Magician Marigold

“…….”

Aldehaar lo Lucia.

Objectively, he was an excellent marriage prospect.

Only his slightly cold impression and the fact that he was an unfathomable person were a bit concerning. He was the man who would become the Crown Prince of the Lucia Kingdom as soon as he graduated from the Academy.

Marrying Aldehaar?

That meant becoming a queen. It wasn’t as good as being the Empress of the Empire, but it was still a tremendous success.

It was probably closer to a normal ending than any ending Marigold had ever created.

However.

“Yeah… good job.”

For some reason, Lancel said that. He was surprised himself.

Logically, saying, ‘Don’t kick away your good fortune, go back right now and confess first!’ would have been much better for her.

But he didn’t say that.

It was almost instinct.

“…Yes…”

Marigold nodded in the light, her eyes trembling.

He felt her fingers fidgeting and searching for his palm from below her waist.

‘Mary. You really have no eye for men.’

In this playthrough, all he had done was follow Marigold around and harass her. At least, that’s what Lancel thought.

And yet, she chose Lancel.

She grumbled and pushed him away, puffed up her cheeks like a pufferfish just because he sided with the Knights, and muttered unheard-of words like ‘Corrupted Knight’ with a tearful face.

But as the time they spent together grew longer, that wall quickly crumbled. Before he knew it, she was the one closest to him.

“Th, th, th-then I’ll be going now…”

Marigold disappeared out of the tent.

Swish-!

Only the sound of rain echoed again.

“Lancel.”

It was then.

A youthful voice suddenly came from below.

It was the Seventh Prince.

“Were you awake, Your Highness?”

“Does Lancel like that woman from earlier?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Really? You had a look of fondness on your face.”

Surely not.

Lancel always had an impassive face in front of Marigold. He was consciously trying to look that way, so he was sure of it.

“I don’t dislike her.”

“Do you like her?”

“I do like her.”

“Really?”

The Seventh Prince smiled.

“Shall I let you marry her?”

“Pardon?”

It was difficult to know how sincere the Seventh Prince’s words were that day.

Because it took quite a long time for Lancel and him to meet again.

.

.

.

“The Seventh Prince recommended Mary as the Wizard to perform at the Founding Festival.”

“The Seventh Prince recommended Miss Mary?”

“That’s not all.”

A few days later, the headmaster and Laura were having a serious conversation.

“He even recommended her as a candidate for Court Wizard. The Seventh Prince himself…! At this rate, Miss Mary might enter the Imperial Family even earlier than Professor Laura!”

“Heop!”

From that point on, Marigold’s life began to unfold too well.

23.

‘Is Marigold’s life reaching its peak?’

From the day after Lancel and the Seventh Prince spent one night and two days together, Marigold’s life began to follow a consistently smooth path, as if to compensate for the misfortunes she had experienced in the past.

“Miss Mary pushed Aldehaar aside and is opening the Founding Festival?”

“I heard Aldehaar-nim handed it over cleanly without any complaints.”

“Lies!”

‘Lies!’

Lancel wanted to shout that too.

The genius Wizard Aldehaar, who was as good as decided, stepped down without any complaints.

Why?

Because he had a crush on Marigold? Because he wanted to look good to her? Because he wanted to date her? Because he wanted to marry her?

No, that couldn’t be.

He was the pride of the Lucia Kingdom. There was no way he would willingly give up the top spot to Marigold for such a trivial recognition.

Moreover, he was skilled enough in diplomacy to make the recommendation of the young Seventh Prince disappear.

After all, he was a Crown Prince candidate. Even at the lowest estimate, he was on par with a little Prince who was far down the line of succession.

But he stepped down.

For Marigold.

‘That’s something.’

It was a good thing, anyway.

24.

One day.

Two days.

Three days.

One week.

One month.

Half a year.

‘Time flies.’

Lancel was certainly capable of spending time well.

But the time after that day seemed to fly by Lancel like an arrow.

Perhaps it was because there were no particularly stimulating events or accidents. Or perhaps it was because everything went smoothly without any obstacles.

Anyway, the important thing was that ‘time is passing too quickly!’

Yes.

A little strangely so.

—Playtime: Year 3.

“Mary is an excellent student in the Wizard Department of the Academy.”

On the first day of the Founding Festival, Marigold showcased her Magic in front of all the nobles and royals.

It was a spectacular Magic that sent hundreds of bundles of flames into the sky. Marigold received praise from everyone who watched.

“That’s the best, my student!”

It was such a spectacular fireworks display that Baron Jenis abandoned his dignity and shouted. Bang! Lancel was momentarily lost in memories as he watched Marigold’s Magic bursting in various colors.

—Playtime: Year 4.

“Success! Finally, it’s a success!”

That year, Baron Jenis’s Airship flew into the sky of the Imperial Capital.

Lancel saw his research succeed for the first time in hundreds of years.

It was always either crashing or exploding, but could this also be due to Marigold’s influence?

He didn’t know.

—Playtime: Year 5.

“Top of the Wizard Department of the Academy! Mary!”

Marigold finally graduated from the Academy at the top of her class. Lancel also quit his position as a temporary professor at that point.

“Lancel-nim!”

Lancel simply stroked the head of the girl who was smiling brightly with a bouquet of flowers.

“Good job.”

—Playtime: Year 6.

“New Court Wizard, Mary. Please take care of me.”

“Thank you! Your Highness!”

It was the year Marigold, who had fully mastered 4th Circle Magic, entered the Imperial Family.

Having been selected as a Court Wizard with the active recommendation of the Seventh Prince, she began to spend busy days every day.

Research, experiments, studying, meditation, training, securing specimens, and so on.

“Magic… I love it… I love it…”

“Where did your old spirit go?”

Lancel always saw her coming back with her eyes glazed over.

—Playtime: Year 7.

That year, Marigold had already begun to master 5th Circle Magic.

She was truly a high-ranking Wizard. Now, there was no one left in this land who could ignore her.

“Congratulations, Mary. Or rather, is it Baroness Mary now?”

The Seventh Prince came to visit her himself. It was to give her a congratulatory gift.

Now, the world would call her by the name ‘Baroness Mary’. Although it was not hereditary, she had nominally joined the ranks of the nobility.

“How is it, Lancel-nim?”

“Yeah, yeah. It suits you, it suits you.”

“Please look at me a little better!”

Marigold showing off the Imperial Robe decorated with gold tassels. Lancel felt a sense of deep emotion within it.

—Playtime: Year 8.

“There’s nothing left for me to teach you. Mary, you are now fully qualified to learn 6th Circle Magic. I’m proud of you.”

Marigold finally surpassed Jenis.

6th Circle.

She became one of the top ten Wizards in the entire Empire.

“Shall I be your teacher from now on?”

“Hehehe, you impudent fellow.”

Jenis prepared for his retirement from that moment on.

Jenis was immersed in the feeling that he had achieved everything he wanted, looking at the Airship flying through the sky of the Imperial Capital several times a day and his wonderfully grown student.

“Even if I can’t come back, please take care of Mary, Lancel-gun. When I think about it, your meeting with us might really have been fate.”

“Are you already leaving your will when you still have many years to live? Save it for later.”

“I don’t know. This might really be my will. People don’t always die when it’s time to die. I have no regrets. That thing floating in the sky will leave my name in the history of this Empire.”

Jenis shared a brief hug with Marigold before boarding the train.

With the last words that he would spend the rest of his life peacefully training Magic.

—Playtime: Year 9.

“The two of you should get married soon. Engagement.”

“Pardon?”

That year was the year Lancel and Marigold were engaged again under the arrangement of the Seventh Prince.

Like the day he married the Iceford Heiress, one of the three beauties of the Imperial Capital, Lancel and Marigold’s engagement proceeded in an instant without any room for refusal by the powerful.

Even Aldehaar participated in the ceremony.

He had a slightly bitter expression, but he simply applauded and left without saying a word. That was all.

“Now, may neither good nor evil, death nor time, nor eternity separate these two!”

Marriage.

Engagement.

Was this the second ceremony already? No, was it the third? If you take it loosely, was it the fourth?

Who cares.

“The two of you may kiss each other.”

Lancel remarried Marigold in an engagement that he didn’t even know how many times it was.

“Ah! Come to think of it, does that mean I’m now a member of a Knight family, Lancel-nim?”

“…Is that what’s bothering you now?”

“A, a little?”

“…….”

When will all that Knight hatred disappear? Lancel let out a hollow laugh.

—Playtime: Year 10.

Lancel entered the Imperial Family following Marigold.

From Knight and Wizard, to professor and Academy student, and then again to Imperial Knight and Court Wizard.

In the Imperial Capital, storybooks depicting the story of Lancel and Marigold began to sell. It was a rather unique relationship for strangers to see.

“Lancel-nim.”

They didn’t have many days to meet each other because they were busy.

Even so, Marigold seemed happy.

Yes.

She seemed happy.

Everything went smoothly, and the whole world was warmly embracing her. There had never been such a thing in all the years.

There was no war, no rebellion, no tragedy of any kind.

In the rapidly passing time, Marigold felt small but clear happiness.

‘This is how this playthrough ends.’

That’s how they reached the 10th year.

—Playtime: Year 10, Day 1.

And.

Lancel’s regression ended.

“Huh?”

Yes.

The long, long regression of hundreds of years had ended.

So futilely. So suddenly.

“Are you kidding me?”

“Pardon?”

Marigold, a twenty-five-year-old Wizard with a still youthful appearance, tilted her head in front of him.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden, Lancel-nim?”

In front of her, a confused twenty-eight-year-old Lancel was clutching his head. All thoughts in his head stopped.

“Please be a little more touched. It’s a birthday feast I prepared while staying up all night. It was incredibly difficult to prepare in the midst of my busy schedule.”

“No.”

Lancel was flustered.

“This is… huh?”

“……Yes?”

What the hell is really going on.