“Mmm, I’m, uhhhhhh!”

At this point, I had no choice but to enjoy it. This opportunity, this night that would never come around again. I might as well enjoy it to the fullest.

“Actually, I haven’t seen Belluna yet, and I’d like to see her too.”

“Oh, I see. Belluna’s in the Magic Tower right now, still cleaning up the traces of black magic that have scarred the continent.”

“The Magic Tower? Oh, well, I guess I won’t be able to see her then…….”

“Hold on tight!”

“What?”

“Lady Penelois, Your Highness Elexa, we are leaving! I’ll come back with Claude another time!”

Sarah smiled and waved goodbye to the imperial family, then snapped her fingers, and my vision went white, just as it had in my room, and in an instant the landscape before me changed. A place so different from the architecture of the Empire, with sparkling magic everywhere. Before we knew it, Sarah and I had arrived at the Magic Tower.

“Hic hic, Great Elder, you’re finally here.”

“When did you, hic, when did you get here? Thank goodness. Now please take a look at this, it’s a stone with black magic energy that has run amok due to the enchantment of time…….”

“While you’re here, please take a look at my research, Great Elder!”

As soon as Sarah and I appeared, the magicians rushed over as if they’d been waiting for us. It was so typical of the magicians in the Magic Tower that no one seemed surprised by our sudden appearance.

“Where’s Belluna?”

“Oh, she, she’s in the research wing. More than that, Great Eldeeer, my research!”

“I’ll see to that!”

“You said that the last time you were here!! You always favor your disciples! If you’re going to do this, I’ll be your disciple!”

“You’ll be accepted if you pass the exam properly.”

“How am I supposed to pass that!!!”

Sarah shoved past the zombie-like swarm of magicians, grabbed my hand, and flew – and I didn’t mean she ran fast, she literally flew.

“Wow!”

An exclamation escaped my lips as I realized we weren’t just flying in the sky, we were flying through the Magic Tower.

“Great Eldeeeer!”

“Waaaahhh!”

I squealed as the magicians flew after us, too.

“What’s all this!”

“I’m sorry, Miss Haeng-in. The Magic Tower is off-limits to anyone in their right mind.”

“Why on earth!”

“Well, because you can’t study magic without going crazy, right?”

Unlike me, who was horrified, Sarah was nonchalant, as if this happened all the time, an attitude that made me realize she was the head of this crazy group.

“That’s the research wing, Belluna should be in there.”

Sarah immediately flicked her hand as we entered the lab, and I heard the door slam shut and some sort of magical device activate.

“Uuhh, Great Elder! Great Eldeeeeer……!”

The magicians who were following us were blocked by the door, so they just slammed their hands on it.

“Fufu, that was fun, wasn’t it?”

“…….Yes”

I flushed and nodded, a little exhilarated, actually.

“Master.”

Just then, Belluna came running up to us from the research wing, her face flushed with joy, and I staggered back in a giddy frenzy.

“I’m so glad you found me on such short notice.”

“Have you eaten and are you working on removing black magic? You look even thinner than the last time I saw you, Belluna.”

“Not really, but it was something I was interested in. I’m enjoying it.”

Sarah stroked her head as if she were pleased with her, and I watched without breathing as Belluna closed her eyes and laid her head against Sarah’s touch.

“ Belluna, this is Miss Haeng-in.”

“Ah. I heard of you, I’m Belluna.”

As Sarah introduced me, Belluna looked at me and held out her hand, her eyes shining with an undeniable curiosity and goodwill that she couldn’t hide.

“Did you tell her my story?”

“Of course, Ms. Haeng-in is that special to me.”

Sarah smiled, took my hand, and led me into the lab, where we stood in front of what looked like a well at the very back of the room, pointing to the shimmering reflection in it.

“What you see there is Alton Estate, which Belluna is cleansing right now, bringing back life to the land and the people who died because of the First Prince’s black magic outburst.”

Sarah bragged about Belluna’s accomplishments with pride in her voice, not unlike any mother bragging about her child, so I smiled and chimed in.

“That’s amazing.”

“It’s nothing, I was just following where Master led.”

Belluna laughed awkwardly, but I could tell she was secretly embarrassed by her blush. Only in the novel did Belluna seem so grown up compared to the other disciples, but now that I saw her like this, I could see why Sarah treated her like a child because her innocent joy was so lovely to see.

“But how was the First Prince able to use such black magic, was he talented? I heard Ambrosia’s power is hard to handle, even with that bastard Oliven by his side…….”

I muttered the question that had just popped into my head and Sarah looked at me, her deep eyes making me clench my jaw in frustration; what was I going to do, bring up a story that was already finished?

“Actually, there’s something I haven’t told you yet. It’s about the late Empress.”

“Oh, you mean the Empress that the old Emperor went crazy about?”

“Fufu, yes.”

Sarah’s face lit up with laughter and she clapped her hands as if she found my expression funny, and then she continued.

“The Empress was actually a black magician, unbeknownst to her.”

“What?”

“It’s a fact I learned from Park Hyeyeon’s precognition, but she was a childhood misfit who wasn’t loved by her father and brothers. Neither was the Emperor, who was married to her in an arranged marriage. So she made a wish.”

“What wish?”

“That they would all love her, and only her.”

“……!”

“The Empress’s wish, who was pregnant at the time, did indeed come true, for both her father and the Emperor were madly in love with her from then on.”

Sarah clicked her tongue in disappointment; apparently, black magic wasn’t a power that could purely grant its practitioners’ wishes; her husband’s and father’s love for her soon became an obsession, one that would consume their sanity long after her death.

“The First Prince, who was in her womb at the time, must have been affected by it as well, which is why he developed such a talent for black magic.”

“I had no idea there was such a story.”

“That’s because I didn’t mention it.”

Sarah laughed and took my hand.

“Miss Haeng-in’s existence might have slipped through the cracks just like that, so I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you’re here now.”

“What does that mean?”

“Miss Haeng-in, please listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you.”

Sarah suddenly took on a serious tone and paused for a moment, looking like she was about to make a major confession, and I could hear myself swallow loudly.

“Miss Haeng-in is, um, me, or, more accurately, the soul inhabiting the body that used to be ‘me’.”

“Eh.”

A stupid sound escaped my lips, the most pathetic sound in the world. You must have thought so too. What kind of stupid sound is this, don’t you think?