“Hmm…”

Trinidad’s wizard, Badim, let out a subtle sound between a sigh and annoyance. It wasn’t that nothing happened, but it was rather troublesome.

This guest was not someone he particularly wanted to entertain. If things got complicated with him, it could put him in a difficult position.

Of course, guests in Trinidad ranged from swindlers who took money and ran, unscrupulous slave traders, to even noble murderers on the run from the empire. Humans without issues were rare, but this guest was exceptional.

“Hmm…”

“I don’t understand what your reaction means. Surely, it’s not that you don’t recognize me… Are you suggesting something about weighing me? I don’t even want to put you on the scale.”

Weighing him? He didn’t even want to put him on the scale.

The guest in front of him, or rather, the former Viscount Phelelion who had been driven out of his family and was now a wanted fugitive of the empire, was undoubtedly a headache.

Being entangled with Viscount Phelelion would mean aligning himself with the imperial family again, which was something he really didn’t want to do.

“The Emperor of the Empire is terrifying. More than that, the Empress is even scarier.”

‘Empress of the Empire is terrifying. More than that, the Empress is even scarier.’

The Empress, who possessed a real mark, was a person never seen anywhere before. From the moment he first saw her, he felt overwhelmed as if his hands and feet were tied.

He thought it would be impossible to deal with her and even before that, his body became automatically polite. He thought that maybe recognizing the power of the Empress in his blood would be a good idea.

The original Companion was the greatest wizard on the continent. It was natural for a wizard to have awe for the Companion. The Empress of the Empire would undoubtedly have power no less than the original Companion.

In any case, for various reasons, he didn’t want to do things that would disturb the feelings of the Empire. Above all, he didn’t want to do anything that would make the Empress uncomfortable.

“That’s not what I meant.”

Badim deliberately stretched out the end of his words, as he couldn’t blatantly chase out the former Viscount.

The issue was the commission fee, but the fact that he came looking for him meant there was room for his magic to intervene.

“And?”

The former Viscount, now a wanted fugitive, still behaved as if he didn’t know his position.

Badim swallowed a sigh.

“I felt that the request you are going to make may exceed my abilities. I hope there is no misunderstanding.”

Ternaden twisted the corners of his mouth.

“Are you trying to create an opening with such words? How annoying.”

“…”

The former Viscount of Phelelion had changed somewhat over the course of time. During the time he wandered outside the empire to escape the wanted order, he seemed to have learned distrust and suffering.

Well, it couldn’t be helped for him. People tended to grow as much as they suffered.

Clang!

Ternaden threw a fairly heavy purse of money in front of Badim. He didn’t bother to ask where the former Viscount, who had been driven away, got such cash.

“I want to meet my sister. Lead me to her.”

“Hmm…”

Badim forgot that Ternaden found it uncomfortable and let out a similar sound again.
If that sister is referring to the Empress of the Empire, there was no need for the Marquis Phelelion to come and find me so desperately. It seemed that Marquis Phelelion had guessed that the current Empress was different from Kartahena Phelelion.

“Then, why not go to the Empire? With this money, there should be plenty of ways to enter the Empire without being caught by the wanted order.”

First, let’s cut to the chase.

Not knowing that Badim actually knew the real Empress, Ternaden responded without understanding his inner thoughts.

“I… It may sound crazy, but right now, the Empress doesn’t seem to be my sister.”

“What? What are you talking about? Is it some kind of metaphor?”

“Damn it! Shut up for a moment…!”

Ternaden shouted in frustration.

He clenched his fists.

“At least you have to believe me. It was you who cast that damn magic. Since that magic, my sister… The problem was that magic!”

“Ah…”

Badim touched his forehead with a face that seemed to realize.

Now he understood why Marquis Phelelion came to him again.

Since casting the magic that returned the mark to the real one, he was entangled with the Empress until the two swapped places. Until they returned to their original positions, his work was not finished.

“The magic was successful.”

“Damn it! Yes! It seems so! That’s why my sister became someone else!”

Thud!

Ternaden kicked the ground.

However, he seemed more like a person who wanted to cry than a nobleman acting violently.

“I just… can’t forget it. What my sister said at that time, the expression she had at that time… and even the crazy things Lescar Elidun did… that… that is definitely…”

Even though they were completely different people, humans relied on sight more than any other sense.