Ch.64Again, Reunion (2)

“……A conversation?”

Olivia spoke with an intentionally cold tone. A complex mix of emotions crossed Melina’s face.

“……That’s right.”

Olivia glared at Melina silently, then pushed herself up from the floor. As pain surged through her body, Olivia instinctively curled up.

When Melina approached to support her, Olivia raised her hand to stop her. Melina’s hand wandered, having lost its purpose.

‘Hurts like hell.’

It seemed she hadn’t fully recovered yet. Getting up now was clearly pushing it, but Olivia decided to force herself anyway.

She had no choice.

“Ah, you haven’t recovered yet….”

“You said you wanted to talk. This isn’t the place for that conversation, is it?”

“……”

Melina bit her lip, which was already in tatters.

Olivia couldn’t imagine how much biting it would take to make lips look like that.

This was precisely why she wanted to end this now, even if it meant pushing herself.

‘……I need to do this now.’

Her resolve was weakening. Before her anger from the pain subsided, she needed to settle things with Melina.

“Follow me.”

Olivia endured the pain and walked outside the lair. Melina followed her with a grief-stricken face.

*****

“……That person just now, she was the Master of the Golden Tower, right?”

Instead of answering Jayna, Aramis nodded. Melina Diviae. As citizens of the Empire, how many people hadn’t heard that name?

Certainly none among mages.

“What kind of relationship do those two have…?”

“Not an ordinary one, that’s for sure.”

When Melina first came to the lair, the disciples couldn’t hide their shock.

That’s because Melina was carrying a battered and bruised Olivia in her arms.

The atmosphere at that moment was beyond description.

One thought dominated the disciples’ minds.

– When normal people see me, they feel murderous intent.

Yes. Olivia had definitely said that.

Regardless of her personality, she was still their master. As disciples, they couldn’t abandon their battered master and run away.

As the disciples were working out formulas, Melina casually asked:

– Is there somewhere she could lie down?

No enemy would look for a bed for their foe. The disciples assessed the situation quickly and willingly offered their beds.

“……”

Jayna’s gaze was fixed on the blood-stained bedsheet. Looking at the dark red scabs, she secretly felt relieved.

But she didn’t voice this thought.

It pricked her conscience.

Because of an ancient oral tradition.

[A witch’s blood is not red.]

From the moment she first met Olivia, Jayna had kept that phrase in mind every day.

Probably the others had similar thoughts…

“That’s a relief.”

“……What is?”

“That it’s red. That’s a relief.”

“Aramis!”

Jayna exclaimed without thinking. But Aramis looked completely unconcerned.

“Why are you angry?”

“……That’s.”

Jayna closed her mouth. Even saying this was proof that she hadn’t trusted Olivia.

Aramis’s sharp eyes swept over Jayna.

“Don’t be hypocritical, Jayna.”

“……”

“Drop that nonsense about trusting her from the beginning. Instead of wasting time on that, do some more training.”

It was a valid point.

Jayna couldn’t argue and lowered her head.

It was Ro who broke the silence.

“But who could have done it?”

“Done what?”

“Our master… she’s incredibly strong.”

There was a lot of meaning packed into those words.

The disciples’ gazes instantly turned to Glacia. Though she often came across as a bit of a klutz, she was still a dragon. Both her years of life and knowledge far surpassed theirs.

“……”

But Glacia couldn’t readily answer their question.

The chill she felt the first day she met Olivia was still etched in her mind.

‘She was definitely stronger than my mother.’

Glacia’s mother was the White Dragon Lord.

“Lord” was the title given to the strongest of dragons, who were already at the pinnacle of all living beings.

And the cold aura Olivia possessed was clearly stronger than Carthian’s.

Someone reduced such an Olivia to this battered state?

Unless it was a coordinated attack by multiple people, Glacia couldn’t think of anyone strong enough to decisively defeat Olivia alone.

‘Unless it was the Red Dragon Lord or that Dryad of Great Forest bitch…’

But there was no trace of them on Olivia’s body.

Therefore, Olivia’s injuries were likely not from combat.

“These aren’t wounds from a fight.”

“Then……”

“I don’t know, you brats. There are plenty of magic books, go look it up there.”

Glacia turned over, clearly not wanting to continue the conversation.

‘Damn it.’

Her pride was hurt.

The blonde woman just now was stronger than her. The black-haired swordsman she met before was stronger than her. Olivia was beyond comparison.

Of course, they were probably among the strongest humans. But who was she? A magnificent dragon, wasn’t she?

Despite being a dragon, the fact that she couldn’t even be compared to these humans was frustrating.

That wasn’t all. Olivia’s disciples were steadily building their strength. Aramis’s growth, in particular, was remarkable.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before Aramis caught up to her.

‘Damn it all!’

Glacia sat up abruptly, her eyes bloodshot. To be overtaken by these wet-behind-the-ears youngsters. She couldn’t allow that, if nothing else.

‘I’d rather bite my tongue and die!’

Magical power surged in Glacia’s hand.

To reach even greater heights.

*****

Every step made her whole body throb with pain. Her vision darkened, and she lost her balance, staggering.

“Are, are you alright?”

“……Thank you.”

If Melina hadn’t caught her, she would have collapsed.

‘……I’m dizzy.’

This aftereffect was certainly powerful. Even with the title’s effect active, it was hard to keep her senses.

‘At least things are going well, so that’s fortunate.’

Olivia stopped in the middle of the snow field. The exact place where she had experienced the aftereffect.

“You.”

“……It’s Melina.”

“Right, Melina.”

Olivia bent down and touched the reddened snow. It was frozen solid, and all she could pick up was powder.

“Don’t you want to kill me?”

“……”

Melina hesitated.

“You do, don’t you?”

No answer came. She hadn’t expected one anyway.

The guilt Melina carried was incomparable to Kiel’s. If Kiel’s guilt was equivalent to one lifetime, Melina’s guilt was hundreds or thousands of times greater.

Because through the truth, she had glimpsed countless of Olivia’s past lives.

As explained before, Melina must not return to the Empire. If other Returners learned that she had returned to normal, it would endanger their safety.

To prevent her from returning, Olivia needed to use that guilt.

Unfortunately.

It wouldn’t matter if she revealed to Melina that she was a Returner. In the short term, it might even be better. But then, there would be no justification to stop Melina if she insisted on returning to the Empire.

More precisely, there would be no grounds to ask her to ‘pretend to be insane.’

Melina needed to stay here.

This was the only way.

“I’ve never met anyone like you, Melina.”

“Never… what do you mean?”

“Didn’t my disciples tell you? That I’m cursed?”

She had heard.

Melina’s vision blurred slightly.

A curse that earned the hatred of every living being in the world. Absurd as it sounded, she could feel it even now.

But that wasn’t why Melina’s vision had blurred.

What Olivia’s disciples had told her wasn’t just that.

– Our master used to be the Red Tower Master, they say. And she was also the White Tower Master.

– Ro! What are you…

– What? Is this something I shouldn’t mention?

When she heard those words, Melina had felt relief.

Relief that this child in her arms remembered her past.

Despite suffering such a terrible curse, she was still trying to save the world again. Melina had barely held back tears at such noble determination.

In that moment, Melina understood everything.

Why she hadn’t enrolled in the Academy this time, why she was teaching disciples in this remote place.

Because she had no one to help her.

Because of this damned curse.

“……Are you listening?”

Melina smiled, on the verge of tears.

Olivia was trying to deceive her now.

Pretending to know nothing, pretending to have no memories of the past.

Not because the curse would harm her.

But because she didn’t want Melina to realize and be saddened that she had hurt her disciple when she couldn’t overcome the curse.

Even in this state, she was being considerate.

“……Hello?”

Look, even though they were complete strangers and she could have been informal, she was speaking respectfully.

‘……She can barely make eye contact.’

Did she really believe Melina would fall for such an awkward lie?

The golden eyes smiled.

“……Yes.”

“Pardon?”

“Never mind. Forget what I just said. Your physical condition is terrible. If we talk now, I won’t feel at ease. So for now……”

Melina decided to play along with the deception.

There was still much she needed to help with.