The Klein Duke's Torment
At last, the perfect opportunity had arrived.
Having finished her preparations the day before, Dot slipped out the moment the Duke and Duchess left the mansion in turn. She raced toward the outskirts of the capital.
The Dark Guild maintained a branch in the back alleys, a separate hall for handling routine commissions, and its main headquarters at the edge of the city. Most people assumed the shadowy guild in the dim backstreets was the real one and never dared approach it.
But I knew better. I had lived through it all.
“……”
Dot acted with every ounce of cunning she possessed.
She did not disembark right in front of the Dark Guild. Instead, she forced the carriage to turn around at a safe distance. She told the driver she had another carriage waiting and would return on her own.
‘This one thing—!’
Heart pounding, she stepped into the main headquarters. The conversation went smoothly.
When the young lady returned in high spirits, there was one detail she did not know.
“……”
That night, the Duke returned to the mansion later than usual. He declined both dinner and a late-night snack, then sat in his study with every lamp blazing.
“Your Grace.”
“You have done well. I have some thoughts to sort through, so you may retire first.”
“…Yes, Your Grace.”
The Duke’s aide studied him for a moment, noting the absence of any sign of sleep, then quietly withdrew.
Even after the aide left, the Duke waited. He waited and waited, yet the person he expected—the one who should have come to explain today’s outing—remained silent.
‘Tiana.’
It had begun the day his precious daughter suddenly spoke of a strange prophecy, as though she had received the Goddess’s blessing.
Cassel, his eldest son, had later declared with absolute certainty that a dragon would never attack the ducal house. He offered no further explanation.
The Duke believed his son’s words without question, regardless of evidence.
Remembering that day and feeling the weight of his lingering doubts about his daughter, the Duke had taken a simple precaution. He had ordered her followed to learn exactly where she went on her outings. Today, his men had sent an urgent report.
“Haa…”
Tiana had entered the Dark Guild. She had gone straight to the main headquarters among the three locations.
After she left, the Duke’s subordinates had visited the guild, but the answer was exactly what he had feared. The guild would never reveal who had placed a commission or what the request contained. No amount of money, no matter how many times it was offered, could move them.
Yet one truth remained unchanged.
The young lady had gone to the Dark Guild of her own accord.
“…I will wait.”
The Duke murmured to himself.
A few days earlier, when the topic of Sionel territory had come up and someone mentioned a mage from the Magic Tower who had supposedly been a fellow novice at the same monastery, her blue eyes had wavered.
If he could still embrace her as his daughter despite everything, the Duke was willing to overlook all his suspicions. Why should he not? She was his daughter who had endured hardship and finally returned. Could he cast her aside simply because her heart had been briefly stained by darkness while wandering through the world’s cruelties? No matter what anyone said, she was still his precious child.
He waited and waited.
Night fell over the ducal residence. He waited until the countless dewdrops that had formed before dawn slowly warmed and vanished.
Despite his hunger, the Duke drank whiskey while he waited. In the end, he hurled the glass against the wall.
Crash—!!
The glass struck the floor with a pitiful sound, mirroring the despair in his heart.
The young lady never came.
Along with her absence, the Duke’s desperate hope withered.
“Tiana…”
A tormented voice escaped his lips.
“Who… are you?”
It was the most fundamental, and most obvious, question.
Once the redness had faded from his sleepless eyes, the Duke summoned the butler and issued a stern order.
“Morris has been going out, but from now on he will spend more time in the mansion. Assist him in his duties and report anyone who tries to obstruct him. You may use my name.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The Duke did not elaborate, but his words were clearly aimed at the Duchess’s past actions. He could not allow anyone to force a reconciliation between Morris and Tiana that would only twist their relationship further.
The Klein Duke’s heart had turned, yet the Saintess, who still had not announced her return to the capital, remained silent.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the missing people of Sionel territory and House Caris had begun in earnest.
Dot lived each day as though chewing on grains of sand, terrified that someone might mention the name “Trisha” or that a witness might appear who knew her true identity as “Dot Trisha.”
Ah, Dark Guild. Please save me. For the sake of my brilliant and glorious future, please succeed…!
Recently, Dot had begun to stumble while walking. She could not help it. Even with her eyes open, she never knew when this place might become her hell.
* * *
“Hoo.”
The Akan Empire was vast, its terrain and climate wildly varied.
Unlike the capital, where winters were long but the rest of the year was tolerable, this region was harsh enough to exhaust first-time travelers.
Was it always like this? Considering the geological upheavals that had occurred over time, it was impossible to say for certain. Lucius narrowed his eyes at the horizon and chuckled.
“Why am I checking with my own eyes? Have I become that human?”
To a dragon, the most important power was will. Even without using Dragon Speech, a dragon’s mere negative emotions could instantly destroy a human.
Staring across the endless desert, Lucius grumbled.
“The Count pretended to be cheerful in the capital, yet he was managing a territory half-covered in desert? At this rate, wearing a turban wouldn’t even look strange.”
He disliked the sandstorms that battered his human form and the grains that occasionally slipped beneath his clothes. Lucius cast a single Cure spell to brush away the nonexistent sand on his skin, then laughed.
Pay would glare at him for wasting mana. What had she said? That he should use it only three times a day because it was precious?
“…You taught me, so of course I use it well.”
We really do understand each other in these matters.
Whenever he thought of her, a smile rose to his lips.
This was why his days of wandering alone no longer felt lonely. Since entering the Magic Tower, he had replenished his lost mana and spent more time with her, accumulating countless memories.
In truth, they had both been busy with their own work and rarely went out together.
He recalled how he would bury himself in history books and magic tomes while Pay conducted research, prepared medicines, or bustled about fetching books.
The moment they first met, the two difficult confessions he had made in the Forest of Origins—everything felt precious in hindsight.
‘You must be sore by now and have used Cure as well. Pay, you tend to push yourself without considering your stamina.’
He would have to correct that habit of reading until late at night once he returned. Lucius thought of all the things he wanted to do for Pay when he got back to the Magic Tower, then launched himself into the air.
A short while later.
「Kieeeek!」
After casually dispatching five or six massive plant-type wild monsters, Lucius’s brow furrowed. It was about time, yet the surroundings remained quiet.
“Hmm.”
Time flowed meaninglessly onward.
He had chosen not to make Baroa’s appearance right in front of the imperial palace in the capital.
After all, rushing a meal only leads to indigestion. Even though he had come all this way and spent time away from Pay because of that, he had no regrets.
If he wanted people to remember that Lucius and Baroa were completely different individuals, a certain amount of effort was necessary. As a bonus, he could also clear out some of the dangerous monsters in this harsh land.
Reaching the edge of the desert, Lucius built a campfire in the wasteland and lay down on the ground.
The night sky, filled with countless stars that looked ready to pour down, was as beautiful as ever—beautiful enough to briefly moisten his dry heart.
He wondered how many stars he would need to connect to form his beloved’s face.
‘Pay…’
Would she gasp in wonder at such a beautiful sight?
My lovely lover, who tries to hide her intense emotions even when she feels them deeply.
I know. If I took you to my lair and the ancient sea, where no one could interfere… you would laugh like a child, rejoice openly, and say exactly what you dislike.
Even in the Magic Tower, you are always conscious of whether others are approaching.
Lucius touched the platinum ring on his little finger.
It was one of the many men’s accessories in his lair that she had barely managed to choose. He had not even known it existed before, yet now every touch reminded him of Pay.
It would have been the perfect night to fall asleep with his ear pressed to her heartbeat.
“Soon… hah.”
His lips, murmuring such impossible words, suddenly closed.
Lucius rose quietly and turned his back to the campfire, pretending to poke at the flames with a branch. Since there was nothing wrong with the fire, the gesture looked awkward.
Long after the crackling of the embers had ceased, footsteps approached.
Only then did Lucius feel relief, though irritation simmered beneath it.
‘You’re terribly late! Is it him?’
The approaching figure, unaware of Lucius’s displeasure, smiled as he walked.
Count Quasar, who had been staying in the capital, had briefly returned to his territory. Before he could even come back up, he had sent an urgent report.
Recently, a wandering mage had appeared in his domain, defeating monsters that even the knight order struggled to handle.
Among them were vicious wyverns and zombies that posed extreme danger to the residents. Since the undead were supposedly almost eradicated within the empire, the news was astonishing.
Count Quasar had known about the wyvern nest but not the zombie lair. He had written a detailed report about the mage while apologizing for the oversight.
‘It was the right decision to come see for myself.’
Silas, disguised as the wandering knight Gladys, approached the man.
Seeing the sky-blue hair peeking out from under the hood reminded him of his half-brother, Astain. For various reasons, the sight felt pleasant.
“Pardon me.”
“……”
The man glanced over his shoulder. He matched the Count’s report exactly.
A wandering mage who sought out and eliminated both bounty monsters and ordinary ones alike. The assessment that he had a cold appearance was accurate.
He had refused to give his name, had he not?
But Silas intended to learn that name today, no matter what it took.
“May I sit beside you?”
Even in disguise, it was dangerous for the empire’s sole direct imperial heir to wander outside the capital so freely.
Silas was accompanied by Sir Valiet, the current commander of the Blue Rose Knights, who was said to be stronger than Cassel.
That was why he had no choice but to give one last warning before fully approaching the wandering mage.
‘Do not glare. Your face alone is threatening enough.’
‘…Yes.’
Sir Valiet, who had hidden his escort nearby, looked thoroughly displeased that the Crown Prince had personally come all this way just to meet a single mage.
Yet for Silas, who thirsted for talent, the journey was worthwhile.
At least the man had stopped in the wasteland where a path existed after leaving the desert. That was fortunate.
“Do as you like.”
The wandering mage’s tone was curt.
Silas thought the voice sounded vaguely familiar, then quickly corrected himself.