Chapter 15

Chapter 15

* * *

The news of Count Delight’s murder was first reported to the imperial castle by the merchant who normally delivered groceries to the manor. The merchant, who was making his usual rounds, had been suspicious of the way the manor’s gate was left wide open. And the fact that there wasn’t a single guard manning the gates was very alarming. No matter how much he called out, there was no answer. So, he’d walked through the open gates and, strangely enough, found that there was nobody at the front door either.

In any case, committed to completing the delivery at any cost, he tentatively entered the estate. It was not far from the entrance that he came across the body of a decapitated guard.

A cry tore from the merchant’s throat before he dashed out of the mansion to report the murder to the guards who had then sent a single soldier to investigate. But that guard, too, fled the moment he stuck his head through the door.

He couldn’t possibly investigate on his own—the carnage was unbearable. The horrific scene had left him dry-heaving in front of the manor. The guards, only realizing the severity of the situation when the lone guard returned with his report, informed the imperial family of the tragedy, which came to be known as the Delight Manor Massacre.

Well-trained imperial knights were dispatched to the Delight Manor to investigate the incident, which had left no survivors. Most of the soldiers couldn’t stand the stench of blood that emanated from the manor, much less the sight of the horrifically mutilated corpses.

All of the bodies were disfigured, but the most grotesque of all was Count Delight’s.

There wasn’t a single survivor among the scores of people who had lived and worked in the manor. However, Count Delight’s one and only daughter, the beautiful Valeta Delight, was nowhere to be found among the dead.

“You still haven’t found her?” Miloyd’s deep blue eyes were stormier than usual, and the knight stiffened when he heard the crown prince’s grave tone.

The crown prince, unable to find sleep ever since he had learned of the massacre, had deep shadows under his sunken eyes. It had been three days since the tragic event, and he spent sleepless nights in his office, hoping for updates.

However, there was no mention of Valeta Delight in any of the sporadic reports that followed, which only contained details about the victims and additional information about Count Delight’s corruption. In all that, though, there was nothing about the prince’s betrothed.

“My apologies, Your Highness.”

“No, it’s fine,” Miloyd said as he rubbed his temples. He slowly flipped through the report which must have been over a hundred pages long. There was no mention of Valeta Delight anywhere. “You say there were traces of magic?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Have we requested cooperation from the Magicians’ Tower?”

“Yes, but we haven’t heard anything back yet.”

Miloyd sighed. No matter where he looked, he couldn’t find a single trace of the girl. It was as if she had vanished off the face of the earth.

Thinking back, he wanted to kick himself for singing praises of Count Delight in front of her in light of his corruption. The reports detailed information on her father’s slave trade, not to mention his sadistic tendencies. He finally realized that this was why Valeta always grimaced whenever he mentioned how much Count Delight must have treasured her.

“Lady Valeta is a smart woman. If there was a way for her to escape, I know she would have found it. Search every corner of the manor. Even the basement. I want no stone left unturned,” Miloyd ordered.

“I’ll see to it, Your Highness.”

“And if you hear anything else, let me know at once.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

“You’re dismissed.”

The knight gave a quick bow before leaving the crown prince alone.

He sighed again, a deep frown settling on his face. Valeta always seemed aloof, but he knew that she always put her own safety above anything else. She never went out of her way when there was an element of risk. Although she did not yet feel comfortable enough with him to call him by his name, Miloyd liked her.

However, strange rumors had begun circulating once news broke that Valeta’s body had not been found, rumors that said that Valeta herself may have been behind her father’s murder. It seemed to rise in credibility once the allegations of Count Delight’s abuse surfaced.

“Impossible,” Miloyd said confidently. Although he didn’t get to see Valeta often, he had known her long enough. It never once occurred to him that she could be behind all this.

First of all, the method of killing was too barbaric. Miloyd knew because he had witnessed the scene of the crime for himself. Autopsies of the dead revealed that most of the people had been alive when their limbs were severed. Atrocities like that weren’t possible unless the perpetrator held a deep grudge.

She doesn’t have the strength to hold a sword in the first place. And even if she had the strength, it would have been impossible for her to make such clean cuts.

“That slave of hers is missing too.”

Did they run away together? The crown prince frowned, lost in thought. The trouble was, there was more than one rumor circulating.

Shortly after the first, another wild rumor had started floating around high society, this time about how the head of the Magicians’ Tower’s powers were awakening, and that this magician was none other than Valeta Delight’s former slave.

We don’t know where the rumor originated from, but it’s not one that we can completely rule out. After the former head of the Magicians’ Tower stepped down, a successor had never appeared to take their place, and the tower eventually faded out of relevancy.

Magicians hated humans because they had no mana, so what would happen to a magician that had been abused by them? It wouldn’t be strange if Valeta’s slave had snapped after awakening. Though highly unlikely, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. It made Miloyd feel uneasy.

He rested his head in his hands. He could feel a splitting headache coming on. In order to ease his anxiety, he had asked the Magicians’ Tower for their cooperation in reporting any signs of magic. But there had been no response from the tower, even after three days. And although the Magicians’ Tower remained closed to humans, they had never rejected a message before.

“This is making me nervous,” he murmured as he rested his hand on the window. “Please stay safe, Lady Valeta.”

Although they had met when they were young with the expectation that they would be married, Miloyd didn’t mind. She was a calm, stoic girl, but also one kind enough to help an injured animal.

“As long as you’re alive, I’ll come and save you.”

He stared out into the darkness, past the window. The glass reflected the hard, determined look on his face. The crown prince turned and sat back at his desk, then began reading through the report again.

* * *

Reinhart was kneeling in front of Valeta, sweating profusely. He was gasping, clutching his chest, while Valeta gazed down at him with cold eyes, her face twisted with rage.

“I heard that you were with a maid today. What did you do with her? Are you cheating on me? Do you love her more than me?!” she screeched.

“Ngh...” Reinhart squirmed in pain.

Valeta held a small bead in her hand, one that was transparent red.

The boy before her writhed on the floor, but then a murderous look flashed briefly across his features. Pushing through the pain, Reinhart managed to kneel in front of Valeta. He forced a smile on his face.

Although he was drenched in sweat, it was a smile so beautiful that anyone would have fallen in love with him. He grasped Valeta’s hand in a servile manner.

“You’re the only one for me, master.”

“Really?”

“Yes, of course.”

Reinhart smiled gently as Valeta relaxed her clenched fists.

“Do you mean it? You’re not going to betray or abandon me, right?” she asked.

“I mean it,” he replied without hesitation. Valeta then fell to her knees and embraced Reinhart. His eyes were cold as he gazed down at the girl, who rubbed her face into his shoulder as if she were a child.

“All right. I love you, Reinhart. You’re the only one I have. That means you can never, ever betray me. Understand?”

He didn’t say a word. Valeta raised her head and started petting him on the head as if he had already answered. She was treating him like a dog.

“I’m sorry for hurting you, Rein.”

Reinhart chuckled as he closed his eyes to hide the hatred behind them.

The night deepened.

Valeta, who had been deep asleep on the highest floor of the tower, abruptly opened her eyes. The scene from the novel had come to her so vividly in her dreams. She knew that the original Valeta had been obsessed with Reinhart, but she wasn’t sure of the details. When she thought about it, there had been hints of it in one of the side plots. She was beginning to see now... The reason why Reinhart had killed Valeta so cruelly...

So there was a reason after all. Aside from the main characters, everyone else in the novel was crazy. Reinhart was crazy, so it only made sense that the original Valeta, who had been so in love with him, was crazy too.

“But I’m different from her. I didn’t do anything to him.”

Which was probably why she was still alive. So why is Reinhart doing this to me now?

She couldn’t for the life of her remember why the original Valeta had become so obsessed with Reinhart. If only she hadn’t skimmed through the side plots... Valeta didn’t know why that scene had suddenly come to mind. “Ow, my head...”

The sunlight was streaming in from all around her, dazzling her eyes. She slowly raised her head and looked around the room. She was sitting on a bed in the middle of a room. The floor was covered in a soft red rug to keep her feet from getting cold.

Where am I? Valeta crawled out of bed, slowly approached the window, and peered out.

“Clouds?”

She couldn’t see any buildings, people, or landscapes. How was she looking at clouds?

—It was a large, dull gray tower. At the top of the tower was a room that only the head of the Magicians’ Tower could enter. During the day, sunlight streamed through the glass windows, but at night, the room provided a stunning view of countless stars.

The view outside the window wasn’t an ordinary landscape—no, it contained blue skies and fluffy clouds as far as the eye could see.

This room was ideal for magicians who extracted their mana from nature.

Valeta frowned as the description from the novel suddenly came to mind.

Please let this be a dream, she prayed.