“I think I should look into this once we return.”
“Yeah, I should investigate it too.”
However, it seemed that the male leads did not consider this issue to be particularly serious.
Well, they didn’t know the true identity of Princess Eva, after all.
But then again, I can’t suddenly start explaining my suspicions about Princess Eva to them when it’s just based on conjecture!
“Even when you tell the truth, if people don’t believe you, it can hurt far more than if you had lied in the first place.”
*John Steinbeck, East of Eden
“What’s wrong, Seraphina? You don’t look well,”
Raffaelo asked me in a surprised tone when he saw me. I replied with a frown.
“There’s a bug. It’s enormous and dangerous. Well, it’s not actually a bug, but I just called it one. I don’t even know how big and dangerous it really is, but I just said it was big and dangerous.”
“Oh, okay….”
“I can’t really explain it, but I feel uneasy. If I could catch Aurora right now and get my money back, I’d probably feel better. I’m so upset right now that I could extort money from a passerby like Raffaelo.”
“Uh, let me just ask for directions…. Wait a second, I’ve never extorted money from anyone!”
“That’s because you haven’t tried hard enough. If you try, Raffaelo, you could totally do it.”
“…….”
Anyway, Raffaelo reassured the merchant, promising that he would look into the strange events once he returned to Boleno.
The merchant urged us to make sure to find out, and then showed us the way to the magic tower.
Soon enough, the village was far behind us, and we were riding towards an empty, grassy land.
But no matter how hard I looked around, I couldn’t see the magic tower.
“How much further do we have to go?”
I shouted from the motorcycle, and Ghieuspe answered.
“The magic tower is hidden!”
“What?”
“You have to get closer!”
Ah, so the magic tower doesn’t reveal itself until you get close!
In other words, there’s no way to know how much farther we have to go….
‘How on earth did Aurora manage to get through this path…?’
While I was lost in thought, Simone suddenly hit the brakes.
As the motorcycle stopped, my body lifted slightly into the air, and only then did I spot the tall tower that had suddenly appeared before us.
“This is….”
The tower looked like something straight out of the Bible, like the Tower of Babel.
It twisted upward in a bizarre shape, looking as though it might collapse at any moment, yet it was massive and sturdy.
The windows of the tower were tightly shut, with curtains drawn, making it impossible to guess what the inside looked like. It was so eerily quiet that it was hard to believe anyone actually lived there.
“Hmm….”
Seeing the tower, Ghieuspe groaned with an uneasy expression.
I thought he would be happy to return after so long, but maybe not?
Then again, considering he only ever studied in the magic tower, it makes sense for him to feel uncomfortable.
“Oh, Minji, you were in my class!”
“Uh.”
For example, former students of mine tend to run away when they see me on the street….
The magic tower was so enormous that the opposite side was completely out of view.
We were on the side opposite the entrance of the tower, so we decided to walk around to the other side.
“Do you think Aurora came to the magic tower to seek help again?”
“Yeah, I think that’s probably the case.”
Arkhangelo replied in a disinterested tone, causing Ghieuspe to lower his head.
“If only my research hadn’t been stolen….”
“But that wasn’t your fault, Ghieuspe. What could you have done about someone as extraordinary as Aurora?”
As I consoled Ghieuspe, my finger suddenly pointed ahead.
The person who appeared before us was…
“Aurora!”
Aurora was standing on a stationary airship on the ground, smiling at us with a brazen expression!
Moreover, there was someone standing outside the airship who seemed to be a mage.
“Are you… the Speed mage Andrea Buffon?”
It seemed Ghieuspe recognized him.
The mage, who had been called by name, awkwardly greeted Ghieuspe.
“Ah, hello, lord Phyro.”
“Buffon, why are you with Aurora…?”
“Hehe, I had something to request.”
Aurora opened her mouth with a bright voice that didn’t match the situation.
“Aurora, what on earth are you doing this for?”
I wanted to shout at Aurora with a voice full of anger, but Raffaelo interrupted me first.
“Hey, I know you’re crazy, but what’s the reason for going this far this time? At least tell us so we can help!”
“Ah, a reason…”
Aurora made a thoughtful expression, scratching her head before replying.
“Well, even if I told you, would you understand?”
“What?”
“You guys have never understood me.”
“Are you upset with us about something?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just that I’m someone you’ll never be able to understand, as always.”
Raffaelo had a confused expression in response to Aurora’s cryptic words.
“No, Aurora.”
I met Aurora’s pink eyes and said,
“I thought we were friends, wasn’t that the case?!”
Although it seemed like Seraphina and Aurora always bickered and annoyed each other, from what I read in the diary, Seraphina considered Aurora a friend in her own way.
Even though they played pranks on each other for birthday presents, they always invited each other to their birthday parties.
And despite teasing each other about getting drunk, they had once stolen expensive liquor from my house and drank it together secretly without my dad knowing.
Although they often said harsher things to each other, if anyone insulted the other, they’d defend each other fiercely.
So, no matter how I think about it, we were definitely friends!
Aurora’s expression turned strange in response to my desperate cry, and then she winked one eye before answering.
“Yes, I consider you a friend, which is why I’m doing this!”
“Ah! What kind of nonsense is this! So when will you finally let us catch you?”
“Of course, you must be eager to end this game of tag soon.”
Aurora extended her hand to help the mage outside the airship board.
It was a powerful gesture that one wouldn’t expect from such an innocent-looking face and frail body.
“The day I let you catch me!”
Finally, Aurora shouted with a firm voice.
“Will never come!”
“What?!”
“Seraphina, try to catch me if you can!”
The airship began to rise into the sky.
But the strange thing was that it was moving incredibly fast.
It was so fast that it was like watching an airplane from my past life.
No matter how advanced magical engineering might be, that speed was unbelievable.
Before we could even attempt to catch up, Aurora vanished from sight at an unimaginable speed.
“What, what is this?”
I muttered in a dazed voice, and the others also seemed taken aback, making a few comments.
“It seems like she used the power of the Speed mage Andrea Buffon.”
“She must have exploited some weakness in the magic tower.”
“Yeah, probably.”
Ghieuspe replied in a gloomy voice.
“With the help of the magic tower, it’s impossible to track her location with magic.”
“…Then what do we do?”
“There may be no way.”
For Ghieuspe to declare that so firmly… The atmosphere around us grew somber.
“Ah, Aurora was a good friend…”
“What are you saying? Aurora isn’t dead.”
“I was just trying to make myself feel better by pretending she doesn’t exist.”
At that moment, Raffaelo, who had been staring intently at the sky, spoke up.
“Anyway, Aurora must have left a clue this time as well. I don’t know why, but let’s search around the magic tower for clues.”
“If she’s the Aurora we know, she probably left a clue this time too. Let’s search for it.”
At that moment, Ghieuspe, who had been looking serious for a while, finally spoke.
“But there’s something strange.”
