The Arranged Suitor Was the Kidnapper

The assumption was absurd.

Whitie was a perfect white fox.

Even a beastman with animal blood couldn’t transform full into an animal – a fact known even to children.

If one were to share this story with others, they would be met with ridicule or even be asked if they were sane.

Yet, Zenox couldn’t shake off the suspicion.

Hadn’t he also been born in a perfect wolf form?

Perhaps Laria too was a mutant like him.

As Zenox continued this line of thought, he bowed his head.

“There’s no way.”

Even Zenox couldn’t maintain the wolf form for half a year.

At most, it would last a few days, but Whitie had remained a fox for half a year.

Moreover, there were no odd points in the information regarding Laria.

If Laria was Whitie, there should have been a half-year gap while living as Laria Rohan.

But during that period, not only was Laria not missing, but she didn’t even leave the house.

‘Had a noble young lady gone missing, it would have created a huge uproar. But there was nothing of the sort.’

Again, while thinking about Laria, Zenox furrowed his brows.

The fear-stricken watery eyes wouldn’t disappear from his mind.

The moment she entered the library, Laria showed mild seizure symptoms.

Did she have bad memories associated with fire?

Zenox took a look around the burnt library once again.

What had happened that day?

It was unlikely that Whitie set the fire intentionally; it must have been an accident.

The deep regret that he couldn’t shake off until now gnawed at Zenox’ mind.

Had he not left the house that day…

At least if he had taken Whitie out…

Following the trail of regrets, worries ensued.

Was she badly hurt? She must have been frightened by the fire. How did she manage to get out of the mansion with that small body?

The flow of thoughts always ended at the same point.

‘If she dislikes me now and chooses not to return…’

Whitie was a smart fox… and there had been an attempt to run away before.

His eyes became cloudy like sedimented muddy water, a chilly light swirling within.

This time, I won’t let go.

No matter what happens.

* * *

At the edge of the capital, the Sorcery Office headquarters was an extraordinary building.

Being a very tall tower, it was visible from anywhere in the capital.

The pure white walls themselves were unique, but the golden inscriptions of spells added a distinctive touch.

It was inscribed by the sorcerer who built the tower in the past, and it still functioned. Thanks to this, spatial movement within the tower was possible without using magic. If not for the magic left behind, most sorcerers would have spent the whole day going up and down the tower.

Also, the height of the tower was an indicator of the hierarchy.

Power is authority.

Just as the phrase inscribed throughout the Sorcery Office implied, skill was valued more than status here.

The higher the floor one occupied, the higher the rank of the sorcerer.

“…”

The quill filled with ink snapped, splattering ink everywhere.

Sienna, unknowingly frowning, let out a short sigh.

Turning her head, she could see the outside world in a glance.

Sienna’s lab was staggeringly high above the ground, making people passing by look like small dots.

Despite occupying a position her peer sorcerers could only dream of, Sienna wasn’t satisfied.

There were still many floors to climb.

Sienna gently closed her eyes.

She recalled the spell she saw when Laria Rohan was leaving the fox clan gathering.

‘I’ve never seen such a spell.’

It was a spatial movement spell, but completely different from what Sienna knew.

Every spell had a fundamental script. Especially spatial movement spells which used long and complicated scripts.

It meant one could not cast it in an instant like Laria did.

“The distance was quite considerable as well…”

The gatekeeper testified that Laria suddenly appeared.

Calculating the distance from the garden to the gate, Sienna took out a new quill. She desperately tried to recall the script she had seen in that fleeting moment.

Those sitting with her couldn’t grasp what it was, so they were of no use.

She tried various modifications on the foundational script, but it wasn’t easy.

“What kind of spell did you use?”

Looking at the unsolved problem for days, doubts about Laria started to grow.

Born a fox beastman, Laria had no talent as a sorcerer. She couldn’t even partially transform into a beast, thus she was mocked as a half-tail.

Sienna felt sympathy for Laria, but also a sense of relief.

In this era, only she would be called a genius sorcerer.

Sienna was confident that Laria couldn’t have any impact on her.

That was until one day she heard that Laria had manifested as a sorcerer.

Sienna frustratingly brushed her hair and swung her pen. Crumbled papers filled the room by the hundreds.

“Ah, finally…”

Finally, Sienna had completed the spell Laria used.

After scrutinizing the spell without eating or sleeping for a week, she bore fruit.

She burnt all the scattered papers in the room with her own hands. Specialized in fire-related spells, the papers turned to ashes without leaving a single trace.

Sienna paused as she was about to report the result to her father.

Lately, her father seemed busy.

Being the Head of the Sorcery Office, it was natural to be busy… but it was unusual compared to the norm.

There was often the smell of blood, and he looked notably downcast.

Feeling that she might get nagged for no reason, Sienna changed her mind.

As Sienna opened the door of the lab and came out, she headed toward the center of the floor. Standing on the magical circle drawn in the central corridor, she could move directly to the desired floor.

Upon going upstairs, there were only a few doors.

Unlike the lower floor which was densely packed with labs like an ant nest, the upper floor had only a few labs.

[Samad Lapel]

Sienna stood in front of the lab door with a nameplate.

The one, who once taught her, was one of the top sorcerers in the Sorcery Office.

Upon knocking, a voice from inside invited her in. As Sienna entered, an old man with sparse hair welcomed her.

“Oh, Miss Sienna.”

“I have completed the spatial movement circle, could you take a look?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll teleport to the entrance of Sorcery Office.”

Sienna cast the spatial movement spell she had just completed a while ago.

She didn’t cast as quickly as Laria, but the speed had significantly reduced compared to before.

It wasn’t long before Samad followed Sienna.

His eyes and mouth were wide open.

“Amazing. We can save so much time!”

Highly excited, he praised loudly.

“It seems genius is indeed genius.”

At the word genius, Sienna cast her eyes down with a modest smile.

“I’m still lacking.”

“Being overly humble can embarrass the speaker. Did it suddenly come to you again this time?”

“…Recently, I became interested in spatial movement, so it came to me as I thought about it.”

Lying was familiar to Sienna.

The mere prodigy boasted as a great genius, thanks to skillful lying. She hid everything about her week-long overnight research, even referring to Laria’s formula. Rather than revealing many failures and efforts, hiding them would shine her genius.

“You’re ipressive. You must have worked hard.”

Suddenly, she remembered what Laria said.

Pointlessly…

“Your skills have improved significantly recently. You should be moving up to the top floor soon.”

Top floor!

She had always wanted to move up, but it always felt like a distant goal.

This was the first time Samad mentioned the top floor.

“Is the formula I showed this time of that caliber?”

“I could never think of crafting a spatial movement formula like that in my lifelong research.”

He honestly praised young Sienna without pride.

“With just handling formulas, you might be within the top five in the Sorcery Office.”

Ignorant of the truth, Samad let out a hearty laugh. But Sienna couldn’t join the laughter.

All she could do was barely lift her tightly clenched lips.

‘Is Laria Rohan of that caliber?’

She thought the formula was useful, but didn’t expect Samad to praise it that much.

Of course, it was only regarding formula crafting, but it implied she was many steps ahead.

‘No way.’

Laria, who had no magical ability from birth, couldn’t surpass her.

A shadow crossed Sienna’s crimson eyes.

‘She must’ve used some dirty tricks.’

She felt she should investigate Laria.

After leaving the lab, Sienna headed to the informant she had used before. It was a place that didn’t require revealing the client’s information, so she just wore a wide-brimmed hat.

Entering an alley, she spotted an inconspicuous shop.

Entering the shop, Sienna approached a woman sitting at the counter.

“I want to meet the Golden Crow.”

The woman had no reaction.

As she put down a gem like throwing it, the woman silently pointed upstairs with her finger.

Climbing the stairs, a man with an eyepatch on one side greeted Sienna. 

He was a famous man in this line of business. Knowing most information in the capital, he would uncover secrets to the grave.

Commonly known as Golden Crow.

“I want to buy information about Laria Rohan.”

His expression turned odd.

As Sienna put down a pouch full of gold coins, Golden Crow grinned widely.

“What information would you like?”

“Everything.”

It hadn’t even been 10 minutes, but he handed over a stack of papers.

There was less information than expected for one person.

“Is this all?”

“I guarantee, even if you go to another informant, you won’t find more information than this.”

Confident, he made Sienna nod.

She quickly scanned the papers on the spot.

It was helpful in its own way, but the information she wanted was missing.She couldn’t find out why Laria suddenly became a sorcerer, or what trick she used to boost her skills.

It seemed she would have to directly attach someone to find out.

“Here, can you attach someone to gather information?”

“Of course. Which kind of person do you prefer?”

He confidently said he could connect her to mercenaries, errand runners, sorcerers, and more.

“I need a skilled person who can keep an eye on Laria Rohan.”

The eyes of Golden Crow, Solike, narrowed.

As if holding back a laugh, he curled his lips inward before answering.

“I have just the right person.”

“I want to meet them personally.”

“I can call them now. The commission will be roughly this much…”

The commission was higher than expected, but for the cause, it was acceptable.

After paying the down payment, Solike showed a satisfied smile. He immediately called a crow and sent a message.

It wasn’t long before a person with a hooded robe appeared.

Sienna didn’t know.

The hired person Solike called was Laria Rohan, herself.