WGMFTR | Chapter 2

Episode 2

Despite clearly wearing no more than a single piece of clothing, cold sweat not fitting for a chilly spring day beaded on the man’s forehead.

It was something she hadn’t noticed when standing at a distance.

“Is it… very painful?”

He didn’t seem to have trouble moving, but judging by his condition, there was no way it wouldn’t interfere with his daily life.

“It’s not like there’s none.”

It was a vague answer, as if he were reluctant to speak accurately and in detail about himself.

‘This client must be someone with a lot of secrets too.’

She had often dealt with clients like that.

Whether it was a family secret, a shameful past they wanted to hide, or a musty memory they didn’t want to recall.

Cursed objects with magic often came with stories one wouldn’t want to make public.

Instead of probing too deeply, Lydia decided to focus on gathering information to resolve the issue.

“Curses like this don’t manifest easily. If it appeared suddenly, there must be some reason or condition that triggered it.”

“That’s the problem. I have no idea what that might be.”

His response flipped the question back at her, asking for the answer in return.

“I woke up like usual, but found part of my hand had turned black. The throbbing pain started then, and it’s been slowly spreading.”

As soon as she heard that, her academic curiosity flared and her mind began to race.

None of the books she had studied mentioned a curse that spread in this way.

“Then it probably didn’t involve a physical object. If it had, there would have been an immediate effect upon contact.”

Determined to try lifting the curse at least once, Lydia stepped forward and reached out her hand.

But as she faced the bare skin of his chest rising and falling with each breath, she hesitated, suddenly aware of reality.

“For me to try resolving this, I…”

The unique ability passed down from Solem—to nullify and undo all magic—required physical contact.

“You have to touch me?”

“When you put it that way, it makes me sound like a pervert, but yes.”

For the first time, a faint smile appeared on the man’s face.

“Do as you like.”

Hesitating, Lydia finally moved her hand past his chest and placed it on his shoulder.

Immediately, she felt a sticky, dense flow of magic. It was like a deep abyss warning her not to challenge it with mediocre skill.

“…My God.”

Normally, her ability would sweep away any magic like an ebbing tide, leaving no trace behind. But in front of this enormous power, it was useless.

Even when she tried her best to push it away, all she could manage was to retreat a few steps.

“Haa…”

Then came a deep sigh, one that even seemed to carry a sense of relief. The man leaned his forehead against her shoulder, seemingly feeling something different.

Encouraged by the initial effect, she pushed on a little more.

But from beyond the abyss, a searing heat like standing in front of raging flames overwhelmed her. Only then did she realize she’d pushed herself too far.

She felt strength leaving her body. She must have overused her power. She had to retreat for now…

“Are you alright?”

Lydia staggered under a darkening vision and a crushing pressure in her head. She then felt a hand grab her arm and steady her.

“Yes, I’m okay…”

As she tried to recall what had just happened, she belatedly noticed the intense gaze fixed on her.

When she looked up, his eyes held a strange desire.

As if he had finally found the long-sought answer after wandering for ages.

‘This woman… is the answer?’

Ilian Esteban was holding onto her with far more desperation than he let on.

The burning pain and the screams that tore through his mind intermittently.

All the things that had been driving him mad disappeared the moment he touched this woman.

Even when he came here, he had his doubts. Who knew the answer would really be here?

“I won’t collapse, so… you can let go now.”

They were standing uncomfortably close.

Because the man was gripping both her arms and pulling her toward him, just raising her head brought his face into view.

“Your face is so pale, it seems like you’d collapse the moment I let go.”

The woman with violet eyes looked up at him, seemingly unaware of who she was really facing.

Eyes that were firm in their convictions, filled with stubbornness.

“I’m alright.”

“Really?”

Ilian slowly asked again, moistening his dry lips with his tongue.

The pain that had been getting so bad he feared he might go mad simply vanished, as if it had never been.

Even the tangled mess in his head had finally cleared.

“Yes, really.”

Despite sounding like he didn’t want to let go, the man released her surprisingly easily.

Only his hand lingered briefly in the air, as if reluctant.

Lydia avoided his blue eyes and quietly stared at her own hands.

<There will come a time when you’ll face magic that feels too much for your power to handle. I hope you never find yourself in such situations. But if you must, you must be mentally prepared, Lydia.>

It was what her grandmother had repeatedly told her, worried for her granddaughter left alone in the world.

The unique power passed down through the Solem family, which they had thought gone forever, had faintly resurfaced in her.

Its return brought both joy and concern.

<Magic cast by someone who truly understands it and uses all their power is incredible—and dangerous. More than it seems.>

Her grandmother’s teachings had never been wrong.

She had been quietly reading, collecting books, and tracing the paths of magic, living a relatively peaceful life focused on her own studies.

But Lydia now sensed that the man before her had come to shatter all of that.

“Is this curse really that serious?”

A question fell from above Lydia’s head as she nervously bit her lip.

“There’s something incredibly ominous at the root of this curse.”

She still felt the aftereffects. That scorching heat threatening to burn everything away and the faint high-pitched scream she had heard just before escaping.

Lydia hugged her arms around herself, trying to calm the goosebumps.

“It felt like a fire with no end was trying to consume even me.”

“A burning pain. And screams.”

His words came out in a blunt tone.

The man sat in a nearby chair, lowered his head onto the counter, closed his eyes, and murmured. As if he could still hear something.

“Along with the pain, desperate screams echoed.”

“Constantly?”

“It’s worst when I’m asleep. Maybe because my mind’s defenseless then.”

It was a much more detailed explanation than when he was first asked about the curse.

“I don’t know exactly how your power works, but it definitely had an effect.”

His clear blue eyes turned to Lydia again. This time, she didn’t look away and calmly replied.

“Normally, it would’ve been completely undone by now. That’s my ability. I nullify all magic.”

“Could it be lifted if given enough time?”

“Maybe. But a few days wouldn’t be enough.”

She recalled her grandmother’s advice not to recklessly help with things she couldn’t handle.

Still, she couldn’t claim something was impossible if it wasn’t.

Lydia might avoid answering, but she couldn’t lie.

‘I backed off for now, but like he said, my power wasn’t completely ineffective. If I apply it little by little every day…’

She instinctively calculated her own capacity.

Which was why she didn’t immediately notice the man standing and shaking out his shirt before putting it back on.

Now dressed again, the man began buttoning his shirt with an indifferent expression, as if his earlier emotional reaction hadn’t happened.

“So this curse can be lifted.”

“Maybe. I think the more often I apply my power, the faster it will be lifted. So… please come daily if you can.”

“Every day?”

“Yes, every day. If it’s only once in a while, the curse we’ve only just started to suppress might regain strength.”

“Coming here daily would be a bit inconvenient.”

Lydia sighed and rolled her eyes. She couldn’t tell who was the one suffering from the curse anymore.

The man, fiddling with his cuff buttons without fastening them, seemed lost in thought.

“How long will it take?”

“Sorry?”

“I’m asking how long I’ll have to come here every day.”

“Probably at least a year. There’s a limit to how much power I can use at once.”

She had never used her power so intensely before, and she already felt enormous fatigue. She would need to control her strength carefully, so it might take even longer.

After Lydia answered, silence stretched for a while.

Then the man suddenly said, as casually as if inviting her on a trip:

“Then let’s get married.”

“…What?”

She thought she had misheard. Lydia imagined she must be making a ridiculous face.

Naturally. She had just heard some strange hallucination of a man she’d met today asking her to marry him.