So It Was You After All
So It Was You After All
The reason I showed the Grimoire to everyone was simple.
To help Elody grow.
To learn some magic myself while I was at it.
And I also intended to do something good for my master, Renoa.
However.
[Isn't this Agassi a witch? I may be generous toward pretty girls, but I am not such a lecher that I would hand over knowledge to a witch.]
Iskalon, who had spent his entire life researching magic only to fall for women late in life, suddenly spoke with a serious expression.
"A witch? My Lady-nim?"
I roughly knew what a witch was.
Literally translated, it was a woman who used magic.
To look at it more closely, mages valued tradition and handled magic within the bounds of discipline and reason.
They were fanatics obsessed with magic, but they knew how to keep to the line.
On the other hand, witches.
For a witch, there was no such thing as a line. Noble standards like discipline or reason had long since been thrown to the dogs.
They were the type to dabble in the world's taboos or ethics without a second thought if it served their purpose.
Because of that, witches were despised.
Witch hunts occurred frequently as well. The problem was that they weren't easy to catch.
But for Renoa to be a witch.
"Were you a witch?"
"That's the kind of slander a child would come up with. Great Sage, my foot. As I thought, he's just a senile old man-nim."
"That's what she says?"
[No, my eyes do not deceive me. It is not whole, but the energy of a witch clearly flows within your body.]
"Hmm...."
I fell into thought for a moment at Iskalon's words. This was also something that hadn't happened in the original work.
'Is it because I received Renoa's mana directly?'
Then, for a split second, my eyes met Renoa's.
Though we didn't voice it, we were likely thinking of the same person.
'Renoa's biological mother.'
Duke Pascal's concubine.
The woman of unknown identity who died as soon as she gave birth to Renoa.
Neither I nor Renoa had any information about her.
'Does that mean that woman was a witch?'
As I was pondering with a serious expression, I realized that the two of us weren't the only ones here.
Startled, I looked around and saw Elody and Aether staring at us.
Aether's atmosphere, in particular, was sinking low.
This wasn't a good flow. I needed to change the subject.
"Old man-nim, watch your words. The blood of the prestigious magic family, the Edelheid family, flows through our Agassi's body."
[A prestigious magic family?]
"I'm saying she's a mage, not a witch. You must have mistaken her because of her incredible talent."
[Hmm, is that so? The energy is indeed subtly different from the witches I used to know, but.......]
When I took a confident stance, Iskalon started to get confused instead.
[Well, 700 years have passed since I entered this Grimoire. I suppose I could have been mistaken.]
"That's right. Even so, are you going to discriminate against our Agassi?"
[......Fine, I understand. I shall teach that child magic as well.]
"A wise decision."
I stole a glance at Aether. When our eyes met, he tilted his head slightly as if asking why I was looking.
Fortunately, he didn't seem to be overly suspicious. I breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
"Then let's make it so that we gather amongst ourselves to learn magic from now on. As for the safekeeping of the book, since I found it, I'll......."
[I refuse!]
"What?"
[I like that girl! Child, please, you take care of me!]
The eyeball of Iskalon was fixed on none other than Elody.
"Nuhet?! M-Me?"
"This old man-nim still hasn't come to his senses."
[This body is no ordinary Grimoire. I have an ego. I have the right to choose my master!]
What kind of bullshit is this now?
The world is truly coming to an end.
"Even as a slave, I can't choose my master, so where does a mere book get the nerve?"
"What if you could choose?"
"Is that even a question? Of course I'd change—"
Renoa was staring intently at me.
I cleared my throat and glossed over it.
Renoa let out a sigh.
"Just give it to her."
"Will you be alright with that?"
"And if I'm not? Am I supposed to listen to that old man-nim's whining for 24 hours a day?"
"That's true too."
As expected of our Agassi.
Keep the good stuff in my pocket.
Dump the trash in Elody's pocket.
Even if the world changes, that rotten mindset remains the same.
But for once, I agreed.
"Here, Elody-yang. Take it."
"Uh, is it really okay for me to take something like this?"
"Of course. It will be a great help to have it with you."
Well, it didn't really matter if the ownership of the Grimoire passed to Elody. It was hers to begin with, after all.
[Ahhh, now that I've come away from that sweaty swordsman, even the air feels different....... If this place isn't paradise, then where is?]
Maybe it really would have been better to burn it.
Once the conversation with Iskalon was roughly wrapped up, Renoa and Elody left together for some personal business.
It was a precious time when Irion could be away from Renoa's side.
"Irion, care for a breath of fresh air with me?"
"Shall we?"
Irion readily accepted Aether's suggestion.
Even if Renoa returned later, if he said Aether had taken him, she would have no choice but to accept it.
The two of them left the building and began to stroll along the path.
"Whew. Being harassed by the power struggles of young ladies all day long really drains the soul. I feel like I can breathe again being with you. My mind feels quite at ease."
"Just in case, I should tell you that I like women."
"How absurd. To drive a Prince into being a homosexual in an instant. You're probably the only one in this world who treats me so informally."
"I see."
Irion nodded.
"Still, men are a no-go."
"You bastard."
Aether said that, but he didn't feel any particular displeasure at Irion's attitude.
Rather, he was wearing a hollow smile.
Irion's attitude toward Aether was very peculiar.
He was informal as if treating a friend, and at times he seemed impolite, yet he never crossed the line.
Watching that precarious tightrope walk right in front of him, Aether felt admiration rather than anger.
Thanks to that, when talking to him, Aether could briefly set down the heavy burden of being a Prince.
Elody, a commoner, was similar.
He hadn't had many conversations with her yet, but Elody also possessed an indescribable charm.
Drawn to that charm, Aether wanted to know more about her.
And Renoa as well. She, too, was very different from the image he had imagined.
However, the reason he couldn't treat her as comfortably as the other two was partly because she was a Lady of the Duke's house, but also...
'The energy of a witch, was it?'
Iskalon's remark kept swirling in Aether's head.
On the day of the banquet, he had given orders to his direct subordinates under the Emperor to uncover Renoa's true identity.
The operation had failed because of Irion, who was right beside her. The assassins also said they hadn't found anything special about Renoa.
He was in a situation where he wondered if they had been barking up the wrong tree, but today Iskalon had pointed out Renoa as a witch.
He couldn't just let it slide.
However, it wasn't a matter he could ask the person involved directly.
Pondering what to do, what Aether thought of was to win over Irion, Renoa's guard knight.
"Irion."
"Yes?"
"What do you think of the Lady?"
Irion was no ordinary knight. Despite having skills that surpassed a knight, he was a lowly slave.
Seeing how he mentioned emancipation last time, he didn't seem to swear loyalty to the family like typical knights.
Rather, it seemed he wanted to leave the Duke's family if only it were possible.
In that case.
If he could only win Irion over, wouldn't it be a great help?
With that thought, Aether subtly tested Irion.
"She's hopeless. She's stubborn, reckless, thinks she's the best, and treats people like dolls."
"Is that so? I thought she was a much kinder Agassi than I expected. Like how she shielded Elody during the argument last time."
"It's all a pretense, a pretense. She only did that for her own benefit."
At the unexpectedly honest answer, Aether was slightly taken aback.
"......That's a critique so scathing it stings just listening to it. I didn't know you thought of her that way."
"I'm only a knight in appearance; my behavior is closer to that of a slave. It's not easy to mind my manners. In that sense, I'm glad I'm not a noble."
"Haha. I sometimes imagine that too. Imagining if I were a commoner, wouldn't I have thrown off my burdens and lived freely?"
"What about a slave?"
"That's a bit much."
No matter how low he set his sights, a commoner was the limit. Aether wasn't unaware of how slaves were treated. Irion was just an outlier.
'This.... might turn out better than I thought.'
Irion's loyalty to Renoa was much lower than expected.
It seemed he could bring Irion to his side with just a little coaxing.
"On to the next topic, that Grimoire. I didn't know such a thing would be in the Academy library. It's a miracle it hasn't been discovered until now."
"I know, right?"
"Was it Iskalon? It was a name I've never heard before. He claimed to be a Great Sage of the Mythical Age; what do you think?"
"It probably wasn't a lie. The power he showed yesterday was the real deal. If he's that strong even while sealed in a book, he must have been much stronger when he had a body."
"Since you say so, it sounds reliable. A Great Sage of the Mythical Age.... I'm very curious about what kind of magic he handles."
"I'm sure it will be a great help to you as well. You should learn with an open mind."
"I should do that."
The conversation paused for a moment. Then Aether spoke again.
From here on was the main point.
"Do you remember what the Sage said earlier?"
"Hmm, what did he say?"
"The part about not teaching magic to a witch. And then he looked at the Lady."
"Ah, you mean that."
"Is the Lady really a witch?"
It finally came.
Irion, who had expected this to some extent, didn't panic and made the first move.
"Actually, I've often thought that the Agassi might be a witch myself."
"What? Is that true?"
"If she weren't a witch, her personality wouldn't be so ridiculously eccentric. Forget a witch, it wouldn't be strange if she were the Demon King."
So that's what he meant.
Aether was slightly disappointed by the answer that differed from his expectations.
"Shall we head back soon? The Agassi will be looking for me. If I'm late, I'm the only one who'll get scolded."
"Hmm, we should. Before that, let me ask just one more thing."
Aether's voice suddenly became solemn. The atmosphere sank low.
"Irion. What will you do if the Lady really is a witch?"
"Hmm, our Agassi? I don't think it would even be surprising at this point."
"A witch is subject to punishment just by existing. If she really is a witch, both the Duke's family and you will suffer great misfortune."
"Hmm...."
"I am truly concerned. I hope the Sage was just mistaken."
This was enough for today.
Trying to resolve things too quickly could actually ruin the work.
It was enough to plant a moderate amount of suspicion and anxiety.
So that the other side would approach him first.
"It was an informative walk. Just talking to you puts my mind at ease. Let's walk together again next time."
Aether turned his steps back toward the building.
Watching his retreating back, Irion had a refreshed expression as if a long-standing puzzle had been solved.
He wore a faint smile.
'Aether. So it was you after all.'
The culprit who sent the assassins to Renoa.