Lutis was from the Alvarez family, so he wasn’t sure if it was only the Empress who was watching the child or the entire imperial family.
But for the temple to be involved in the slave auction…
‘Is this… Does this make sense?’
As Aeli staggered in the perplexing situation, Lutis approached her with a surprised look and reached out his arm. It seemed like he intended to support her.
Swish.
“……”
-……
He passed right through her, so his action couldn’t be put into practice.
Even though he already knew that she had died and become a ghost, when he actually felt it, Lutis looked down at his hand with a blank expression, perhaps shocked.
He might be wondering why he couldn’t touch her when it seemed like he could touch the child.
As Lutis froze like a dazed person, Aeli centered herself alone and straightened her body.
Aeli raised her head to face Lutis and asked.
-…So you’re saying, when we go up to the capital, you’re worried that Adi will receive a blessing at the temple?
“……”
-No, what is this…
“…When we return from the territory to the capital, I don’t know what will happen. I can’t accurately grasp the intention behind sending the imperial decree, so there may be unexpected changes and we may not be able to come down right away.”
-……
“Even if he receives the blessing in the capital, it may be fine, but it’s best to minimize risk factors as much as possible.”
Lutis said.
Aeli was stunned by the conversation with Lutis.
Could it be that the child’s kidnapping was related to the imperial palace? Then was the reason for ordering the child to enter the palace with her to gauge Lutis’ reaction?
…But why?
She couldn’t understand. To others, the child was just an ordinary young child, the only heir to a ducal family.
Moreover, due to the seclusion until now, there was very little known information about him.
There was no reason to deliberately target such a child, so why…
-……
Aeli moved her lips for a moment and uttered a difficult question.
-…It seems Count Duran made that speculation because the Alvarez Marquis family is a branch family.
“……”
-…Why the temple?
There’s no reason to speculate in that direction. Aeli frowned deeply, unable to understand Lutis’ thoughts.
As she unconsciously bit her fingernails, Lutis anxiously kept his eyes fixed on Aeli’s hand.
Biting her nails when anxious was a habit Aeli had since childhood.
Once she started biting, she wouldn’t easily stop until she drew blood, so each time, Lutis would hold down her hand beside her.
‘…Ah.’
Now that he could no longer touch her like earlier, he wouldn’t be able to do that for her.
Lutis nervously twitched his fingertips, worried that she might bleed again, and Aeli sighed.
She took her bitten fingernail out of her mouth, lowered her arm, and stared at Lutis as he slowly opened his mouth.
“Yesterday, the beast people-”
-……
“…Sioren said. The unidentified individuals who attacked them used something different from ordinary weapons.”
Aeli recalled what Sioren had said and slightly nodded her head.
He clearly drew an angular shape in the air with his hand.
-That rock the size of a fist that was shot by that weapon… emitted an eerie smoke?
“Yes, that…”
-……
“…I found that at the auction house too. It was a magic stone imbued with black magic, but there was no detectable energy even when approaching it or directly touching it with hands.”
-……
“You know how that’s possible, right?”
Because you directly told me about it. Lutis said.
Aeli, who had been blinking her eyes in confusion as to what this meant, suddenly closed her mouth, her words stuck as a scene flashed through her mind.
Come to think of it, she definitely told Lutis such a story when they were young at the academy.
It was a fact she learned by sneakily eavesdropping out of spite when her family members were talking about it while leaving her out.
At that time, she was just upset, wondering why they didn’t tell her this interesting story, but now she understood.
‘…It must have been because it was dangerous, so they didn’t tell me.’
Back then, Aeli’s parents and elder brother probably didn’t know the extent of this situation.
As members of the most prominent family in magic, those who used black magic were like heretics to the Masons and the Magic Tower.
If they had known, they wouldn’t have left it alone until now.
In a way, it might have been a stroke of luck that she only told Lutis what she heard back then. If she had unknowingly talked about it due to a lack of discretion, she might have been involved in a dangerous situation.
As the puzzle pieces fit together, she naturally seemed to know the identity of the intangible energy she had seen beside the child when he was kidnapped.
-…I, I think I’ve seen that too.
“…What?”
Lutis was startled and asked back to Aeli, who opened her mouth with a stutter, greatly flustered.
Before Lutis could say anything more, Aeli recited the situation she had witnessed.
-When Adi… When Adi was kidnapped, I was there too.
“……”
-But as you know, I don’t have mana anymore, so I can’t use magic… And as a ghost, I can’t touch anything except Adi. In the first place, it hasn’t been many months since I became able to touch Adi.
“…Wasn’t it always like that?”
-No. Originally, I couldn’t touch Adi either and passed through him like you, but on the dawn of the day the priest visited when Adi was sick…
“……”
-……
Before she could finish her words, Aeli raised her head.
Lutis seemed to have had the same thought as her, as he was already looking at Aeli, and their eyes met immediately.
On the day the priest visited, the child became able to touch Aeli.
Also, on the day Lutis came down to the territory with her, the child was kidnapped by a magic stone imbued with black magic, and Sioren had experienced something similar, although the situation was slightly different.
Moreover, Aeli had seen such an object in the past as well.
…Was this really all a coincidence?
Even if all of this was not a coincidence but related to each other, there were still puzzling aspects.
For example, the clear reason for kidnapping the child, and the reason for carrying out the plan much later than when Aeli first learned about the magic stone.
Things like the reason for massacring different species like Sioren in this situation and kidnapping only the children to train them for something.
However, she had a conviction that if these questions were resolved, clues would unravel and they would get closer to leads.
Even if she didn’t know, at least she had the conviction that she could keep the child safe.
Aeli opened her mouth.
-…Anyway. When he was being kidnapped, Adi tried to use magic to escape, but he was blocked by a strange energy and got tied up, so he couldn’t properly respond.
“……”
-I could only watch that… I memorized the path and marked it with the hair I received from Adi, and instead tried to find someone to help.
“…That was…”
…You. Lutis muttered with a pensive face, holding his forehead upon hearing Aeli’s words.
Aeli continued.
-I agree with your opinion. If we’re going up to the capital, at least take the child and Sioren with us.
“…Did you even listen to what I just said-”
-That’s why we should take them even more. I told you, Adi tried to use magic but was blocked and couldn’t even resist once. I don’t think it will be any different for Sioren…
“……”
-At the very least, the means that allowed for self-protection have been blocked, so in this case, we can’t be sure if protective magic on accessories and scrolls will work either.
We couldn’t test it, so we had no choice but to choose the relatively safe method.
If they couldn’t use magic, the child’s combat ability would only be at the level of an ordinary young child.
Although they didn’t know yet if the magic stone imbued with black magic would have the same effect on the knights’ aura, it would be better to have Lutis nearby.
Lutis muttered softly. Aeli listened closely and heard him say something like, “I shouldn’t have handed that over as trial evidence…”
After a long pause, Lutis spoke.
“…Still, I don’t feel comfortable. That’s an assumption, so it may be fine. But the capital-”
-By that logic, it may also be fine to go up to the capital.
“……”
-Honestly, I don’t understand why you’re being so stubborn. You know that what you’re saying is unreasonable. If something happens, you can directly protect him, so what’s the problem?
Aeli let out a deep sigh.
There was no point in staying silent and hiding.
If she wasn’t going to stay by the child’s side until he grew old and died, this situation of recklessly avoiding without thought was not good.
‘…Even if we somehow get through it this time. But is there any guarantee that something like this won’t happen again next time? Is there any guarantee that we can return safely then?’
Aeli couldn’t forget the child who was bound by ropes and handcuffs, showing tears.
The child being in danger should never happen again. But for that, they first needed to agree with Lutis on how to protect him.
Aeli opened her mouth to persuade Lutis.
-…You have to see the forest to see the trees. We need to know the situation when we return to think about what to do in the future.
“I…”
-……
“Aeli, I… I don’t know if I can properly protect you two. I’ve already made the same mistake twice, being so arrogant.”
-……
“I’m afraid that if I make another mistake and something happens to the child… If something like that happens again because I’m being complacent like I was with you-”
-…Lutis. I think you’re misunderstanding something, so let me tell you.
I’m already dead. Aeli said while quietly looking at Lutis, who lowered his head and hunched his shoulders lifelessly.
Seeing him like that, she understood why he was so reluctant to return to the capital with the child.
He was simply afraid. Just as Aeli, who he thought would always be by his side, had become like this.
He was scared that he would ruin the child’s daily life with his own hands again and see that sight once more.
-So what you should be worrying about now is not me, who is already dead, but Adi. Look properly.
Aeli buried her face in both hands and bowed her head.
-…If you regret your mistake and it’s painful, don’t make it a third time.
Under her translucent hands, the bandage on his palm, which had barely healed, ruptured again and turned red.
She already took Lutis’ answer as a given.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
