There’s nothing wrong.

Despite the repetition of the same words, the birds continued to unfold their words.

“It was a very vivid illusion. She was wearing a loose white shirt, and her face hadn’t changed at all since then, so I could recognize her immediately. Rather, her face has been fading recently, but vividly…”

As the birds were explaining about the illusion I saw, their bodies stiffened abruptly.

“…Wait, white shirt?”
Even after being scolded by Hadel, who claimed that there was no such woman, the birds naturally peeked into the room upon their return. Although the window was closed, the situation in the study could be glimpsed through the glass.

‘Didn’t the white shirt fall on the floor?’

If it was a real illusion, there wouldn’t be a shirt lying on the floor. Of course, even saying that it was an illusion was out of the question.

‘My head has been strange for a long time.’

But if it was real, it was indeed strange. Hadel was not the type to casually leave his shirt lying on the floor.

Thinking about strange things, another memory came to mind.

“And there was a suspicious jokjevi. I felt flames, so I tried to absorb or blow in my mana, but it didn’t work. I was going to ask you to check it out, but those worthless subordinates ruined it by missing the jokjevi.”

A strange jokjevi that could only absorb flame mana. Perhaps it was an existence essential to them.

The birds, who were rambling on about various things while wandering around, asked Yulnisia.

“When can we meet Marian, anyway?”

…….

No sound came from the black robe. Since the birds didn’t expect an answer anyway, they casually turned their heads.

A polite voice echoed outside the tent.

“Your Highness, you must ascend to the capital now. We can no longer leave the palace empty.”

“Alright.”

He had already stayed in the North longer than planned. The original purpose of examining Hadel’s condition had ended long ago.

‘But he seemed much more stable than before.’

It was significantly different from before, when flames would burst out wildly depending on emotions. It wasn’t simply because of his personality maturing. The mana emitted by the heart he carried was originally beyond his capacity.

‘Either his physique has become strong enough to withstand that heart, or he found a way to alleviate the burden of the heart.’

Either way, it was favorable for him. The more stable Hadel became, the sooner he could advance his plans.

Still, that fellow didn’t sit well with him.

“Shall we play a trick before going?”

The birds smiled with a chilling expression.

Thinking that he might have to endure the scolding and go up to the capital quickly, the next morning, the birds cheerfully announced.

“We’re going up to the capital.”

Hadel frowned.

‘He said he wasn’t in the castle last night, where could he have been?’

Since the birds tried to kidnap Marian, Hadel had been keeping an eye on them. However, the surveillance proved useless as the birds left the Northern Castle overnight and returned early in the morning.

‘There was definitely a purpose. They’re going to resolve it and go up immediately.’

However, not knowing the destination, there was no way to know what that purpose was.
Anyway, since Hadel actually wanted to quickly drive away the birds from the North, he nodded without saying a word.

“Shall we go now?”

“Yes. My subordinates will be a little behind me. The elites and I will go up first.”

“Alright.”

Whether the sudden order from the birds was surprising for their subordinates as well, they were now busy dismantling the tent.

After the two princes exchanged dry greetings, the steward murmured quietly from behind.

“There’s no one here, and I don’t know why we came.”

Although it was a small voice, it was large enough for the birds to hear. In response, the subordinate who used to chatter instead of the birds when they first arrived chuckled and replied to the steward.

“Haha, our prince is a modest person, so he appreciates the humble hospitality of the Northern Castle. Don’t worry about it.”

The tension remained fierce until the last day of parting. Hadel endured the desire to press his temples.

‘I’m tired.’

He wished they would disappear quickly. As he had such thoughts, the birds intentionally scratched Hadel’s nerves.

“Where is that cute jokjevi?”

“Sleeping.”

“Too bad. We wanted to take it to the capital.”

“…I didn’t know you liked animals.”

“I don’t like animals. But I liked that jokjevi.”

The birds laughed gently and said, “We even gave it a name, Marian.”