Chapter 82
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: The Mood in the Imperial Capital
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A faint scent of perfume lingered around me, my hair neatly swept back, and behind the languid, listless air that hung like a slump, my sharp blue-gray eyes gleamed with the same fierce intensity as always.
That was my reflection in the mirror standing in the corridor of the Drake Ducal Residence.
The servants who met my gaze seemed wary that the subtle weariness gathering at the corners of my eyes might be taken as prickliness, handling me with extreme caution.
“I’ll show you inside.”
I didn’t reply and just walked on with steady steps.
Aiden had never been the approachable type to begin with, so I, who had inherited his body, always acted much the same.
‘The only exception would be...’
Radia spotted me and lifted the hem of her skirt.
Unlike the pants she usually wore, ready for sword practice at any moment, today she was in a long dress that trailed along the floor.
The puffed sleeves swelling at the shoulders were engraved with ornate patterns, embroidered as if by a master artisan.
Realizing they depicted the sea dragon emblem desired by the Drake family, I gave them a clouded glance.
“It’s been a week.”
“I see.”
I expressed my thanks for the welcome by deftly doffing my top hat and replacing it, then handed my outer coat to the maid.
“Shall I bring tea?”
“Coffee, if you would.”
“With condensed milk? Or sugar?”
“Nothing in it.”
Radia nodded that she understood and signaled to a passing maid.
While the maid fetched the drinks, I sat in a chair and voiced my deep fatigue.
“Are you unwell?”
“No.”
My lifeless, parched eyes rolled listlessly.
They’d been like this ever since the tunnel incident.
I’d thought a bit of rest would fix it, but since it hadn’t, it seemed I’d have to endure it.
‘Probably the effect of intervening in the original story.’
I wanted to dismiss it as something unrelated to me, but Aiden had originally been a being sunk in ennui and apathy.
His sole track record had been teaching students at the academy before returning to the ducal residence and getting killed by the great demon—that was the end of it.
So this personality could only be explained as the original settings gradually transferring to me the more I intervened in the scenario.
This wasn’t my story; it was the protagonists’ tale, including Elin.
Jo Joo-yeon was being told to back off appropriately.
‘That’s why I need to raise the protagonists more quickly.’
Before I completely lost all motivation in everything, so they could find their wings and take flight.
But for now, I was sunk deep, like something soaked through and heavy with water.
Whenever our eyes met, someone gulped, feeling a strange tension.
Radia drew in a breath to ease her nerves.
“Since you’ve come all this way... you’ll tell me, right?”
“Yes.”
“Should I dismiss the servants?”
“Please do.”
Radia sent the servants away, let out a heavy sigh, and shook her head slowly.
“There’s so much I want to say. Why you sent me that note, your movements as a professor, the imperial family’s stance and the mood in the capital. And everything you know. All of it.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“The mood in the capital?”
Radia, meeting my chilling gaze, paled and her hand trembled slightly on her teacup.
But realizing that gaze wasn’t truly directed at her, she cleared her throat.
“Yes, the mood in the capital.”
“Tell me.”
For my first show of interest here to be the mood in the capital—it was an overreaction for someone living in the same city.
Radia looked puzzled, then seemed to recall my situation and cleared her throat again, choosing her words carefully.
“...Now that I think about it, you haven’t left the annex for the past week. Because of the reporters?”
“Because the public opinion isn’t flowing in my favor.”
“Public opinion isn’t favorable to you?”
Radia tilted her head.
With the imperial family issuing lame excuses for their poor defenses and taking heat, my popularity for brilliantly repelling the unexpected attack was skyrocketing.
Yet she said it wasn’t favorable?
As Radia looked puzzled, I squeezed my eyes shut.
It was because those damned devil worshippers came to mind, but there was no need to let her know that.
“Nothing in excess is ever good. That’s how it feels to me right now. Almost... like a smokescreen to hinder my movements.”
“What do you mean?”
“Reporters shadowing my every move, eyes watching me from places I don’t know. People digging into the clues I unwittingly let slip.”
With that, I spat out the current situation like I was chewing it over.
In Radia’s eyes, it must have looked like irritation to swallow my anxiety, as her face hardened.
“This is when I’m most vulnerable.”
“You?”
“It’s a foolish judgment. If they want to gild my face, they should at least wait until things have fully settled. But to do this right after the attack ends...”
While my feet were tied, what were they planning to scheme from behind?
At my words, Radia’s expression stiffened for a moment.
“There are still remnants...?”
Radia covered her own mouth as she spoke.
I glanced at her and shook my head.
“It’s not certain. Just that it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.”
“R-right?”
“But if it were me, I’d strike while others think I’m laying low.”
Radia froze.
“So, what’s the mood in the capital, as you see it.”
My probing eyes gleamed.
Hearing this, one’s perspective on the situation couldn’t help but shift.
Radia stammered.
“The mood in the capital is, naturally... a bit tense, with people stocking up on food and daily necessities. Hoarding is rampant.”
A tense atmosphere, stockpiling goods, rampant hoarding.
Even as she said it, Radia seemed to sense something off, her eyes sharpening as if her throat was clogged.
“...And at times like this, weird religious solicitations increase, guards dispersing street agitators...”
Then Radia’s gaze met mine.
“Professor Aiden’s popularity is soaring. Since you stopped that incident.”
“Then it’s safe to say everyone’s watching me. Even my annex has reporters camped out quietly.”
“R-right?”
“Then for the culprits behind the attack, isn’t now the perfect time? They don’t even need to dig themselves—the press will report my every action.”
In the current situation, it was hard for me to move.
And the public’s attention was elsewhere.
“If the enemies move, now would be the perfect opportunity.”
I turned my gaze to the mirror, confirming Radia’s face paling.
Seeing her own complexion, she let out a deep sigh.
As if momentarily dizzy, she pressed her forehead, unaware the maid had brought the drinks.
Meanwhile, Elin quietly came down from upstairs and took a seat.
Radia asked the maid for something extra for the newly arrived Elin, then sorted her complicated feelings.
“Miss, your complexion looks bad.”
“Huh, yeah... it’s nothing. Give Professor Aiden’s coffee to him, and I’ll have peppermint tea. Elin...”
“I’ll just have cocoa. Senior.”
“Right. The cocoa goes to Elin.”
Elin took the steaming mug in both hands and blew on it.
Then she shot me a prim look, now exuding a familiar vibe.
“The professor says there’s no harm in being cautious, but it seems like you’re convinced something’s up?”
“......”
“The academy’s half-destroyed, and it’ll be chaotic until the buildings are restored. Students are on indefinite vacation, and the ringleaders haven’t even been caught.”
Elin kept the mug of cocoa on her lap, waiting for its warmth to fade, not setting it on the table.
“On top of that, you’ve broken your seclusion to come to us, hinting that something might be happening.”
Radia looked at Elin as if wondering what she was getting at.
“You can’t say it outright, but it means something’s brewing behind the scenes. And you’ve said you can’t move directly on it yourself...”
Elin trailed off and let out a soft sigh.
“So you want to entrust it to us. Isn’t that it?”
I smiled as if she’d hit the mark.
Elin took a sip of the now-cooled cocoa.
The hot, sweet warmth spreading inside seemed to relax her face.
But given the situation, she tried to harden it...
“Haaah......”
Still, she couldn’t quite control the softening.
Under the two pairs of gazes pouring on her, Elin awkwardly cleared her throat deliberately.
“Is what you’re about to tell us information we need to act? Or a trade?”
“Both. It might be what you need, or what you want to know. But you must be careful.”
“Because it might be more than we can handle?”
“Yes.”
As I did, I gave them a provocative glance.
“If you’re scared now, you can still back out.”
“Not at all.”
Seeing their eyes burning with unyielding resolve, I stroked my chin.
Elin’s gaze fixed on my smile, hidden by the white glove.
Recognizing it, she slumped her shoulders as if drained of energy.
I glanced at Elin with interest as she set the cocoa on her lap.
Danger might be coming for the princess.
This fact had to be kept tightly under wraps, no matter what.
With devil worshippers who-knows-where, the fewer who knew, the better.
‘I don’t think Radia or Elin would leak it, but...’
Even trivial actions could give off hints.
Devil worshippers were especially skilled at gleaning info from unconscious behaviors.
If not, unlike half-hearted heretical mages straddling the line or entire nations of cultists, they’d have been exterminated long ago.
Elin finished her speculation and awaited my answer.
Those aloof eyes.
They reminded me of early semester, when she’d barged in out of nowhere and spouted a lengthy misconception about runes.
Her conviction that she wasn’t wrong was somewhat intriguing.
I smiled faintly.
‘She’s grown.’
Back then, she’d latched on like a mix of bee and honey and wouldn’t let go; now she had a sense of caution.
She harbored the ambition to be the best while possessing rational thinking.
She was gradually taking on a protagonist’s form.
‘But that can’t be all.’
I clasped my hands and tested Elin.
“Aren’t you scared?”
Elin and Radia gave me looks of exasperation.
“Now?”
Exactly. It was too late to get scared now.
I smiled contentedly and lifted my richly aromatic coffee cup.
“Then what do you want to know.”
Elin spoke first.
“Did the heretic mages target Elise?”
“Yes.”
I glanced at Radia.
Since she was following the conversation smoothly, it seemed Elin had shared some info with her.
‘That shortens what I need to say.’
“What was that demon? The one we saw then.”
“I can’t tell you that. I don’t have much to go on myself.”
Bielle’s case was something even I needed to investigate.
It was the one area I hadn’t touched as director, and her setting gaps were unfamiliar to me too.
‘Making it based on mythology for no reason.’
I grasped the broad context, but tracing the scenario’s origins would mean digging through every document.
Aiter, A’er, the path to purity.
The higher concepts, the lower ones.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
I’d left the game story to the writers and focused elsewhere, so I didn’t know much.
“I said ask, but what I can tell you is limited. Still, I can tell you what you want to know most.”
“What is it?”
“Professor Prezel. Or rather, as the press buried it... Professor Ma-in Prezel.”
A crack formed on Elin’s face.
I smiled wickedly.
“Don’t you want to know why she served as a heretic mage’s lackey?”
Or why the heretic mages had no choice but to target Elise.
It’d be quite intriguing to hear.
“How about it.”
I savored their distorting expressions at length.