“Now, try infusing it with magic.”

He whispered again, almost like an order.

Adel gripped the dagger as he said, with the magic stone facing upward.

But in her heart, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all a waste of time.

After hundreds of attempts and failures, she didn’t think she’d succeed now.

She hadn’t even been able to summon a spark as small as a firefly before.

“Try to recall the memory.”

He gently encouraged, like a teacher who never gives up on a student.

Adel gripped the dagger tightly and tried to recall the memory of that night. No, she didn’t even need to try.

That night. The moment Valentin drew out the magic from her body, as abundant as the sea.

The sensation she felt then was still vivid in every detail. Just closing her eyes led her to that memory.

The twilight sky outside the window, dust floating in the library air, the musty smell of paper, the heated air, and Valentin’s hands, strangely hot.

The stimulation of power pouring from where their skin touched into her interior. Clawing at her heart wildly, dark blue light bursting from the open wound.

“Slowly…”

Adel breathed following his voice. Valentin didn’t lay a finger on her.

Yet even with her eyes closed, she could clearly feel his gaze like a touch. It felt like sparks were showering onto her skin.

“Breathe.”

Adel continued to concentrate slowly. Was it just her imagination? She could feel her heartbeat flowing under her skin.

Then suddenly, there was a pull below her navel. Adel already knew this sensation.

She had felt exactly this just before magic arose.

As she stimulated it little by little, she felt a cool energy rushing along the path that had once been opened.

Then her heart throbbed and power blossomed. She opened her closed eyes.

“Ah…”

A faint blue light was dimly infused in the magic stone.

It was an incomparably weak light compared to the power that had awakened that night. Nevertheless, it was magic.

Considering there had been no progress at all until now, it was a remarkable achievement.

She smiled brightly at Valentin, unable to hide her overwhelming joy. He smiled back, his eyes curving, not too late.

“Well done.”

It was a rare compliment. As he took the dagger from Adel’s hand, the amplified light disappeared in the next moment, as if washed away.

He returned the now lightless dagger to Adel’s hand.

“Later, you’ll be able to do this without such things.”

“Really?”

“The magic stone is just a medium anyway. The power is stored inside you, Adel.”

“But I still don’t feel like this is mine. I didn’t know I could do this. I’ve tried many times before, but never succeeded.”

She added without confidence.

“Today was really by chance… I don’t know why.”

“Shall I tell you why you suddenly could do it?”

Valentin’s handsome lips suddenly curved into a mischievous smile.

When she nodded in bewilderment, he leaned his head askew as if whispering a great secret. His lips touched her ear.

The whispering breath tickled.

“We just kissed earlier, didn’t we?”

“What does that…”

“Since that power originates from me, of course you’re influenced when you contact me.”

“…”

“That’s why I said we should spend nights together continuously.”

Adel glanced at him shyly with a face that had instantly turned bright red.

He had a talent for making the same words sound particularly seductive. In reality, barely sharing the edge of the bed. Not forcing anything, worried it might be hard for her.

She placed her hand on his chest and pushed lightly.

“That’s nonsense.”

“Why is it nonsense…?”

“You’re clearly saying that to tease me.”

“If you don’t believe me, why don’t we kiss again?”

“Y-y-you shouldn’t say such things.”

“This isn’t allowed, that isn’t allowed. Aren’t you being too strict?”

“…”

“You seduced me thoroughly just now. Don’t you think it’s too much to push me away like this?”

“You were the one who refused, Your Highness.”

“Again. As if I would have refused.”

As if her arm strength pushing him away wasn’t even feeble, he instead grabbed Adel’s waist and pulled her to him.

He bit her nose bridge as if she was annoying. Valentin’s hand gripping Adel’s clothes was becoming increasingly forceful.

This wouldn’t be the first or second time clothes had been torn in this situation, so Adel hurriedly tried to remove his hand.

But the more she did so, the more he stubbornly refused to back down.

She looked up at him with troubled eyes, but he seemed determined to be shameless and only pulled her closer.

“…”

With both hands no longer free, there was only one way left to remove him that she could think of.

The twisted thought that she should really see how far he would react, given that he said he reacted like a dog to her every gesture, came simultaneously with taking action.

She stood on her tiptoes and bumped her lips against the tip of his chin. She had aimed for his lips, but that was the limit due to her height.

“…”

He looked at her with dazed eyes, then suddenly startled and stepped back.

Covering his mouth with his large hand, he stared at her as if frozen. His ears and nape were very red, though he had seemed fine before.

He muttered with a crestfallen expression.

“That’s too much. I was… barely holding back.”

He made a broken moan sound in his mouth.

The look in his eyes as he gazed at her was ominous. It seemed like he might be thoroughly gauging the remaining time and her stamina.

Adel quickly changed the subject before he could act on it.

“When I become proficient in handling magic, will I be able to use the power freely like you? Like how you heated the stew earlier and pulled the distant dagger.”

He narrowed his eyes as if he could see right through Adel’s intention to gloss over the matter. But soon he answered compliantly.

“…Even more than that is possible. With practice, of course.”

“What do you mean by more?”

“You could summon tidal waves… and call down thunderbolts.”

Adel tried to imagine herself freely wielding such tremendous power, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t picture it concretely.

Only an awkward feeling welled up, as if forcibly trying to fathom an impossible thing.

She pressed her hand to her heart where the magic had dwelled and asked.

“If the source of magic and holy power is the same, is it impossible to produce power like holy power?”

“I’m hurt.”

He looked at Adel with round eyes, then chuckled.

She realized that her question might have sounded like she was negating Valentin.

Adel tried to hurriedly explain, but Valentin shrugged once and answered nonchalantly.

“There is a way, of course. You just need to break the vessel.”

Break the vessel? At this unexpected method, she hesitated and looked at Valentin.

Whatever his true feelings, at least outwardly he wore a faint smile. As if he hadn’t been hurt at all.

She struggled fiercely between curiosity and politeness, then carefully opened her mouth.

“Um, if you break the vessel, wouldn’t you be unable to contain ‘power’ at all? Is it possible to remake the vessel?”

“Break your soul to gather holy power? You’re a scary person, Adel…”

He said, pretending to be startled as if he had heard a truly frightening story.

From his words, it seemed the ‘vessel’ was either a byproduct originating from the soul or the soul itself. She hesitated for a long time before carefully asking.

“I didn’t know the vessel was the soul… Then if the vessel, the soul, is damaged by some power or contract, would one become completely unable to use magic?”

“The soul is fundamentally not an object of transaction or contract. Especially not yours, Adel.”

“Why ‘especially’ not mine?”

He looked at Adel with languid eyes. Adel sensed that Valentin would not properly answer that question.

After gazing at Adel’s eyes lazily for a long while, he raised his finger and pointed to the center of his chest.

“A god’s heart is usually here. In the middle of the chest.”

“…”

Adel breathed shallowly.

“Even if the form changes, the place where the heart dwells remains the same. Even more so for an avatar body. That dagger I gave you…”

“I don’t understand why you keep saying such things to me.”

Adel cut off Valentin’s words a bit sharply.

Sometimes he seemed to think she might turn on him and try to kill him at any moment.

And ridiculously, he also seemed willing to die gladly if she did so.

What sometimes made Adel feel hopeless was that no matter what she said, it felt like Valentin didn’t believe her.

She spoke, emphasizing each syllable.

“I don’t want to attack anyone. If you keep saying such things, I won’t practice anything related to magic.”

“Ah.”

He opened his eyes wide as if he had heard something very perplexing. Soon he shrugged lightly.

“Of course, with your potential, you could kill me.”

“Such words…”

“Though in your current state, it would take a full ten thousand years of practice to reach that level.”

At his additional words, Adel’s ears turned red.

Rather than mocking her poor skills, his words pointing out the reality made her heated head regain composure.

“Having power is always good, Adel. Because that power always gives you choices.”