“It is said that it is a virtue to provide education to those who lack learning. That is why we are sending him to study abroad as a place of learning.”

“Where?”

“I have recommended the Second Prince to His Majesty. He will probably lead him to a good place.”

“If it’s the Second Prince, he and the First Prince don’t get along, right? The assassins they sent to each other would be enough to establish a small country.”

“So, wouldn’t the Second Prince know better than anyone about the First Prince’s shortcomings? Since they know each other’s weaknesses more than anyone else, they’ll know how to best overcome them.”

He was really bad. Sarah defined Ethan Ambrosia like that. She was curious but not curious about how he moved the Emperor who explicitly favored the First Prince. Even if Sarah was not used, there were still many cards left for the Duke of Ambrosia. Nobles, servants, and knights who witnessed the incident. If he used their psychology, he could have driven the First Prince in society enough. Fortunately, the First Prince was crazy.

“But the First Prince will not step down so smoothly. As long as I’m in Ambrosia.”

“What happened between you and the First Prince?”

“It wasn’t a big deal, at least for me. But for the First Prince, it was fatal.”

“What kind of……”

Sarah smiled bitterly and stroked Claude’s hair. The reason why the First Prince bore his teeth at Sarah even at the age of more than 40 was simpler than expected. When she first revealed to the Emperor that she was a great magician, Sarah was 10 years old. Sarah held the hand of her father, Count Millen, secretly entered the palace, and had a private meeting with the Emperor.

“I told His Majesty to give up on my engagement with the First Prince.” 

“Engagement? Did you say you were engaged just now?”

“Yes.”

Ethan Ambrosia’s face was horribly distorted. This was all the more so considering the age of the First Prince at that time. A blue vein popped over his clenched fist.

“Nanny……, did you almost marry that scary Prince?”

Claude looked at Sarah with pitiful eyes. He seemed to have imagined in that small head what it would have been like if she had married the First Prince.

“Don’t worry. I’m not getting married and I’ll be living with Young Master Claude for the rest of my life.” 

“Really?”

“Of course!”

Sarah smiled, hugged Claude tightly, and rubbed her cheek against the child’s soft skin. Perhaps her hair was itchy, Claude smiled and twisted his body. Seeing that, Ethan let out a long breath.

“The Emperor would never have given up on you, Sarah. If it weren’t for the First Prince, I would have tried to push in the Second Prince or the Third Price.”

“It’s usually like that, right? There’s nothing like a union with the Imperial family in a way that definitely binds the magician to the Empire.”

The First Prince was old and didn’t behave like a human being, but the Second Prince and the Third Prince were different. The two sons of the Empress, who came in as a concubine, resembled their beautiful mother, and the characters were outstanding. In addition, since Sarah and they were of the same age, it would have been wise to pair the Second Prince or the Third Prince if they wanted the magician’s blood to be mixed into the Imperial family.

“He would have given up because I had not appeared until now, but now the Emperor can dream in vain again.”

As the Emperor of the Empire, there was no way that the great magician named Sarah Millen could be left alone. Ethan thought so and hardened his face.

“It’s not bad at all. Compared to the First Prince, the Second Prince and the Third Prince are on the good side. I like them quite a bit.”

Sarah recalled the appearance of the Second Prince and the Third Prince and said in a light voice.

“……!”

“……!”

At the same time, the eyes of the surprised father and son turned to Sarah. Sarah laughed as she saw the two pairs of eyes shaking violently.

“I’m kidding! You know that my attention is focused only on you two, right?”

Claude and Ethan’s eyes gradually returned to their size at Sarah’s words. Sarah laughed even louder because the two identical faces of the father and son, who were blatantly relieved, looked so lovely.

“Then promise me. Nanny will be here all the time.”

Claude said, extending his pinky finger to Sarah. He intended to get a promise from her before the nanny went anywhere.

“Fufu.”

Sarah smiled as she hooked her finger with the child’s pinky finger. But Claude looked at Ethan halfheartedly, wondering if that alone was not reassuring.

“……?”

Feeling the intense gaze, Ethan tilted his head curiously, and Claude asked in a very cautious voice.

“……Is Father not going to do it?”

“What-“

“Promise with Nanny.”

At Claude’s words, Ethan blinked slowly. So, did he want him to make a promise to Sarah that she would stay here for the rest of her life? He looked at his hand for a moment, then extended his finger as Claude wanted. Sarah smiled at him as well and put her finger on Ethan’s.

“Come on, promise!”

Claude smiled brightly and alternately glanced at Sarah and Ethan, who hooked his finger with him. Seeing that, Sarah smiled as if it was cute.

“……”

It felt like there was a strange heat in the finger that was in contact with Sarah’s. Ethan placed his hands on his lap and squeezed his fists. It was a light promise, like the grunt of an immature child, but somehow he wanted to put some weight on this promise.

* * *

The magic tower, a place where qualified magicians gathered. A place that existed anywhere for the qualified, but did not exist anywhere for the unqualified. That was the magic tower. Even if they lived their entire lives, those who could not reach the edge of the magic tower would spread all kinds of imaginations about the magic tower.

They said they were raising monsters, and it was thundering and raining and snowing in the room, and in a room made of gold, they sat on a chair made of diamonds and ate with a fork made of sapphire. However, contrary to their imagination, the horse tower was neither special nor ordinary.

“Ah, really, how the hell can a room be like this?”

Oliven coughed and waved his hands. The clumps of dust floating in the air swayed back and forth following Oliven’s hand. On the floor, dust that looked like a ball larger than the dust was rolling around. Not only that, but the dust that had settled down fluttered like snow with every step he took, showing off his presence. Would it be fortunate that he didn’t even hit the spider’s web? Oliven thought so and looked into the magic circle that was the only thing in the middle of the room that remained clean.

“……That madman is still doing that.”

There was a motive for living like a beast because he was half-crazy to find a missing master. 

“Benjamin!”

Not having the courage to enter Benjamin’s room, Oliven called his name in front of the door, but Benjamin did not answer. He simply continued to read the notes his master had left in the magic circle made of dark red magic.

Oliven looked at Benjamin, who didn’t even move, and trembled in horror. Then he spoke to another colleague behind him, who looked into Benjamin’s room with an expressionless face.

“Do I still look crazier than him? I’m not, right, Belluna?”

“I don’t know.”

The woman called Belluna looked down at Oliven coldly and shrugged. Her hair, tied up and resting on her shoulder, fluttered. She spoke in a voice without emotion, without hiding her pathetic eyes.

“I would have said that Benjamin and you are the same, only having different personalities.”

“That’s really insulting. You know.”

Oliven hugged himself with both arms and appealed greatly that he was hurt. However, when he saw Belluna’s face that became even colder, he quietly lowered his arms that wrapped around his body. Then, recalling his original purpose, he strode into the dusty room of Benjamin. Benjamin, sitting in the middle of the magic circle, looking at the traces of his master, seemed to have lost some weight, but his eyes were full of excitement. Oliven trembled and slammed the wall created by the waves of the magic circle.

“Hey! How long are you planning to be stuck here like this? Do you think Master would like it if she saw you being like this?”