“I have a past that I want to hide too. Can’t you just pretend not to know? Can’t you treat me as if I was loved from birth, as if I don’t have any dark past?”

“That’s why I didn’t ask! I didn’t ask about your past or what else happened with the Vasquez prelate. I just used some money to get rid of that father you despised so much. What exactly are you so dissatisfied with?”

Leonard, who had been holding back, finally exploded. As far as he was concerned, she was ungrateful.

After all the care and consideration he had shown Cordelia, this was her response. He felt betrayed.

“I know that you changed my life, Master. I’m always grateful for that. But that doesn’t mean you can control my life as you please. You ask what I’m dissatisfied with? You bought me from my father. For fifty thousand linkit a month.”

“…”

“Was my opinion considered in that? Were my thoughts or feelings taken into account? Why don’t you ever ask me? I’m not a possession of yours or my father’s!”

She shouted with her whole body.

No tears came. It just felt like someone had stabbed her chest with a spear and pulled it out, leaving a gaping hole. It was like stepping into a bottomless abyss.

Despite Cordelia’s scream-like outburst, Leonard replied coldly.

“If I really considered you my possession, I would have killed your father for daring to damage what’s mine. That would have been much easier. But because I care for you, I went through the trouble of managing things by giving money to Vasquez every month. Why can’t you understand? Is your pride so hurt because I didn’t tell you about this beforehand?”

Pride.

To Leonard, this seemed to be nothing more than Cordelia’s petty pride. She spoke with a strangely distorted expression, neither smiling nor crying.

“…Yes. My pride is hurt. Because you’ve made me the most miserable person in the world.”

“Miserable? Hah… You still think your feelings are the most important thing. You don’t even care why I made such a choice.”

He spoke as if chewing each syllable and stepped back. It felt pointless to continue the conversation when they couldn’t understand each other at all.

“Rest.”

Leonard turned his back, intending to leave the room. If he stayed any longer, he couldn’t guarantee what words might come out of his mouth.

“…I think.”

“What?”

Just as he was about to pull the doorknob, Cordelia’s tired voice came from behind.

“I think it would be better if I wasn’t your disciple anymore.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Leonard immediately turned around and walked towards Cordelia. She blinked very slowly.

“Wouldn’t that be better?”

“You. Do you still not know who I am? I’m the strongest magician in this country, Ershe! All the magicians in the Magic Association want to be my disciples!”

Before he could finish speaking, the room she was in instantly turned into a forest, and then with another blink, it became an ocean. When she closed and opened her eyes for the third time, everything had returned to how it was at first, as if by magic.

“Others wouldn’t hesitate to bow down and beg me for teachings, but is your pride so important to you?”

Leonard’s insides were so hot that fire came out every time he opened his mouth.

After he had placed a new star in the Hall of Stars, all magicians wished to become his disciples.

No one dared to assert their pride in front of Leonard. There were as many people as the sand on the beach who would be overcome with gratitude if he accepted them as disciples, and who would serve Leonard devotedly for life.

But Cordelia so easily spoke of ending it all, not realizing how great and wonderful the grace and luck she had received were.

He was so angry that his hands trembled.

“Don’t say ‘just’. Because that’s all I have left now.”

“What you have left is me! Not that petty pride or the father who sold you twice!”

A terrible silence fell. Neither Cordelia nor Leonard understood each other.

Perhaps never would.

* * *

As soon as dawn broke, Cordelia packed her belongings and left Atilei’s townhouse as if fleeing. She thought it was for the best. She didn’t have the courage to face Leonard, and now she had an excuse to leave.

Every time Craig’s coffin rattled in the back of the carriage, her heart sank endlessly.

The anger over him arbitrarily giving money to her father didn’t last long. What troubled her more was regret and guilt.

‘He must be sick of me. Well, I’d be disgusted too if I were him. A disciple who’s stupid, can’t control her temper and just shouts, and even has a family that sucks money like leeches.’

The thought that it might be better for him if she wasn’t there, if she wasn’t his disciple, dominated her mind.

Suddenly, the carriage wall collided with something with a thud. The carriage stopped.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

Terrified that bandits might have appeared before they had even completely left Yebo Delim, she was relieved to hear a familiar voice from beyond the carriage.

“Open the window, will you?”

“Beluce?”

There, an unexpected figure was on horseback. He had beads of sweat on his forehead despite the cool weather, as if he had ridden hard. When Beluce’s eyes met Cordelia’s, he grumbled.

“What’s the rush, leaving at the crack of dawn?”

“Why is Beluce here?”

“You might run into bandits and die on your way to Abrams. Then I’d have to retrieve the bracelet.”

He said gruffly. Cordelia glanced once in the direction of Atilei’s mansion, now invisible, and asked.

“Did Master send you?”

“The master doesn’t know I’m here. I spotted you on my way from Atilei’s main castle to Yebo Delim. Seeing the coffin loaded, you’re heading to Abrams, right?”

“That’s right, but you don’t need to come with me. It’s not particularly dangerous since I’m just following the main road.”

“Who said I came because I was worried about you? I told you, I’m here to retrieve the bracelet.”

“I never asked if you were worried…”

“…Hey! What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and get going.”

Beluce turned his horse’s head and yelled at the innocent coachman. Cordelia found it both amusing and touching, and gazed at Beluce’s back for a long time.

They rode diligently for several days like that. As usual, she was about to look for a suitable inn to change clothes and get some sleep.

Then she accidentally found something in her travel bag.

A note that seemed to have been written by Reilly, along with a sachet, appeared. Cordelia hugged it preciously. Suddenly, tears welled up in her eyes.

The people of Atilei were the kindest and most hospitable people she had ever met.

‘If I return to Atilei…’

Then suddenly, the face of her master, which she had been trying to forget, came to mind, and an inexplicable anxiety surged.

‘What if Master tells me not to come back?’

What if he gets angry and says he doesn’t need a disciple like me, an ungrateful person like me shouldn’t come back? Should I grab his pant leg and beg for forgiveness? Didn’t they say that the bond between master and disciple can’t be easily broken?

Overcome with anxiety, Cordelia took out a pen and paper from her travel bag. After hesitating for a long time, she finally completed a seemingly innocuous letter.

She lacked the courage to address it directly, so she wrote “Baron” as the recipient. He would surely pass this letter on to her master.

When morning came and she came down to the first floor of the inn with a gloomy face, Beluce asked,

“Why do you look so rotten?”

“Are you picking a fight first thing in the morning? I’m not in the mood, so don’t bother me.”

“Good grief. If someone didn’t know better, they’d think your real husband had died.”

“I’m glad it looks that way.”

Cordelia truly had no energy to retort, so she silently ate the oatmeal porridge served for breakfast.

And just before leaving, she asked the innkeeper to send a letter to Atilei.

The road to Abrams was smooth. Since there was no reason to hurry, Cordelia deliberately went slowly, as if on a pleasure trip.

She tried her best not to think about Leonard, but it was very difficult.

Although it was a short period, the time she spent with Leonard was the most shining moment in her life. It was like breathing life into a corpse, like color entering a world that was all black and white.

“I can see the walls of Abrams Castle. We should arrive before sunset today.”

“Already?”

“What do you mean, already? You’ve been so slow that a five-day journey has taken over a week.”

“Then it’s time for Beluce and I to part ways.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“You should go back. Beluce.”

Cordelia smiled very faintly. Thanks to him, she was able to safely reach Abrams. Beluce’s lips twitched as he spoke.

“That sounds like you’re not going back.”

“…”