240. Winter Flower (2)
240. Winter Flower (2)
- 1 -
A grim aura hung in the throne room.
It lingered between the court mage who had come to the royal audience chamber since morning and the king who looked down upon him.
"A foul power is enveloping the royal castle."
The mage's voice dripped with contempt.
While his crimson eyes shone coldly, the air in the audience chamber grew heavier by the moment.
"Your Highness, the mana traces detected a few days ago have now intensified to the point of covering the entire royal castle as of this morning."
Though there had been failures before, and his pride may have been wounded by them, his arrogance had not been broken.
He was a mage who had started as a count's bastard son and had built up his power from nothing.
The pride he held in his own strength was not something that crumbled easily.
Of course, it was also true that he possessed power to match that pride.
And so, even as Luihardt sent an irritated glare his way, he did not retract his statement.
"And?"
"You know full well. This is that experiment subject..."
"Address her as Her Highness."
"... Ahem. It is the aura of Her Highness the Fourth Princess. This is an excessively overwhelming aura."
"So?"
The king's voice was tinged with boredom.
The mage's eyes narrowed, and a rather ominous gleam settled in his pupils.
"Her power must be restricted, Your Highness. This will clearly become a problem..."
"A problem, you say."
Luihardt gave a short, derisive laugh.
As if he were an adult who had just heard a child's tantrum.
"That is precisely what it means for the experiment to be yielding good results, court mage. Just because her power is growing stronger does not mean it holds any meaning whatsoever."
He rose from his seat.
His hair, uncrowned and oddly unbleached for his age, shimmered as it caught the sunlight.
"Yurena cannot escape my control. For both her blood and soul are bound to me."
"But if this continues, the royal family's detection magic will not function properly. It means zealots could infiltrate as they did the last time."
"That would indeed be a problem. I will handle it myself. You are dismissed."
A tone that was clearly dismissive.
The mage's lips twisted before returning to an expressionless mask.
"... I shall carry out your command."
He slowly bowed his head.
Until the king's arrogant smile vanished from his sight, the tips of his fingers twitched, tracing the shape of a magic circle that would never manifest.
Deolkeong!
His steps as he left the audience chamber were laced with irritation.
Out of the king's sight, his lips twisted into a sneer.
'Good-for-nothing fool with only his bloodline to boast.'
The sudden surge in the young princess's mana was undeniably suspicious.
He absolutely had to uncover the reason.
However, as his standing had diminished, he was in no position to use the royal family's resources right away.
'It's a nuisance, but...'
The mage's eyes flashed as he resolved to take matters into his own hands.
If this affair turned out as he suspected, not only would he certainly regain his authority, but the king's power would also weaken.
Then it would be easier for his 'friend,' the prince, to ascend the throne.
It was a 'friendship' forged by mutual interest, but it would still be a better situation for him than the princess becoming the monarch outright.
'Good.'
Having regained his confidence, the red mage began to walk.
Toward Yurena's newly built 'Narcissus Palace.'
He did not know.
Just how deep in darkness the truth he sought was submerged.
- 2 -
Deolkeong!
The mage's stride into the office of Narcissus Palace was without hesitation.
Originally, the only place in this palace he could not enter was the actual living quarters of the royal family members.
And in his view, Yurena was not even a 'real princess' yet.
As long as he did not enter her private chambers, no one could hold his discourtesy against him.
"You cannot do this...!"
"I shall take full responsibility. Get out."
As he drove away the maids who tried to stop him but dared not lay a hand on him, the mage surveyed the interior of the room.
'Just as I thought.'
His eyes could see the magic formations that connected this office to the private chambers beyond and entangled them altogether.
A magic circle brought over exactly as it had been from the old grand ducal palace's underground, intended to erode and control Yurena's psyche.
After taking it in, the mage clicked his tongue.
"Hmph. How crude. There is a saying that one must remain composed the more urgent the situation, yet here we are."
Perhaps due to the rushed timeline for moving the princess's residence, the magic's completion level was low.
So low that even a mere combat mage like himself considered it sloppy.
Thanks to that, it was easier for him to verify the intent embedded in the spell, but he still found the other court mages' clumsiness distasteful, considering they bore the title of mage.
Of course, he remained completely unaware that such imperfections existed within himself as well.
Kieeeeng—!
A crimson glow rippled in the air.
The mana that had started from the mage's fingertips stretched out like thread, embroidering the empty space.
Three fingers on each of his hands, excluding the ring and pinky fingers, slowly spread apart.
The magic circles blooming at his fingertips unfurled like flower petals, awakening the cores of the formations hidden throughout the room one by one.
While the crimson mana wove through the room like a spider's web, his identically colored pupils gleamed with arrogance.
His circuits had fully 'opened.'
Under his will.
Seuseuseu...
Something that had been biding its time began to stir.
Something someone had secretly planted, meant for the mage who would connect to the mental magic meant to control Yurena.
"Huh?"
For a moment, he sensed a faint presence and halted his magic, turning around.
The fluidity with which he could sever and conclude magic mid-casting, even as the spell was being fully activated, was proof of his skill.
'Was I mistaken?'
Unfortunately, his 'Resistance' did not match his 'Mana' and 'Technique' stats.
For a long while.
He searched the room for a long while, and just as long...
"So, you are a man who has not equipped himself with half as much caution as the power he wields."
"He is, indeed."
He was exposed to 'manipulation.'
Clack. Clack.
Libertas and Yurena walked out from the inner private chambers.
Shue and Saya followed behind them as their attendants.
In the center of the room, the court mage had frozen with both hands raised upward to connect to the spell.
Only his eyes continued to move restlessly.
This was because he was still examining the magic circles inside a 'dream.'
The artifacts he wore to defend against mental magic were completely useless at this moment.
Because the one who had opened the mage's mind and circuits was none other than himself.
"A familiar face, I see."
"No. I never saw him once underground."
"So he was not one of those who participated in the experiments."
Nodding at Yurena's answer, Libertas drew several of the magic circles suspended in the air toward her.
They were artifacts, solidly preserved in the air now that the mana infusion had been cut off while the mage was manipulating them.
"Look. This is the 'familiarity' toward them that was planted in your head."
The magic circles floating in the air emitted a bluish glow.
Yurena's eyes, reflecting that light, trembled uncontrollably.
"Seeing this... something is writhing inside my heart..."
Yurena instinctively seized the hem of Libertas's clothes.
Her fingertips quivered faintly.
The yet undispelled mental magic clawed into her consciousness.
Whenever the word 'royal family' surfaced, the forcibly implanted 'familiarity' and 'loyalty' surged up.
Betrayal and hatred shook her body.
Nausea crawled up her throat.
"I hate it...!"
"There, there. It is alright."
The dungeon lord, dressed as a lady-in-waiting, scattered the magic and stroked the princess's head.
The moment her hand touched her, the princess's state immediately calmed.
It was true that the magic in this room was meant to manipulate Yurena's psyche.
But the target of the loyalty that magic instilled had long since been changed, not to the actual 'royal family' but to her, and even the hypnosis placed on Yurena was being slowly unraveled now.
"You no longer need this kind of magic."
"You're right..."
There had been plenty of time, so it was far more stable to build and maintain control over Yurena without the magic, rather than relying on it.
And the remaining magic was now being repurposed in another way.
"Though indeed, the power he possesses is considerably potent."
Libertas plucked a flower from one of the pots she had created for Yurena, and planted it into the back of the mage's neck.
Jureureuk...!
A purple narcissus.
It moved of its own accord, tearing through his skin with its roots and stems and seeping inside.
As she watched the purple veins that had formed when the flower burrowed in gradually fade and vanish, a smile graced Libertas's lips.
"When one examines something, it is a foolish man who fails to realize that it too can see him."
The wraith and spirit dwelling within the narcissus began to take root within the soul of the mighty one.
"Now he, too, shall become your friend."
"... I didn't need a friend."
"Oh dear. Esther will be saddened to hear that."
"Are Esther unni and I... friends?"
"Of course."
Libertas returned a gentle smile to Yurena, who blinked and asked so innocently.
"Then... I'll be her friend..."
"What a good child you are."
"Hehe."
Ttaak!
As she brushed through Yurena's hair, the palace's 'true owner' raised her other hand and snapped her fingers.
Then.
"... Hm?"
The court mage, freed from the manipulated dream, opened his eyes.
'There was nothing, after all. Is Yurena truly just a weapon of the royal family?'
The court mage drew his conclusion and moved his feet.
Even a sense of despondency flickered in his red eyes.
Not even noticing that he was already inwardly calling Yurena by a different title, he failed to recognize Libertas and Yurena beside him and left the room.
And just like that, yet another 'narcissus' departed the palace.
- 3 -
"This way, my lady."
Guided by the female knight, she stepped down from the carriage.
The hem of her blue dress, embroidered with Western-style ornaments in golden thread, swayed elegantly.
"From where have you come?"
A knight of the mansion blocked her path.
Though she was traveling around Hairach under the identity of a noble lady representing the imperial company of the Han Nation, that did not grant her entrance to every mansion without an appointment.
"Is the Countess Volunté in? I had sent word in advance."
"Please wait a moment. I will confirm."
While one of the senior soldiers dashed into the mansion, she observed the manor's surroundings.
Although her presence detection was faint, her 'intuition' pointed to this place.
'So they exploited the fact that the darkest place is under the lamp.'
She, 'Seolhwa,' smiled coldly to herself.
"Welcome to the manor of the Volunté Countdom, madam."
As Seolhwa was examining the mansion, the steward who walked out from inside approached and addressed her.
She watched with intrigue as a sharp glint flashed in the corners of his eyes while he carefully scrutinized Seolhwa's appearance.
He was a steward possessing an oddly powerful force and a concealed, furtive aura.
"I apologize, but the Countess is not currently at the residence."
"Is that so? That cannot be."
"At present, the madam is working as the head lady-in-waiting of the royal family, so it does not seem likely that she would have changed the appointment."
"Hmm..."
Seolhwa stared at the steward expressionlessly, but his expression and posture showed not the slightest waver.
His manner exuded the seasoned authority of someone who had served as a steward for decades. Yet his outward appearance was that of a young man.
Seolhwa's eyes sparkled oddly.
'This is definitely the right place... I suppose it cannot be helped.'
Regrettably, she could not push her luck any further here.
If she acted more urgently, that prince would surely become a nuisance to her as well.
Now it was her turn to be a nuisance to the prince.
"Very well. Then I shall make a formal visitation request and come again properly."
"I shall eagerly await our next meeting."
Seolhwa turned her head and gazed in the direction of the royal castle.
More precisely, toward Narcissus Palace there.
'I cannot play this hand further here.'
Boarding the carriage, Seolhwa recalled the steward and knights of the mansion.
She could find no flaw in their conduct, and the aura she sensed from them exceeded the ordinary level as well.
If asked whether they were overwhelmingly superior to average knights or stewards, the answer would be no; but it was precisely that very appropriateness that aroused suspicion.
'They are people who have a particular knack for hiding themselves.'
Her cold eyes stared at her own reflection in the mirror.
They were people similar to Seolhwa herself. Shadows serving someone.
And there were far too many such shadows in that place.
'So you, who lost your dragon-blooded pride and became the dog of filthy humans, have truly found a new master.'
A chill smile settled on Seolhwa's lips.
A smile mixed with jealousy, anger, and yet another emotion.
Her obsession toward Saya was far from ordinary.
A deep and clinging emotion, so profound that she would have sought Saya out alone even without a mission.
Dagak-dagak...
The carriage began to move toward the royal castle.
Now it was time for her 'master' to step forward.
Though he was utterly unreliable, there was no other way but to set him in motion.
"I won't let her get away."
Seolhwa glanced once more at the Volunté manor receding beyond the carriage window.
It was clear that Saya had been there.
On this point, she had absolute certainty that she was right.
For she was one who even felt a destined pull toward Saya.
Her eyes, tinged with a blue light, shone coldly.