swollen…) and he put the cold cloth right on my eyelids.
Oh, that helps.
“But do you really think the Magic King has stopped chasing me?”
I felt the coolness and asked quietly.
K