The Red Witch - Chapter 68

TN: "Rayne" -> "Laine"

But Kiara’s discomfort didn’t stop him. Laine launched into his rebuttal without pause.

“In the Empire, mages are practically glorified technicians now! They don’t dream of new spells — they just recycle old magic, using it without even understanding how it works! Take this, for example! This!”

At last, Laine’s voice, which had been steadily rising, reached a crescendo as he pointed somewhere across the room. One corner of the library, lined wall to wall with bookshelves, held a heavy-looking desk. Made of ebony wood and inlaid with gold, the desk seemed far too luxurious for the chaotic stack of books that smothered its surface. The sight drew Kiara’s gaze at once.

“Those books over there… haven’t been re-shelved, I see.”

“That’s the reading desk I mentioned earlier. The one enchanted for magical consultation. Ah, but that’s not the important part… Look over there! Do you see it, all stuffed in?”

His voice, which had briefly dipped, climbed back up with renewed enthusiasm. Kiara followed his gaze and spotted a cylindrical container that was far too large to be a normal pencil holder jutting out from the clutter.

And it was filled with…

“…Tubes?”

She furrowed her brow, squinting at the object in disbelief. The holder was made of the same elegant wood as the desk, even trimmed with gold filigree. One might have expected to see fine quill pens or expensive glass nibs arranged within. But instead, it was filled with nothing more than plain tubes.

Just as Kiara felt a laugh of disbelief beginning to bubble up, Laine cut in again.

“Exactly! You see it too, don’t you? Tubes! Just… tubes! I’ve been looking at them for years, and that’s all they are — just tubes!”

As if her vague agreement confirmed some long-sought truth, Laine looked positively delighted. With a dramatic swirl of his robes, he dashed over to the desk, pulled one tube free, and hurried back to Kiara’s side like an excited schoolboy.

“But here’s the thing — it may look like an ordinary tube, but I tell you, there’s something strange about it. Look! Just look at this…”

Laine thrust the tube toward Kiara’s face with the gleeful urgency of a child showing off a shiny rock. His eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Unfortunately, so did the enormous sleeve of his robe, which flopped directly into her line of sight. Kiara flinched, blinking rapidly.

“…W-What is this? Just a tube — wait, no, maybe not?”

Composing herself, she cautiously accepted the object from Laine’s hand and began to examine it, fingertips brushing its surface as though it might crumble under pressure.

It wasn’t straw or dried reed, as she’d first assumed. Rather, it was stiff paper, treated with some kind of oil or possibly wax, meant to keep moisture from seeping in. It was surprisingly refined for what looked so mundane.

And there, etched along its side, was a faint ripple of creases — not centered, but skewed slightly to one edge.

She stared at it in silence for a moment, pensive.

“This is…”

Kiara gently pinched the body of the tube, right where the crease was, and began to bend it.

Laine, still watching from beside her, let out a dramatic shriek.

“UWAAAAHH!!”

“KYAA!”

Startled by his outburst, Kiara yelped in turn and flung the tube from her hands. Without thinking, she dove behind Raelin and clung to the woman’s arm like a startled cat diving behind a curtain.

Laine, entirely unbothered by her reaction or perhaps oblivious to it, scrambled forward and snatched the discarded tube off the floor. He started rattling off explanations at full speed. If he noticed Kiara’s pale face or wide eyes, he gave no indication.

“Of course! I knew it — you really are a witch! These folds, I’ve been wondering what they were for ever since I was a child!”

“…Huh?”

Kiara looked baffled.

It was strange enough that someone would carry a lifelong curiosity over something as simple as a tube, but the fact that he had been frequenting the royal archives since childhood was even more unexpected.

He must really be a close relative of King Blaine.

Only now seeming to calm down, Laine widened his dark red eyes and gave Kiara a playful smile.

“But, Witch…”

His eyes were now shining with the brightest green yet, so vividly green like holly leaves, that Kiara couldn’t help but stare at them in admiration. Only after a moment did she realize he had addressed her.

“…Yes?”

“These tubes — do you happen to know what it’s used for?”

Laine, who had been flapping his robe sleeves with excitement, now asked the question quietly, looking almost embarrassed.

Blushing all the way to the tips of his ears, he seemed genuinely shy. Kiara stared at him in mild confusion, then suddenly turned to Raelin as if something had just occurred to her.

“Madam Raelin, where’s that basket from earlier?”

“Oh! Right. Why, Kiara, are you hungry? Oh my, I totally forgot. It’s about time, isn’t it? You didn’t even get to eat properly earlier. Here it is, here!”

Raelin, who had been watching the two absentmindedly from the side, suddenly sprang into action with a fuss, hurrying over to the basket she had set down a few steps behind them.

But Kiara, for her part, only took out a small bottle from the basket.

“Oh dear. You’re only going to have an apple cider? There’s some cheese and brioche too. You should have at least a little…”

“No, I’m fine. Just a second… Why is this thing so…”

Shaking her head, Kiara began struggling to pull out the wooden stopper tightly wedged into the rough ceramic bottle.

Watching with an expression full of curiosity, Laine couldn’t stand it anymore and gently took the bottle from her hands. He popped the stopper off and handed it back to her.

“Here you are, Witch.”

“Ah! Thank you, Laine.”

Kiara’s red eyes curved into soft crescents as she smiled receiving the bottle. Laine, already flushed with pink, felt his ears burn even more for some reason and quickly covered his face with both hands.

The wide sleeve of his robe fluttered once again, brushing against her face.

“Honestly… Look at this.”

Kiara frowned briefly, but soon broke into a bright smile as she held up the bottle for Laine to see.

She stuck the tube into the bottle, its end poking slightly out through the mouth.

“You… put in a tube? Why…?”

“This, this like this…”

Still not quite understanding, Laine looked frustrated as Kiara took the tube’s end poking out from the bottle’s mouth and put it to her lips. Even in that moment, Laine’s puzzled expression suddenly brightened.

“Ah! So it’s for drinking beverages!”