Ch.117The Magician’s Pure Love #1

She works too hard.

From her usual magical research to the addition of tactical studies, she studied diligently without a single complaint.

Olivia had that thought every time she saw Eve working so hard.

Of course, working hard is a good thing, and it’s a great benefit from the territory’s perspective.

However, seeing her consistently behave this way without any apparent motivation made it impossible to shake off a vague sense of suspicion.

Olivia, who was essentially the acting village chief of the Dark Elf village, wanted to know the reason, so she called for Aila, who was close to Eve, and asked her.

“That girl? Well, I’m not really sure either.”

Aila sat in a chair in the mercenary Red Hood’s hut, taking a swig of the wine they made as she answered.

She didn’t know. If Aila didn’t know, then the other Dark Elves wouldn’t know either, so there was no point in asking around further.

Normally, Olivia would have accepted that, but her sharp intuition wouldn’t let her take the answer at face value.

She was stubbornly convinced that there must be some peculiar reason behind it.

“Come on. Stop holding back and tell me. I’m not trying to harm her or anything. I’m not even in a position to do that… I’m just curious.”

“Why so suddenly? What’s this about?”

Olivia was a woman who usually left village matters to Orcus, the deputy chief and de facto village head, while she focused on tending to the vineyard and making wine.

So for such a woman to suddenly take interest in Eve, whom she had little to do with?

From Aila’s perspective, it couldn’t be more suspicious.

“Well, things have seemed off since the Duke and Duchess were summoned to the palace for the hearing. I know she’s always been the type to quietly do her duties, but there’s something… a certain weight to her, I should say…”

“Weight? That girl?”

“Yes. That’s what I’m saying.”

But the more Olivia spoke, the heavier Aila’s heart felt.

As Eve’s friend, she understood her feelings and could grasp the whole situation.

She’s fallen that deeply. What should I do about this?

Aila inwardly shook her head, recalling rumors of the Duchess whose obsession had deepened into madness.

She knew the Duchess wouldn’t tolerate any woman circling around the handsome Grand Duke.

“Weight, weight…”

“Come on, please. You seem to know something, so tell me. It’s better than letting it fester until it bursts. Despite how I look, I have some influence, so I can smooth things over. Hmm?”

Olivia had caught the momentary shadow that crossed Aila’s face with uncanny perception, and was now even resorting to aegyo.

With her naturally glib personality, she had no qualms about acting in ways that didn’t match her age.

I need to coax it out of her somehow.

Olivia thought that Eve, who could be considered the court magician of the duchy, shouldn’t go astray, and if there were signs of that happening, it needed to be prevented.

As one of the people residing in the Krauser duchy.

And as Ellen’s friend.

Aila couldn’t see through Olivia’s dark intentions, but she could tell that her concern for Eve was genuine.

Even if she wasn’t worried about Eve personally, in the grand scheme of things, it amounted to the same thing.

“Haah…”

Moreover, knowing that putting things off wouldn’t solve anything, instead of verbally surrendering, she let out a sigh full of resignation.

“That girl… I think she likes the Grand Duke here.”

“What? Really?!”

When it seemed like the core of the matter was finally about to be revealed, Olivia clapped her hands in surprise.

There was a sense of accomplishment that her suspicions had been confirmed, as well as genuine surprise that it was actually true.

“Yes. I haven’t been settled in this village for long, so I don’t know much… but from what I can tell, it’s not something recent.”

“Maybe I just never thought about it that way? I had no idea. Well… I suppose it’s because the Grand Duke is so pretty that this happened.”

Not just his appearance, but he was also a man with a kindness that seemed straight out of a book.

Olivia, knowing him, thought it was only natural for an innocent maiden to fall for him.

Since it was the Grand Duke who first recognized Eve’s value, it would be strange if she didn’t fall for him.

Thinking it was fortunate that she wasn’t suffering from lovesickness to the point of being at death’s door like Ellen, Olivia spoke.

“But it’s strange that there’s no obvious sign of it. When a woman falls for a man, she usually can’t help but act coquettish.”

“I think so too… but I’m not sure about her feelings either. It seems more complicated, yet maybe not.”

Gulp.

Olivia stared at Aila drinking wine and fell into thought.

It seems like she has fallen for him, but there’s something more to it.

Olivia had built up a friendship with Eve in her own way, but it was nothing compared to Aila’s.

And since Aila had said there was something more to it, there definitely was something more.

Olivia nodded as if she understood, and changed the subject to create a more cheerful atmosphere.

She deliberately raised her voice to be boisterous and freely brought up old stories.

Aila, having lived a life full of hardships herself, got along well with her.

After spending an enjoyable time drinking together, the next day.

Olivia’s footsteps headed toward Eve’s hut next door.

“Oh… Olivia? What brings you here so early in the morning?”

“We’re neighbors, but we’ve been too busy to talk, right? I thought I’d try to build our friendship. May I come in?”

“Ah, yes. Of course.”

Like Olivia, Eve also lived quite a regular life, so she was already up in the morning.

Thanks to that, Olivia was able to enter Eve’s hut without being turned away.

Although they were fairly close and used to visiting each other’s homes, friendship-building first thing in the morning was unusual.

Eve tilted her head at this strange situation but decided to serve tea without much suspicion.

After all, regardless of her motives, Olivia had helped her learn spirit magic.

“Have some tea first.”

“Thank you. Morning really should be enjoyed leisurely with tea.”

Perhaps because it was made from processed grape leaves, there seemed to be a subtle grape scent.

Olivia felt her mind calming at the familiar scent and was inadvertently enjoying the morning leisure when she caught herself in surprise.

But that was only momentary.

Considering what she was about to discuss, she thought it might be better to remain calm, and so she opened her lips.

“I’m sorry. Actually, it’s a lie that I came to build our friendship. I dropped by because there’s something I really wanted to ask.”

“Ah… is that so?”

Although it might have been disconcerting that she had lied, Eve responded with an incredibly nonchalant tone, as if it didn’t matter.

They were fairly close, and it wasn’t a harmful lie anyway.

But the moment she heard Olivia’s question, Eve’s mind went completely blank.

Whiter than a blank page, whiter than a winter snowfield.

“I heard you like the Grand Duke… is that true?”

“Uh…? W-well, that’s…”

Her mouth simply wouldn’t move, and even when she tried to say something, it melted away inside her tightly closed lips.

No matter how hard she tried to squeeze out an answer, nothing came to her blank mind.

Shock.

There couldn’t be a better word to describe Eve right now.

“H-hey, calm down first! I’m not trying to corner you with this!”

Seeing Eve’s reaction, it was clearly true, but calming her down was the priority.

Olivia placed her hand on Eve’s shoulder and helped her breathe slowly.

Taking deep breaths when flustered helps bring back composure.

“Haah…”

Eve slowly inhaled and exhaled, regaining her composure.

The shocked expression had been replaced by the calm one she had when greeting Olivia, and her fidgeting had also disappeared.

Olivia, thinking they could finally have a conversation, opened her mouth to confirm that Eve’s reason had returned.

“Are you feeling better now? Can we talk?”

“Yes, yes… I’m better now.”

“I’m sorry. I made you flustered by bringing up the question so suddenly.”

“No, it’s not your fault, Olivia. So you don’t need to apologize.”

Eve comforted the slightly dejected Olivia and placed her hand on the teacup.

She was still shocked, but not to the point where she couldn’t think at all.

Olivia sensed this and lifted her dejected expression.

“I’m sorry. I think I asked an unnecessary question. It’s not my place to say this after bringing it up, but… forget about it.”

Forget it. It meant she wouldn’t bring up the subject again, but Eve thought differently.

Now that it had been brought up, there would be some lingering feelings, big or small, and carrying such feelings would make one feel stifled.

“…I’ll tell you. You already suspect it, don’t you?”

“More or less. But… are you sure? It’s not my place to say, but…”

“It’s fine.”

Whew. Eve took a moment to breathe and compose herself, then opened her mouth with determination in her eyes.

“The time I took him into my heart was…”

.

So that’s what was different.

After hearing Eve’s story and returning, Olivia crossed her arms and fell into deep thought.

She had learned that Eve’s feelings were greater than both Ellen’s and Helena’s.

Not deeper, but broader.

Of course, the depth was also quite extraordinary, but the nature of her emotion was different from what the two women felt.

While the two women had fallen into madness because of their feelings for one man, Eve placed weight on the group that included him.

Simply put, she valued the people she was connected to in her environment.

While it wasn’t as intense as Helena’s or Ellen’s obsessive fixation, it was clearly stronger than that of an ordinary person.

Olivia hesitated whether to tell this or not, and finally decided to find Helena and share this story.

If it were someone else, she might have just let it be, but a magician who was treated as an honored guest within the ducal family was involved.

“…Is that so? So that’s how it is?”

In the reception room of the Krauser mansion.

After hearing the whole story, Helena’s eyes gleamed with madness for a moment, but she soon calmed her anger and lamented.

She had tried to keep distance between them from the beginning, anticipating this, but it had come to this anyway.

As heavy air pressed down on the office, Ellen, who had been quietly listening to the story, opened her mouth.

Naturally, Zion wasn’t present.

“She doesn’t just love the Grand Duke, right?”

“Yeah. She seems to love and cherish something broader. Of course, her feelings for the Grand Duke are part of that, but…”

“I understand. You may withdraw now.”

Seeming to have regained her reason somewhat, Helena used formal speech as usual.

Olivia, inwardly relieved at this change, finished her greetings and quickly left the reception room.

She wanted to escape the heavy atmosphere as soon as possible.

Attachment to the community.

Zion probably already knew this, so he wouldn’t be as surprised, but the two women were different.

Having received such shocking news, they couldn’t figure out what to do.

Eve was a talent recommended by Zion, and she had achieved excellent results accordingly.

The sleep magic formation installed around the walls.

The installation and maintenance of magic formations in the forest that kill mosquitoes and create illusions.

And even the captain of the magic battalion.

She already held crucial responsibilities that couldn’t be dispensed with, and the benefits she had brought to the territory were immense.

Moreover, the fact that she didn’t just target Zion alone, but said everything was precious to her, was confusing Helena’s judgment.

“This… I’m having trouble finding an answer.”

Of course, if she decided to, she could cut Eve off.

Compared to when she rejected Ellen, there was practically no risk.

Yet, Helena couldn’t reach a conclusion.

Because a talented individual working for the territory had expressed her affection.

In contrast, Ellen had no particular thoughts on the matter.

Having forcibly obtained a portion of the position that Helena had fully occupied, she felt she had no right to complain about it.

Helena, seeming to know this, crossed her arms and tapped her forearm with her finger before speaking.

“In times like these… we can only ask the person himself for an answer.”