Chapter 528: Change (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 528: Change (2)
The deeper the curse's erosion, the more Anastasia's condition visibly worsened, until she couldn't even leave her bed.
She, who had once been awake for a mere thirty minutes a day, simply waiting to die, was now standing proudly before my eyes.
Of course, she looked fragile, as if she might collapse at any moment, but the shock of seeing her daughter—who had been bedridden for the past few years—standing on her own two feet was—
Whoosh!
“Mother...?”
—enough to make hot tears stream from the eyes of the Tower Lord, who looked as if she wouldn't bleed a single drop even if pricked by a needle.
Holding Anastasia, the Tower Lord's slender shoulders trembled faintly as she wept in silence.
As if trying to suppress a surge of overwhelming emotions.
Clap, clap, clap—
It was such a moving scene that I couldn't watch without tearing up, so I clapped to congratulate them.
The handcuffs were a bit inconvenient, but not too bothersome.
“...”
The Tower Lord glared at me as if she wanted to kill me.
Apparently, I was being incredibly dense.
Having no other choice, I did what I always do: kept my mouth shut and quietly slipped out of the bedroom.
'...But where did I put the key to these handcuffs?'
*
As soon as Kang Hyun-woo, having taken the hint, left the room, Valentina’s expression softened as if nothing had happened, and she pulled Anastasia into an embrace.
Squeeze...!
“M-Mother... I-I can't... breathe...”
Hot tears streamed down Valentina's pale cheeks.
She had never once shown tears before, but in this moment, she couldn't hold back the emotions washing over her like a wave.
She vividly remembered that day twenty-three years ago, when the hateful demon's curse was carved into her daughter.
Her daughter's once vibrant face grew more gaunt with each passing day, and the time she spent unable to wake grew longer and longer.
Expensive elixirs and powerful artifacts only managed to maintain her condition; they offered little real help.
Like trying to hold sand in a fist, her daughter's life slipped meaninglessly through Valentina's fingers.
Then one day.
Valentina, who had been watching over Anastasia late into the night, looked down at her daughter's face, sleeping as still as death, and was suddenly struck with fear.
What if... what if she never woke up again?
-Please, please, please...!!!
With a pale face, Valentina shook Anastasia's body.
But despite her desperate pleas, Anastasia did not open her eyes.
In the end, after a sleepless night, Valentina could only breathe a sigh of relief when Anastasia finally opened her eyes around noon the next day.
Whether she was engrossed in magic research at the tower or wandering foreign lands in search of elixirs and artifacts, the image of her only daughter always lingered in her mind.
Even selling her soul to demon worshipers had been for one reason only: to see her daughter healthy again.
“M-Motherrr...!”
“...Ah.”
Hearing her name, Valentina finally came to her senses and quickly let Anastasia go.
Perhaps from being crushed against her overwhelming chest, Anastasia's face was flushed bright red.
But even that sight was enough to bring tears to Valentina's eyes again.
Her daughter, who had always worn a pale face and a faint smile, now had color in her cheeks. And more importantly, wasn't she standing on her own two feet?
At the unbelievable sight, Valentina became afraid that she might be dreaming.
“Mother...? Are you all right?”
“...I'm fine, my dear.”
Valentina smiled through her tears at the sight of Anastasia looking at her.
It was an expression filled with such a spectrum of emotions that if Kang Hyun-woo had seen it, he would have instinctively pulled out a camera.
“Are you all right? You're not feeling dizzy or nauseous, are you?”
“Huh? Ah, yes! My legs feel a little weak, but other than that, I think I'm fine.”
Indeed, Anastasia's gaunt legs were trembling slightly.
It was only natural, after having been bedridden for so long.
Seeing her daughter like this, the words 'Don't push yourself too hard, why don't you sit down for now?' rose to the tip of Valentina's tongue.
But she couldn't bring herself to say such a thing to her daughter, who was standing on her own legs for the first time in so long.
“It's all thanks to Sir Hyun-woo! When he held my hand, my body grew warm and I felt strangely energized. And he's so skilled with shaping magic, using ice... He wasn't just sculpting; he was interfering with the element itself to control the flow of magic power, just like watching your magic, Mother.”
“...”
Valentina's expression turned complicated as she watched Anastasia, looking more excited than usual, show off the bouquet of ice flowers while stressing how amazing Kang Hyun-woo was.
Given what had happened yesterday, Valentina had been spying on the entire process from the moment Kang Hyun-woo entered her daughter's bedroom.
When Kang Hyun-woo abruptly grabbed her daughter's hand, she had been ready to storm in, but she couldn't hide her bewilderment when she saw him manipulating the element of ice.
Unlike other Elementalists who merely manipulated elements with magic power, he was, as Anastasia said, directly interfering with the element itself.
Just like her.
-How on earth...?
It wasn't something that could be imitated simply by having a high level of mastery.
Like Valentina, who was born of the Ice Spirit King's bloodline, it was a technique—the very essence of elemental magic—permitted only to those blessed by the elements.
Judging by the supreme yang energy Kang Hyun-woo possessed, it was plausible he had received the blessing of fire or lightning, but the element of ice should have been impossible.
And above all, the magic formula he used.
It was unmistakably 'Magia Lida' (Магия льда), the magic formula Valentina had developed herself.
Believing no one else could possibly understand it, she had never published it in a thesis or taught it to another person.
-...Don't tell me he imitated it just by watching from the side?
In that moment, goosebumps broke out across Valentina's skin.
She couldn't believe that a human capable of such a feat actually existed.
The Gray Tower Lord?
Of course, it was an undeniable fact that her talent was overwhelming.
She would soon become the youngest 8th Circle mage.
But Kang Hyun-woo was different somehow.
She even questioned whether he could be categorized simply as a product of human talent.
He felt like an 'aberration' itself, something that existed outside the frame of common sense.
As Anastasia's parent, Kang Hyun-woo was undoubtedly a benefactor, but when she looked at him through the eyes of Valentina the mage—
'...Don't jump to conclusions. It's still too early for that.'
She didn't want to judge the benefactor who might save her only daughter's life based on uncertain assumptions.
Shaking off her distracting thoughts, Valentina slowly walked around the bedroom with Anastasia, as if they were on a stroll.
She wanted to go out to the garden, but she decided not to be too greedy from the start.
After about five minutes, Anastasia began to feel drowsy, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
Valentina took Anastasia into her arms, gently laid her on the bed, and affectionately stroked her hair.
Smooch—
“Sleep well, my dear.”
With a smile as warm as sunshine, Valentina watched over Anastasia until she fell asleep again, then quietly left the room.
*
Creeak—
When Valentina opened the bedroom door and stepped into the hallway, the first thing she saw was Kang Hyun-woo in handcuffs.
The moment she met his dark eyes, which betrayed none of his thoughts, Valentina was swept up in a storm of complex emotions.
She was indebted to Kang Hyun-woo so deeply that no amount of thanks would ever be enough.
But separate from that, whenever she saw him, the memories of last night kept flashing before her eyes.
To be honest, it was awkward to face him and have a conversation.
“...Um, Tower Lord?”
In the awkward atmosphere, Kang Hyun-woo spoke up cautiously with an embarrassed smile.
“Could you possibly use shaping magic to make a key for these handcuffs...? I think I lost the key... I'd do it myself if I could, but these cuffs have a magic-blocking effect. And they're too expensive to just break...”
“...”
Valentina was slightly dumbfounded at the sight of Kang Hyun-woo chattering on while rattling his handcuffs.
To think she had been violated all night by a man like this.
It was a complete departure from the tyrannical figure he'd been last night.
Click—
Valentina unlocked his handcuffs.
“Thank you. I was about to spend the whole day like this.”
“...There's no need for thanks. If anything, I should be the one thanking you. I don't know what method you used, but thanks to you, my daughter was able to get out of bed for the first time in a very long time. I don't know how to express my gratitude.”
“I was the one who offered to help first. You don't need to worry about it. Besides, she's not completely cured yet.”
“No, I cannot allow that.”
Valentina shook her head firmly.
Nothing in this world is free.
Above all, if she let this go without any form of compensation, it would be no different from devaluing Anastasia's life herself.
“Tell me whatever you desire. I may not have much, but I will acquire it for you, no matter how long it takes.”
Valentina may have exhausted nearly her entire fortune on Anastasia's treatment, but major banks around the world would gladly lend her hundreds of billions in funds on her name alone.
And that's in dollars, not won.
No, she wouldn't even need to do that.
Working as a mercenary and clearing just a few top-tier Gates in other countries would bring in an astronomical sum.
However, doing so would mean being away from Anastasia for long periods, which was why she had been forced to refuse all Gate-related requests until now.
But now, things were different.
If Kang Hyun-woo could break her daughter's curse, she could work as a mercenary without such worries.
Rebuilding her family's house would take less than half a year.
'Money would be best, I suppose. Magic research has no shortage of expenses. Or perhaps taking him on as a disciple wouldn't be a bad idea. With just a few years of my teaching, the title of youngest archmage would be his for the taking.'
Valentina may have seemed as if she wouldn't bleed a drop even if pricked by a needle, but at her core, she was a mage.
It would be a lie to say she felt no desire to personally cut and polish the great gemstone standing before her.
But there was one fact she had overlooked.
“Did you say... anything?”
“...Huh?”
In that moment, Kang Hyun-woo took a step toward Valentina, his expression meaningful.
She was momentarily flustered by his sudden move, which closed the distance between them in an instant—
Thud.
Pushed back by Kang Hyun-woo's advance, Valentina found her back against the door.
A strange tension filled the air between them.
Normally, she would have immediately shoved him away, telling him to stop his games.
But the moment she met the blatant desire glittering in his eyes, the memories of last night flashed through her mind.
Those humiliating moments, pinned beneath Kang Hyun-woo, unable to move, forced to accept the merciless flood of his seed.
“...Ngh.”
As the unwanted memories surfaced and a throb echoed in her lower abdomen, Valentina's pupils began to tremble.
Soon, a blush crept across her pale face.
