.
***
Upon hearing the situation from Serdin, Delight rushed over immediately.
By the time they arrived, Derek was collapsed in a corner, and Hayron was about to finish him off.
Bang!
“How dare you commit such an act in my presence?”
With a single strike from Delight, Hayron was thrown in the opposite direction of Derek.
A murderous aura radiated from Delight.
“And you even dared to harm a citizen of the Promian Empire?”
“Kugh!”
“Your arrogance knows no bounds.”
Hayron was subdued in an instant, so easily that it was almost laughable.
Under the constraints of Delight’s binding magic, he was rendered completely immobile.
“Derek! Are you alright? Wake up!”
Marquess Flint cradled him in his arms, calling out urgently.
When Serdin had gone to find Delight, Marquess Flint happened to be with him.
As soon as he heard Serdin’s words, he had rushed over, following Delight in a panic.
“Cough!”
Fortunately, Derek was not dead.
“A-Ah, Father… I’m fine.”
In fact, he was in better shape than expected.
“It’s a relief. Truly a relief! If something had happened to you… I would never have forgiven that bastard.”
Marquess Flint embraced Derek and wept bitterly.
It really was a relief.
Had something terrible happened to him…
Serdin approached Derek.
“Why did you do this?”
He asked.
There had never been much of a connection between Serdin and Derek.
The only link they had was when Derek, along with Zaynan and Miller, had falsely accused him long ago.
Derek lowered his head and muttered an excuse as if trying to justify himself.
“They said you needed my help to clear up the misunderstanding that arose at the banquet…”
A mutual acquaintance had asked for Derek’s help in resolving the scandal involving Serdin and Violyana.
Delight had deemed Derek the most suitable candidate for the task.
“My father told me to meet with Prince Serdin… so I came.”
And this was the result.
Even now, he was barely holding onto his consciousness.
Gasping for breath, as if he might faint at any moment, he glanced at Serdin.
“I-I’m sorry about back then…”
He suddenly blurted out.
“I’ve always felt guilty about it. So when I heard I could help, I wanted to meet you again…”
Had he really been haunted by guilt for all this time, to the point of risking himself like this?
Serdin was so taken aback by this unexpected confession that he momentarily lost his words.
“Did I get in the way?”
Even after saving Serdin, Derek hesitated, worried that he might have disrupted something.
‘Well, he was always easily swayed by those around him back then, too.’
Derek hadn’t changed much since childhood.
He was still timid, fearful, and overly conscious of others.
“You saved me, and now you’re asking something like that?”
“B-But…”
“Thank you. You saved me.”
Serdin responded with sharp precision, as if to dismiss any nonsense.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Heh… That’s a relief.”
Only then did Derek smile for the first time and look directly at Serdin.
“Then… will you forgive me for what I did in the past?”
Even in this moment, it seemed to weigh on his mind.
Serdin held back a sigh of exasperation before speaking.
“…That was when we were kids. I’ve long since forgotten about it.”
“R-Right.”
“But let’s consider this incident as wiping the slate clean.”
“Okay!”
Derek’s face brightened, completely unaware of how pitiful he looked.
Marquess Flint, who had been watching with a concerned expression, finally spoke up.
“Your Majesty, I will take Derek with me. He’ll be fine.”
“Let me know if you need any assistance.”
“Thank you.”
“Derek, let’s go. We need to check on your condition first.”
Marquess Flint supported Derek and helped him away.
Now, the only ones left were Hayron, Delight, and Zaire, who was handling the situation.
Serdin had been the one to call for their assistance.
Delight looked down at Hayron with an icy gaze.
“I never liked you from the start.”
“Haha, of course not. People like you never want to acknowledge someone greater than themselves.”
“You really are twisted.”
Delight scoffed.
“No, you’re wrong. What I took issue with was your claim of being superior to the Archmage Sherina.”
Heh.
Delight let out a cold laugh.
“True geniuses may appear from time to time. But no one can surpass Archmage Sherina.”
If he had ever seen his teacher in person, he wouldn’t have dared to say such things.
“That’s why everything you say is nothing but empty boasting.”
From the beginning, Hayron had never been a threat to Delight.
“Haha. Do you think getting rid of me will solve everything?”
Hayron suddenly laughed loudly, fixing his gaze on Delight without any sign of backing down.
“You don’t even know what’s truly dangerous.”
Even when cornered, Hayron held his head high, provoking Delight.
“Counterfeit magic stones are an incredible creation. But no matter what method we tried, there was always one problem we couldn’t solve.”
A sinister grin spread across his face as he continued.
“If counterfeit magic stones are used for too long or accumulate in the body through other means, they cause berserk symptoms.”
“………..”
“It’s a shame. If not for that flaw, they would have been perfect.”
“……….”
“But even that flaw has its own uses.”
Hayron chuckled to himself, muttering under his breath.
“I even made a way to ingest counterfeit magic stones.”
Hayron suddenly lifted his head. His eyes gleamed with madness.
“Like feeding a potion made from counterfeit magic stones to the Princess of Promian.”
Hayron smirked as he locked eyes with Serdin.
“The reason Prince Serdin came here.”
Hayron intended to drag Serdin into this mess as well, ensuring he had no escape.
“What?”
Cracks appeared in Delight’s expression.
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Delight gritted his teeth.
“If you don’t believe me, check for yourself.”
But no matter how it sounded, it didn’t seem like a lie.
Delight’s face contorted in frustration.
He grabbed Hayron by the collar, looking ready to kill him on the spot.
At that moment—
“Kuh-heok!”
Suddenly, Hayron’s condition took a drastic turn.
He let out an eerie, unintelligible scream and began convulsing, his entire body writhing in agony.
Was this… berserk syndrome?
They stood on guard, prepared for an attack.
But Hayron didn’t lash out at anyone.
Instead, he rolled on the ground, shrieking in pain.
“Puhk-keo-huk!”
Something about this was different from the berserk episodes Delight had seen before.
He decided to wait and observe the situation a little longer.
“Ugh…!”
Hayron twisted and contorted his body in pain before suddenly collapsing backward.
Foam formed at his mouth.
Thud
His limbs went limp in an instant, his body going completely still.
They waited, but he didn’t move at all.
“…He’s dead.”
Zaire approached Hayron and confirmed it.
“Was that… a berserk episode?”
“It was different from His Majesty’s case, but… yes, it was.”
Even to Delight, it was clear—this was berserk syndrome.
Zaire lifted Hayron’s body slightly, checking for signs of life.
“Upon further inspection, this man barely had any mana at all.”
“And yet, he went around acting as if he were an Archmage. They must be counterfeit magic stones, then.”
“That appears to be the case. I was about to report this—strange signs of withered plants have been found near the banquet hall.”
“The banquet hall? Could it be because of that magic…?”
“Yes. It seems to have occurred after this man used magic to write words across the night sky during the spring banquet ball.”
“So that’s what it was… The traces left by using counterfeit magic stones.”
Using magic at the cost of life itself—it felt eerily similar to black magic.
Delight kept that thought to himself.
“We’ll need to investigate further, but it does seem related.”
Zaire gave a cautious response instead of making a hasty judgment.
“At any rate, it doesn’t seem like he was just using counterfeit magic stones in a simple way.”
“Are there other methods of using them?”
Could that be why the berserk state appeared differently?
But the most puzzling part was the timing.
“Why did he suddenly go berserk?”
“I’m not sure. Berserk episodes are usually unpredictable…”
“But if there had been a risk of him going berserk, Ilnord wouldn’t have sent him here in the first place.”
They must have been confident that he wouldn’t lose control while in Promian.
Perhaps they had a way to detect or regulate the symptoms of berserk syndrome.
That meant this was an unexpected berserk episode—something neither Hayron nor Ilnord had anticipated.
“It seems like there was some unknown variable they hadn’t accounted for.”
“What exactly are they trying to do with counterfeit magic stones?”
What was that variable?
Delight muttered under his breath, staring down at Hayron’s body, which was now covered with a cloth.
Regardless, someone who had come under the guise of an Ilnord Archmage had died here.
They needed to explain the situation to Ilnord and bring the matter to a close.
Deep in thought, Delight’s gaze narrowed.
Then, with a tone of feigned regret, he spoke.
“If a con artist is determined to deceive, even Ilnord can be fooled.”
With a single remark, Delight reframed the entire situation—turning it from ‘an Archmage dying’ into ‘a fraud deceiving Ilnord and meeting his end.’
“The only thing left is to inform Ilnord of this unfortunate truth. And let them know that if they wish to keep it from the public, we’ll help maintain the secrecy.”
He even made it sound as if he was being considerate toward Ilnord.
“The fraudster is the true villain here, but Ilnord’s reputation might take a hit. It’s only fair to offer them this courtesy.”
“Understood. I’ll send them our deepest condolences and express our full cooperation.”
Zaire, understanding Delight’s intent perfectly, responded with a knowing smirk.
“That should be sufficient.”
With a smirk, Delight completely erased the issue surrounding Hayron.
Then, as he turned, his sharp gaze locked onto Serdin.
“Now, we need to verify what that man said before he died.”
This concerned Serdin.
“Go ahead. Speak.”
“……….”
“What did you do to Ollia?”
