“Hey, you. Go and tell my mother that I wish to see her.”
“Yes? Ah, yes. Understood. I’ll go immediately.”
Right after giving the order, Kaien felt dizzy and leaned back in his chair, letting out a long sigh.
“How long have I been sitting in this chair?”
The servant in charge of the clock answered quickly.
“Almost two hours, Your Highness.”
“Two hours…”
Just sitting for two hours and yet feeling this exhausted. Anyone who didn’t know the situation would probably ask if it were really true. And anyone who did know the First Prince’s situation would probably ask the same thing, but with the opposite meaning.
‘Definitely getting better.’
Bishop Nicol had said it would take at least three years for his body to fully recover.
Three years. To regain what he had lost in that time, he would need to dismantle everything Lionel had carefully built while he was bedridden.
It wasn’t particularly difficult. Climbing from low to high takes time, but falling from high to low happens in an instant.
“Send someone to the central temple. Tell them to double the donations so that Bishop Nicol can focus solely on my treatment.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“And of course… make sure this is kept secret as well.”
Until his body was fully healed, the fact of his treatment had to remain secret.
He knew its importance better than anyone, but Kaien wanted to tell just one person.
‘I didn’t expect that spoiled girl to get attached to her political fiancé.’
Since they hadn’t known each other long, she probably hadn’t given her heart to Lionel himself. She likely wanted to get along with someone she would consider family. If her fiancé changed, she would quickly grow fond of the new one.
“Ka-”
Why did imagining her calling his name make him feel so happy?
Without knowing why, Kaien smirked, thinking stern thoughts.
“Uh-hmm! Hmm-hmm, uh-hmm!”
Ah, the world is so beautiful!
“Yuni, it’s a bit dark in here. Could you turn on the light?”
“Huh? It’s already bright—”
“Oops! No need to ask you, Yuni!”
I looked at the candle in the center of the table and flicked my fingers lightly.
-Click!
At the same time, the candle lit.
Watching the flickering candle, I spread my thumb and forefinger and moved them like shooting a gun—bang! A gust of wind came from somewhere and blew out the candle.
It felt as if magic had occurred—actually, magic had occurred—and I burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! I can use magic too! I’m a magician!”
“Miss, you haven’t fully recovered your magical vessel yet. Didn’t you say if you used all your magic now, you’d have to refill it?”
“That’s true.”
“But…”
Yunis squinted at the candle that kept lighting and going out on the table.
“Are you sure it’s okay to waste your magic like that?”
“It’s going to leak anyway. Might as well use it freely.”
Besides, lighting and extinguishing a candle is low-level magic, so the mana consumption is small…
“Huh? Can’t do it now? Did I already use it all?”
“You’ve been playing with the candles for a while. Plus, you watered the plant, lifted books from far away—you’ve used way too much magic on unnecessary things.”
“No, I was happy. It wasn’t useless at all.”
Still, even though I only used low-level magic, seeing that I already ran out of mana, maybe I did waste it.
The mana that had entered my body was barely even a fraction of the total capacity of my original magical vessel.
‘…Even so, I don’t really know the full capacity of my vessel since I have no childhood memories.’
I just assume what my master said was true.
“Honestly, if we only look at vessel size, yours was bigger than mine.”
“Gah! R-Really?”
Too bad. Too bad.
If I hadn’t lost my magical vessel, I would have become a great mage who made history.
“Anyway, perfect timing. Later, I’ll take the bride lesson, meet Rio, and recharge my mana.”
“But Miss, is it really the Second Prince who is the source of your magic?”
“Yes. It has to be. There’s no other candidate.”
Yunis tilted her head at my answer.
“I heard the chance of having the same magical trait is very low… That’s quite a coincidence.”
“Coincidence? No, this is fate.”
According to Yunis, the chance of matching magical traits is at most 2–3 percent.
And yet, my future husband—the one with a huge amount of mana—shares my trait!
‘Future obsessive male lead? Will he kidnap and imprison me?’
Haha, let him try! If I get the chance, I want to kidnap and imprison him so I can recharge my mana anytime!
“Anyway, let’s go to the palace quickly! My mana… no, I want to meet my fiancé quickly!”
“Please watch your words in front of the Second Prince…”
Excited to see my handsome fiancé, I rushed to the palace for the bride lesson and headed toward the Second Prince’s palace.
“Excuse me? The Second Prince isn’t in the palace right now?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
I looked down at the flustered chief steward and held out my hand to Yunis.
Like clockwork, she immediately understood and handed me Lionel’s schedule.
“According to this, shouldn’t the Second Prince be at work now?”
“Haven’t you heard? After the young duchess fainted during her visit, His Majesty the Emperor issued a confinement order to the Second Prince.”
“I know he’s under confinement. Then shouldn’t he be here all the more?”
The steward bowed apologetically.
“I’m sorry. I cannot tell you.”
“Why not?”
“As a mere servant, how could I reveal the whereabouts of such a noble person?”
‘Huh? Why are they being cautious with me?’
Something felt off.
I stared sharply at them and looked around.
Some servants, as if afraid to meet my gaze, hurriedly lowered their heads or stepped back quietly.
At that moment, I realized:
‘These people are conspiring not to tell me Lionel’s location.’
Why? Whose orders are they following? Could it be Lionel himself?
‘Did he run away because I treated him like a mana charger?’
Was his supposed willingness to cooperate a trap to make me let my guard down?
While I was thinking this, someone far away waved at me.
“Don’t worry. From now on, I’ll be your eyes and ears, Miss!”
It was the red-haired maid who had said that to me before.
‘Oh?’
Judging by how she glanced around and gestured to me, she was taking an independent path, separate from the colluding servants.
Feeling relieved, I was about to head over but made sure to dismiss the other servants so the maid wouldn’t be in trouble.
“Alright. If he’s not here, there’s nothing we can do. But I want to see the garden. You promised to show me the flowers before, but I fainted and couldn’t see them.”
“Ah, yes. Then I will guide you…”
“No! I want this maid. I don’t want the Second Prince to know I was alone with a male servant, even if he is just a servant.”
The steward and other servants exchanged peculiar glances.
‘More weird rumors will spread.’
I gestured to the red-haired maid who quietly projected her presence, and she ran over.
“Did you call, young duchess?”
“Please guide me in the garden. Last time, the Second Prince planted flowers to show me.”
“Yes! I’ll guide you!”
I headed to the garden with only the red-haired maid and Yunis.
The garden, full of colorful flowers, was beautiful enough to admire everywhere, but now wasn’t the time to leisurely enjoy flowers.
Once we reached a quiet spot, I asked the red-haired maid:
“What’s your name?”
“Fiona Carbin! I’m the second daughter of the Carbin family!”
Though wearing a palace maid uniform, Fiona held her skirt with both hands, kneeled to greet me, and I kneeled back.
“I’m Cecilia Loheim, youngest daughter of the Loheim family. This is Yunis.”
“Nice to meet you, Miss Fiona. I am Miss Cecilia’s attendant and maid.”
Good. Introductions done, now to the main point!
“The Second Prince really isn’t here? Was he… confined or anything?”
“Oh, absolutely not. The Second Prince went to the central temple early this morning.”
…Went to the central temple?
‘Ah, PTSD!’
Being confined would have been better.
The central temple is where Lionel turns dark… and he went there