Chapter 154
‘They seem to be slightly wary?’
Karin definitely knew the old man.
But it seemed like they weren’t on good terms.
“Why are you here, dressed like that?”
Karin subtly moved in front of me, as if to protect me.
She seemed a bit nervous too.
Who on earth was this old man?
“It really is Karin. Judging by your appearance, have you recovered your mana?”
“……Yes.”
At those words, the old man’s eyes widened, and he crawled closer.
Suddenly, Karin used some kind of magic to cast a mana field.
Thud!
The old man crashed into the mana field and fell backward.
“Ouch!”
Seeing her use such high-level magic without chanting made me a little envious.
I have a tremendous amount of mana, but I can’t use such precise magic.
If I were to use it, I’d probably create a clunky barrier this big.
“I didn’t give you permission to approach.”
“As you can see, I’ve lost my mana too.”
The old man knelt on the spot and pleaded earnestly.
“Please, have pity on me.”
“…… ……”
“I’m just a powerless old man now, so let’s talk.”
“I’ll listen to what it’s about, but I won’t allow you to approach the Princess.”
“Alright.”
After that incident in the Bladock Dukedom, the people around me tended to be a bit overprotective.
As a natural attention-seeker, I didn’t dislike it that much, so I was enjoying it just a little.
“Your Highness, may I speak with him for a moment?”
“Who is he?”
“He is…… Nelton.”
“Nelton?”
I’ve heard that name so many times.
Soon, one person came to mind.
It was a name that was hard to match with the old man.
“Huh? Nelton?”
Could it be, that Nelton?
“Sir Nelton, the First Creation Mage of the Mirotel Magic Federation?”
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Nelton was a great mage.
He possessed exceptional talent and skill, but he was also overshadowed by Beksa, who was an overwhelming genius.
After Beksa’s retirement, he served as the First Creation Mage, leading the Mirotel Magic Federation.
Nelton cautiously began to share detailed stories about the current Mirotel Magic Federation.
It was quite a shocking story for Karin.
‘All the Creation Mages are under Wilhelm’s control?’
He said he didn’t know how this happened or why everyone had become Wilhelm’s subordinates or were being controlled by him.
“What’s certain is that the entire Mirotel Magic Federation has fallen to Wilhelm. I should have noticed it sooner, but by the time I realized it, it was too late.”
“…… ……”
“The Magic Federation is definitely heading down the wrong path.”
“…… ……”
“Magic that controls people? This is practically black magic.”
Magic respects a person’s free will.
Depriving someone of their free will and manipulating them as one pleases is not magic.
It was black magic, something that mages should be wary of and avoid.
“I realized it late and tried to deal with it, but it was no use. As you can see, this is what happened. I barely managed to escape and ended up like this.”
“…… ……”
“What can I do now that I’ve lost my magic, which I’ve spent my entire life mastering?”
He knelt before Karin again.
“Wouldn’t you tell me how to restore my mana circuits? If you tell me, I’ll actively help the Bilotian Imperial Family.”
“It’s difficult for me to do it alone. I need to discuss it with Sir Viaton.”
Soon, Viaton arrived after receiving the message.
As always, Viaton answered with a warm smile.
“Your Highness, His Majesty the Emperor is looking for you. It seems he wants to have dinner with you.”
He naturally brought Isabel back to the Imperial Palace.
As Karin and Isabel moved away, Viaton became a different person.
“You managed to escape here with a body that has no mana circuits.”
Viaton created a mana ring and wrapped it around Nelton’s body.
It tightly bound Nelton like a rope.
Viaton’s eyes narrowed.
Then he grabbed Nelton by the collar and pulled him closer.
“There were guys who smelled like Wilhelm.”
I can sense it after experiencing it multiple times.
There’s a unique smell of Wilhelm hidden within the mana.
“I don’t know what’s hidden within the Princess that makes you guys so obsessed with her.”
“Wh, what are you talking about, Viaton?”
Viaton grinned.
“The Creation Mages, they missed you, who lost all your magic? And you just happened to appear in this place that Princess Isabel frequently visits? In such a pitiful and miserable state? This is all too coincidental.”
“Viaton! I’ve lost my magic, which was everything to me! What are you talking about!”
“I lost everything too.”
That memory at Glass Lake.
It was a terrible experience that he never wanted to go through again.
“And I got it back.”
A dagger was now in Viaton’s hand.
“I won’t lose it again.”
Viaton stood up and approached Nelton.
He had eyes that he had never shown Isabel before.
“You know, I find the schemes that try to exploit the Princess’s kind heart the most disgusting.”
“Via, Viaton!”
“Do whatever you can, as much as you can.”
Viaton had no intention of losing everything he had barely managed to regain.
Chief Aide Viaton was a man who adhered to common sense and procedure.
But to protect Isabel, he could willingly become cruel.
“I’ll protect her no matter what.”
That night, the moon seen outside the window was particularly red.
The moon seen through the windowpane looked as if it had been soaked in red paint.
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“Good night.”
Yuri tucked me into bed.
And even though midnight had passed, my eyes were wide open.
‘It’s so different from the novel.’
I didn’t hear exactly what happened.
I only heard from Sir Viaton that Nelton was also being controlled by Wilhelm.
He said that practically all the Creation Mages of the Magic Federation were Wilhelm’s subordinates.
‘This didn’t happen in the novel.’
Originally, the final villains, Karin and the male lead Arun, were the most threatening figures.
Karin became completely on my side, and Arun became an apprentice knight in the Black Whale Unit.
Instead, a new villain named Wilhelm appeared.
‘Let’s not focus too much on individuals.’
Individuals change.
Even I, the terminally ill villainess of
Yuri, Teyselon, Sermon, Kamanzo, Narmore, they are all living different lives.
‘If I look at it from a broader perspective…… ……’
From a macroscopic point of view, the beginning of the novel is that ‘some force overthrows the Bilotian Imperial Family.’
‘Since Karin and Arun have changed…… ……it makes sense if you think that a villain who replaces them has appeared.’
They even persistently tracked Wilhelm on an imperial level.
Dad, who lost Sir Lancer, is grinding his teeth at Wilhelm.
The fact that they haven’t been able to catch him for such a long time means that Wilhelm’s power is stronger than we thought.
Wilhelm wasn’t this strong in the novel.
‘To think he grew bit by bit and took over the entire Magic Federation.’
There was one thing I was curious about.
Why has he been targeting me from our first meeting until now?
I couldn’t understand why he wanted me so much.
“The important thing is.”
I sat up straight.
“That I need the power to protect myself.”
Yes, in the end, I needed that power.
The next day, I summoned Sir Viaton, Sir Karin, and Sir Teyselon.
Sir Teyselon was uncooperative as always.
“Ah, I don’t like being with humans. What’s going on?”
He only acts uncooperative, but he actually does everything I ask.
So these days, I don’t bother responding to him one by one.
“I need the power to protect myself.”
Something like the mana barrier that Sir Karin cast yesterday.
I thought that if I learned that properly, I could protect myself.
“There’s a very terrifying enemy named Wilhelm. We don’t know when, where, or how danger will approach. Of course, there are many people around me who cherish me, and they will help me.”
I have no doubt about that.
If I’m in danger, there are a lot of people who will help me.
“But I need to be able to buy at least some time. Until my teachers come to rescue me. I need to be able to hold on at least. So it would be great if you could teach me. Magic that allows me to protect myself.”
The three of them were silent for a moment.
The first to speak was Sir Viaton.
“I only thought about needing to protect Your Highness, I didn’t think about it that way.”
“I’m not just a child anymore.”
I could see my reflection in the mirror over there.
I was no longer a child.
I had to be able to handle my own share of things.
When I said that I was no longer a child, the expressions of the three of them seemed to darken for a moment, but that must have been my imagination, right?
Soon, Karin spoke.
“There might be a method that’s perfect for Your Highness.”
Karin said that she was continuing to research and study the magic of the Archmage Beksa with Sir Viaton.
It seemed like they had found something that was just right for me.
“Sir Beksa called that power Dimensional Displacement Barrier.”
“……The name is quite intense?”
Listening to the explanation, it was indeed intense.
It was a magic that protected oneself by temporarily displacing this space itself, including me, to another dimension.
Since the dimension itself changes, it was an ultimate magic where no physical attacks or magic could reach the body.
I let out a gasp of admiration.
“Wow.”
The name sounded a bit chuunibyou-ish, but it deserved such a name.
“However, there’s a condition.”
“What’s the condition?”
Karin hesitated for a long time.
Sir Viaton’s expression also darkened considerably.
“What is it? Why are you all making that face?”