The next day, Belia heard the news that Duke Arlington had arrived at the palace and hurriedly headed to Khalid’s office.

Sitting in the place where Khalid and she made eye contact was a man with long red hair.

It was Duke Arlington.

At first glance, he had a surprisingly youthful appearance that couldn’t be expected from his age. Despite being the emperor’s younger brother, he looked similar in age to Khalid.

The ancient books mentioned that those who attained a higher level of enlightenment and truth did not age and maintained a youthful appearance.

No matter how much she thought about it, the idea that people don’t age was an unreasonable story, so Belia thought of both wizards using magic and knights wearing armor as legends.

But now, facing Duke Arlington in person, she couldn’t help but believe that the stories from the ancient books were all true.

‘Fascinating.’

She had many questions. She wanted to see him use magic.

However, this was not the occasion to satisfy her trivial curiosity.

After firmly hiding her curiosity that kept leaking out, Belia greeted him somewhat modestly.

“Nice to meet you, Duke Arlington. I’m Belia Ronica.”

“Oh, indeed.”

Duke Arlington, after looking at Belia, exclaimed in admiration. Then he smiled brightly and greeted her.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Huey Arlington, taking care of a small territory in the north.”

“Please feel free to speak. You don’t have to elevate your words to me, Khalid’s uncle and His Majesty the Emperor’s younger brother.”

“Hmm. Then, let’s keep it comfortable. After all, I’m quite old despite appearances.”

Duke Arlington joked with a light laugh.

Indeed, he was older than Belia’s father, King Ronica of Ronica Kingdom.

“More importantly, it seems safe here.”

“Is that so?”

“I heard that a high-ranking official visited not long ago. Did they set up some device using their divine power at that time?”

Belia was surprised and widened her eyes. A magician who could also feel divine power? She thought there wouldn’t be anyone who could sense it, but someone noticed it as soon as they saw her.

Seeing Belia, whose eyes widened in surprise, Duke Arlington lightly laughed and explained.

“There’s a foreign energy flowing in the air, so I set up a trap. There’s no need to doubt it. With such energy, it can only be divine power.”

Saying that, Duke Arlington waved his hand into the air. His fingers lightly shook as if checking something.

Then he nodded and said, “Hmm. It’s definitely a power worthy of calling it a high-ranking official. When something truly dangerous happens at the palace, this place will be the safest.”

It was a tone full of admiration.

“If you’re a magician, can you recognize everything like the duke?”

“To some extent? But that’s talking about magicians who manipulate elements like me. Those kids stuck in Matop, just producing items, wouldn’t be able to notice at all.”

In response to his words, Belia let out a small sigh of relief.

Thinking that it wouldn’t be too lax since the barrier was set up by the high priest and the priestess themselves, seeing Duke Arlington immediately notice made her feel a sinking feeling in her heart.

If by any chance, someone else detected the defensive barrier at the 2nd Prince’s Palace, it could be really dangerous, as they might not receive help when they needed it.

“More than that, do you really have memories of regressing?”

“Do you believe his claim that he returned to the past, Duke?”

“No one knows about the time magic I’m currently researching. But there’s someone who claims to have returned to the past as a result of that magic. Naturally, I have to believe it.”

Duke Arlington had an excited expression.

“Moreover, even if the theory is perfect, I never thought I could confirm the result. Princess Consort, you don’t know how great an honor this is in my life.”
His expression was remarkably excited, like that of a child.

“So, tell me a bit about it. How did it feel when you went back to the past? Did you experience symptoms like nausea or dizziness? How were the memories stored? Did they come up one by one, or did you have an experience like Prince Khalid, where memories suddenly flooded in one day?”

The Duke bombarded her with questions, his eyes shining.

He asked questions purely related to magic, as if he were solely interested in the results of the spell he cast. Belia felt somewhat relieved, unknowingly. Khalid, who was by her side, nodded as if to indicate that it was okay to answer when their eyes met.

Belia opened her mouth, recalling that time.

“I thought I died. It was an impossible situation to survive. I closed my eyes, thinking time would stop, but suddenly, I felt a fresh breeze. Clear air and warm sunlight. Things that the deceased me couldn’t feel. When I opened my eyes, it turned out to be the lively Ronica Kingdom.”

“Wow!”

“I wondered what was happening, but… realizing that I had gone back to the past, I thought it was an opportunity.”

A faint smile lingered on Belia’s face.

“So, were there any side effects?”