Page 246

Under the morning sun.

Isabel and I sat side by side on the castle wall.

She leaned her head against me, her expression noticeably more at ease.

She kept stealing glances at my lips, unable to fully hide her desire.

Don’t do that.

I really don’t know how to react anymore.

Even now, the sensation of Isabel’s lips against mine lingered vividly in my mind.

Love—I've come to realize just how dangerous it really is.

“You know,”

Isabel murmured, still leaning against me as she looked up gently.

“Do you love me?”

I didn’t expect her to throw the question so directly.

Her sudden question left me speechless.

The countless things that had happened between us flashed through my mind, and I felt dizzy.

Only now do I realize how indifferent and careless I had been.

And despite the fact that my love had faded at one point, I still cherished her deeply.

I needed to answer.

But how do I even begin to explain all of this?

My lips kept twitching open and shut.

My eyelids felt so hot I wanted to just squeeze my eyes shut.

Isabel’s eyes slowly widened as she looked at me.

“Hm~.”

She let out a satisfied hum.

“It’s my first time seeing you look so flustered.”

I still hadn’t said a word.

What on earth had she figured out?

I wasn’t sure, but I was definitely blushing hard.

“And I know now just how much you’ve always cherished me.”

She hugged my arm with delight, rubbing her head affectionately against it.

“You’re totally head over heels for me, aren’t you?”

She grinned with a seductive smile.

“But you’re too scared to actually say it out loud, huh?”

She was spot-on.

Only now do I realize how brave those girls were who confessed to me in the past.

Having just regained this feeling of love, I was in complete turmoil.

There were people I’d always held dear—differently from others.

Now, those feelings were tangled up with love, making a mess of my mind.

I needed time to sort it out carefully.

But Isabel didn’t give me that space—she kept barging into my heart.

“Of course a newly regained emotion isn’t going to sort itself out easily. I get that you’re confused. Not that I’m trying to pressure you.”

Still holding me close, Isabel gave me a bashful smile.

“Because I know better than anyone how much I mean to you.”

I was relieved she understood that much.

“And your love isn’t complete yet, is it?”

“...Yeah. Just like the other emotions.”

Anger and sorrow—still incomplete.

Love, too, wasn’t whole.

Emotions are intricate and delicate machines.

Right now, I was just at the ignition point.

The flames hadn’t fully caught yet.

‘And yet, even at this stage...’

Honestly, I was afraid of what would happen once the emotion fully bloomed.

Isabel seemed to understand that too—she looked at me with subtle concern.

“What if you end up crying your eyes out, saying you can’t live without me?”

“Where’s that overconfidence coming from?”

“From your eyes.”

Cheers.

Even when I try to distract myself, it doesn’t work.

Just like she said—my emotions were in overdrive.

“I’m happy, but I’m worried too.”

“Isabel, I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

As I spoke with firm resolve, Isabel glanced at me.

“That’s not exactly what I meant.”

Then, slightly blushing, she looked away shyly.

“And besides, it might not be something that hurts…”

The nape of her neck, the curve below...

I had to slap myself.

Isabel looked at me, shocked.

“W-What are you doing?!”

“Sorry. That was the only way.”

I just hope this steel body can influence my mind too.

One thing’s certain.

My libido is now on the level of a teenage boy hitting puberty.

Having just awakened to both love and desire.

At that age, a boy is no different from a beast.

The mere sensation of Isabel’s soft hands cupping my cheek was enough to stir something in me.

She sighed as she looked at me and said,

“Well, the part I’m worried about is something else.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s say I understand and accept all of this, because I’m generous.”

Isabel generous?

Yeah, she does have a big heart.

That probably counts as generosity.

“But do you think the others will stay calm?”

She had a particularly concerned look—as if she was worried about one person specifically.

And I knew exactly who she meant.

Sharin Sazaris.

The bulldozer who had charged at me even when I felt no love, saying she wanted a child.

Now that I’ve regained both love and desire… would she really leave me alone?

“Be honest—if Rin tries to seduce you, could you resist?”

Isabel leaned against my chest as she asked.

The feel of her soft chest against me sent my nerves into overdrive.

“…You’re not even listening anymore, are you?”

“What did you say just now?”

She looked up at me quietly.

“I was joking. I heard you.”

She stared at me with suspicion, but I was trying to control myself in my own way.

Even if my libido was that of a teenager, my mind was that of a grown man.

I can control it.

Wait.

Why do I need to control it?

If we all like each other, what’s the problem?

…And I had to slap myself again.

By now, Isabel’s reaction was familiar.

“…Isabel, I’m sorry. Can you give me a little more time to answer?”

Not now.

Right now, I’m just being consumed by lust.

I didn’t want to tarnish the feelings of the girls who confessed to me by recklessly giving in to desire.

The fact that my heart pounded again just thinking of "tarnishing" it meant it was even more reason not to.

I was fine with being scolded.

I really just needed a little more time to control myself.

Maybe because of that desperate will, Isabel didn’t say much.

“Alright. Honestly, I feel like I already know how you feel. More importantly—”

Isabel looked at me meaningfully.

“You’re greedier than I thought.”

“Me?”

Honestly, I always thought of myself as someone without much desire—for abstinence or material things.

“Yeah. I only realized it today. Thanks to that, I think we also need time to think things through.”

With a slightly complicated expression, Isabel looked toward Zerion Academy.

I still didn’t quite understand what exactly she needed to sort out.

But seeing her helped calm my heart.

And that finally brought to mind something I needed to tell her.

“Isabel, there’s something I haven’t told you about this whole situation.”

She turned to look at me.

“The Zerion Academy terror attack.”

I spoke with a cautious expression.

“Lucas was involved.”

Her eyes widened in sync with mine.

* * *

After telling Isabel everything,

She closed her eyes and bit her lip tightly.

Her best friend, who was more righteous than anyone, had become a puppet.

Isabel felt an unbearable rage.

That’s why we immediately set out to find someone.

The person we were going to see was Arcadium—the Royal Court Archmage.

Before that, we stopped by to meet Professor Vega.

We had heard from Xenia that she was the one who personally detained Arcadium.

“Hannon, how are you holding up?”

“I’m fine.”

When I replied to Professor Vega’s question, she let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry. I heard you protected the academy while I was away.”

I never expected an apology.

I gave her a slight grin in response.

“It was only natural as your former assistant.”

“All that time as my assistant just made your mouth sharper.”

“The world rewards a sharp tongue—it gets you halfway there.”

“You were always one to swing fists first. Never expected you to be so talkative.”

She knew me too well.

“Come on.”

Professor Vega led the way without delay.

Isabel walked beside me with a hardened face.

With Lucas, who had already died, being used as a tool by the enemy—

Her anger was completely justified.

The place Professor Vega brought us to was the School of Magic building.

The building had facilities for detaining mages in case of an incident.

That’s where Arcadium was held.

“Baeel, my husbaaaand!”

Upon entering the School of Magic, we saw Sharin, Xenia, and even Nikita.

All three were connected to dragon magic.

Considering Arcadium was a user of ancient dragon magic, it made sense they were stationed here.

“Looks like the talk went well.”

Nikita, in the form of Sekita, commented casually.

She must’ve noticed that things ended peacefully between Isabel and me.

Leaving the rest of the conversation for later, Professor Vega opened the cell door.

We descended a set of stairs, and soon a guard appeared.

After a short exchange, Professor Vega stood firmly before a cell.

Inside—

Arcadium was bound, his arms and legs restrained to suppress his mana.

His hair drooped lifelessly, and his face had gone pale in a short time.

It was as if the life had been completely drained from his body.

He no longer looked like someone who had once held the grand title of Royal Archmage.

There was a lot to ask him.

“Arcadium.”

So the moment I called his name—

“Gah—! Hiiik!”

Arcadium, who had been dazed, suddenly jolted to awareness and fell to the floor.

He had a seizure-like reaction, pressing himself against the wall, trying desperately to escape.

His eyes were filled with sheer terror as he looked at me.

I understood exactly where that fear came from.

Arcadium had almost been devoured by me.

The image of me burned into his memory back then must’ve been nothing short of a predator.

It’s only natural for prey to flee from a predator.

“What are you so afraid of?”

Isabel grit her teeth and spoke.

“You used Lucas without permission, and now that child’s death is being exploited and desecrated!”

She slammed her hand against the cell bars.

Her trembling body radiated intense fury.

“Bel…”

Sharin bit her lip, watching the scene unfold.

She too had a long-standing friendship with Lucas.

Maybe not as close as Isabel, but Lucas had been a good friend to her too.

His death didn’t deserve to be mocked like this.

I knew their anger all too well.

As Isabel collapsed in fury, I held her gently and turned to Nikita.

“Sekita.”

Among us, the most efficient one for extracting information was Nikita.

She had been watching events unfold closely beside the Crown Prince.

And she was still in contact with Nia.

She’d know exactly what information we needed.

“Take care of Isabel first.”

I offered a silent thanks to Nikita.

As she took Isabel outside, I looked up with a troubled expression.

That day, should I have given up on Arcadium and focused on capturing Lucas?

It was too late to regret the past.

There were too many urgent matters at hand.