“No way……!”

“I haven’t been able to tell Your Majesty because I don’t have to tell you. I’m the Great Elder of the magic tower.”

Sarah’s eyes twinkled with azure light, and the voice that spoke to the Emperor contained unknown intimidation. Sarah’s appearance as she stood still and looked down on the Emperor was not Countess Millen, who had usually been gentle and obeyed his orders. She contained the unique leisure and confidence that only those with power comparable to that of the Emperor could have and the arrogance of the overwhelming absolute.

“You’re the Great Elder of the magic tower…… Could it be that you are the Master of the magic tower?”

The emperor’s eyes trembled faintly as if in disbelief.

“It’s correct that I, as the Great Elder, lead the magic tower, and I’m also called the Master of the tower, so yes.”

After a moment of slow blinking, all the calculations began to tangle in the Emperor’s head. And after a while, the corners of the Emperor’s mouth, who had settled his thoughts to some extent, slowly curved upwards.

“Ha, haha……, hahaha! There’s no reason for you to lie. You really are the Master of the magic tower.”

There was a faint ecstasy in the excited Emperor’s voice.

“Finally, this Empire can have the magic tower……!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t live up to Your Majesty’s expectations, but Great Elder of the magic tower and Sarah Millen are different.”

“What are you talking about, Countess Millen?”

“Unfortunately, I’ve made a thorough distinction between myself at the tower and myself as Sarah Millen.”

At Sarah’s words, the Emperor’s ambition, which had grown magnificently as if he could swallow the continent at any moment, subsided in an instant. It was because he knew all too well what Sarah’s attitude, as if drawing a thorough line, meant. The Emperor spoke in a soft voice as if trying to appease her.

“You are the Little Countess of the Crombell Empire. Don’t tell me you don’t know what that position means?”

“Of course, Sarah Millen knows it all too well. However, it is meaningless as the Great Elder of the magic tower.”

“Countess Millen!”

The Emperor burst into anger, but Sarah tilted her head slightly to the side and smiled softly. It was an act that showed all too well that the wrath of the Emperor, which she should fear, meant nothing to her.

“Ha.”

An opponent who the Emperor’s authority did not work with existed right in front of his eyes. As if the existence of Sarah Millen, who had bent her back in front of the Emperor, bowed her head, and stood up for the Empire with infinite faithfulness, was a lie.

“The only ones in the magic tower who know that I am Sarah Millen are the elders and a few magicians who follow them. Now that Your Majesty knows it, I can’t even call it a minority.”

“What would you do if I revealed your identity? There are so many things that Crombell can take away just by proclaiming that the noble of the Empire is a magician.”

“If that is the case, the news that the magician has left the Empire and is confined to the magic tower will be announced soon.”

“Are you really going to do this to me? Is this what Count Millen’s family meant!”

“This is the meaning of the Master of the tower.”

“Isn’t that what it means!”

At Sarah’s words, the Emperor bit his lip in anger. Then Ethan, who was watching the Emperor with a relaxed face, opened his mouth.

“Ambrosia is the only one in the Empire that knows that Countess Millen is a magician.”

“Duke Ambrosia!”

“Countess Millen is my son’s precious teacher and nanny. I want to protect that somehow, so I want Your Majesty’s help.”

It was a word that implicitly meant that he might leave the Empire if her identity was revealed. Ambrosia was nothing short of declaring that he would shut up to keep her. The Emperor, who couldn’t do anything without Ambrosia’s help, vented his anger.

“Will you be like this too!”

“Your Majesty is overly greedy, so it’s only natural for me to give you advice as a servant.”

Ethan approached the Emperor and handed him a piece of paper. It was a contract between the magic tower and the Imperial family. At the bottom of the blank was a seal indicating the magic tower.

“After you negotiate with the Master of the magic tower here, you can take what you need in the Empire, and if you have anything to give to the magic tower, you can give it. It’s a very simple deal.”

“Are you asking me to make a deal with the magic tower, Duke? The noble of the Empire is not doing his duty?”

Whether it was because he was old and unable to judge properly, or because the only child he loved was trapped in the Alton Estate, the Emperor was using force right now. Ethan sighed quietly, bowed down, and brought his lips to the Emperor’s ear. Then he said in a subdued voice.

“And as Countess Millen explained earlier, we can’t prove either that she’s a magician or that she’s the Master of the magic tower.”

At Ethan’s words, the Emperor glared at him with sullen eyes. Keep it a secret that Sarah Millan was a magician. In return, Sarah Millan helped the Emperor as a magician when he wanted to. That was their contract. It was for this reason that Sarah received the title of Little Countess of Millen. Because the Emperor was trying to somehow bind her to the duty of a noble. But Ethan pointed out a loophole in that condition.

“The work of Alton Estate is the realm of magicians. It’s not something a single noble, the Little Countess of Millen, can handle. You can’t drag her into something she can’t handle in private.”

“So now you’re going to see the First Prince die there, how dare you stand still and watch the lands of this Empire crumble?”

“In order not to let that happen, isn’t the Great Elder of the magic tower, who represented the tower, here?”

“It sounds like you’re going to take the price you’re going to get from the Empire with certainty at the magic tower.”

“As expected, you’re wise.”

The Emperor was able to grasp the meaning of what Ethan was trying to say. He was saying that he couldn’t expect Sarah Millen to have the same influence as the Master of the tower. He could also see that the reason she revealed her identity to the Emperor was just for the smooth negotiation, not that she would give him the power of the tower.

“……But you can count on Sarah Millen’s help, not the Master of the magic tower.”

“Count Millen’s family will always be loyal to the Imperial family.”

When the Emperor stepped back, Ethan stretched his back again with a satisfied look on his face, and Sarah put on the mask of the faithful servant.

“Today, at the request of Your Majesty, I secretly appeared in the audience to convey the will of the magic tower.”

“Tell me.”

“The magic tower determined that this incident had something to do with black magic.”

“Black magic? Didn’t it fall out of existence hundreds of years ago?”

The Emperor distorted his face. Black magic was a continental achievement. The records that the temple, the imperial army, and the kingdom army united to extract their roots had been vividly handed down to this day. But it was a bad sign that it was now resurfaced in the Crombell Empire.

“So we’re going to root out the remnants of black magic once again from the Alton Estate.”

“Does the Temple know?”

Ethan shook his head in response to the Emperor’s question.

“They don’t know yet. Ambrosia is thoroughly blocking the information going to the temple, but it will be only a matter of time before they find out.”

“It’s troublesome if the Temple finds out.”

“It would.”

Black magic would give the temple a good excuse to interfere in the internal affairs of the Empire. The temple, which was aiming for the Crombell Empire without a state religion, was to welcome it with open arms. The Emperor’s face, which recalled it, was very mercilessly distorted. Sarah looked at the figure and said in a very sorry voice.

“There is a circumstance where the black magician approached the First Prince, and the elders of the magic tower want to deal with him using the magic tower’s law if the First Prince cooperated with the black magician.”

“What do you mean, the magic tower’s law?”

“Those who use black magic need to have their mana link broken and discard it. This is the law of the magic tower, and most of them lose their lives in the process, but they are not involved in that.”

“So if the First Prince had used black magic now, would the tower take my son’s life?”

“Oh my, that’s what it sounds like.”

“Countess Millen!”

The Emperor’s anger, which was different from his previous anger, poured on Sarah. The killing intent of the Emperor, who had wielded absolute power all his life, weighed heavily on her whole body. Ethan narrowed his forehead and tried to block Sarah’s face in the frosty chill that pricked his skin. However, Sarah swung her hand wrapped around mana and lightly passed over the Emperor’s killing intent, smiling brightly.

“You dare to frame in front of me that the prince of the Empire used black magic? Are you sane?”

“Of course, I’m sane, Your Majesty.”

When Sarah answered casually, the Emperor grabbed the back of his neck.