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“That’s right. ‘Solo’ painting wizards are quite rare. Rawiya envied the ‘solo’ ones. They received much better treatment.”
At Rawiya’s words, Kiran nodded again.
“The supports weren’t even fed properly and were always beaten.”
Lacius narrowed his brows. If they were an illegal organization that captured painting wizards and used them for their own gain, such a difference in treatment is surely possible.
‘Could it be that Shay escaped from there?’
His mouth felt dry. Lacius suppressed his anxiety and fell silent again. The last question had to be asked carefully.
‘Suppose they were living somewhere in the desert, and Shay was also captured by them but managed to escape… then she happened to encounter Kun Geisha by chance and received help from him….’
These were all assumptions.
It was worth asking.
However, if he asks this, he will not be able to ask about the ‘moon energy’.
He didn’t even know the most basic things about painting wizards, so he started with that. But the number of possible questions was too limited.
After briefly pondering, Lacius eventually spoke up.
“Do you know where Paradise is?”
“… … !”
“Why?”
“Mueuu. Mmmmm!”
It was then.
Kiran, who had been quiet up until now, had a seizure.
He screamed and struggled with his arms, but Rawiya immediately hugged him to stop it.
But in that moment, Kiran, with his eyes turned inside out, bit down on Rawiya’s arm.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re okay.”
“Mmhhh, mmmhh!”
“It’s alright. Rawiya is here. We’ve escaped from there. It’s safe here. We won’t go back there.”
Was “paradise” a word he shouldn’t have said?
Panicked, Lacius tried to pull Kiran away, but Rawiya shook her head quickly. But Kiran was biting so hard that red stains seeped through the white bandages.
Only then did Lacius realize why Rawiya had bandages all over her body.
Whenever Kiran had a seizure like that, she’d hold him against her body to calm him down.
“We don’t know about paradise. We don’t know anything.”
A moment later, Rawiya spoke with a tired voice.
“I don’t want to talk about it. Please let us leave now. The questioning is over.”
Her body trembled faintly, and her complexion turned pale.
Rawiya knew what “Paradise” was, but she was afraid to speak of it.
‘Is it because Paradise is considered a sacred place? Or does it mean the opposite—death?’
He wanted to dig deeper, but seeing the two of them huddled together, gasping for breath, he couldn’t bring himself to speak. He didn’t expect such a reaction, and now guilt weighed heavily on his chest.
Finally, calming down, Rawiya picked up Kiran and stood up.
“Beware of them. Their name is Fata-Morgana.”
At the time she said that, Rawiya seemed sane.
A moment later, after the two painting wizards had left, the emperor clicked his tongue.
“Poor children.”
“Based on what she said, does that mean there is a stronghold of the so-called Fata-Morgana?”
“That seems to be the case.”
“Because painting wizards are linked by bloodlines, there must be more of them imprisoned within.”
However, no one would have tried to rescue them. It was not an easy task, and it was troublesome. So they probably settled for just the two painting wizards.
Except for Lacius, who can’t take his mind off the two.
He’d come all this way for Shay, but there was a chance that Rawiya could become Shay. If such a danger existed somewhere out there.
“If I didn’t hear it, I wouldn’t know. It’s the right thing to do to seek them out, especially if it’s a warm place.”
“A warm place. Yes, I understand what that means too. Their stronghold must be in the desert.”
The Emperor tapped the armrest of the sofa.
“Lacius, it will cost a lot of money. It will also require a massive amount of manpower. It could also potentially turn the Fata-Morgana into our enemy.”
“… I understand.”
“If you decide to eradicate them, you must see it through to the end. Leave no remnants, not even a child.”
Can you do that?
The emperor was asking that.
Of course, if he staked his life on it, there was no way he couldn’t accomplish it.
There is no knight in Terran who knows the desert better than he does.
“It is a real threat. Give me a chance to deal with it.”
“I expected you to say that after seeing those kids, and that’s why I haven’t shown them to you until now. How long has it only been since you fought a war in the desert and now you want to go again? You have to find and build your own life.”
The emperor’s concern was sincere.
“Thank you for your words, Your Majesty.”
“But you can’t stay still, can’t you? Then there will be no time to give birth to a child who will inherit the blood of the Schweidens.”
There were rules between the Schweiden family and the imperial family.
Schweiden must have children.
The more, the better.
The blood of the Sun God must be passed on to future generations.
And now that Lacius was not even married, let alone expecting children, the Emperor had every reason to be worried.
‘When it comes to this, I guess I’m no different from painting wizards?’
Amused, Lacius extinguished the emperor’s concerns.
“We are engaged, and the marriage will be soon.”
“Yes, you should get married. It was the first time I had ever seen such a bright child. She suits you well.”
“Thank you.”
Would they ever get married?
Regarding that matter, Lacius was deeply skeptical. However, he shifted the topic elsewhere.
“After all, Lakurum is coming up soon. We can only get married after returning from the desert.”
“Hmm, yes. That’s right.”
“Yes. It wouldn’t seem strange to do some research while we’re on our way to the desert.”
“Huh?”
“It seems that the power of painting wizards is limited, so wouldn’t it be better to have more of them, Your Majesty?”
Lacius was careful not to appear too aggressive.
Just because he showed a joyful appearance while playing cards doesn’t mean that the emperor is not an ’emperor’.
Perhaps even that appearance was intentional, to catch him off guard.
That’s what being an emperor is all about.
If he was suspicious of Shay, there was no need to increase the volume of his suspicions.
“It hasn’t been long since we escaped from the threat of those savage desert folks, and now unknown individuals have emerged. No wonder the world cannot be peaceful.”
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