The blue flower buds growing in the glass garden blossomed with a mysterious glow in the moonlight.
“I discovered it by chance recently.”
Rosalie gazed in awe at the flowers emitting their enchanting glow. The light was so bright that she could now clearly see Derivis’s face, which had been obscured in the darkness just moments ago.
“…It’s so beautiful.”
Without thinking, Rosalie reached out to a fully bloomed flower. The moment her hand touched it, the flower shyly closed its petals.
“You need to break the stem without touching the petals.”
Derivis, who had quietly approached Rosalie from behind, reached for the stem. However, Rosalie stopped him and shook her head. Though she had reached out to touch it, she thought it was more beautiful as it was.
“Just admiring it is enough.”
Derivis withdrew his hand. Amused by the flower’s reaction, Rosalie continued to gently touch the buds, watching them close.
“Spring hasn’t even arrived yet, and these flowers are blooming….”
“These flowers bloom for a very brief moment between the end of winter and the start of spring.”
“Is that so…?”
Despite Derivis’s explanation, Rosalie couldn’t take her eyes off the flowers. At the same time, Derivis couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Whenever she saw something fascinating, her eyes would sparkle and she would reach out to touch it. She did the same with his auror and every magical artifact he showed her.
When he discovered this place, Derivis knew he had to bring Rosalie here. Perhaps it was because he wanted to see that expression again.
‘I should visit the villa in Noveta with Derivis once this is all over.’
Seeing the beautiful scenery made Rosalie want to visit the famed villa and share its beauty with this man.
The flowers lost their light as dark clouds covered the moon. Rosalie watched them with a look of regret.
“Rosalie, why didn’t you tell me a magician approached you?”
Startled, Rosalie turned to look at Derivis. There was only one way he could have known.
‘Radinis must have told him.’
“…I was going to tell you after finding out more. I’m meeting the magician through Countess Seth soon, so I was planning to get information from him before telling you.”
Derivis sighed and ran a hand through his hair. What should he do with this woman who charged ahead without considering the risks?
“I didn’t want to worry you…”
But seeing Rosalie glance at him nervously, Derivis couldn’t stay angry.
“Then, was the wound inside your mouth because of the magician?”
He had a good memory and sharp eyes. Caught off guard by his perceptiveness, Rosalie averted her gaze, and Derivis ground his teeth.
“We need to find that magician first.”
He needed to find the magician for Radinis’s sake. But more than anything, his heart went cold at the thought of a madman approaching Rosalie.
“Once the Empress is overthrown, the magician will reveal himself.”
“What did the magician say when he approached you?”
Derivis placed his hand on the old wooden railing. Rosalie’s eyes followed his hand.
“…He said he could return me to my original world if I participated in his experiment.”
The railing crumbled under Derivis’s grip as he remembered the numerous scars on Radinis’s body.
“He intended to conduct that experiment on you.”
Rosalie let out a soft sigh and approached Derivis, gently wrapping her hands around his, which were clutching the wooden fragments tightly.
“Of course, I refused. I have no intention of ever agreeing.”
“…From now on, I want to hear directly from you about anything concerning you.”
Derivis looked into Rosalie’s eyes. Seeing the earnestness in his face, she nodded and slowly pried open his tightly clenched hand. Though calloused patches prevented any wounds, his hand was red.
“I want to be the first to worry about you and come to your rescue.”
Rosalie gently brushed away the splinters from his palm with her fingertips.
“I’ll make sure to tell you first from now on.”
Derivis smiled faintly and lightly squeezed Rosalie’s fingers.
⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰
Late in the afternoon, Rosalie was waiting for a guest to arrive at the mansion. When Martin informed her that the guest had arrived, she headed straight for the reception room.
“Have you arrived, Your Grace?”
“Yes, I’m on my way to the reception room now.”
On her way, she ran into Erudit, who called out to her. After a moment of hesitation, Erudit asked if he could join her.
‘Since he’s the assistant to the magician we’re supporting, it wouldn’t hurt for Erudit to be present.’
The guest today was a magician whom Rosalie had asked Moiron to introduce, hoping to learn something about Rondun. Moiron had gladly acted as an intermediary and arranged for the magician to visit the Duchess’s mansion.
Rosalie opened the door to the reception room with Erudit. Upon seeing the man with dark brown hair sitting on the sofa, Erudit involuntarily called out a name that popped into his mind.
“Tehard?”
The man addressed as Tehard looked equally surprised to see Erudit.
“Erudit?”
Rosalie glanced between Erudit and Tehard. Erudit quickly composed himself and explained to Rosalie.
“Ah… We were academy classmates. We were in different departments, though.”
Erudit had previously mentioned that if they couldn’t get the information they needed from the magician, then he might contact an old academy friend. Neither Erudit nor Rosalie had expected that friend to be the magician visiting today.
“You’ve been working at the Duchess’s mansion, Erudit?”
Finding a friend in an unexpected place doubled the joy. Tehard seemed genuinely happy to see Erudit, who also didn’t seem displeased.
“Yes. So Tehard, you’ve become an assistant magician.”
“Well, magicians have to go through those stages.”
Rosalie and Erudit approached the sofa opposite Tehard. Tehard glanced at Rosalie as she got closer.
“Hello. Please call me Tehard.”
“I’m Rosalie Judeheart.”
Rosalie extended her hand to Tehard, who shook it firmly with a friendly smile before turning back to Erudit.
“I was quite disappointed you didn’t stay in touch, Erudit.”
“Sorry about that. How about we catch up later and get down to business first?”
Despite the long-awaited reunion, Tehard felt a bit let down by Erudit’s rather dry response. Knowing Erudit’s personality and his often unexpectedly tender nature, Tehard didn’t press further and looked at Rosalie.
“I heard you were looking for a magician.”
“Yes, I have quite a few questions.”
“Well, since you’re supporting us, feel free to ask anything~.”
Tehard spoke cheerfully. Erudit scolded him for his usual lack of manners, but Rosalie found his lively personality quite appealing.
“I’ve heard the magical community is very closed off.”
“Although there’s talk of reforms and the academy has been established to open things up a bit, it is still pretty closed.”
“So, do you know much about other magicians?”
Tehard leaned forward, his interest piqued. Why was a noble of the Empire inquiring about magicians? His curiosity grew, but so did his caution.
“Why is the Duchess looking for a magician?”
Magicians were powerful, and magical artifacts sold for high prices in human society. Thus, human greed made magicians wary.
If necessary, he could just walk away, feigning the aloofness typical of magicians. The support issue involved mutual financial interests, so it wouldn’t be easy for either side to withdraw.
“I want to ask about a particular magician.”
Rosalie glanced at Erudit.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t mentioned the magician to him yet.’
Since they were acquaintances, she decided that there was no need to hide it. She resolved to ask about Rondun in front of Erudit.
“Do you know a magician named Rondun?”
“…How do you know that name?”
Tehard’s previously relaxed demeanor turned sharp at the mention of the name, making Rosalie puzzled by the sudden change in his attitude.
“Is he such an important magician?”
“He was expelled from the Mage Tower.”
Rosalie flinched at his response while Tehard watched her reaction closely.
“…Did he commit a crime?”
“If you don’t explain why you’re asking about him, I have no intention of talking about him. I can’t help someone interested in a criminal exiled from the Mage Tower.”
Tehard was firm. Rosalie hadn’t expected him to easily divulge information, but she weighed whether it was worth revealing her secret to a wizard she had just met.
‘But you have to give something to get something.’
She needed information about Rondun. Since Tehard was close to Erudit, who was known to be selective about his friends, she decided to be honest.
“Rondun approached me. He asked me to participate in an experiment.”
“Why did he ask you to join his experiment?”
“Because I’m someone whose soul has been switched. He claimed that he could send me back to my original world.”
Tehard, surprised, touched his lips and looked troubled.
“Erudit, did you know about this?”
Erudit slowly nodded. However, he hadn’t known about the magician’s approach, so he clenched his hands tightly.
‘Send her back…?’
The words echoed in Erudit’s mind. Tehard scratched his head, dealing with a troubling story alongside the familiar face.
“…Did you agree?”
“No. It seemed suspicious, so I refused.”
Rosalie shook her head in response, and both Tehard and Erudit sighed in relief.
“You did the right thing. From what I’ve heard, he was warned by the Mage Tower and the Grand Magician for excessive biological experiments. After his mentor passed away, he continued his experiments in secret, using people with swapped souls.”
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