Chapter 25
* * *
Rosian had come to the Magic Tower to check on Mikael’s wellbeing while delivering a letter to the Tower Lord per his mother’s request.
Thus, Rosian sought out Diamid in the late afternoon.
From within his robes, Rosian produced an item Princess Elia had instructed him to deliver.
“A letter from my mother.”
Diamid indifferently accepted Rosian’s letter.
Its contents were essentially as follows:
[Two guardians’ approval is required for Mikael’s inheritance…]
Without a word, Diamid immediately signed the letter.
To him, blood ties were meaningless restraints.
Hence, he ordinarily paid no heed to such human customs, but Mikael was an exception.
Mikael was an invaluable talent the Magic Tower needed.
Rosian stared intently at Diamid.
While properly caring for his prodigiously skilled nephew, he seemed to neglect his own daughter Jaina.
“…”
To Rosian, who had lived as the son of the heroic Princess Elia, this was utterly incomprehensible.
‘His capable nephew is a valued asset, but his young, untalented daughter is disposable, dead or alive?’
“You have an excellent daughter, Tower Lord. She has been of great help to me.”
Displeased by this, Rosian deliberately mentioned Jaina before Diamid.
“I nearly had a national sacred artifact stolen, but your daughter found it for me. Though she declined any reward, may I offer it to the Magic Tower where she resides instead?”
At Rosian’s brazen words, Diamid’s expression briefly soured.
“Daughter? What gives you the right to prattle on about a ‘daughter’?”
“Of course, it’s not my place to intrude, but…”
“Don’t pretend to cherish her when it is only fleeting, nor claim her as precious to you.”
Expecting Diamid to refuse by questioning his credentials, Rosian faltered at the unexpected response.
“No, about Jai…”
“It is better for passing acquaintances to remain shallow.”
Diamid then scoffed derisively:
“That should be well known to an imperial grandson raised by parents.”
At that moment, Rosian’s eyes turned scarlet.
His mother Princess Elia was far older than her youthful appearance suggested.
Her smooth, late-twenties look stemmed solely from her advanced mastery slowing her aging.
However, there was a reason for her aloof manner towards others and neglect of her nephew Mikael, son of her late elder sister.
Her young husband had died much earlier.
* * *
After parting from Rosian, Diamid headed to the White Garden.
The very place he had told Jaina never to let herself be seen again.
Starting from the garden’s entrance, he walked and walked endlessly.
How long had it been? When the white petals began weighing down heavily on her black hood, he stopped before a certain tree.
This spot had remained frozen in time since the garden’s creation.
Looking down toward the tree roots, an open chest protruded amidst the upturned soil.
Standing before the chest, Diamid stirred the wind.
Flap.
Inside were various letters, jewelry, and mementos. Among them, a letter unfurled before Diamid’s eyes.
[Diamid, I love you. Forever, until my last breath.]
Diamid recalled words Princess Elia had once spoken to him.
-Diamid Bellafanian, surely you know. Bezrice truly loved you. That she toyed with you for being human because she was a dragon – that was your misconception.
To Diamid, Princess Elia was both an in-law and a former comrade who had joined him in slaying the Demon King.
Though Elia had sided with Bezrice, whom she knew alongside Diamid, there was something she didn’t know.
-Bezrice, you’re lying? That you don’t love me…
-If I had known you would cling to me so pathetically, I never would have toyed with you in the first place.
Beneath Diamid’s hood remained the vivid scar Bezrice had left when they parted ways.
A long, diagonal gash that would have killed him from blood loss had he not treated it promptly.
“…”
All that answered his attempt to hold onto their fading love was a vicious attack that threatened his very life.
But more bone-chilling than that was the scar of betrayed trust.
He could have healed it flawlessly, but Diamid chose not to.
As a lifelong reminder of his foolishness.
‘Love ensnares humans in a trap.’
Perhaps the more affection Ashrid harbored for others, the more suffering she would get.
With a dragon’s longevity surpassing humans’… The child left alone would only know a life of unending torment.
He yearned for vengeance.
If that woman was already dead, then her daughter would suffice.
The moment that face resembling Bezrice contorted in agony would be his triumph.
So that was why he kept that grating, frail existence alive.
Closing his eyes, Diamid whispered to himself once more.
* * *
After her encounter with Rosian, Jaina’s thoughts grew pensive.
‘The person I met was the protagonist.’
The original novel
Yet after leaving the dragon village for the Magic Tower, she was gradually drawn into the story’s core.
Not only was she the daughter of the final boss Diamid, but she had become entangled with the protagonist Rosian himself.
-Actually, didn’t I mention there’s another enchantment on your cloak?
-Huh?
-It seems able to conceal or reveal certain images. Let me see.
She had simply thought the cloak imbued with practical utility spells like heating and waterproofing for convenience…
However, the true significance of the cloak revealed through Mikael’s magic far exceeded Jaina’s expectations.
-…This is the imperial crest, isn’t it? He really gave you something like this?
Possessing an item bearing the imperial crest meant having the imperial family’s endorsement.
-With this cloak, there would be nowhere you couldn’t go, nothing you couldn’t do in the Empire.
Upon hearing those words, the cloak felt heavier than usual.
Though an enchantment made it virtually weightless, as if she wasn’t even wearing it.
‘What could Rosian be thinking?’
Even when she was unaware of the cloak’s value, Jaina had tried to return it.
After all, catching the pickpocket had been unintentional, a mere coincidence.
But when she had insisted on returning it, Rosian’s response was:
-Then give it back to me the next time we meet.
Would there really be another chance for her to meet the imperial grandson Rosian?
Keeping the cloak was problematic, but so was meeting Rosian again – the very protagonist of this story, no less.
‘Though I have no intention of recklessly endangering myself, I can’t afford to be complacent either.’
Come to think of it, it wasn’t just the final boss and protagonist.
Jaina frequently interacted with Mikael and Hilvenzia, Diamid’s metaphorical left and right hands.
She didn’t blame her past self for how things had turned out, as it was all beyond her expectations. So from now on, she would prepare for what lay ahead.
Jaina decided to thoroughly review the contents of the original novel
Scribble scribble.
She jotted down the story in Korean to conceal it from others.
‘Diamid hardens his heart, parts with Bezrice, Princess Elia gives birth to Rosian…’
Methodically, by time and by character.
It was a task that couldn’t be rushed despite the time required.
How much time had passed?
“Phew.”
Before she knew it, the papers before her were densely filled.
Though she couldn’t recall the exact dates, she could roughly arrange the events in chronological order.
‘How old were Rosian and his companions when the story began?’
Not long ago, Jaina had asked Rosian about his age.
-I’m twelve. Two years older than Miss Jaina.
His ‘age’ was a crucial clue for anticipating the forthcoming events.
‘The character four years older than Rosian was…’
Jaina began mapping out timelines for each major character.
Knowing the protagonist’s age, she could roughly infer what his companions would be doing currently.
And there was one event Jaina distinctly remembered, including the precise year and date – a rarity.
[On the day heralding spring’s arrival, ironically, Izren lost all hope, discarded even by the Magic Tower he had clung to.]
The spring day referred to the lunar new year in Korea.
Thanks to this, Jaina clearly recalled what had happened in the spring when Izren turned sixteen. And that day was today.
Jaina began walking leisurely toward the lobby.
Having been drawn into the story, she needed to assess the character of that significant supporting role.
“What, you came to see the Tower Lord?”
“A knight aiming to become a knight among us, magicians, in the Magic Tower?”
As she neared the lobby, the magicians’ raucous voices grew audible.
“You filthy bastard. Do you think you’re human like us?”
From this floor’s lobby, Jaina peered down below.
At the end of her gaze stood a rather unconventional young man.
Sky-blue hair unlike ordinary humans, gem-like eyes that shimmered purple from certain angles.
An overall mystical, ethereal aura, but with slightly flushed ears, likely from agitation.
Ezanis’ Sky.
Mercenary King Izren Danarod.
While he would later gain renown as Rosian’s companion, for now he was merely a knight yet to earn his spurs.