The darkness had already descended upon the banks of the Arnin River.

Ting. Ting.

With their characteristic sound, the mana stone lamps turned on, illuminating the area around the banquet tables with a blue light.

Kasha’s long hair fluttered naturally in the slow river breeze.

Perhaps it was due to her hair being dyed blue by the light from the mana stone lamps, but Kasha, standing alone, looked particularly pale and delicate.

Some of the banquet attendees looked at her with curiosity, while others openly mocked her.

“She can’t tell where she should and shouldn’t intervene.”

“You’re right about that.”

Simon enthusiastically agreed with Odette’s sarcasm.

Yet he couldn’t take his eyes off Kasha the whole time.

Kasha Lyuschino. Such a trivial and tiresome existence.

‘Simon.’

He took for granted her anxious gaze that always looked at him shyly. He also thought of the magical tools she made and offered him as a mediocre talent.

Now that all those things have seeped through his fingers like nothing, he realizes.

Perhaps she was an extremely rare and noble being. He just failed to recognize her.

She, whom he once considered his fool, now seemed to have gone far beyond his reach.

That realization brought a sense of defeat more terrible than he expected. Simon downed the strong alcohol placed in front of him in one gulp. Odette glared at him and chided him quietly so others wouldn’t hear.

“Drink in moderation. You should at least escort properly, considering your position.”

Meanwhile, Daril was nervously biting his nails, not knowing what to do with his anxiety.

“…I don’t know why Kasha is doing this again.”

“She must have her reasons.”

“But… why deliberately do something that will be the talk of the town? Wouldn’t it be better if I stop her now?”

“Let’s just watch for now, shall we?”

Melissa, who had been silently watching Margaret comfort Daril, turned her gaze to Kasha. Her eyes were quiet and tired, but a hint of undisguisable curiosity shone in them.

Then, at one point, the river breeze died down. As if someone had intended it. People thought the scene before their eyes had momentarily frozen.

And right then, Kasha’s low and unadorned voice spread around.

Once upon a time, I had no attachment to the world

Back then, there was no love in the world

When the mountain bird cried and the northern snow stopped falling

What god’s will sent you to me?

It was truly strange.

Even the crickets’ chirping that had been surrounding them like background music had all ceased. The world was as quiet as a dead mouse.

In the pitch-black darkness, only Kasha’s voice drifted in the air and settled under the blue lamp light.

It was a song with a simple melody devoid of any technique. The elongated ending note treatment unique to northern folk songs sounded unfamiliar to most of the audience.

Nevertheless, everyone sitting around the three tables listened to her song, holding their breath.

Each syllable she sang tickled their hearts, awakening their hazily drunken minds. It knocked on their rusted hearts.

They all wiped their eyes at the same time.

Kasha Lyuschino. It was as if they had a hallucination of a sacred halo shining around her, who had been nicknamed an idiot and a madwoman.

As if enchanted by a witch’s spell, they stared at her with their mouths open, unable to take their eyes off her.

Anthony was no exception.

His face, which had been frowning at her impromptu action, gradually became expressionless. Not because he couldn’t feel anything, but because he forcibly hardened his expression to hide his emotional turmoil.

His face, with the exaggerated smile gone, was as pale as wax, and his eyes wavered. Throughout the entire duration of Kasha’s song.

And Leon gazed at her and listened attentively without the slightest movement while her song continued.

An undisguisable smile hung on the corners of his mouth. Like someone looking at something maddeningly lovely and trying their hardest to hide their affection.

When the song finally ended, the sound of Leon’s applause pierced through the silence and spread.

And more and more people’s applause joined in. It continued until Kasha quietly bowed her head and sat down.

Kasha looked around while calming her breath that had become a little rough from singing for the first time in a long while.

It was a somewhat reckless challenge, but fortunately, it didn’t seem to be a failure.

It was a strange thing. The moment she met Nigel’s gaze, that song came to her mind.

The song Kasha sang was an orally transmitted folk song from the northern mountain range where she grew up. One could often hear the village women humming it together while passing by the laundry place.

Even her mentally unstable mother used to sing this song to the end. So Kasha naturally memorized the lyrics from beginning to end.

It was probably around when she was twelve years old. When Kasha kept failing to chant the magic activation words and was crying, her mother told her to try infusing mana into this song.

‘This song? But what’s the point of infusing mana into this trivial song? I barely have any mana to begin with, so why would I do such a useless thing?’

‘Magic was originally created by having curiosity about trivial phenomena and digging into them persistently in the first place. In fact, there’s nothing trivial in the world. Not even a single pebble on the roadside is insignificant.’

Her mother, who said something that seemed to hold a profound meaning, then turned around and grinned absurdly to herself, lost in her own world.

Since that day, Kasha stopped obsessing over magic activation words. And she diligently focused on singing only that song. Then at some point, she became able to infuse mana into that song. A very trivial amount of mana, into a very trivial song.

The only magic a powerless girl with nothing could perform at that time.

Of course, she couldn’t accomplish anything with that trivial magic, and she stopped singing that song since then.

To think that after a very long time, she would sing this trivial song in front of the people with the greatest power in the empire today.

The moment she saw Nigel’s eyes looking down on Melissa, Kasha, and Leon with a sneer, the desire to do just that surged up.

‘There’s nothing trivial in the world. Not even a single pebble on the roadside is insignificant.’

Maybe she wanted to let him hear those words her mother had said.

That there is nothing insignificant in the world, so don’t you dare look at anyone with those eyes.

All those things you think you have in your grasp right now, in fact, none of them might actually be yours.

‘And if that turns out to be true, I will definitely snatch them away from your hands.’

But Kasha’s song had a much greater impact than she had thought.

“Sob, hic…”

“Oh my, Lord Daril. Are you crying right now?”

“Well… Lady Margaret. Since our territory is also located in the north, I know this song, and hearing it again after a long time, it somehow pierced my heart… But I didn’t know our Kasha could sing so well… I feel sorry that I never knew that until now. Wahh.”

Daril was not the only one shedding tears without knowing the reason.

Odette, who had become sensitive due to her pregnancy, also shed tears without any pride. There were quite a few others who were either in tears or in a dazed state as if their minds had gone blank.

It was the effect of the strong appeal inherent in this song, which was orally transmitted as a folk song, combined with the weakly added mana. The fact that most of the audience was heavily drunk also played a part.

Suddenly, Princess Melissa, who had been sitting silently the whole time, spoke to Kasha.

“It was a very impressive song, Lady Kasha Lyuschino.”

“It was nothing.”

When Kasha responded humbly, Melissa gave a faint smile.

“I am amazed by your talents every time, both at the hunting competition and now.”

“Thank you. It’s all thanks to the opportunities given by Your Highness the Crown Prince and the Princess.”

“Opportunities…”

Melissa’s smile turned into a bitter one.

“What was an inescapable trap until you sang has become an opportunity thanks to your song.”

A trap.

Although she was speaking just loud enough for Leon and Kasha to hear, her choice of words was still bold.

Suddenly, Leon, who had been just listening to their conversation, intervened.

“Your Highness.”

“Speak, Leon.”

Perhaps because their hearts had been disarmed by Kasha’s song, the two cousins faced each other casually as if they were children again.

“If there is anything I can help with, please tell me.”

“……”

Melissa’s eyes, which had been clear for a moment, became hazy again.

“Something you can help with… I’m not that brazen, Leon.”

“Your Highness.”

“I, too, turned a blind eye to the things you are going through, didn’t I? So you should do the same.”

Melissa spoke, alternating her gaze between Kasha and Leon. Still in the lowest voice possible so no one around could hear.

Seeing her eyes, Kasha was convinced.

You are also enduring something.

Probably something your brother Nigel is doing.

Kasha leaned towards the princess. Leon, who was sitting between them, slightly leaned back to make way.

“Princess.”

When Kasha called her in a tense voice, Princess Melissa leaned towards her in response. Kasha’s mouth touched the princess’s ear.

“By any chance, do you know about mana stones?”

She spoke softly, but Leon, who was right next to them, also heard her words. He instantly scanned the surroundings with the sharp eyes of a hunting dog. Anthony was nearby, but fortunately, he had a blank expression, lost in his own thoughts.

In the meantime, Kasha asked once more.

“Have you heard about the mana stones created by demons, Princess?”

“……”

The princess didn’t answer. But Kasha and Leon saw it.

For a moment, the darkness that settled in the princess’s deep purple eyes. The instinctive fear that couldn’t be hidden.

‘The princess knows something about the mana stones.’

Just as Kasha thought that and was about to hurriedly continue her words.

“Haha. Truly remarkable, remarkable indeed. Lady Lyuschino.”

Amidst the still buzzing crowd, Crown Prince Nigel’s voice rang out cheerfully.