Episode 122

As I lifted my head, I was met with a pair of golden eyes filled with disbelief and exasperation.

“…Edwin?!”

I blinked in shock at his sudden appearance.

“W-why are you here?!”

At my startled question, Edwin answered bluntly.

“You weren’t coming back, so I came to get you.”

“How did you know I was at the orphanage?”

The moment I spoke, I realized my mistake.

It was a pointless question.

After all, the carriage I had used belonged to the Duke’s household, meaning Edwin could have easily found out where I went if he wanted to.

But—

“Ismail.”

“…Huh?”

“Logan mentioned his name.”

Edwin frowned slightly as he continued.

“Knowing your personality, you obviously came to check if he was okay.”

“Uh…”

I was at a loss for words.

Because he was right—I had just finished checking on Ismail and was on my way out.

‘…Is he mad?’

Feeling a little nervous, I studied Edwin’s expression.

The truth was, Edwin had been in just as much danger because of Logan.

And yet, without explaining anything, I had panicked and run out of the Duke’s estate.

Now, belatedly, I felt guilty.

As I fumbled for words, Edwin suddenly tilted his head to the side.

“So.”

“…”

“What exactly did you do with the 48 gold you borrowed from me?”

“Oh, right!”

At his words, I quickly pulled out the pouch of gold coins from my waist.

Thanks to the Pope lowering the sponsorship fee, I was able to repay my debt in full.

“Here! That’s 48 gold!”

“What? You didn’t spend it?”

“Uh… yeah, it turned out that way.”

As I nodded, Edwin gave me a skeptical look.

“What were you planning to use it for in the first place?”

I suddenly found myself at a loss for words.

‘If I tell him I borrowed it because I didn’t have enough money to sponsor Ismail… he probably won’t like that, right?’

For some reason, I felt strongly that he wouldn’t.

Since the sponsorship was handled anonymously, there was no way he’d find out anytime soon.

So, I simply forced an awkward smile and mumbled,

“Well… I-I was already visiting the temple, so I thought I’d make a donation…”

“Hah. Since when were you so devout?”

Edwin let out a dry chuckle but, fortunately, didn’t press the matter further.

Instead, he extended a hand toward me.

“Just get in already so we can go back.”

“Okay!”

Thud!

I grabbed his hand and easily climbed into the carriage.

Soon, the carriage started moving.

As I sat across from Edwin, I suddenly asked,

“Hey, Edwin. You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”

He hadn’t been attacked by Logan directly, but he had been exposed to strange dark magic for a long time.

I was starting to worry if it was really okay for him to be out and about like this.

Edwin looked at me like I was being ridiculous.

“Took you long enough to ask.”

“W-wait, are you hurt?!”

“No.”

He shook his head firmly.

“Grandpa Gordon said I’m fine too.”

“Haa… That’s a relief.”

He must have gone for a check-up in the meantime.

As I let out a sigh of relief, Edwin frowned.

“If anyone was going to get hurt, it would’ve been you, not me.”

“Me?”

“You got thrown to the ground earlier.”

“Oh…”

I recalled the moment when Logan had grabbed me by the collar, and right after I unleashed my ‘balding beam,’ I crashed onto the floor.

It could have been dangerous, but fortunately, I had landed on my butt, so there wasn’t any major damage.

“I’m fine! I didn’t get hurt anywhere, totally okay!”

Though I’d probably be sore all over by tomorrow…

Still, considering how intense the situation was, I had been pretty lucky.

At my words, Edwin’s tense expression loosened slightly.

He was trying to act indifferent, but he had clearly been worried about me.

Just as a faint warmth spread in my chest, he casually asked,

“How’s he doing?”

“He?”

“The guy you shook me down for money just to come check on.”

“S-Shook you down…?!”

‘Excuse me, young duke! That’s a bit harsh!’

Sure, I might have begged for money without explaining why…

But Edwin’s exaggerated phrasing felt deeply unfair.

Still, I decided to feign ignorance like the five-year-old I supposedly was.

“Uhh… What’s that? Hehe. Ismail’s fine too!”

“That’s good to hear.”

With that short response, silence settled between us.

I hesitated, wondering how to bring up Magnus.

Carefully, I opened my mouth.

“So… um. What’s going to happen to Logan now?”

“They stopped the bleeding on his severed wrist. He’ll be interrogated soon.”

Edwin answered in an uninterested tone.

‘Damn. I shouldn’t have asked.’

I bit my tongue and shut my mouth at the thought of whatever gruesome fate awaited Logan.

“Belze.”

Then, Edwin spoke again, filling the silence I had left.

“Logan said something earlier. He accused you of being the one behind his orders, using that mute kid to lure him to the temple.”

“……”

“Did you really… do that?”

His golden eyes, reminiscent of the sun, locked onto me with sharp clarity.

“No matter how I think about it, it seems like this girl is the mastermind who used that mute brat to lure me into the temple.”

“If Belze were that smart, she would’ve tried to get rid of you without involving the temple at all.”

During the tense standoff earlier, I recalled the conversation between Logan and Edwin.

At the time, Edwin had seemed to dismiss Logan’s words as nonsense.

But the fact that he had rushed to the orphanage right after Logan was subdued by the Duke meant he must have found it suspicious enough to check for himself.

“N-no way!”

I quickly shook my head, trying to put an end to his suspicions.

The truth was… I had suspected Logan was a spy for the temple.

And I had used Ismail’s abilities to lure him to the temple.

It might have been better to just admit it.

But there were too many tangled interests involved.

The first time I realized there was a spy inside the Duke’s estate was when Dunkeski had detailed knowledge of what was happening within its walls.

The fact that they had tried to kill Joshua, that they had planned to abuse the Duke’s children to shake Kallios…

And the possibility that Diana might somehow be involved…

None of these were things I could casually explain.

Besides, there was no way a mere five-year-old should know all of this.

Even for Edwin, who was only nine, it would be too much to handle.

So, for now, I decided to keep what I knew a secret.

“Logan ended up at the temple… because Ismail asked for help!”

“Asked for help?”

“Yeah.”

I explained what had happened at the orphanage—how Ismail had been bullied and how I had used Gomdori to beat up a few of the kids.

When I mentioned that two of them had wet themselves, Edwin grimaced.

“Ismail must have been trying to send me a letter. But then the headmistress suddenly called Logan over, and he got really scared!”

I covered up the situation by blaming it on a miscommunication in Ismail’s command.

“Oh, and apparently, the headmistress and Logan were close! They grew up in the orphanage together and used to write letters often. Did you know that, Edwin?”

“…No.”

Edwin’s face stiffened with seriousness.

‘Got him.’

I cheered internally.

Now, I had successfully linked Magnus and Logan together in Edwin’s mind.

He would probably relay this information to the Duke.

“…So that’s what happened.”

I let out a silent sigh of relief, concluding my explanation.

“Being able to control someone like that…”

Edwin murmured to himself, lost in thought.

Maybe he was trying to gauge whether my words were true.

A lot of coincidences had piled up, but there weren’t any actual inconsistencies in my story.

I had helped Ismail with Gomdori when he was being bullied and told him to contact Kallios if anything happened.

Then, when trouble arose, Ismail had tried to get the headmistress to send me a letter, but due to a miscommunication, she had summoned Logan instead.

And during that time, I had been playing hide-and-seek with Tara and had accidentally ended up in Logan’s room through an open window…

It was a perfect excuse.

No matter how brilliant Edwin was for his age, he was still only nine.

It would be hard for him to see through this.

Hiiiiiing—

By the time the carriage passed through the Duke’s estate gates, I felt my tension ease.

The conversation was almost over.

I was straightening my clothes in preparation to get out when—

“…Going into Logan’s room.”

“…”

“Was that really because of hide-and-seek?”

I flinched at his sudden question.

When I lifted my gaze, Edwin was watching me quietly, as if he had already sorted through his thoughts.

For some reason, his stare felt unusually sharp, as if he were observing me rather than simply looking at me.

“Uh-huh.”

Suppressing the uneasy feeling creeping up my spine, I nodded slowly.

“I didn’t even know it was Logan’s room, hehe…”

I forced a dumb grin and tried to brush it off.

But deep down, I had to admit something—

“…But what about you, Edwin?”

“…”

“You knew there was something written in Ancient Script hidden in Logan’s room, didn’t you?”

He had told me he came looking for ‘writings in Ancient Script.’

And sure enough, there had been eerie, cursed texts hidden in Logan’s room.

There was no other explanation besides the fact that Edwin already knew Logan was a heretic.

‘…But how?’

If not for my healing vision, which let me see that strange violet glow, I wouldn’t have noticed it either.

Even if he had suspected Logan was a temple spy for a long time…

When Edwin had finally uncovered the Ancient Script hidden beneath the painted canvas,

his eyes,

his expression,

had shown no trace of surprise.

“…No.”

The carriage came to a stop, and Edwin finally gave me an answer.

“I was just looking for an Ancient Script dictionary. Logan had taken all of them from the library.”

Shrugging, he spoke with his usual nonchalant tone.

He had returned to his normal self.

And yet, as I looked at him…

For some reason—

My heart refused to settle down.