Senior, I've Come to Visit - Chapter 54

“….”

But my feelings weren’t the important thing right now. I needed to get to Iella immediately, make sure she was safe, and tell her about the queen’s threat. That was the priority.

“Nardi, we’ll talk later. Later.”

“…We can’t talk now?”

He looked startled.

“No. I have somewhere I need to go right away.”

“Where? I’ll go with you.”

“No, I’m going alone.”

I didn’t have time for this. I tried to move past him to undo the barrier, but my magic didn’t work. Slightly alarmed by how excessively strong the barrier was, I looked back at him.

“Remove this.”

“It’s dangerous to walk alone at this hour. Let me go with you.”

Danger.

I let out a short, incredulous laugh before I could stop myself. There was something far more dangerous than this.

“I don’t have time to deal with you right now.”

“…Eloise, did you hear the rumors? The Ferretti side made up nonsense on their own. I warned them to stop, and I already corrected it with everyone.”

“….”

He seemed to think I was acting like this because of the rumor from earlier. What a huge misunderstanding. That he thought I would care about something like that. Although, honestly, I had been bothered by it for a moment earlier, but thinking back on it now, it was absolutely meaningless.

I shouldn’t have been indulging in romance or foolish emotions at all. A commoner wizard, who could be threatened by nobles at any moment, had no business entertaining luxuries like that.

“I don’t care who you’re rumored with or who you meet, Nardi.”

“…Are you serious?”

His face, usually made for smiling, hardened.

“Yes.”

I could feel I was being emotional, too extreme, and I tried to stop myself, but the words kept coming out.

“Our relationship started from a one-night stand anyway. To be honest, I never planned on it lasting long.”

“…Don’t say things like that all of a sudden.”

“It’s not sudden. The research is finished, the milk stopped… I want to stop now.”

“Stop what?” he asked in a pained voice.

Even though my mind kept telling me I shouldn’t be doing this, once the words started, I couldn’t stop.

“Us meeting. For me, it was just a fling… and I think it’s time to end it.”

He shook his head silently and reached for my hand. But as soon as our fingertips brushed, I jerked my hand back on reflex.

“Eloise, please….”

“I really need to go.”

Ignoring his whisper, I turned away.

Every minute, every second mattered. With Iella in possible danger, nothing else was important. Even though I knew I shouldn’t be treating Nardi like this, the truth was that he felt burdensome right now.

When I used stronger magic than before, the barrier cracked with a sharp sound. But the moment a fissure appeared, it instantly repaired itself.

Ha….

The barrier that chased off Rocceni was now trapping me, and it felt suffocating. I kept pressing with more magic, and at some point, the barrier vanished.

“….”

Not because I broke it. Nardi had dispelled it.

When I turned slightly, I saw him with his head bowed, covering his eyes with his large hand.

“…!”

Was he crying?

For a moment, I froze, but I couldn’t go to him. Right now, Iella came first.

No, he wouldn’t be crying… he couldn’t be….

Convincing myself it wasn’t possible, I took a step away.

Leaving Nardi behind, I hurried to find the carriage I’d arrived in. When I spotted the black carriage and climbed aboard, it jolted and began to move.

In the dark night, the carriage rolled smoothly as it carried me out of the palace.

***

The Eckville shopping district was swallowed in pitch black darkness.

As I stepped down from the carriage at the entrance of the district, I cast a protective barrier around myself just in case. I was being as cautious as possible. Since the queen had investigated my background, she might’ve put someone on my tail or stationed someone to watch Iella’s home. Even on my way here, I’d switched carriages several times in secret and came riding in a night carriage not sent by the queen.

I quietly walked through the district and stopped in front of the herb shop at its center.

‘Rubel Herb Shop.’

The two-story building had the shop on the first floor and the residence where Iella’s family lived on the second. Since it was long past midnight, both floors were completely dark with not a single window lit.

They must be sleeping, right?

Feeling anxious and restless, I went around to the back of the building, to the back door.

Knock, knock-

I tapped as lightly as possible so as not to disturb the silence of the night. I knocked a couple of times, waited a moment, then knocked again… repeating the pattern until I sensed footsteps approaching behind the door. I froze instantly.

“…Who is it?”

Ah.

Hearing Iella’s voice made relief rush through my whole body. I swallowed the rising emotion and forced myself to answer calmly.

“It’s me, Unnie.”

“Eloise?!”

Clack- the door opened immediately, and I quickly shushed her. I slipped inside, shut the door, and only then dispelled the protective barrier.

“Eloise!”

Holding a lamp in one hand, Iella looked completely fine. Aside from being startled because of me, she looked exactly the same as the sister I knew.

“I thought it couldn’t be, but you scared me! What happened? Why are you here in the middle of the night?”

“What about you? Has anything happened?”

“Happened? What do you mean? Nothing happened.”

“What about your husband and Rubel?”

“Why are you asking about them? They’re both asleep….”

“Let’s check.”

I raised my index finger and pointed upstairs.

“Alright.”

Iella looked puzzled, but perhaps sensing the urgency in my voice, she obediently led the way. She went to the bedroom, and I slipped into Rubel’s room, whose door was partially open.

“….”

Thank goodness. Rubel was safe, sleeping soundly as if nothing had happened.

I let out a breath of relief and quietly looked down at the sleeping child. She resembled Iella and also resembled me a bit. Because she was still a baby, her platinum blond hair was thin and fluffy. I gently stroked her rosy, plump cheek. Seeing that her little foot was poking out from under the blanket, I tucked it in.

“He’s fine too. He’s asleep.”

Iella whispered as she approached without making a sound.

I nodded and took her arm so we could leave the room. We stepped into the kitchen, where I carefully shut the curtains before turning on a small light.

“I’ll get you some water. Sit, Eloise.”

“Okay.”

Once we sat facing each other, Iella said, “So, were you threatened or something?”

I almost dropped the cup in surprise.

“…How did you know?”

“You show up at this hour and check on your family? It’s obvious. And I told you before. You’re a genius wizard who’s also a commoner, which makes you an easy target for people in power.”

“….”

Yes, ever since we were little, Iella had worried about that.

Because I was born with magic but no powerful backing, she feared I’d get dragged around or kidnapped by powerful people, and she wanted me to hide the fact that I was a wizard. And I did. Only after years of self-study and becoming strong enough did I reveal it. When I was finally old enough to enter the academy, I didn’t hide it anymore. I thought entering the academy would be safer. Was that a mistake?

“So who threatened you?”

“…The queen asked me to make a poison.”

“…Tell me everything in detail.”

“It seems the queen plans to poison the king’s mistress and her child. She asked me to make the poison, but her conditions are ridiculous. She wants something that can be disguised as natural death and pass toxicology tests.”

“What, she doesn’t want an elixir of immortality while she’s at it? She should at least ask for something possible.”

Iella looked just as exasperated as I’d been.

“Exactly. So I gave her realistic reasons for why it was impossible, but then she brought you up. She definitely dug into my background to threaten me.”

“Ha. And if you don’t make the poison, is she going to kill me next?”

“She didn’t say it outright, but that was the implication. She said making the poison was the way to protect my family, and that she was doing this to protect her own child, so I shouldn’t think badly of her.”

“She talks so smoothly it’s disgusting.”

“…The queen knows about Rubel.”