Ch.193Chapter 193. Loosened Reins

* * *

Reika, not Irene the owner or Swen whom she wanted to live with, was the one who spent the most time in the mansion where Irene stayed.

This was because Irene served as Serpina’s knight escort, and Swen’s time at home gradually decreased due to Serpina’s constant summons.

As for Reika, while it was a bit lonely… she didn’t really dislike spending time at the mansion.

With this suddenly given time.

Taking walks around the area, reading books, meditating…

“Phew-!”

“Thank you for your hard work, miss.”

“Ah… no! If, if I was helpful… I’m, um, glad. Hehe.”

“As I mentioned, this is naturally our duty, but…”

“It’s, it’s fine…!”

Helping the mansion’s maids with various household chores.

All of these tasks suited Reika’s aptitude quite well.

At first, the servants were shocked and pleaded, “Please leave these menial tasks to us,” but now they seemed to have become quite friendly, or perhaps they had grown accustomed to seeing her cleaning the kitchen or mansion, maintaining a fairly amicable relationship.

And so, after finishing the mansion’s affairs that day.

It was still daytime. There was some time left before sunset, and only after sunset would Swen and Irene return, so she was contemplating what to do in the meantime.

‘Huh?’

Reika’s eyes caught sight of several flowerpots.

The dying plants in them gave off a desolate feeling that didn’t match the mansion.

“Um, excuse me…”

She stopped a passing maid and asked, who bowed deeply to show respect.

“Ah, Miss Reika. Hello.”

“Those flowerpots, are they being thrown away…?”

“Yes. We certainly took proper care of them, but somehow they ended up like that… We’re planning to bring in new plants.”

Managing flowerpots and growing plants wasn’t as easy as one might think.

It was even considered a luxury that only the imperial family would have dedicated personnel for, so it wasn’t strange that the servants of this mansion couldn’t properly maintain them.

“…”

At that moment.

Reika, having reached a certain realization, carefully asked the maid.

“Ah, um… that… well.”

“…?”

“I, I mean… you know…”

Having reached the thought but unable to easily express it, Reika hesitated—

The maid observed her for a moment, then carefully covered her mouth and whispered:

“Do you perhaps need the flowerpots?”

“Ah…!”

Nod, nod.

Perhaps it was because they had worked together on countless mansion chores.

The maid, who had miraculously understood what Reika wanted to say, answered with a smile.

“We were going to throw them away anyway. I think it would be fine for you to take them. Or should I place them in front of your room later?”

“No, no…! I’ll take them myself. Th-thank you…!”

Bow.

After bowing to the maid, Reika managed to carry the three flowerpots that were destined for disposal to her room, struggling with their weight.

‘…Good.’

The mana within the mansion… was sufficient.

Reika closed her eyes and began to read the flow of mana.

She recalled the same spell formula she had thought of when seeing the dying rabbit at Valhalart Castle.

Not recalling something organized by someone else, but the instinctive part of her mind that told her ‘this might work’—the method of a born genius.

At the tip of Reika’s snow-white hand, a sphere of light began to gather bit by bit.

‘Here… if I do this…!’

The growing “sphere of light” began to connect with the dying plants.

She could feel it.

She could sense what was flowing through the plants.

The fortunate thing was that they still had breath in them.

If they had truly died, nothing would have connected.

“…!!!”

And then.

From Reika’s hand… a “miracle” began to happen.

The leaves of the plants, which had lost their vitality and were nearly dead, gradually began to return to their previous vibrant green state.

As they continued to receive something from the white sphere… they regained the appearance they had when first brought to the mansion.

How much time had passed like that?

Plop!

“Haa… haah.”

Reika wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and looked at the “result” before her eyes.

‘It worked…!’

It worked just as she had thought.

Using the abundant mana in the air, she had saved a fading life!

This was an incredible ability that could only be found in ancient scriptures from when religion flourished.

Reika had achieved this “instinctively,” just like when she first awakened to magic.

This was truly a remarkable discovery, but—

‘Too… exhausting…’

She had succeeded in reviving one flowerpot, but she had no strength left to use the same spell on the other two pots.

She could vividly feel the energy draining from her entire body like never before.

Of course, continuous use of magic often resulted in this, but… she thought she would be fine since she could handle fire and ice without much difficulty these days.

‘Is there… still something I don’t know?’

Since this was her first time using it, she would probably find the knack for it and become familiar with it through continued practice.

Besides, she had Swen by her side.

If she continued to meditate diligently following the routine he taught her, she would eventually become accustomed to this new “magic,” so she wasn’t too worried.

‘With more effort… I’ll become a magician who can be helpful to Lord Swen…!’

At first, she wasn’t particularly happy about being a magician.

While it was good to leave her orphan life behind, a life confined without freedom, dedicated only to magical training, was somewhat difficult.

But now, she was grateful for her talent.

After all, wasn’t it because she was a magician that she was taken in by Ginor and eventually met Swen?

To that extent, she wanted to be Swen’s strength.

This was the opposite of any sense of burden or duty to the Nighthart family—it was a choice made of her own free will.

Swen’s existence was transforming her, already a genius magician, into a being unprecedented on the continent.

‘If there had been enough mana at Valhalart Castle, I might have been able to save that dying rabbit…’

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she felt an overwhelming drowsiness.

‘It seems… I used… too much mana…’

Reika collapsed to the floor and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

“Were you able to stop the epidemic midway?”

This was inside the mansion where I often conversed with Serpina.

As soon as I entered through the now-familiar streets, I heard quite an unbelievable story from her.

“Yes. Didn’t you tell me? To have General Irian search around Rose Castle. So in a way, you prevented it all.”

At first, I didn’t understand why she specifically instructed Irian, who was leading the occupation forces in that area, to conduct a search…

But it seemed that had created a butterfly effect, ultimately allowing them to contain an epidemic that could have spread throughout the entire northern continent.

I vaguely heard they had thoroughly isolated the accidentally discovered patients and prevented all contact until they were cured, but the process wasn’t really important.

What mattered was the result.

Setting everything else aside, the fact that this followed a process I could never have deduced even if I died and came back—

This incident was quite similar to when we captured the rebels led by Rahelven before.

It was an incredibly hard-to-believe story that relied too much on coincidence from beginning to end…

But this wasn’t the first time, and I now knew that advice from someone with an intelligence of 100 had prevented an epidemic from spreading.

Although she was following my advice, to a third party unaware of the details, Serpina making such decisions would seem as if she were possessed by a god.

However, Serpina herself, not being a third party but the person directly involved, knew all too well whose mouth had determined all these decisions.

There was no need to discuss how I knew.

By now, Serpina was also aware of my ability.

But… why did she call me here then?

I couldn’t help but think that naturally.

Since arriving at this mansion, the way she looked at me… was a bit strange.

“It’s true, Swen.”

“…Pardon?”

“Your ‘mind’s eye’ truly reflects only the correct outcomes…!”

Saying that, Serpina slowly began to approach me.

With a deeply flushed face, she gazed at me with slightly unfocused eyes.

That sticky gaze, looking at me as if enchanted by something, with half-lidded eyes…

Those eyes were less like a monarch looking at a talented individual…

And more like a woman looking at someone she loved.

Without realizing it, I detected my heart beginning to race.

“Swen… this is serious. Clearly. I clearly planned to open your heart slowly.”

One step.

“The more time I spend with you… the more my desire for you grows.”

Two steps.

“Both as a monarch and as a woman…!”

After three or four steps, her face was finally before me.

“My lord…?”

“With you by my side… perhaps, I feel I could overcome even the terrible karmic retribution surrounding me. You might think me foolish for saying so.”

“Foolish? How could I dare say such a—”

Her face was right in front of mine.

The subtle scent of yuzu began to touch my mind, my brain once again.

And simultaneously.

She uttered such words so casually.

“Become my husband, Swen.”

“…Pardon?”

What… did she say?

Thinking I might have misheard, I faced her, but she was extremely resolute.

“Become my husband. I will mix your bloodline with mine. Bound to you by covenant, I will bear your child.”

“Wait, just a moment. My lord, that, please calm—”

“Ah… Swen…!”

Serpina said that, then with unfocused eyes, firmly grasped my hand and…

“I… I don’t want to lose you. I absolutely do not want to lose you under any circumstances.”

“I want to hold onto you by any means necessary. If there is someone else in your heart, I would be willing to be second if it means I can be by your side.”

“Please don’t abandon me. Fight alongside me. With you by my side, I could do anything. Unifying the continent, perhaps even achieving a new golden age by establishing an empire beyond that… with your ‘mind’s eye’ that never fails, it might be possible. So… so…!”

“Forever… forever stay by my side, Swen…♥ For that, this body would gladly—”

—When I heard her say she would be capable of doing anything.

I sensed it.

The invisible leash around my neck.

That Serpina had begun to obsess over me beyond imagination—

And that I had sunk too deeply into the swamp that was her to extract myself from this place as if nothing had happened.