Chapter 132
“If it weren’t for Lina, I would never have met you.”
“I know.”
“Sigh… So should I show proper respect to the Marquis who has thrown off his mask while still being Tower Master?”
“…That’s creepy, so let’s not.”
Blake frowned as he refused.
At this point, showing formalities would only be awkward.
It was true that he was a Duke and Ante was a Marquis, but it was better to remain as Magic Tower Master and collaborator.
“Gladly then.”
Ante smiled as if he had anticipated Blake’s reaction and returned to his comfortable demeanor.
“If you were going to be exposed like this, why did you hide it so desperately?”
When Angelina spoke with a slightly angry voice, the smile on Ante’s face weakened.
“Lina, don’t you remember yet?”
“What else is there?”
“If you remembered everything… you would recognize this place.”
At his words, Angelina scanned her surroundings.
The ruined temple and the damaged, abandoned flower garden. She was supposed to recognize this?
“Come to think of it, why is there a temple here…?”
It wasn’t in the memories, was it…?
At her small murmur, Ante stroked Angelina’s head. He couldn’t erase his pained smile.
“See? If you recognized this place, you wouldn’t look at me like that.”
“What does that mean?”
Ante didn’t answer. He just smiled.
“Brother, can’t you tell me now?”
“…I can’t.”
He whispered, trying hard not to let his voice tremble.
“I know I should tell you… but I can’t. The moment I speak, I will lose you.”
Angelina felt like she would go crazy with frustration, not understanding what he meant. What could be such a great secret that he hesitated like this?
“Haah…”
Angelina couldn’t push her brother further when he showed such vulnerability.
It had been difficult enough crossing this fog barrier; if she pressed further, her own heart might crumble as well.
“…Alright, everyone has at least one secret they want to keep.”
In the end, she took a step back.
Backing down wasn’t just because she felt sorry for him. It was also because Angelina couldn’t be confident in front of Blake.
Being in a similar position herself, who was she to criticize?
“Then, His Highness the Crown Prince…”
Just as Angelina began to speak, something buzzed inside Ante’s clothes. It was the pendant bead of his necklace.
“The Saint candidate is looking for me.”
It was a communication device.
“Catherine?”
“She wouldn’t call unless it was something important.”
“Let’s go. The Magic Tower isn’t far from here.”
“All of us?”
“Yes. Since we’ve learned all the truth by glimpsing the memories of the lingering thoughts, we’ll have to completely rework our plans anyway.”
“That’s right.”
As Angelina stood up speaking, Ante and Blake followed suit.
“Then we’ll move right away.”
A large magic circle of Ante’s appeared beneath the three people’s feet, and Pudding, noticing the situation, quickly reduced his size and jumped into Angelina’s arms.
As Angelina hugged Pudding tightly, the light of the magic circle engulfed them.
The three people attracted attention as they arrived at the Magic Tower. Ante wasn’t even wearing his mask.
The Magic Tower’s mages all knew Ante’s identity, so they weren’t particularly surprised.
However, they seemed hesitant because Angelina and Blake were beside him.
They passed them by and headed straight to the top floor.
The top floor of the Magic Tower, which could twist space and create anything.
Usually, it would create a room befitting the Magic Tower Master that visitors imagined, but…
Now, perhaps because the four people’s evaluations of the Tower Master were mixed, it took the form of an ordinary office.
“Tower Master! Why are you so late? Right now there’s something important… Huh?”
Catherine, who had been rushing toward him, stopped abruptly.
“Huh? Why are Miss Angelina and the Duke… No, more importantly…”
Catherine glanced at Ante.
She had known about Ante’s identity for quite some time.
It was something she naturally came to know while performing missions together.
Catherine had personally proven why Ante tried not to spend time with people.
However, from her perspective, Angelina wouldn’t know his identity, so she froze, not knowing how to react.
“Why are you so surprised? They both know.”
“Really…?”
When Ante spoke indifferently, she looked at Angelina and Blake.
Only after seeing them nod did she relax.
Then she ran quickly toward the two.
“I missed you!”
She spread her arms and hugged Angelina tightly.
“Ah… Yes, me too.”
Angelina, who had thought Catherine would run to Blake, awkwardly patted her back with a bewildered expression.
“Kyak-!”
But she had to separate quickly because of Pudding’s protest.
“It’s good that both of you came as well. I just recalled something incredible.”
“Could it be that you also saw the memories of the past Saint?”
When Angelina asked in surprise, Catherine’s eyes grew round.
“Memories of the past Saint? Is there such a thing? No, did you see that?”
“Ah… That’s not what you were talking about?”
“Did you see it while awakening as a Saint? Was there anything helpful?”
So Catherine also knew that Angelina could use the Sun’s power.
It wasn’t that surprising that she knew, given that Ante knew.
“That’s not it…”
As Angelina was contemplating where to begin her explanation, Ante interrupted.
“That’s not what’s important right now. Why did you call?”
“Ah! It was the witch!”
At his prompt, Catherine clapped her hands as if she had almost forgotten and spoke.
Her voice was excited.
“The witch?”
“The reason why the Order is trying to create a fake Saint. They didn’t need a Saint. They literally needed a ‘fake’ that they could present to the public.”
“Explain more.”
“I had completely forgotten. I once told the Tower Master that after the First Flower died in the temple, the High Priest seemed a bit strange.”
Ante nodded, and she continued.
“After that child disappeared, they eliminated all related individuals one by one. I was too young to understand then, but now I can see it. And lastly, I think they tried to get rid of me too. Because I was the closest friend of the First Flower.”
Angelina’s brow furrowed.
Even though her uncle had ‘sold’ the child to the temple, she had wondered why the abandonment of a Marquis family’s child in the Dark Forest hadn’t spread within the Order; now she understood there was such a background.
“But at that time, the High Priest seemed to see a small potential in me. So out of regret, he didn’t kill me. But the problem was that I had heard all the conversations they had among themselves.”
“What you forgot was that conversation?”
“Yes, I think the High Priest manipulated my memories instead of killing me then. Strangely, just now, it was unlocked and all the memories came back.”
The three people except Catherine exchanged glances.
It seemed to be the same principle by which they had regained their memories.
“What they were trying to create was a witch.”
“I don’t understand, why a witch?”
When Angelina asked, Catherine pressed her temples firmly, took a deep breath, and continued.
“This is just a rumor, but there was an attempt to create a Saint decades ago. But 20 years ago, when they thought they had succeeded, the Order faced a disaster.”
“Disaster?”
At Angelina’s question, Ante’s expression hardened.
“I don’t know exactly. It’s just a rumor. They say everyone involved died or something… But, well, considering they killed everyone after the First Flower incident, it’s not surprising.”
“That’s true.”
Ante exhaled the breath he had momentarily held as the conversation passed without significance.
It was a subtle reaction that others wouldn’t notice.
“So the Order changed direction. They decided to create a witch and ‘eliminate’ it to restore the Order’s lost prestige.”
“So the fake Saint project was actually a project to create a witch they could eliminate.”
“Yes. That’s probably why the Order could move so quickly and forcefully when I started to be active in the capital.”
“Because that was their intention from the beginning.”
“Right.”
“Sigh… A witch…”
“But what I don’t quite understand is… why the Empress is helping the High Priest.”
“The Empress?”
Angelina was somewhat surprised that Catherine also knew about the Empress’s involvement.
But remembering that Ante was always by her side, she thought it made sense.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.