“Sister, please save Brady!”

Riley raised his tear-stained face and pleaded. Arasila sighed and gestured for him to step aside.

She knelt down on one knee and closely examined Brady’s condition.

Deep stab wounds on his side and back had soaked his clothes with blood.

Arasila’s face hardened at the more serious state than expected, which could lead to death at any moment.

Indeed, Brady was breathing faintly with a deathly pale complexion, as if he would die soon.

“Ugh, can’t you do anything with magic?”

“Magic isn’t a cure-all. Stop crying and lift his neck up.”

“Yes.”

Riley wiped his eyes with his sleeve and carefully placed his hand behind his friend’s neck.

Arasila took out a small bottle from inside her robe. It was an expensive recovery potion sold at the magic tower.

Even for Arasila, in case of any eventuality while searching for the assassin who infiltrated the imperial palace, she had carried it around.

‘It’s worth the trouble of remembering to bring it.’

Praising her own preparedness, Arasila slowly poured the medicine into his slightly parted lips.

Brady made groaning sounds as he swallowed it.

As the potion decreased, color gradually returned to his face that had turned blue.

His breathing became even and regular, and soon the bleeding stopped.

“I’ve done first aid for now. He should survive if he gets proper treatment from a doctor.”

“Is that true?!”

“Yes, so carry your friend and follow me.”

Arasila dusted off her robe as she stood up and beckoned. Riley looked up at her in confusion and carefully asked.

“Why? Where are we going…?”

“My house. As the only survivor, we must keep him alive to get his testimony.”

Arasila’s face was resolute as she said this.

That was the sole purpose for coming this far and helping the two in the first place. Not to save the assassins.

She jerked her chin for them to follow as she took the first step.

Though a bit scared, Riley, who had been inwardly worried about having nowhere to go, quickly hoisted Brady onto his back.

Arasila took the two to her home, gave them a guest room, and called a doctor for examination.

While the doctor diligently treated Brady, she said to Riley.

“You stay here until he wakes up. It would be troublesome if you wandered around leaking information or exposing your location.”

“Yes, don’t worry. I’ll stay put. When Brady wakes up, I’ll make him tell you all the information you want right away!”

Riley clenched his fist as if thinking that was the way to repay the favor. Arasila just shrugged.

Even if they didn’t cooperate willingly, there were countless ways to make them talk, but it was better to take the easy route if possible.

Still, not fully trusting the two, she had servants guard the door until Brady recovered.

It would be difficult to find them again if they ran away.

It was two days later when Brady, who had been receiving Riley’s devoted care, opened his eyes.

“Brady, are you conscious? Can you recognize me?!”

“…Ri, ley? How did you…”

Brady looked at him with dazed eyes. Riley grabbed his shoulders in excitement and said.

“I had a bad feeling so I went to the guild, and was shocked to find it in ruins. I was too late and could only save you…”

Seeing Riley suddenly become gloomy, Brady recalled the horrific scene just before he lost consciousness.

It seems all his comrades except himself were dead. In fact, it was miraculous that he was alive.

Brady shuddered as he remembered the scene of black-clad attackers with owl emblems raiding the cabin and killing his comrades.

Riley, who had been looking at his friend glumly, suddenly stood up as if he remembered something.

“Oh, right! The future Archmage helped us. She said to call her as soon as you woke up! Wait a moment. I’ll bring her right away!”

He dashed out. Brady was left alone with a bewildered expression.

The future Archmage helped them?

What connection could there be between an assassin operating in the shadows and the future Archmage respected by all?

A moment later, the future Archmage that he had only seen in newspapers appeared behind the returning Riley.

Brady’s mouth fell open. Not only was she ten times more beautiful in person than in portraits, but he also never thought he would actually meet her.

“It’s really the future Archmage…”

“Brady, you shouldn’t speak informally to the Archmage. Sister doesn’t like informal speech.”

“Ah. It’s really you, future Archmage…”

Satisfied with the quick correction, Riley looked at Arasila as if asking if he did well.

Ignoring this, Arasila brought a chair and sat down next to the bed.

Brady nodded his head while still looking at Arasila, who was staring at him with folded arms, with disbelieving eyes.

“Um, thank you very much for saving me.”

“Yes, how are you feeling? I have something to ask you, are you able to talk?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Good, tell me everything that happened to your guild without leaving anything out.”

Confused by the sudden interrogation, Riley explained Arasila’s purpose to Brady instead.

Brady, who listened with surprised eyes and nodded, swallowed hard and slowly moved his lips.

After guild members were killed one after another under mysterious circumstances, the survivors gathered in a mountain cabin dreaming of revenge. They wanted to uncover the owl’s identity and pay them back somehow.

Especially the guild master, who had directly accepted the request, used all his connections to track down the owl.

Then they discovered a shocking fact.

“We witnessed the owl meeting with Joseph Miller, the vice-captain of the Imperial Knights. Based on this, we dug deeper and… the Lester ducal family came up.”

Arasila frowned. She didn’t expect the Lester ducal family to pop up here.

“Is the Lester ducal family behind the owl?”

“No, that’s not it. The true mastermind behind the owl is… Once you hear what comes next, there’s no turning back. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

Brady hesitated for a moment and asked with wavering eyes.

The guild members were massacred for knowing this fact. Because they discovered a truth that should not have been revealed.

To Arasila, who was hesitating for fear of putting his benefactor in the same danger, she replied firmly.

“Speak. I’ll take full responsibility.”

“…If you’re so determined, alright. Their real master was… His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Riley inhaled sharply with a shocked expression. It was bad enough if the Lester ducal family was behind it, but the mention of the Crown Prince made him want to faint.

On the other hand, Arasila lowered her eyes without changing expression. She wasn’t particularly surprised as it was someone she had expected.

However, it was a bit surprising that the Lester ducal family was involved rather than the Vandermir ducal family.

‘Come to think of it, Lady White said the Lester ducal family also cooperated with Duke Grant back then.’

It was none other than the Duchess of Lester who provided the foundation for Nora’s return to social circles at Duke Grant’s request.

At the time, she thought it was because of her friendship with Duchess White, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

“The request your guild received from the owl was to kill the young lord of Vandermir, right?”

“…Yes, that’s correct. And they told us to secretly leave a letter too.”

“Did you also bring the murder weapon?”

“Pardon?”

Brady shook his head with a puzzled expression. Their role was simply to end Oscar’s life.

“We were told to return the weapon, so we did. We received all weapons from the owl.”

“I see.”

Then everything that happened afterwards was all Frederick’s doing.

More precisely, orchestrated by Frederick and the owls under him.

“…I’m sorry. For harming your family member.”

It was the first time he had faced a bereaved family of an assassination target. Unable to be brazen even before her, Brady bowed his head deeply.

Arasila waved her hand dismissively. Though she felt somewhat sorry for Oscar, she didn’t care enough about him to be angry at Brady.

“It’s fine, what’s important now is who framed my husband.”

“Ah… Still, I’m sorry. You even saved my life, I don’t know how to repay this debt.”

“Just testify the truth without any lies in front of people later. Who ordered you to kill Oscar Vandermir.”

“I will do so.”

With all his comrades dead and left alone, Brady had nothing but vengeance and evil left.

Even if the target was the Crown Prince, he would drag him down to death somehow.

Seeing the determination in Brady’s eyes, Arasila smiled faintly. She rose leisurely and said.

“From now on, you two are not allowed to go outside without my permission. I’ll also cast a spell to prevent you from escaping, so keep that in mind.”

“Yes, I understand. I will follow whatever punishment you give.”

“I will too, Sister.”

The two bowed their heads submissively and replied.

It was much safer to be in Arasila’s grasp anyway, as the owl side would be desperate to find and kill Brady.

Arasila left the room with a satisfied look and hurriedly walked towards her study.

Something had occurred to her while listening to Brady’s story earlier.

To properly confirm this, she took out the ledger of the Dome’s upper floor that she had kept in her study.

Her blue eyes carefully examined the purchase history of the Vandermir ducal family.

「Purchased 8 black magic bombs / Accumulated 25」

「Purchased 10 magic armor suits / Accumulated 30」

「Purchased 3 magic suppression stones / Accumulated 12」

A bitter laugh escaped Arasila’s lips as she found the content she wanted.

‘I wondered why it felt so familiar.’

Ever since realizing it wasn’t an owl but a barn owl, Arasila had constantly felt a sense of discomfort.

It was because the existence of the ‘barn owl’ was so familiar.

And just now, she properly recalled. In the prophetic dream of Iris’s death, Arasila had seen them.

It was in the newspaper article reporting her obituary.

「The criminal Oscar Vandermir, upon being discovered while attempting to attack the imperial family using over 100 magical weapons and the private barn owl troops, took his own life. The rebel’s wife, left alone, readily admitted her guilt and became the dew on the execution ground…」

The Arasila in the dream, resentful of her sister’s death, had absorbed each word of the article as if chewing them.

That’s why the content remained relatively vivid in her memory.

However, after waking up, she forgot about it while focusing solely on Iris’s death itself.

‘But it’s strange, according to the future I saw in the dream, the barn owl troops should be led by Oscar or the Vandermir ducal family…’

Why was Frederick their master?

Arasila recalled Oscar and Frederick, who seemed quite close at the New Year’s festival.

In fact, if either of them were to plot rebellion, Frederick was more suitable than Oscar.

Oscar was too stupid and cowardly to plot rebellion, and he couldn’t envision a grand future, unable to resist immediate desires to the point of creating an illegitimate child.

On the other hand, Frederick was patient and clever, with the boldness and cunning to do anything to get what he wanted.

But it was hard to believe that someone like Oscar had gathered magical weapons and created private troops to prepare for rebellion.

However, if he had aided Frederick and participated in the rebellion. That made sense.

It was exactly the kind of move that suited the dependent and opportunistic Oscar.

‘If, in the future I saw, it wasn’t actually Oscar who prepared for rebellion, but Frederick…’

If Oscar was simply used and then cut off as a tail, it meant Frederick was the true culprit who drove the innocent Iris to her death.

A chill ran down Arasila’s spine.

In the prophetic dream, Frederick had helped her sneak into the prison, and stood by her side as she cried in sorrow over her sister’s death.

She was grateful for that, which is why she couldn’t immediately shake off Frederick in reality.

‘Despicable bastard. You killed her yourself and then shamelessly acted like that.’

Arasila clenched her fist after confirming that Duke Grant’s purchase list was not much different from the Vandermir ducal family’s.

If it weren’t for Demian, Duke Grant would have continued as Frederick’s right-hand man.

If such a person bought similar items to the ducal family that was framed for rebellion and killed, the reason was obvious.

It meant Frederick, the Vandermir ducal family, and the Grant ducal family were originally on the same side. Centered around Frederick as the leader.

‘Frederick, you bastard… I will never let you off.’

Flames rose in Arasila’s blue eyes as she gritted her teeth.

She could never forgive Frederick, who killed Iris in the prophetic dream and now drove Demian to his death.

She firmly resolved to bring him down and make him pay for his crimes.

With one day left until her return to the magic tower, Arasila had calmly organized her complex thoughts.

The roles of Oscar and the Vandermir ducal family in the prophetic dream seemed to have shifted to the Lester ducal family.

Frederick discarded the Vandermir ducal family to deal with Demian.

Since Demian was likely to inherit the duke’s position if left alone, it wasn’t a bad choice for him.

If he were to swallow up the Vandermir ducal family, whose future had become uncertain after losing all their heirs, it would be profitable in its own way.

‘For now, I should focus on defeating Frederick and the Lester ducal family. As for the Vandermir ducal family…’

Arasila, leaning against the bed, was lost in thought for a moment.

With the change in main enemy, it became ambiguous how to deal with the Vandermir ducal family.

In any case, they were also in a position of being betrayed, and considering Demian’s future, she shouldn’t bring down the Vandermir ducal family by entangling them with Frederick.

‘Perhaps it’s better to leave it for Demian to handle when he returns.’

As she thought this, something entered Arasila’s view as she unconsciously turned her head.

It was Monica’s diary that Howard had opened for her earlier.

Focused on uncovering the identity of the owl, she had left it neglected on the table with just the first page opened.

‘Demian’s mother’s diary… Would it be alright for me to read it?’

Though she had discovered the identity of Cyan Mondor, she still didn’t know why Monica had hidden the jewelry box separately.

Judging by Howard thinking it was something his daughter left for her grandson, there must surely be a reason.

The diary, the glass bottle containing tea leaves, the note with a name written on it.

What important meaning could those three items in the jewelry box have? Arasila became curious, thinking it might be of help to Demian.

She rose from her seat, draped a shawl over her shoulders, and approached the table.

Her snow-white fingers carefully picked up the diary and began turning the pages.

The light from the lamp on the wall illuminated the writing in the diary clearly.

As her hand turning the pages gradually quickened, a look of shock appeared on her calm face.

Due to the shocking truth contained within.