Elysia was taken back to Cassian’s barracks as he insisted that he would not yet announce that she had awakened. And, of course, she was excluded from the subjugation that would take place the next day.
She fell asleep first because of exhaustion, so she didn’t know whether Cassian had gone to sleep or not.
When she opened her eyes, the barracks were empty, and food was placed on the table.
“No! So, I can’t even go out of the barracks?”
Though it was very embarrassing if the wizards knew she ran out of magic.
Of course, as the situation was urgent, everyone would understand, but there was no way to know if the knights that didn’t know would understand.
‘When I think about it, if anyone in the Empire talks about this…’ Elysia raised her hand and rubbed her arms. Ramote couldn’t let her go if he caught the wind of this ever.
Suddenly, she felt someone approaching the barracks.
‘Should I hide? No, I’m still down.’
Thinking so, she hurried to bed and covered herself with a blanket. Elysia wondered who that person might be.
The sound of the layers of fabric covering the barracks was lifted.
As the commander-in-chief’s barracks, the space inside was quite spacious, so she heard only the footsteps approaching first. Elysia could feel the light footsteps carefully stepping into the space.
There was a sound that felt like a hem of a skirt, and a refreshing scent she had smelt before.
‘Did Lumiere also leave out the subjugation today?
She said she wasn’t seriously hurt, so it was peculiar that she didn’t join them.
There must be a knight of the Esteban Knights in front of the barracks. How did she get in? The questions that kept coming up stopped at the sound of footsteps approaching closely. Lumiere was just around the corner, she could feel the piercing gaze stung her.
She tried very hard to resist opening her eyes.
“Lady… You have to get up. I’m so upset that you’re lying here like this.”
Her voice mixed with feelings similar to impatience. It was a slightly different kind of emotion than worry.
Lumiere reached out and grabbed her hand. Elysia felt as though she was holding it with strength, but she felt her paused moments later.
Lumiere’s finger struck the ring which Elysia was wearing.
“This is…pretty.”
‘It’s a ring that will always look pretty no matter how long.’
The ring that Cassian gave to Elysia was well known. It was because the information was leaked by the wizard who crafted the gemstone on the ring. Up to this point, it was Lloyd’s intention.
She could feel Lumiere turning behind her. And eventually, Elysia couldn’t overcome her curiosity and opened her eyes. She could see her gazing at the food on the table for a while.
‘Oops. Would she notice when she sees that?’
Food was laid out in the owner-less barrack, and Elysia wasn’t in a state where she could eat. If Lumiere didn’t think too deeply, she might not know that Elysia was awakened already.
She passed the table without any reaction.
Elysia, checking to see if Lumiere had gone out of the barracks, slowly raised her body.
“I can’t do this. I’ll tell you when I get back.”
She glanced in the direction where Lumiere had disappeared.
Then, peering at the ring on her finger, she felt somewhat shy out of nowhere, but Elysia shook her head in no time.
***
When Cassian returned from the subjugation, Elysia’s face was full of rebellion.
At a glance, there was no sign of the food on the table getting touched. Her complexing looked much better than yesterday, but he still didn’t like it.
Cassian touched his lips with his fingers. The wound hasn’t healed yet. Compared to others, he had a monstrous resilience, but it somehow felt slow compared to Elysia in front of him.
He had naturally accepted that he was her meal. Although she hasn’t been aware of it yet.
“Why didn’t you eat?”
“I did.”
Cassian raised his eyebrows. Elysia also saw his gaze turn to the food served on the table. There was deer blood that was kept fresh by magic, but she couldn’t say that.
“How long do I have to stay down? It’s frustrating that I can’t go outside.”
“You don’t have to anymore because I told them you woke up.”
Cassian was waiting for the person who had interfered with Elysia’s magic to confess. The deadline was until today, when the subjugation was finished. So now, Bug was eagerly spreading the news that Elysia had awakened.
Elysia came close to Cassian and snooped around him.
“It’s weird. Today you’re the same as usual again. Last night you were suddenly cold.”
“You care too much about the little things.”
“It’s annoying. We’re going to be married soon, right?”
She replied lightly, then laughed seductively while tapping her lips with her fingers.
It meant that they were allies bound by a contract, but the word ‘we’ and ‘married’ changed the meaning to something completely different.
Cassian walked past Elysia, took off his jacket, and hung it on the chair. And when his shirt was unbuttoned from his sleeves, his neck, forearms, and nape were revealed. Elysia’s gaze naturally glued to his hand.
The magic light that dimly lit the inside of the barracks quietly illuminated the outline of his body.
Swallowing her saliva, she approached Cassian.
As they had gotten pretty close these days, her hand naturally reached out towards him.
“What are you doing?”
She was scanning his arm with her fingers. Elysia then slowly lifted her hand and covered her mouth.
“Oh my. I don’t know. Then, I guess I’ll call it a day. I can’t stay here all the time.”
Even if they were known as lovers, it would not seem good that two men and women would use one barracks in subjugation.
She quietly rubbed Cassian’s shoulder and quickly left the barracks.
“Hooo.”
He raised his hand and scattered his hair.
***
“Lady! You are awake!”
Upon returning to her own barracks, Elysia had a troubled face looking at the blonde-haired girl in her arm. Lumiere said she was really worried and cried because she felt sick, so she felt a little sorry.
‘When did we become friends like this, female lead?’
How did we have a fierce reunion like this? Elysia uttered a formal greeting as she slowly moved away from Lumiere.
“Thank you for worrying.” Elysia sat on her bed.
To be honest, she had a reason for resisting the temptation to eat Cassian. She glanced back at Lumiere. She braided her bright blonde and was pulling it down to one of her shoulders.
‘Definitely not a beauty of this world.’
Just because she was sitting inside, it seemed that the interior was brightening.
“But you recovered really quickly. When magic runs out, normally, you have to lie down for ten days. I was apprehensive about that.”
“I must have been lucky.”
When Elysia said she was fortunate to have woken up early, she said it in earnest.
Elysia persistently looked at Lumiere while exchanging light conversations with her. ‘Why doesn’t she say that she came to the barracks today?’ She wanted to be nice to her when she saw Lumiere kept coming with such a clear smile, but Elysia didn’t want to get close to her as some reluctant, complex emotions still made her confused.
“After two days, I’ll be back, so cheer up a little. Did you keep skipping your schedule?”
“That’s right. I’m going to subjugate again from tomorrow. You must be bored.”
“I heard you got hurt, are you all right now?”
Elysia asked with the intention of participating in the subjugation tomorrow. Then, Lumiere held out the sleeve of her right arm. There was a bandage wrapped around her elbow.
“It’s a little scratch. It’s embarrassing that I took a break today.”
“I hope there are no scars left.”
“Thank you. The Lady seems to be very… kind.”
She was feeling something reluctant about how Lumiere was acting again. Strangely, her words were annoying in some phrases. Opening up didn’t really matter, but it felt strangely thorny. It was strange that she felt sincere emotions from Lumiere’s worries a little while ago.
She asked an insistent question.
“By the way, did you ever find out who used the magic of the opposite property?”
“No. Most of them asked me if I made a mistake?”
It seemed that the Imperial Wizards were closing each other’s mouth shut. Elysia had Lumiere in mind for the culprit. She was the least wounded among the assistant sorcerers, though she doubted that it might be Lumiere, she could be wrong.
“Was it a mistake?”
Elysia responded in a determined voice.
“If you make such a mistake, you’re not eligible to be in the subjugation.”
And at that moment, the green magic came to mind instantly.
Usually, the color of magic follows the color of the eyes of the wilder, and Lumiere was the only assistant wizard with green eyes.
***
At dusk of dawn. Elysia carefully lifted herself up.
A red light lingered in the glass bottle she had taken out beforehand. Tracking magic was one of the magic that represented the tower.
The reason why each country’s magic department and the towers could be clearly identified was because they did not share the magic developed by each other.
‘Well, I’m the member of the magic tower now?’
Elysia learned from Ramote, the developer of this spell, before leaving her affiliation. Magic from the glass bottle fluttered around her, flapping its wings in the shape of a butterfly.
‘Go find the owner.’
The green butterfly swung around Lumiere.
If her magic were correct, a pattern would appear on the wings that had no pattern.
In that state, it would follow the owner of magic until the caster confirms it. If not, it would then disappear as the light scatters.
‘Are they disappearing?’ The unexpected result made Elysia blink her eyes. She was convinced that it was Lumiere.
She smiled faintly at the scattering light. Now, she only had one more chance left to use the tracking magic.
She sighed, grabbed her robe, and stepped out of the barracks.
‘This was completely in vain. Is Cassian sleeping?’
As she crept off, she headed to Cassian’s barracks.
Unlike other barracks, the entrance to the barracks was long, like a passage, so she couldn’t even see the magic lights turned on. As there was no knight guarding the entrance, it seemed that Cassian was really inside.
Elysia pulled out the tent’s entrance and tried to go inside, but she recognized a familiar smell behind her.
“Cassian!”
As Elysia turned around, she welcomed him happily.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s cold. Let’s go inside.”
“Is it cold?”
Cassian glanced at her robe that she wore with a puzzled face.
“Aren’t you cold, too?”
“I’m fine, but that’s not the robe I gave you.”
“Huh? … That’s right.”
Come to think of it, she couldn’t be this cold because the robe he gave her had cold protection magic cast on.
Looking at the robe again, it seemed to be Lumiere’s.
“You must have mistaken it because it’s white as well.”
Since she was cold, Elysia grabbed the hem of his sleeves and stepped into his barracks. When she entered, she felt the cold did not go away, so she shoved her hand in her pocket, but someone hard caught in her hand.
Elysia was taken back to Cassian’s barracks as he insisted that he would not yet announce that she had awakened. And, of course, she was excluded from the subjugation that would take place the next day.
She fell asleep first because of exhaustion, so she didn’t know whether Cassian had gone to sleep or not.
When she opened her eyes, the barracks were empty, and food was placed on the table.
“No! So, I can’t even go out of the barracks?”
Though it was very embarrassing if the wizards knew she ran out of magic.
Of course, as the situation was urgent, everyone would understand, but there was no way to know if the knights that didn’t know would understand.
‘When I think about it, if anyone in the Empire talks about this…’ Elysia raised her hand and rubbed her arms. Ramote couldn’t let her go if he caught the wind of this ever.
Suddenly, she felt someone approaching the barracks.
‘Should I hide? No, I’m still down.’
Thinking so, she hurried to bed and covered herself with a blanket. Elysia wondered who that person might be.
The sound of the layers of fabric covering the barracks was lifted.
As the commander-in-chief’s barracks, the space inside was quite spacious, so she heard only the footsteps approaching first. Elysia could feel the light footsteps carefully stepping into the space.
There was a sound that felt like a hem of a skirt, and a refreshing scent she had smelt before.
‘Did Lumiere also leave out the subjugation today?
She said she wasn’t seriously hurt, so it was peculiar that she didn’t join them.
There must be a knight of the Esteban Knights in front of the barracks. How did she get in? The questions that kept coming up stopped at the sound of footsteps approaching closely. Lumiere was just around the corner, she could feel the piercing gaze stung her.
She tried very hard to resist opening her eyes.
“Lady… You have to get up. I’m so upset that you’re lying here like this.”
Her voice mixed with feelings similar to impatience. It was a slightly different kind of emotion than worry.
Lumiere reached out and grabbed her hand. Elysia felt as though she was holding it with strength, but she felt her paused moments later.
Lumiere’s finger struck the ring which Elysia was wearing.
“This is…pretty.”
‘It’s a ring that will always look pretty no matter how long.’
The ring that Cassian gave to Elysia was well known. It was because the information was leaked by the wizard who crafted the gemstone on the ring. Up to this point, it was Lloyd’s intention.
She could feel Lumiere turning behind her. And eventually, Elysia couldn’t overcome her curiosity and opened her eyes. She could see her gazing at the food on the table for a while.
‘Oops. Would she notice when she sees that?’
Food was laid out in the owner-less barrack, and Elysia wasn’t in a state where she could eat. If Lumiere didn’t think too deeply, she might not know that Elysia was awakened already.
She passed the table without any reaction.
Elysia, checking to see if Lumiere had gone out of the barracks, slowly raised her body.
“I can’t do this. I’ll tell you when I get back.”
She glanced in the direction where Lumiere had disappeared.
Then, peering at the ring on her finger, she felt somewhat shy out of nowhere, but Elysia shook her head in no time.
***
When Cassian returned from the subjugation, Elysia’s face was full of rebellion.
At a glance, there was no sign of the food on the table getting touched. Her complexing looked much better than yesterday, but he still didn’t like it.
Cassian touched his lips with his fingers. The wound hasn’t healed yet. Compared to others, he had a monstrous resilience, but it somehow felt slow compared to Elysia in front of him.
He had naturally accepted that he was her meal. Although she hasn’t been aware of it yet.
“Why didn’t you eat?”
“I did.”
Cassian raised his eyebrows. Elysia also saw his gaze turn to the food served on the table. There was deer blood that was kept fresh by magic, but she couldn’t say that.
“How long do I have to stay down? It’s frustrating that I can’t go outside.”
“You don’t have to anymore because I told them you woke up.”
Cassian was waiting for the person who had interfered with Elysia’s magic to confess. The deadline was until today, when the subjugation was finished. So now, Bug was eagerly spreading the news that Elysia had awakened.
Elysia came close to Cassian and snooped around him.
“It’s weird. Today you’re the same as usual again. Last night you were suddenly cold.”
“You care too much about the little things.”
“It’s annoying. We’re going to be married soon, right?”
She replied lightly, then laughed seductively while tapping her lips with her fingers.
It meant that they were allies bound by a contract, but the word ‘we’ and ‘married’ changed the meaning to something completely different.
Cassian walked past Elysia, took off his jacket, and hung it on the chair. And when his shirt was unbuttoned from his sleeves, his neck, forearms, and nape were revealed. Elysia’s gaze naturally glued to his hand.
The magic light that dimly lit the inside of the barracks quietly illuminated the outline of his body.
Swallowing her saliva, she approached Cassian.
As they had gotten pretty close these days, her hand naturally reached out towards him.
“What are you doing?”
She was scanning his arm with her fingers. Elysia then slowly lifted her hand and covered her mouth.
“Oh my. I don’t know. Then, I guess I’ll call it a day. I can’t stay here all the time.”
Even if they were known as lovers, it would not seem good that two men and women would use one barracks in subjugation.
She quietly rubbed Cassian’s shoulder and quickly left the barracks.
“Hooo.”
He raised his hand and scattered his hair.
***
“Lady! You are awake!”
Upon returning to her own barracks, Elysia had a troubled face looking at the blonde-haired girl in her arm. Lumiere said she was really worried and cried because she felt sick, so she felt a little sorry.
‘When did we become friends like this, female lead?’
How did we have a fierce reunion like this? Elysia uttered a formal greeting as she slowly moved away from Lumiere.
“Thank you for worrying.” Elysia sat on her bed.
To be honest, she had a reason for resisting the temptation to eat Cassian. She glanced back at Lumiere. She braided her bright blonde and was pulling it down to one of her shoulders.
‘Definitely not a beauty of this world.’
Just because she was sitting inside, it seemed that the interior was brightening.
“But you recovered really quickly. When magic runs out, normally, you have to lie down for ten days. I was apprehensive about that.”
“I must have been lucky.”
When Elysia said she was fortunate to have woken up early, she said it in earnest.
Elysia persistently looked at Lumiere while exchanging light conversations with her. ‘Why doesn’t she say that she came to the barracks today?’ She wanted to be nice to her when she saw Lumiere kept coming with such a clear smile, but Elysia didn’t want to get close to her as some reluctant, complex emotions still made her confused.
“After two days, I’ll be back, so cheer up a little. Did you keep skipping your schedule?”
“That’s right. I’m going to subjugate again from tomorrow. You must be bored.”
“I heard you got hurt, are you all right now?”
Elysia asked with the intention of participating in the subjugation tomorrow. Then, Lumiere held out the sleeve of her right arm. There was a bandage wrapped around her elbow.
“It’s a little scratch. It’s embarrassing that I took a break today.”
“I hope there are no scars left.”
“Thank you. The Lady seems to be very… kind.”
She was feeling something reluctant about how Lumiere was acting again. Strangely, her words were annoying in some phrases. Opening up didn’t really matter, but it felt strangely thorny. It was strange that she felt sincere emotions from Lumiere’s worries a little while ago.
She asked an insistent question.
“By the way, did you ever find out who used the magic of the opposite property?”
“No. Most of them asked me if I made a mistake?”
It seemed that the Imperial Wizards were closing each other’s mouth shut. Elysia had Lumiere in mind for the culprit. She was the least wounded among the assistant sorcerers, though she doubted that it might be Lumiere, she could be wrong.
“Was it a mistake?”
Elysia responded in a determined voice.
“If you make such a mistake, you’re not eligible to be in the subjugation.”
And at that moment, the green magic came to mind instantly.
Usually, the color of magic follows the color of the eyes of the wilder, and Lumiere was the only assistant wizard with green eyes.
***
At dusk of dawn. Elysia carefully lifted herself up.
A red light lingered in the glass bottle she had taken out beforehand. Tracking magic was one of the magic that represented the tower.
The reason why each country’s magic department and the towers could be clearly identified was because they did not share the magic developed by each other.
‘Well, I’m the member of the magic tower now?’
Elysia learned from Ramote, the developer of this spell, before leaving her affiliation. Magic from the glass bottle fluttered around her, flapping its wings in the shape of a butterfly.
‘Go find the owner.’
The green butterfly swung around Lumiere.
If her magic were correct, a pattern would appear on the wings that had no pattern.
In that state, it would follow the owner of magic until the caster confirms it. If not, it would then disappear as the light scatters.
‘Are they disappearing?’ The unexpected result made Elysia blink her eyes. She was convinced that it was Lumiere.
She smiled faintly at the scattering light. Now, she only had one more chance left to use the tracking magic.
She sighed, grabbed her robe, and stepped out of the barracks.
‘This was completely in vain. Is Cassian sleeping?’
As she crept off, she headed to Cassian’s barracks.
Unlike other barracks, the entrance to the barracks was long, like a passage, so she couldn’t even see the magic lights turned on. As there was no knight guarding the entrance, it seemed that Cassian was really inside.
Elysia pulled out the tent’s entrance and tried to go inside, but she recognized a familiar smell behind her.
“Cassian!”
As Elysia turned around, she welcomed him happily.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s cold. Let’s go inside.”
“Is it cold?”
Cassian glanced at her robe that she wore with a puzzled face.
“Aren’t you cold, too?”
“I’m fine, but that’s not the robe I gave you.”
“Huh? … That’s right.”
Come to think of it, she couldn’t be this cold because the robe he gave her had cold protection magic cast on.
Looking at the robe again, it seemed to be Lumiere’s.
“You must have mistaken it because it’s white as well.”
Since she was cold, Elysia grabbed the hem of his sleeves and stepped into his barracks. When she entered, she felt the cold did not go away, so she shoved her hand in her pocket, but someone hard caught in her hand.
