“Can you see… this?”
I stared blankly at the small fairies rubbing their cheeks against me and the man.
The man had a beauty I’d never seen before.
His silver hair sparkled in the sunlight, and his blue eyes shone like the sky itself.
Unlike the frosty blue eyes of the Archduke, his eyes were warm and vivid.
My thoughts drifted back to the Archduke, causing a sharp pain in my chest.
I reflexively clutched my chest, then paused when I saw the man still waiting for my answer.
Slowly, I nodded, and the little fairies fluttered up.
[She can see us!]
[A special human! Is she a Contractor?]
[Contractor! Contractor!]
[No wonder I felt so good!]
The man approached me with confident strides and extended his hand. His blue eyes seemed to shine.
“I am Razerdin of the Northern Spirit Tower. Please call me Redin. I never expected to meet a Spirit Master here. Which faction are you with?”
I blinked slowly.
“…Spirit Master?”
A breeze passed between the man and me. The fairies chattered and flew around in the wind.
The man’s eyes as he looked at me changed slightly, perhaps because he sensed something strange.
A look as if he was seeing something unbelievable.
Only after a long moment of silence did the man speak again.
“Did you not realize you are a Spirit Master?”
His tone was as if he was seeing something absurd.
I couldn’t follow his words. What was a Spirit Master?
I’d head, no read, that they were people who made contracts with nature’s spirits, possessing immense power that was on a different level from magic.
The man called me a Spirit Master. And spirits couldn’t be seen or heard by ordinary people…
‘Can you see this?’
I recalled the man’s slightly surprised voice. I turned my head to look at the fairies swirling around me.
“Are these spirits?”
The man let out a sigh, dumbfounded.
He muttered to himself, ‘She really knows nothing’, and grabbed a fairy, pulling it in front of him.
[Ouch! Reddin, let go!!]
The translucent light green fairy flapped its wings and slapped the man’s fingers with its tiny hands. But the man, accustomed to this, didn’t budge and continued speaking.
“These are spirits. To be more precise, they are earth spirits, or nymphs, that I deal with.”
[That’s right, we’re nymphs!]
[We’re nymphs!]
The fairy, or rather the spirit, whimpered and escaped from the man’s hand, soared up and shouted as if singing a song.
“And.”
The hand of the man who was pointing at the spirits moved towards me.
“In this world, except for other spirits, only Spirit Masters can see spirits. I don’t know who you are, but you are a Spirit Master. I’m puzzled why you didn’t know this until now. Have spirits never approached you for a contract?”
When I nodded, the man frowned.
“…Perhaps you’re mistaken about something.”
I spoke, while quietly watching the man who seemed lost in thought.
One of his eyebrows rose.
Spirit Masters. Powerful beings who even the emperor bowed and humbled himself before.
And I was one of them? It was ridiculous. It wasn’t even funny.
I tilted my head back.
The sky, clear and high without a cloud, was in stark contrast to my dark and lightless heart. The sunlight pierced my eyes painfully.
I’d spent my entire life confined in the cold, deep imperial palace. I’d been tormented countless times by those who were supposed to be my family.
And now.
I slowly turned my gaze toward the direction of the Archduke’s mansion.
I’d thought of him as my hope and salvation, only to be ruthlessly abandoned.
No, I was betrayed. He must’ve seen me as an object of hatred from the beginning.
Nevertheless, my situation was so miserable that I couldn’t let go of my feelings for him.
I had no strength.
I didn’t even have the power to escape from a situation I didn’t want to be in.
There was no way I could be one of the Spirit Masters, sought after by the powerful nations of the continent.
I knew best that I had no power.
After thinking for a moment, I looked at my palms.
The light green spirits landed on my hand with a cheerful sound and gazed at me with sparkling eyes.
Seeing their cute appearance, I lightly patted their heads and turned to the man who was still frowning.
He was still watching me in silence.
How long has it been?
“No, you are definitely a Spirit Master.”
I blinked at the words that instantly denied all my thoughts.
The man stood up.
“I will return next time. Then, I will teach you some more about the spirits.”
The man, who’d made a one-sided promise to visit the Archduke’s mansion again, waved his hand, and the spirits circled around me once as if saying goodbye before disappearing.
The light particles scattered in the air were the only traces they’d been there.
“Well then, goodbye.”
The man gazed at me for a bit longer before he turned his back, leaving me with a farewell. As he walked towards the mansion’s gate, he stopped and partially turned his head towards me again.
“Your name?”
“…Asyria. Asyria von Ludwig.”
Adding my surname was probably an act of defiance towards a guest of the Archduke’s mansion.
Even if he was an unexpected visitor, I wanted to assert that I belonged to this place.
“…See you next time.”
I looked at my palm, where the spirits had played, again.
Was it an illusion that their smiles, which looked as innocent as children, seemed overly warm? It was written that spirits are the crystallization of nature, so it was natural that they were bright and beautiful.
I left the garden and entered the mansion. The cold gazes of the employees were focused on me for a moment before fading away.
I entered the bedroom, which in name was the marital bedroom to be shared by a couple, but in reality, it was as if I was living there alone, and locked the door.
Spirit Master, Spirit Master.
Despite their bickering, the man and the spirits seemed to share a deep bond of trust reflected in their every action.
I didn’t know why the man was so certain that I was a Spirit Master, but if, by any chance, I really was one…
Could I be surrounded by warmth, like those spirits?
I chuckled dryly, immersed in the fleeting thought.
There was no such thing as ‘by any chance’. I almost succumbed to a ridiculous hope. The situation I’m currently in is enough.
Even though everything had fallen apart, I still desired the Archduke’s attention, trapped in the wretched pit of ‘love’.
The more hope I had, the more my heart was torn apart. I couldn’t fall for it.
I repeated to myself.
Absolutely not.
* * * *
[Redin! I want to see Asyria again!]
[I miss her! Let’s go!]
[I hate that pink-haired woman! But I like Asyria!]
[Asyria! Asyria!]
Redin buried himself in the carriage seat and looked at the nymphs who were whining and saying they wanted to see the woman they’d been separated from.
He hadn’t wanted to visit the Archduke’s mansion. However, a transaction with the North turned out to be complicated and he had to stop by for confirmation.
War hero, Northern sun. The Archduke had numerous titles. Beside him stood a woman.
‘Greetings. I am Sarsha von Warthe, the lover of His Highness, Archduke Karl!’
Reddin had frowned at the woman who boldly introduced herself as a mistress.
It wasn’t just her attitude, there was something off about her aura, a slightly foreign energy radiating from her.
[I hate her! Redin, we hate that woman!]
[Let’s hurry!]
[Let’s go, Redin!]
It wasn’t his imagination. The nymphs had clamored to leave too.
However, he couldn’t ignore his duties, so he quickly handled the transaction with the Archduke and left the mansion.
It was strange, but it wasn’t his business, so he didn’t think about finding out what was off about the woman named Sarsha. Her strong perfume smell only worsened his mood.
As he walked towards the gate, he saw her.
A woman with long black hair and golden eyes, giving off a detached aura as if she could disappear at any moment.
Before he could get closer to the woman, the spirits reacted first.
Being part of nature itself, spirits usually kept a distance from people, except for Spirit Masters.
The spirits flocked to the woman, rubbing their cheeks against her. She seemed a little surprised, but seeing the woman interacting with the spirits, Redin realized.
‘Can you see… this?’
He asked the question only for confirmation, though her interaction with the spirits felt awkward. He asked about her affiliation.
‘Are these spirits?’
Honestly, he had never expected her to know nothing about it.
So, he explained out of obligation. He told her she was a Spirit Master, that only Spirit Masters could see spirits.
Spirit Masters were few, and increasing their numbers couldn’t hurt.
Usually, spirits instinctively sensed Spirit Masters and rushed to make contracts.
This could happen as early as age five, or fifteen at the latest.
Hearing that she had no such experience, he frowned.
‘…Maybe you’re mistaken about something.’
But then, he heard her quiet words, and recognized what filled those golden eyes.
He couldn’t say anything.
Emptiness. Futility. Resignation.
Dark emotions that seem to have accumulated over a very long period of time, possibly throughout the woman’s entire life. The sense that she believed she had nothing.
Having experienced that same horrifying futility, he understood. That feeling of your body becoming empty, which ultimately leads to resignation.
Is that why?
Redin told the woman she was a Spirit Master.
As if possessed, he promised to return and teach her about spirits.
He leaned back in the carriage seat, pressing his hand to his forehead.
The image of Asyria’s serene, golden eyes was etched in his mind, refusing to fade.
