Theorban staggered to his feet with a flushed expression.
"Just need to go through that door. Then..."
Bang!
Theorban shouted as soon as he left the coffee house and secured his safety.
"Kill them!"
There was nothing in the contract about penalties upon the contractor's death.
So, killing them and tearing up the contract was all that was needed.
"Stupid fools!"
Theorban became triumphant.
Boom!
The magicians he hired simultaneously threw fireballs at the coffee house, causing explosions.
"Done!"
Tinkle.
The sound of the door opening, slicing through the dusty air, rang out cheerfully.
"Why haven't you left yet?"
The coffee house was unscathed. Of course, so were Navia and Lark.
Theorban and the magicians he hired gaped at the inexplicable phenomenon.
How did five magicians attack at once and only dust rose like nothing happened?
"If you had just left, I would have given you another chance, but how foolish. Well... as expected."
"Let's go, Navia."
Navia nodded her head slightly and then left with Lark in a carriage, smoothly exiting the alley.
"What?"
Theorban watched them leave in vain and then staggered and slumped to the ground.
Then someone approached. It was Erkin.
The magicians hurried to subdue him, but it was too late.
"Argh!"
They cried out their last breath and collapsed to the ground.
They were killed by the hands of the hidden intelligence agents.
Erkin hadn't worried about the explosions that had happened here earlier.
After all, Lark had installed soundproofing magic and a barrier against outsiders in this area.
"Well, let's clean this up neatly."
"Wait! I, I am Count Theorban Alvin. And who are you to do this...?"
Erkin replied with a gentlemanly attitude.
"Marquis Vladina."
"What...?"
Suddenly Marquis Vladina? Erkin continued.
"I was asked by Miss Navia to clean up the trash. It's my first time formally introducing myself, but it's a shame this will be our last meeting."
"Just a moment. What does that woman have against me...!"
"Well, she's my precious niece."
"…?"
"No need to understand."
After all, you're about to die.
Theorban was reduced to a puddle of blood in an instant.
* * *
On the way home, Lark asked Navia.
"Did you really plan to spare Theorban?"
"Of course not."
They knew that magicians were already laying siege outside and also knew how greedy Theorban was.
Such a person wouldn't easily give up his wealth and go to the countryside, so a counterattack was expected.
'Even if he didn't counterattack, I had no intention of sparing him.'
That's why she asked Erkin to take care of Theorban's cleanup at the Campanella Grand Theater's coffee house.
'Theorban's daughter will be sent to a convent.'
The Count Alvin family was finished. She felt nothing special about it.
If it weren't for the poppy farm, Theorban would've been nothing more than a mere rat. Would a famed general rejoice in slaying a rat?
"Soon the Empress will finish her journey and arrive in the capital."
She planned to prepare a new stage for that.
* * *
Creed curled up in the soft bed.
Falling asleep was not easy for him. It was partly due to the magic that churned through his body like claws,
"Why haven't his clairvoyant abilities awakened yet? Such a defective product!"
and partly due to the nightmares that always jolted him awake.
Creed sat up abruptly in the blue dawn.
Whenever Diana raged and shouted sharply, hawks always swooped in.
Kicks that tore the flesh, lightning that sliced through the body. That used to be his daily life.
Creed had heard a few phrases repeatedly while trapped in the crystal prison.
Prophecy. Weapon. Defective. Trash.
He didn't know what they meant, only that they referred to him.
But here, it was different.
"Creed!"
Navia had never used words like 'weapon' or 'defective'. She always called him by his name, Creed.
And the words Navia used were diverse.
He couldn’t understand their meaning, but they all sounded pleasant. Like the chirping of birds, or the sound of leaves rustling in the wind.
Creed couldn’t sleep anymore and went to the window. From there, he could see the distant main building.
From the moment he woke from nightmares until dawn, he waited endlessly for Navia. There was nothing else he could do.
The wait was sweetly agonizing.
The time spent waiting for her to gently open the door and call out "Creed" seemed eternal.
He paced restlessly but was patient, seeing traces of Navia everywhere in the annex.
Actually, Creed had been busy lately.
"Navia told me about you. It seems I must have taught you this and that."
He couldn't understand her, but her long murmuring, especially the word 'Navia', stuck in his ears.
"Kid, when an individual's power overwhelms an army, then there's nothing to fear. You have the potential to do that, thanks to Diana's foolish greed."
"……."
"It'll be quite a sight to see Ulrich's face when the abandoned child becomes a great mage."
Lark taught him how to harness magic and manifest it in its complete form.
The training wasn't hard.
The turbulent magic that seemed to burst through his entire body with each nightmare had significantly subsided since he started training.
This place was different from the cold palace.
The people here were all saving him. Easing his pain.
Teaching him happiness.
"Navia."
Creed was happiest when he spent time with her.
Navia was so small and fragile.
Of course, she was now as tall as Creed, but in his eyes, Navia seemed so delicate that he was afraid of himself.
He needed strength.
He had to become stronger.
Only then, he felt, could he be at ease.
Slowly, the day broke.
Creed loved the moment when sunlight seeped into the room.
When he was trapped in the brain prison, he vividly remembered Navia calling his name at dawn's end.
He recalled every detail of how the sunlight shattered around her.
His heart pounded and raced at the memory, though he didn't know why.
While waiting for Navia, Creed repeatedly practiced controlling his magic. He had learned that doing so made time pass more quickly.
Then he heard light footsteps outside.
Perking up.
Recognizing the distinctive presence, Creed got up. And the door opened.
"Creed!"
Her voice, filled with joy despite seeing him every day, reached him.
It was Navia, as expected.
She hugged Creed tightly and stroked his hair. Only then did Creed relax.
You came to see me again today.
Creed embraced Navia very carefully, as if afraid she might break.
"Did you sleep well?"
This gentle greeting had become familiar to him. Then he would respond like this.
"Navia."
"That means you're happy, right?"
Creed closed his eyelids for a moment. His radiant blue eyes hidden, he felt a distinct warmth.
He knew what this feeling was.
‘I like it.’
I like Navia.
In that moment, Creed realized more clearly than ever that he liked her.
Navia, with a look of pride, pinched Creed's cheeks.
"We can be together all day today, Creed."
Navia taught Creed new words, spent time eating with him, and eventually dozed off.
Creed lay next to Navia, gazing in wonder at her shimmering silver hair and dense eyelashes before he too fell asleep.
Lark came to train Creed but saw the two children sleeping soundly side by side on the bed.
"Really, now. I can't wake them up."
Missing one day of training won't matter.
Snap!
Lark decided to let the children sleep more and disappeared.
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