On top of a high and large rocky mountain where not a single tree grew.

The room at the very top of a long cylindrical magic tower.

Ricarion leaned his arms on the windowsill and stared blankly outside.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

Nectan Greco, the chief assistant, followed the tower master’s distant gaze and cast his eyes out the window.

As always, there was only thick fog that prevented one from seeing an inch ahead.

Located at the western edge, the magic tower was covered in dense fog created by magic, so its enormous grandeur was fully revealed only a few days out of the year.

“Nothing. What is it?”

Ricarion, who had been staring wistfully into the empty void, turned to look at Nectan.

“We have dispersed the coma patients across each floor. We ran out of rooms, so we hastily created new treatment rooms, and mages above the 5th circle have gathered to brainstorm ways to undo the spells. Some have developed health issues due to prolonged sleep, so we have also recruited doctors to take care of the patients.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Even if we find a method, it won’t be easy to prove the imperial family’s connection.”

“When have we ever done anything easy? We must find it. If we can get evidence that the Empress Dowager did it, we can grab the Emperor by the leash.”

Nectan narrowed his eyes and looked at Ricarion as if calculating.

It wasn’t because talk of grabbing the Emperor’s leash was unfamiliar.

The magic tower had been striving to maintain its independent status by grasping the weaknesses of not only the imperial family but also the great nobles of the empire.

Seeking one’s rights was not something that could be obtained by relying on the goodwill of others.

But the look in the tower master’s eyes as he spoke of the leash was something Nectan was seeing for the first time.

As was the distant gaze from earlier when he had been staring blankly into the empty void.

“Everyone must be complaining a lot, right? They’re people who don’t even have time to sleep just doing their usual work.”

“Why don’t we take five hundred and ask Duke Ielheim to take the other five hundred? You said the treatment facilities, doctors, and mages had already been recruited.”

Ricarion shook his head.

“Then I will take the five hundred. Is that good?”

Nectan’s caterpillar eyebrows wriggled greatly. This was also an unfamiliar reaction from his nephew that he had never seen before.

In the violet eyes that had seemed too warm and thus too cold, there was a stubbornness and defiance he was seeing for the first time.

“Rion. Are you in your right mind? Even if you’ve reached the 10th circle, do you think your body can handle taking care of five hundred people!”

As the nickname he had used when giving Ricarion piggyback rides slipped out, Ricarion shrugged his shoulders and smiled faintly.

“I want to make them smile too.”

“What?”

“There’s someone I want to make smile. Undoing black magic is what I’m best at. With this, I want to monopolize that smile for myself. I want to be praised.”

Ricarion leaned his arms on the windowsill again and gazed wistfully beyond the thick fog.

“Uncle. You said before, right? Sometimes when someone smiles brightly, my heart clears up as if it will fly away. Sometimes when someone cries, my heart plummets into a bottomless pit of sorrow. Then you’ll know it’s love. Do you remember?”

“Rion……”

“You were wrong, Uncle.”

With just a small blink of his eyes, Ricarion moved the thick fog to create a delicate geranium flower shape in the void.

“Even when someone smiled brightly, if it wasn’t directed at me, my heart would plummet into a bottomless pit of sorrow. So, for once. I want to see them smiling just for me, even if it’s just once.”

I’m sorry. I’m being selfish and causing trouble for everyone.

Hearing his nephew apologize as if sighing, Nectan could no longer ask any more questions or scold him.

To Nectan Greco, who was growing old single, his nephew Rion was no different from his own child who wouldn’t hurt even if he put them in his eye. He was his pride and joy who had achieved the tremendous feat of reaching the 10th circle at a young age.

That amazing child, after becoming the owner of the holy sword, had come here alone, leaving behind Gaius, the earth spirit he had never let out of his sight, at the Duke’s residence in the capital for the sake of his first love’s well-being.

Saying he wanted to see his first love’s smile just once, he had brought a thousand coma patients with him.

Nectan’s eyes reddened, feeling sorry for that deep and sorrowful heart.

“You will soon be able to see them smiling brightly.”

Nectan bowed and quickly left the room.

‘Why of all people……’

Why did he have to be captivated by Yuriella Ielheim…?

If Duke Frost Ielheim defeated the imperial family, his dear nephew would wither away wandering the world in longing for the rest of his life.

If the Duke was defeated by the imperial family like his father, his nephew might melt in agony watching his first love be executed for treason along with her husband. Or he might save that woman once again and become a fugitive branded as a traitor.

“Is there no way…?”

Who should I discuss this with? Nectan stopped descending the stairs and spat out a rough curse. Damn it.

In this vast magic tower, there wasn’t a single person who had experienced a proper romance. At a time like this, there wasn’t a single person to discuss it with.

Useless things. I’ll have to make them shed tears by working them to the bone.

When have mages ever eaten well and slept well?

I’ll have to roll them around and push them. I have to let my nephew see the smile he wishes for as soon as possible, even if it’s just a day earlier.

*

Crash.

The glass thrown by the Empress Dowager hit a marble pillar and shattered, scattering into the air.

A sharp shard of glass grazed Karina’s white cheek as she stepped into the pavilion in front of the Swan Palace.

Without even thinking to wipe the blood trickling down her cheek, Karina bowed her head to the Empress Dowager until her forehead touched the ground.

“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager……!”

“The coma patients were snatched away by the magic tower master right under your nose?”

“Rather than letting them be taken by the Grand Duke, it’s better to hand them over to the magic tower master-. Ugh!”

The Empress Dowager’s boot heel crushed Karina’s hand that was supporting her on the floor.

The holy energy that spilled out from the tip of the boot melted the back of the holy maiden candidate’s hand into a dark red.

It was a force she could have easily blocked with her own power, but Karina just bit her lip and endured the pain.

“Your Majesty. Please correct me……”

“The magic tower noticed that black magic had been used. That’s why they took all the coma patients to the magic tower.”

“No. It was just a show of force between foolish men.”

“What?”

“I saw it in front of the Duke’s residence. It was just a battle of strength between the hot-blooded master of the North and the master of the magic tower. Youthful recklessness. Isn’t Ricarion Greco, despite residing in the magic tower, the one who will inherit the title of Greco Duke and rule the West when the time comes?”

Empress Dowager Sophia lifted her foot and went to sit on the long chair at the end of the pavilion, crossing her legs. Then she clicked her tongue looking at Karina who remained prostrate without moving a muscle.

“Such a blind dog.”

Sophia’s gaze reached far into the western sky.

“Why don’t you know that the cards being shown aren’t everything? We’re also thoroughly hiding our true cards.”

Sophia waved her hand, signaling Karina to approach.

“The magic tower master knows. That’s why he took all the coma patients.”

“Pardon?”

“The one who took Solas’s soul is that man. No matter how much I think about it, there’s no one else but the magic tower master who could have done it.”

Karina, who had been approaching the Empress Dowager, stopped in her tracks with a startled expression. How much had this fox-like woman guessed? A chill ran down her spine.

“He made a preemptive move so we couldn’t identify the one possessed by Solas’s soul. To blind our eyes.”

Karina inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

The shrewd Empress Dowager had guessed half right and half wrong. And the remaining half of the truth that she didn’t know was much heavier and more significant.

The Empress Dowager couldn’t even imagine that Aeri, the spirit of the wind sword, had intervened.

“Tsk. They’re all so annoying. Should I just sweep them away with the demon sword?”

The Empress Dowager’s cold violet eyes stared at Karina. They were eyes like a bottomless abyss.

Karina clenched her fists and chewed the inside of her mouth, feeling like her soul would be completely sucked into those eyes.

She felt pity for His Majesty the Emperor who had grown up under such a mother. Anyone raised in the skirt of such a woman would inevitably go mad or become disabled.

She wanted to save His Majesty from that woman. She wanted to see him smiling brightly. To do that, she really wanted to become the owner of Flamma.

But in its demon sword state, she couldn’t wield Flamma.

No matter how much black magic she had learned, the source of her power was clearly holy power, so there were definitely limits. She had to undo the black magic on Flamma to turn it back into a holy sword and make a new owner’s contract.

Now that Flamma’s soul was scattered and clouded, she could obtain it without much difficulty.

“Your Majesty. It’s premature. You know well that the sword and the person to become its owner are not yet fully prepared. We must wait for the right time.”

“Waiting for the right time may actually make us miss the opportunity. I’m also tired of seeing both the North and the West acting out of line.”

“Your Majesty. They say even a large dam collapses from an ant tunnel.”

Hearing the holy maiden candidate whisper softly, the Empress Dowager snorted.

“Hmph. What nonsense are you going to confuse my ears with now?”

“Just in case, I have ants I’ve slipped into the magic tower. Very pitiful and miserable ants who don’t know they’ve been brainwashed by me.”

As if intrigued, Sophia rested her arm on the tea table.

“What can such trivial ants do?”

“They’ll allow us to achieve our goals without lifting a finger. The magic tower master will specially protect the one possessed by Solas’s soul. Through the ants, we can easily find and kill that person. And,”

“And frame the magic tower for that responsibility?”

“Yes. We can kill the one possessed by Solas and also leash the magic tower, killing two birds with one stone. Everything is already prepared, so please just give the order whenever you need it.”

For the first time in a while, a satisfied smile appeared on the Empress Dowager’s beautiful face.

“Will the magic tower be fooled so easily? The West stands behind them.”

“That’s why it’s killing two birds with one stone. It’s because of the magic tower that the bookworm West can even raise its voice.”

“How nice would it be if it could really be done? Even during the last Northern subjugation, they tied our hands and feet, going on about neutrality and balance. It was a golden opportunity to sweep away the North.”

“Please trust me and leave it to me, Your Majesty.”

Karina knelt down and bowed her head deeply, slightly raising the corners of her lips.

Today’s match seemed to already have a winner.

Now that she had blinded the Empress Dowager’s eyes, she had to look for an opportunity to make Flamma her own.

[The moment we remove the magic energy from Flamma, we must cloud its vision so the holy sword will accept you as its owner.]

Would the method the black mage Cassandra had taught her work?

She didn’t know.

But if it didn’t work, she would just kill the black mage on the spot and seal the holy sword again. That was it.

‘But what excuse should I use to meet the Grand Duchess?’

The holy maiden candidate’s footsteps quickened as she left the Swan Palace.

*

“Your Highness, you’re back?”

The head maid Rosalinne put down her sewing and got up from the sofa to greet Yuriella who had returned from her outing.

The baby clothes made by a dozen maids sitting clustered together were already piled high on the table.

“What are all these?”

“What else would they be? They’re things for the little prince or princess to wear and use.”

She should have told them to put them away immediately as such a thing would never happen.

But the baby pajamas Rosalinne was waving in front of her were so small and pretty that Yuriella reflexively reached out and snatched them.

The white oversized nightgown with a lace bib had small edelweiss flowers embroidered on it. It even came with a matching bonnet with a yellow ribbon.

The maids came running, each holding baby clothes they had sewn.

“These are mittens and booties for the baby. Babies have thin and sharp nails, so they may accidentally scratch their pretty faces.”

“It’s a bonnet for the baby. This is for sleeping, this is for playing, and this is for going out.”

“I thought play clothes would be most useful for the baby, so I tried making them, Your Highness.”

As she looked over the adorable baby clothes, Yuriella’s red eyes softened.

She automatically imagined a silver-haired, blue-eyed baby wearing these pretty clothes and a bonnet on its head. The face looked just like a very small Frost, making Yuriella burst into a bright laugh without realizing it.

Big smiles spread across the maids’ faces.

“You’ve all worked hard. Have them all sent to Duchess Davano.”

“Pardon? But why there…?”

Rosalinne asked with a dumbfounded expression.

As the maids also just stared with blank faces, showing no intention of moving, Yuriella stepped forward and began gathering the pretty baby clothes and putting them in a box.

“I heard Duchess Davano is holding a bazaar with the noble ladies. It’s like a charity party for the poor. The noble ladies who are about to give birth will love it.”

The head maid, her mouth agape, took the baby clothes Yuriella was holding and let out a deep sigh.

The Duke’s family had been lacking manpower for generations, so even if they tried their best starting now, it wouldn’t be enough. What were the master and mistress thinking, being so carefree?

Rosalinne resolved to sit down both the husband and wife this time for an in-depth education on the proper attitude towards being newlyweds.

Just then, the door to the reception room burst open and the head butler Alexis ran in shouting.

“Your Highness! The Grand Duke has collapsed. He’s unconscious! Hurry! Hurry, Your Highness!”

Yuriella’s face turned pale white.