Even if she had no legs, she would crawl on the dirt floor to pierce that throat. The desire to do whatever she could had consumed Lou for a long time.

She had chosen Hayden and Perseus only because their goals aligned and her parents were here; she neither overly trusted nor relied on Hayden.

Ophelia quietly observed Lou for a moment. Though it would take a lot to surprise the sage from the West, he seemed slightly startled by Lou’s calm and solid demeanor.

“Where did you find such a person, Your Majesty?”

The sage from the West finally spoke, sounding astounded.

“She’s an old acquaintance of mine.”

An old acquaintance. Lou honestly couldn’t believe the boy she had met in front of that barrier back then and Hayden now were the same person. Therefore, the term ‘old acquaintance’ felt strange and awkward to her.

Above all, that blonde boy soldier back then was short, malnourished, and his expression was as gloomy as the others’. The complete opposite of Hayden now.

Moreover, her memory stopped there. She didn’t know how they had parted ways or what had happened afterward.

“It’s the path you chose, Your Majesty.”

Ophelia muttered as she looked at Lou.

“You would’ve made the same choice if you were me.”

“Yes, I would have.”

To Lou’s surprise, she readily agreed and stood up. Her long, thin dress gracefully fell from the bed. Ophelia was as tall as Lou had anticipated. She closed her shawl and gestured.

“Then I should show you the reality of my current situation. Shall we take a tour of the tower?”

Lou hastily set down her teacup and followed the elegantly walking Ophelia.

Even without her direct touch, the thick oak doors opened by themselves. Ophelia’s two apprentices, who had been politely waiting in front of the door, were shocked to see their master walking out.

“Roderick.”

“Yes, yes, Master!”

She summoned her apprentice and pondered for a moment, seemingly deciding where to go.

“…Let’s go to the library.”

“Library? Ah, yes.”

“Garnet, come too.”

Upon hearing her name, the young woman with short hair rushed over with wide eyes. Lou followed, noting the emotional expressions of the two apprentices.

Because the tower was so vast and tall, one usually had to use magic circles to move within. The five of them stepped onto the magic circle again; a flash of light later, they arrived at a new location.

“You’ve managed the magic circles well.”

Ophelia muttered as she walked forward.

“Heh…”

“Garnet, don’t cry.”
Garnet’s eyes welled up as she covered her mouth with both hands, while Roderick, his eyes red-hot, tried to comfort her. Such praise seemed to bring great joy to these two apprentices.

Lu followed behind Ophelia, who was walking briskly, her face adorned with a slight smile.

“Have you cleaned here as well?”

The Sage of the West surveyed the area and asked. Her soft voice reverberated off the high ceiling. The echoing of voices and footsteps was due to the lack of people remaining in this place.

“We couldn’t finish everything.”

Garnet responded, slightly hunching her shoulders.

“It’s so vast…”

The library was embarrassingly empty to even be called a library. There were almost no shelves, and naturally, no books either.

Traces of someone’s effort to fill the vast library were apparent, but it was not nearly enough.

The accumulation of resources over time in this ever-expanding place was not something that could be overcome quickly.

“Now, this is one of the places that Carlos Arthur Ingram plundered.”

Ophelia glanced back at Lu as she spoke.

“He took away all the precious magical texts, ancient books, and comprehensive research findings, then burned the rest. The books used to fill up to that ceiling. There are three more identical spaces beyond that. But this is probably the cleanest.”

She murmured coolly, but when she made her final statement, she glanced at Roderick and Garnet as if asking, ‘Isn’t it?’

“Yes, everything is clean except the last shelf!”

“We are currently cleaning the last shelf.”

Ophelia looked slightly surprised at the apprentices’ words. Her blue eyes looked toward the distant second shelf.

A space filled with memories of magicians researching and studying throughout the night caught her curiosity. However, she didn’t proceed to the second shelf.

“It wasn’t just books that were taken. The tower had many precious artifacts as well.”

She scanned the library for a moment before briskly turning around and walking back to the magic circle. The apprentices hastily followed. She walked forward once more as the magic circle flickered.

Yet another new space. A large hall, clean but empty. Ophelia looked back at her apprentices in surprise.

“Was this cleaned too?”

“This was already cleaned when we got here…”

“Ah.”

Ophelia thought of the countless people who had come to learn magic from her before, only to leave disappointed by her lack of power. Over the centuries, only a few had come. One of them must have cleaned it while there was still passion left.

“…I see.”

She mumbled, covering her mouth. The surprised apprentices continuously checked Ophelia’s complexion.

“…Here…”

The tower owner struggled to speak. Explaining the emptiness, the utter lack of everything, was like explaining death itself. Lu knew all too well how painful it was to say that everything she had passionately achieved was gone.

“I know. You don’t have to say it.”

Lu looked into the slightly grimacing face of Ophelia and nodded.

Carlos must have taken all the artifacts and weapons with mysterious powers. All that’s left is a destroyed ruin. A painful loss for the entire Empire of Perseta. The foundation of the nation must be shaken.

Lu looked at the dust-covered space. It was amazing that Perseta was even maintaining its appearance, considering all the artifacts that filled such a vast space had been plundered.

“Carlos took everything here to establish his own country,”

Ophelia muttered, shrugging her shoulders.

“He’s still leeching off my power.”
Lu looked back at Hayden. He had already described the curse afflicting Lu as “exploitation.” Lu shook her head as if that was going too far, but in reality, she simply didn’t have the courage to admit it.

‘So it is. Not just cursed, but also robbed.’

The genius knight, atop his steed, had cursed her to disable her power, and had gleefully utilized that power for himself. Even now, Lu and Ophelia were being drained and exploited by Carlos.

“What was the most important thing here?”

“Everything was important.”

Ophelia laughed.

“The Izzar short sword, the Nananka staff, Hullen’s blue diamond necklace… too many to list.”

“Name just the five most essential items. I have a general idea of where they might be.”

What was she planning? Ophelia looked up to see the much weaker and younger Rustica Gennes. Lu turned her head to look at Hayden.

“Your Highness, please let me return to my official post.”

Her green eyes seemed slightly off, as if not fully in focus.

“There’s time before the subjugation is over and I fully move to Perseta. I should bring something back.”

“From your official post?”

Hayden asked with a smile, and Lu wore a face that said, ‘You know, so why are you asking?’

“From Kaleta.”

“So you’re telling me that the Kaleta official is going back to Kaleta?”

“Yes. Even a scoundrel who only steals from others should know how it feels to be robbed.”

At least she knew what Carlos valued. The sound of teeth grinding caught the attention of Garnet and Rodric, who were taken aback.