Chapter 25

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Translated by Sylph

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net.

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Lilian.

Seraphina, who had uttered that name, hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand, but it was already too late.

“…What does that mean?”

At the low voice, Seraphina squeezed her eyes shut.

Everyone feared Clois, but in fact, working under him was easier than one might think.

As long as one performed their duties in their position, he didn’t care much about things like etiquette.

People said it was his generosity, but Seraphina knew.

The fact that he was so exhausted that even getting angry was too much trouble.

However, there is a thing that even he never lets pass.

It was carelessly mentioning his wife and daughter.

“No, um, that is…”

“It would be better to answer properly, Seraphina Reedum. I have no intention of going easy on you just because you were close to my wife.”

He seemed ready to cut off her head immediately if she tried to gloss over it even a little.

Since she had no intention of hiding it anyway, she spoke honestly.

“Well… you know that Lilian was a bit unique, right? She had a mysterious power, though it wasn’t magic.”

“…She did.”

“I don’t know if it’s because her power was similar to my mana wavelength, but when she was beside me, the accuracy of my magic increased. It felt like the magic became more robust.”

However, even at Seraphina’s explanation, Clois’s expression only became colder.

“Why am I only finding out about such an important fact now?”

“Because Lilian asked me not to tell Your Majesty.”

“…Why?”

“How would I know even Lilian’s inner thoughts? Since she was pointed at and called a witch, she probably wanted to hide the fact that she had such a unique power. And she said that she herself didn’t know exactly how to use that power.”

“…”

Wondering if Clois would get very angry, Seraphina scanned his face.

During the war, she had personally seen from his side how he killed people without hesitation.

She didn’t want to incur his anger even by mistake.

“W-Well, then I think I should hurry… I’m also worried about the child…”

“Get ready.”

Fortunately, Clois didn’t press the matter further and left her alone.

Seraphina breathed a sigh of relief and turned her body with the mana stone in front of her.

It was a large mana stone, and the mana dwelled inside was also strong.

‘At this level, there is no major problem for this capable self to cast a tracking magic over the entire Imperial Palace.’

However, the problem was that the magic became weak due to the mana stone the Imperial mage had buried in the ground long ago and the magic engraved there.

Seraphina raised her hand. A bright light surrounded her, and a gale arose with her at the center.

Then Seraphina suddenly remembered the words she had said a moment ago.

‘If Lilian were really here, I could have found her in one go.’

If it was about to become slightly disordered, she was a person who would hold it so it wouldn’t waver.

How many people did she save thanks to that?

‘It’s no use missing her now.’

It was also strange that something she had almost forgotten for seven years suddenly came to mind today.

Seraphina focused on her magic again.

As she willed it, the tracking magic spread throughout the Imperial Palace.

From now on, among the reactions of people felt in the buildings, she had to find a young child…

‘It will take quite some time.’

It was then.

“…!”

In the net of the wide-spread tracking magic, a vivid energy was felt.

In a corner of a building in the Imperial Palace.

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Whoosh.

Whether the wind was blowing outside, the sound of the wind was heard from above the high glass window.

Evi blinked and pulled the cloth she was covered with a bit more.

As expected, her body shivered once it became dark.

‘I want to lie in bed.’

She missed the soft bed and blanket in her room.

It was a blanket that smelled of sunlight along with a rustling sound when she buried her face in it.

The one in the orphanage also smelled good thanks to always doing the laundry diligently, but as expected, the blanket at the Gifted Center was softer and more fluffy.

So she didn’t want to get out of it when she woke up in the morning and wriggled for a long time.

‘I want to go home.’

The moment she thought so, Evi was surprised by her own thought.

How long has it been since she came here?

She had only slept in that bed for barely a day, yet she was already thinking of that place as her home.

Furthermore, she had a chair she could lie on and a cloth to cover her body, and there were still candies remaining in her bag, yet she was thinking that it was hard.

‘Compared to when I lived at the inn, this much isn’t even hard.’

Evi recalled past events she hadn’t thought about for a long time.

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Evi’s first memory was the barn of the inn.

An old woman who worked there raised the abandoned Evi.

“The inn owner picked you up after you were abandoned in the forest. So listen to the owner’s words well.”

Once Evi was able to speak and walk, the inn owner immediately began to exploit her.

First, she cleared the horse dung in the stable.

Next, saying it would be convenient since her body was small, she was made to clean the chimneys of the village as well as the inn.

Evi hated that job.

It was hard working while hanging from an old rope, but it was because everyone spat and told her not to come near when she returned all black, saying she was dirty.

Still, in summer it was easy to wash, but in winter it wasn’t so.

The stream beside the inn froze solid when it became winter.

Even if Evi picked up a stone and struck it, rather than a hole being made, only her hands hurt.

The water obtained by breaking the ice at the edge of the stream was barely enough to quench her thirst, let alone wash.

The inn owner couple and other people used hot water from the kitchen, but naturally, it wasn’t allowed for Evi.

She tried wiping her face with the snow that fell occasionally, but it was too cold to keep it on for long.

Eventually, when it became winter, Evi became even more grimy than usual.

When Evi passed by, the inn owner couple covered their noses and waved their hands.

“Ugh, what is this smell? It’s dirty to death. Why can’t you hurry and wash!”

“B-But because there is no water…”

“There’s a spring that doesn’t freeze inside the forest! Go there and wash! If you walk around dirty until tomorrow morning, I’ll kick you out of the barn, so hurry!”

At the words that they would kick her out of the barn, Evi shivered.

It was because she could at least sleep in the barn that she didn’t freeze to death. But if they kicked her out…

She remembered the person who froze to death whom she saw on the street a while ago. Although she was young, she knew what death was.

Being unable to open her eyes, speak, or move anymore, and being buried in the cold ground.

She didn’t want to become like that.

So Evi went to the forest alone.

But the forest was also scary just the same.

‘They said wolves come out.’

They said wolves eat people who pass by alone.

So the village people never went alone when passing through the forest but crossed together in groups.

They especially didn’t go at night.

But if she didn’t wash and return, she would be kicked out and die. It was certain they wouldn’t even give her the dry bread they used to give.

Evi was more afraid of hunger and cold than wolves.

When she entered the forest, only the sound of the wind was full.

But while heading toward the spring that doesn’t freeze deep inside, she realized she heard someone else’s footsteps.

When she turned her head, there were flashing eyes not far away.

It was a wolf.

Grrrrrr.

The wolf that slowly approached while drooling looked very hungry.

‘Am I going to die now?’

If she had known this would happen, she should have remained at the inn even if she got scolded.

No matter how she thought about it, she felt like being bitten to death would hurt more than freezing to death.

But it was already too late to regret. The wolf was approaching.

Evi sat down and curled up. At that moment, the back of her hand became hot. Then, light flashed in the dark forest as if lightning had struck.

‘Eh?’

Even while scared, Evi raised her head in surprise at the sudden light.

Then, a strange light was flashing on the back of her hand. And on the back of her hand, a black mark like a stain she saw for the first time remained.

For a moment, forgetting even the wolf in front of her, she gazed at it as if possessed.

“…What is this?”

Naturally, there was no one nearby to tell her the answer.

While Evi looked on in surprise, the thing that appeared on the back of her hand disappeared.

Then, remembering late that there was a wolf in front of her, she raised her head.

“Huh?”

But the wolf had disappeared at some point.

Looking back, it was walking far away with its back turned as if a person like Evi was not visible.

That day, Evi arrived safely at the spring in the forest and struggled to wash her body with the warm water flowing from there.

And until she returned to the inn again, she didn’t encounter the wolf again.

“You returned without dying? You’re lucky.”

The inn owner tilted her head as if it were interesting to see Evi who returned, then soon turned her gaze.

To her, Evi was nothing more than an existence whether she lived or died.

That day, after crawling back into the straw in the barn and closing her eyes, Evi touched the back of her hand for a long time.

‘It looked strange.’

If other people saw it, they would have hated it. They might have kept away, wondering if she had caught a disease.

But Evi somehow felt that it was something protecting her.