After the meal, Yuriella rushed straight to the indoor stable where Blanca was.

Although the fire was small and only slightly burned one room, it was worrisome that the cause of the fire was unknown.

It was especially concerning that it happened after Blanca came to the mansion, and that it was the emperor who brought Blanca.

“Was there really nothing unusual?”

The knights guarding Blanca and the wizard and priest who took turns on duty shook their heads at the worried duchess’s question.

“When the fire broke out, Blanca was eating hay. About this much.”

The knight on duty stretched his thick arms as wide as possible, making an expression that it still wasn’t enough.

Yuriella sighed in relief and stroked her beloved horse’s mane. Once Blanca started eating, she never stopped in the middle, and the amount she ate was enormous.

“Let’s go back now, Yuriella.”

Frost sullenly removed Yuriella’s hand that was stroking Blanca.

“I should go see Nero.”

The duke’s large hand firmly grasped Yuriella’s hand as she took a hasty step.

“You already went earlier. That ugly pot cat has already regained its energy and is happily rolling Popo around to play. It was just startled, duchess.”

Frost placed Yuriella’s hand on his chest and pulled his wife’s slender waist tightly to him with his other hand.

“I’m worried it might not be an ordinary fire. Could it be black magic? Ah! I need to double-check the invitations to banquets and tea parties that the Figueran women might attend.”

Yuriella twisted her body to break free.

“The spies planted in Figueran are sending reports. The most likely person so far is Helena, the second daughter of Duke Figueran. She recently started working as a lady-in-waiting for the empress dowager.”

Frost pulled Yuriella into an embrace. So that his lovely wife wouldn’t be distracted by the pot cat and the gluttonous horse.

“I’ll take care of everything. Don’t you worry about anything. Except me.”

Being held in my arms like this. So happy and fulfilled that it brings tears to my eyes. For some reason, Frost hugged Yuriella even tighter, as if embracing a mirage, with a growing sense of unease.

*

The 3rd floor guest room where the small fire occurred.

Ricarion closed the door, put down Nero whom he was holding, and made eye contact with the small pot.

“Nero. I’m going to ask you questions from now on. Meow once if it’s correct. Meow twice if it’s not. Tilt your head if you’re not sure. Got it?”

− Meow.

“Nero, did you start the fire in this room?”

− Meow.

“I see. Then, can you start a fire again like you did earlier?”

− Meow!

Nero began walking with strength, twitching his half-burnt scraggly whiskers and putting force into his large green eyes.

[Oh, so that’s how the fire started, Nero?]

Popo, poking his head out from the pocket of the Tower Master’s coat, looked on with anticipation.

But……

Pyuk. Psssh. Pyuk. Psssh.

Each time Nero’s plump four paws touched the stone floor, small flames that covered the tops of his feet like socks flared up with a pyuk sound and went out with a psssh sound.

[Hey, pot! What kind of fire is that? It’s so small and lacks heat that it can’t even burn a strand of your fur! Focus and do it properly!]

The figure of Aery, flapping her wings in the round, transparent ripples of wind floating above the Tower Master’s head, was reflected.

The black fur of the angry pot cat stood straight up.

And he ran across the room floor with all his might, stomping his four paws. He even jumped onto the table and sofa, leaving fierce footprints up to the high wall sconces, but.

Pyuk. Psssh…… Pyuk…… Psssh……

The flames, which had been the size of his small paw pads, became as small as a claw and soon went out with a psssh.

When stepping on top of the wardrobe, flames no longer even flared up.

− Meow……?

Nero tilted his head, jumped down to the floor, and tried pressing his plump four paws firmly on the stone floor a few more times, but again, there was no change.

− Meow……

Ricarion picked up Nero, who had shrunk down small in defeat, and gently stroked him.

“It’s okay, Nero. It’s not your fault. You did your best. That alone is great.”

Popo also patted Nero’s head fur, which had been sparsely burnt, with his small four feet.

[Yes, yes. In any case, this fire proves that Flama’s ability has not yet completely declined, so I am glad and glad.]

But Aery precisely corrected Popo’s words.

[It’s lacking. It’s very lacking. Flama once ignited a fire even larger than the Zenith Mountains.]

− Meow……

Nero curled up even smaller and burrowed into Ricarion’s arms.

[Hey, pot! Where do you think you are, acting spoiled in this day and age! Do you want your holy sword to be taken away by some fool? Then the duke will die, your master will die, everyone will die! Do you want to see your master die twice?]

Nero bared his claws and teeth, growling “Meow! Meow!” fiercely.

[Good! With that spirit, let’s try to think. When that small and insignificant flame first flared up in your body. Did you see something?]

− Meow!

[What did you see? Did you see the black mage? Cassandra Cabeza, I mean.]

− Meow!

[Was Cassandra alone?]

− Meow! Meow!

[Then, was the saint candidate with her?]

− Meow!

At Nero’s strong answer, the Tower Master’s violet eyes curved gently.

“Nero. Then while Cassandra and Karina Pioni were undoing the spell, you must have briefly connected with the main body of the holy sword. That’s why you started the fire.”

[This is good. It seems the black mage has succeeded. You will soon be able to return to your main body.]

At Popo’s words, Nero’s pot tail, in a good mood, stood straight up towards the sky.

[It went well, my foot. The connection was cut off midway! After the hummingbird nostril-sized flame went out with a psssh, he couldn’t even make it again!]

Nero’s tail dropped down with a thud. His skinny, pot-marked body also shrank down dejectedly.

[Aery. Why do you always think only in a negative way?] [You and the Tower Master always think only in a positive way. But in a situation like now where things are uncertain, we need to consider the bad case and the worse case.]

“The bad case and the worse case?”

The Tower Master turned his gaze to the rippling waves of wind in the air.

[The bad case is that Cassandra and the saint candidate’s skills are not enough to properly connect Nero with the main body. So in the end, after dragging on ineffectively, the holy sword that became a demon sword ends up in the hands of a bad guy. As for the worse case,]

Aery paused for a moment, then opened her mouth with a heavy expression.

[The severed connection may be because the black mage was caught while undoing the spell. Not only failing to undo the black magic on Flama, but one of our precious forces… fell into enemy hands.]

Aery raised her nail-sized index finger, emphasizing her point.

[Even this has a bad case and a worse case. The bad case is Cassandra keeping her mouth shut to the end and being executed. The worse case is her not enduring the torture, spilling everything about our forces and plans, and then being executed.]

The Tower Master quite firmly shook his head at Aery, who was being particularly sharp today.

“If there was a problem, Cassandra would have contacted me. Even if she couldn’t contact me, I absolutely wouldn’t miss any hint of it.”

Ricarion had created a magical tool for emergency communication with Cassandra.

No matter how skilled the imperial palace wizards were, they absolutely could not detect the high-level spell of a 10th circle grand mage embedded deep in the skin beneath Cassandra’s hair.

[You said absolutely? Ricarion Greco. At times like this, you’re no different from other mages, I see? Take away pride and stubbornness and you’re a corpse. Ears are just decorations to wear out of boredom.]

At Aery’s sarcasm, Popo jumped up to the ceiling in anger.

[Ricarion is not just a mage! He is the master of the great holy sword Gaius, the 10th circle grand mage who will be recorded in the history of mages! The supreme leader revered by all the mages of the empire−] [So what? In the history books of humans, he’ll be recorded as the worst mage who fell into the trap of misguided self-assurance and plunged the Yustera Empire into mire.] [Such a thing will never happen. My child never knows the meaning of making mistakes.] [You too with the ‘never’? Popo. Not only is your shape dung, but your thoughts are also like dung? That small head of yours that should be used for thinking is filled not with a brain but dung.] [What did you say? Just because the young master pampered you, you piece of wind with no main body, running your mouth!]

As Popo trembled his palm-sized shell, the stone floor swayed and the wall sconces and curtains began to shake violently.

The waves of wind floating in the air undulated fiercely, and there were even signs of a landslide as the mountain in the eastern region where Aery was located rumbled.

[Trying to show off strength, huh! Fine, I’ll make a scene too!]

As Aery shouted, the waves of wind floating in the air swelled up with a woong~ woong~ sound, growing larger than the Tower Master’s height. Just as it was about to swallow up the surrounding objects and even Nero, who was huddled on the floor, into its fierce vortex−

The earth sword Gaius, silently unsheathed, drew a large circle and sliced through the air.

The shaking room quietly subsided, and the mountain rumbling in the east stopped as if it had been a lie.

The waves of wind, which had been swelling in size and mercilessly swallowing surrounding objects and even Nero into its fierce vortex, also returned to their original size.

− Meow!

The pot cat, who had been thrown to the floor, meowed loudly in protest towards Popo and Aery.

“I will go to the imperial palace.”

Ricarion told the still agitated spirits as he retrieved Gaius.

If he made an excuse about discussing the awakened coma patients, the emperor, who had many things to feel guilty about, would not be able to refuse his visit.

“Aery, I will personally confirm that your concerns were unfounded.”

Ricarion was certain he could not have made a mistake. He had been extra careful because it involved Yuriella. It was a matter that didn’t even require wasting time going all the way to the imperial palace to verify.

It was then, as Ricarion was drawing a magic circle to go to the imperial palace, that a small bluebird caught his eye.

The bluebird, with traces of sorcery, circled widely above the mansion as if searching for someone, then flew straight towards the indoor stable prepared for Blanca.

Ricarion’s countenance darkened.

He had a bad feeling.

There was no way he, a 10th circle grand mage, could fail to recognize a spell cast by a lower-level mage.

That bird must be an urgent message sent by the mage the duke had planted in the imperial palace.

Hoping the news the bluebird was delivering was not related to Cassandra, Ricarion hurriedly headed to the indoor stable.

*

Kkwaek. Kkwaek-kkaek. Kkwaek-kkwaek. Kkwaek-kkaek.

A small bird with a glossy deep blue color, making loud kkwaek-kkwaek sounds unbecoming of its pretty body, lightly landed on Frost’s hand.

As the bluebird spread its wings wide and flapped, shimmering silver powder puffed out from between its feathers, displaying a cipher made of ancient characters in the air.

Judging by Frost’s face darkening, it seemed to be bad news.

“What’s the matter? Is it bad news?”

Yuriella, instinctively sensing it was about Cassandra, looked at Frost with a tense expression.

“Cassandra has been arrested at the imperial palace. Along with Karina Pioni, who was at the scene. It seems they were caught while undoing the Flama… They have been moved to the empress dowager’s Swan Palace.”

Ricarion, who had hurriedly entered the stable, froze stiffly upon hearing Frost’s words.

His blue eyes, carrying a chilling coldness, fixed upon the Tower Master.

“Cassandra is being detained at the Swan Palace.”

At the sharp accusation, the 10th circle grand mage clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

“I apologize. I should have been more careful…”

The Tower Master, who had never bowed his head to anyone, deeply lowered his head to Yuriella. He had been careless, trusting only in his own skills. It was an inexcusable mistake.

“No. You did your best, Tower Master. There is no need to blame yourself.”

“I will go to the imperial palace and bring Cassandra back.”

He did not know what, where, or how things had gone wrong, but he would be able to turn it around.

“Don’t go. Even if you do, now doesn’t seem to be the right time.”

Yuriella slowly but firmly shook her head.

“You must have made arrangements that were absolutely foolproof, Tower Master. Yet if Cassandra was arrested without even having a chance to contact you, it means either Cassandra was careless, or…”

Yuriella’s long, lush eyelashes cast dark shadows over the red pupils beneath them.

“Could it be that she was caught by someone who surpasses you in skill, Tower Master?”

A heavy silence hung over the indoor stable.

Yuriella suddenly clapped her hands and forcibly smiled brightly.

“Ah, I forgot I have an important tea party today! Frost. I’ll be back in a bit. See you later.”

Gathering up her skirt in a flurry, Yuriella gave the Tower Master a quick glance signaling to talk later and tried to leave the indoor stable with hurried steps, but.

After only a few steps, Yuriella was grabbed by Frost and turned around.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”