“So, Solas Moretti…… She was already killed by the Emperor’s hand, but what−.”

Ricarion stuttered, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Duke Greco let out a light sigh as he watched his son, who had always been like a solid rock, become flustered and at a loss.

“You brought back to life that child whom the Emperor killed?”

“……!”

Ricarion’s eyes wavered.

“Since when did you know?”

“Since the day you found Aeri and breathed Solas Moretti’s soul into Yuriella Grande’s body. Nectan told me.”

“……Uncle did?”

“Yes. Your uncle.”

Ricarion bit his lip. He had been so careful, how did they notice?

“My brother, who has aged more than me from working hard in the magic tower you abandoned, told me. He said you caused an enormous magical disturbance to save a life.”

Ricarion hid his flustered expression and clearly stated that he had not crossed the line.

“It was not something forbidden by the magic tower or imperial law.”

The duke’s deep purple eyes glinted sharply from behind his thick monocle.

“To think that the magic tower master, the pride and joy of magicians, would use his abilities to revive a wandering soul.”

“……A wandering soul? Even if it left the body, it was a dazzlingly beautiful and pure soul−.”

“The owner of the great holy sword Gaius has become a freeloader in the Grand Duke’s house, receiving glares from the host.”

“……Not a freeloader, but formally invited by Her Highness the Grand Duchess−.”

“That’s enough. Don’t cross the line any further.”

The duke cut him off firmly.

He was a father who hadn’t stopped his only son when he left home without inheriting his title.

He was a generous patron who took responsibility for a considerable portion of the family budget as research funds for the magic tower and even for the welfare of magicians, as punishment for having a son who was the rarely-seen master of the magic tower.

But Melito Greco had just one absolute, inviolable line.

The balance of neutrality.

The unwavering value that the West, which prided itself on playing a significant role in the stability and peace of the Empire, had steadfastly maintained.

When power concentrates in one place, balance crumbles and leads to chaos and catastrophe. The West had maintained the Empire’s balance by subtracting from where power gathered and adding strength to weakened factions.

They believed this was the way to protect both the Empire and the West.

The magic tower had also cooperated with the West, sharing this common belief. This was because the independent status the magic tower enjoyed was a right that would no longer be protected if peace was broken.

“I won’t cross the line.”

“You have already crossed it. The moment the street performer Yuriella became Grand Duchess Yuriella Ielheim, one of your feet had already crossed the line. And you’ve already stepped on the line with your other foot to protect that woman!”

Blood vessels popped on the temple of Duke Greco, who never raised his voice.

“From now on, everything you do for the Grand Duchess will become actions for the Grand Duke. And actions for the Grand Duke will become actions supporting the North. In a situation like now where the Great Nobles’ Council has been convened, even your slightest movement could cause a great storm.”

Ricarion recalled the dazzling early summer garden of the Grand Duke’s mansion where Solas became Yuriella Ielheim.

People couldn’t take their eyes off the beautiful bride who seemed to have sprung out of the forest.

But Ricarion was watching the small flame, the girl from the streets who was captivated at first sight.

The flame he had revived took another man’s hand and vowed eternity.

Ricarion felt powerless in the face of the majestic flow that moved regardless of his will.

Even knowing it was just a strategic marriage of necessity, he felt bitter.

He was even afraid that there might be some divine arrangement he couldn’t even imagine.

He had never intended to possess her, but the feeling of loss almost made him jump up and run away several times.

Ricarion pushed away the thoughts that washed over him like waves and returned to his original rock-solid face.

“Have I ever disappointed you even once, Father?”

“It’s just that you’ve never had anything you desired this desperately before.”

“I won’t abandon my duty and responsibility because of personal feelings. If you can’t believe me, shall I make a blood oath?”

A blood oath was a solemn promise that, if broken, would cost a magician not only their powers but their life.

But the duke just snickered.

“My son. Don’t trust your will. Will has no power. The success or failure of everything is determined not by will, but by environment. That’s precisely why you need to create an environment where you can’t help but succeed even if your will doesn’t work.”

“You’re wrong. Human will changes many things. That’s what the West has been doing all along, and that’s what the magic tower was trying to do. If human will is strong enough to overcome even fate or the will of the gods, it can change them.”

Ricarion hurried his steps towards the Grand Duke’s mansion, brushing off the butler who urged him to stay the night.

With each step he took, he erased the reasons not to cross the line and engraved the reasons why he had to go.

‘Because we don’t know when Solas’s soul might be ejected from Yuriella’s body again. Because it’s still worrying to leave the unstable union solely to Aeri. And we don’t know what the Emperor might do next.’

The owner of the holy sword Gaius and 10th circle archmage, who had been gentle to others but ruthlessly strict with himself, gathered plausible excuses to stay a little longer by the side of his first love, whom he missed even while looking at her.

As he entered the magic circle leading to the Grand Duke’s mansion through the garden, his father’s warning clung to him like a shadow.

[My son. Don’t trust your will. Will has no power.]

*

“Is Duke Greco having a hard time these days?”

As Ricarion entered directly into the Grand Duke’s mansion foyer through the magic circle, the sullen voice of the host reached him.

“Tsk tsk. To think he’d let his only son become a freeloader in someone else’s house because he doesn’t have a spare room in his mansion to put him up.”

Ricarion’s lips curled into a slight smile, his heavy heart lightening at the Grand Duke’s blatant provocation.

“I would have liked to spend some quality time with my family after so long, but what can I do when ‘Her Highness’ has asked me to stay here ‘absolutely’? She says I’m ‘so needed’.”

The counterattack seemed effective as the Grand Duke forcibly softened his murderous gaze and awkwardly smiled.

“There’s a saying that fish and guests start to stink after three days. But, well, that’s impossible in our Ielheim. We treat guests like family. If you have any discomfort, feel free to say so anytime.”

“Don’t worry. I’m staying very comfortably, as if it were my own home. I couldn’t ask for more, but I’m grateful for your generous hospitality.”

Ricarion bowed deeply with his arms exaggeratedly spread, then climbed the marble stairs leading from the hall to the second floor.

Frost gritted his teeth as he spread his senses to hear Ricarion entering the reception room where his lovely wife was and exchanging greetings cheerfully.

He would definitely drive out this bewitching freeloader who was stuck to his wife like a leech. He would make him so uncomfortable that he wouldn’t want to stay any longer.

Frost clenched his fist tightly and bounded up the stairs two steps at a time.

[Stop right there.]

Aeri spread her arms to block Frost, fluttering her transparent wings.

“Move.”

Frost grabbed Aeri’s wings and flung her into the air.

[Ugh!]

Aeri puffed up her cheeks and blew out air.

Frost swept back his disheveled hair with an annoyed expression and froze the wind by waving his arm.

The tiny water particles mixed in the wind froze and scattered in the air like sparkling powder.

[Go look in a mirror, Grand Duke. You’ll see a fool blinded by jealousy there.]

Aeri flew over angrily and blocked Frost’s path again.

[You should be grateful that Ricarion Greco exists in the same era as you. Thanks to Ricarion, Yuriella Ielheim can exist too.]

The act of making a soul that has left its body dwell in another’s body was only possible because Ricarion Greco was a 10th circle archmage and the owner of the holy sword Gaius, blessed by the earth.

It was also Ricarion who persistently awakened Aeri, who had been sleeping hidden in the aurora beyond the icy sea, and persuaded her to breathe life into Yuriella.

[Have you already forgotten how Yuriella’s soul was ejected on your wedding night?]

“I haven’t forgotten for a single day.”

How many nights had he spent restlessly by his sleeping wife’s side, anxious that her soul might have been ejected again?

How many sighs of relief had he breathed each time he saw those red eyes slowly open, heavy with sleep, in the morning sunlight?

Frost wasn’t the only one who had developed anxiety.

Since that day, Aeri too would startle at even a sneeze from Yuriella, frantically infusing her with the power of wind.

[The union of body and soul is still unstable. Yuriella needs the magic tower master more than a jealous husband.]

“As you say, he is a capable magician and an excellent owner of a holy sword. He can help anytime without having to stick so closely to my wife.”

[Wake up, Frost. The magic tower master isn’t a honey jar you can dip into whenever you want.]

Aeri flew down and sat cross-legged on Frost’s shoulder.

[Ricarion Greco is a magic tower master who abhors the magic tower disrupting the Empire’s balance. It’s already surprising that he’s helped the Grand Duchess of the North this much. You have to admit that, right?]

“…….”

[The magic tower is on the magic tower master’s right shoulder, and the truly neutral West is on his left. How long do you think he can ignore that?]

Frost frowned at Aeri’s words that hit the mark.

It was a sensitive time when the Great Nobles’ Council had been convened.

In a delicate situation where every word and action of each great noble could break the tightly maintained balance, the magic tower master’s movements were bound to be seen as a major variable for the Empire’s future.

[Are you going to spit him out when you can’t even swallow him? You’re the guardian of the North before you’re Yuriella’s husband.]

“Does he think I’m someone who can be swallowed just because he wants to?”

[At least you shouldn’t mistreat him. Yuriella’s well-being is in his hands. And depending on which side he stands on, the life and death of the land and people you love could be decided.]

“…….”

[Do whatever you want. If you drive out the magic tower master, I’ll take Yuriella and follow him. I don’t care what happens to the Empire as long as Yuriella is safe.]

Aeri snorted loudly and flew away in a huff.

Frost stared blankly at the reception room where Yuriella’s clear laughter was bursting out.

He let out a shallow sigh as the freeloader’s voice, occasionally mixed in, grated on his nerves.

His heart, which was jealous of even a small flower petal landing on his wife’s glossy hair, screamed to tear that annoying fellow away from his wife’s side immediately and lock him up in the magic tower, freezing him whole.

But Frost turned and slowly walked down the stairs.

Unable to chew and swallow, yet unable to spit out the hot potato stuck in his throat, the Grand Duke’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he chewed curses in his mouth.

“Ah, so that’s how it is?”

A beautiful blonde peeked her head out from behind a large pillar.

“You’re saying the magic tower master dares to covet our sister-in-law?”

Shavell, who had been looking pitifully at her cousin’s back as he walked to his office with shoulders slumped like a starved large dog, picked up her dress skirt and sashayed towards the reception room.

She might not be able to remove the hot potato stuck in her brother’s throat, but she could at least roll it around and shrink it.

A mischievous glint sparkled in her beautiful purple eyes.

“What’s so amusing? Let me in on it too.”

Sharp glares flew like arrows and stuck into the dazzlingly beautiful woman who burst through the door.

Even the magic tower master’s gaze was as pointed as an awl as he sized her up.

This was because he had just heard from the head maid that Shavell had grabbed and shaken Yuriella’s hair in the mud.

‘Should I just get rid of her from this house?’

− Clang.

“Oh my! What a mistake!”

Shavell pretended to be startled as she wiped the tea she had spilled on the magic tower master’s chest.

“Your gaze was so hot that Shavell’s hands trembled. But Shavell belongs to Darling Your Highness, so I can’t accept Ricardo’s feelings.”

Sparks flew in the eyes of the head butler and head maid as they glared at Shavell.

What on earth was the Grand Duke thinking, bringing that bewitching mistress all the way to his estate?

How could he visit the mistress’s room day and night even after coming here, while honey dripped from his eyes when looking at Her Highness?

Look at that. How upset must Her Highness be to stuff a piece of cake into her mouth at once and chew with her cheeks bulging?

− Clang.

“Ah. The same mistake again!”

Another hot potato of the Grand Duke’s house, which could neither be swallowed nor spat out, slapped the magic tower master’s soaked shirt hard while pretending to dust it off.

‘I really should get rid of her.’

Ricarion gritted his teeth and wiggled his fingers.

But as he recalled the moment when Shavell had thrown herself at Ubba Rosa’s assault captain to save Yuriella, his hand that had been about to draw a magic circle in the air suddenly stopped.

He wasn’t curious why the Grand Duke was protecting that person disguised as a woman, nor was it any of his business.

But the fact that Yuriella had tried to protect Shavell at the risk of her life also weighed heavily on his mind.

‘Just what is the identity of that freeloader?’