“Mrs. Janet. No matter how sincere it may have been, the things you have done are beyond your authority. You have scorned me for covering up and manipulating what happened inside Renbird. I have no intention of ever forgiving you for that.”
There wasn't even a hint of warmth in Kalcion's voice.
“In my opinion, I want to hold you accountable for the crime of scorning Renbird and indirectly hurting Renbird’s people by taking your head.”
When he said he wanted to kill her, Mrs. Janet's eyes widened like she was about to faint. Even though they were never warm, she thought she was a little closer than others.
My young master.
The master of Renbird that I raised all of my life.
Her whole life was being denied. She was nothing.
At the thought, Janet's whole body trembled.
“You, you can’t do this to me. To me… Me, who gave everything to Renbird.”
Instead of being shaken by those words, Kalcion's eyes froze even colder.
“There is no dispute about the loyalty and passion you have devoted to Renbird. For one, are you asking me for loyalty? How dare.”
Dare.
The word dare represented her and her position.
No matter how much she climbed herself, she couldn’t become Kalcion's mother. She couldn’t be Renbird’s mistress. Even if the previous Duke had chosen her and entrusted her with the work, she was just a person who worked for it.
The illusion that had been with her all her life was shattered.
No matter how hard he worked, no matter how much she gave her all, she could not become a member of Renbird.
Mrs. Janet collapsed.
“If you wanted to ask for a price, you should have asked for a salary negotiation instead of being so selfish.”
It just wasn't what I wanted.
It was not that she didn't want it, either.
She was hoping for too much. Something so big that a few pennies of money wouldn't go unnoticed.
She wanted the fact that Renbird would not run without her, and if anything happened to the castle, they would run to her first and consult. Even the fact that the Duke wanted it to be her only… She thought it was going to be like that.
However, there were too many things in Renbird, and the Duke was the master of them all. He didn’t care if he didn’t have one Janet.
Mrs. Janet shook her head.
Now, she realized that Renbird was not her own.
The purpose of her life was gone. At first, it was loyalty. She was moved by the previous Duke’s warmth, and she just wanted to offer something.
It was wrong to be greedy there. Her loyalty was misdirected. Once she started running in the wrong direction, her feet were difficult to stop. It was only now that she had to stop after pushing herself off the cliff.
“I order her detention until she can be found guilty of the Crown Prince’s injustice.”
Even for Mrs. Janet, who had been by his side all his life, Kalcion's judgment was not soft.
“Of course, after that, she won't be able to set foot on Renbird again.”
Renbird abandoned her. Whether she lived or died did not mean anything. Mrs. Janet dropped her head and was silent.
Even though she was alive, she was not living.
She was as sharp as a hedgehog when she first strolled through the garden. She had to adapt to an unfamiliar world, and there was the anxiety of not knowing when, where, and who would come to kill her.
Because she was unfamiliar and afraid, she pretended to be stronger.
Looking up at the night sky where unfamiliar constellations twinkled, she took a slow step. The passing servant recognizes Selina and walks past her with their head bowed from a distance.
Selina also turned her gaze back to the sky, taking a light bow. She didn’t have to pretend she was strong now. She knew that no one in Silenza Castle didn’t know her, and even if she didn't pretend to be strong herself, she knew how much influence she could have.
For those who were sure of their own strength, it seemed that that strength leaked out even if they did not express it.
“The air is cold.”
She heard Kalcion’s footsteps approaching her, but she deliberately did not turn her head, and a cloak fell over her shoulders. The cloak, soaked with his body heat, was cozy.
Selina looked back at him, clutching the cloak with her hands.
“Is the meeting over?”
“It’s urgent work.”
Her complexion darkened.
“As expected, the crown prince doesn't stay still, right?”
As soon as he returned to her, Kalcion could not close his eyes and devoted himself to the meeting. He was always busy, but this was the first time he had ever been so busy. It was not just about training and managing the territory, but a war that could cost a lot of money ahead.
No matter how iron-clad his stamina, it would wear out his nerves in the end.
“It will happen anytime, so we have enough preparedness. It's a matter of which one to choose.”
He was not saying this just to reassure her. Since he has always had a bad relationship with the Crown Prince, he did not prepare a contingency plan all of a sudden. That was fortunate news.
“I hope it works out.”
Selina didn't dig deep. Since she would be leaving soon anyway, if she meddled in Renbird's affairs, she'd only be too meddling.
“Is there anything else I can do to help you here?”
“There is. A lot.”
“A lot.”
Irell’s case was fully revealed. There was her will though it was over when Juna came, so she didn't even have to wait until the end.
When Selina was surprised by his unexpected remark, Kalcion replied quite seriously.
“Working by my side to worry about things together, making my heart feel at ease, and having a meal together.”
“I think a pet will do just that for you?”
“I'm half kidding.”
Although he had a serious face that didn't sound like a joke, she turned a blind eye because she was sorry for arguing with a tired person.
“If I start asking you in earnest, there will be no end.”
“Will you make me eat well, sleep next to you, and kiss you whenever you do well?”
“I hadn't thought of that until now, but that's great.”
This time he was really serious.
He said that he would try to catch Selina's heart, and she also caught him this way sometimes.
Even though Kalcion threw out a lot of good suggestions, he didn't directly say not to go. As he said at the beginning, the choice was up to her. However, until she made the choice, he would continue persuading her as much as possible.
“The remuneration is as much as you want, and the contract period is as long as you want. How about this?"
“I will think about it.”
“What if you can’t go back?”
“Then I'll think about it then. Will the conditions change again then?”
They exchanged jokes though neither of them laughed deeply.
A cool wind blew once.
“….”
The smile disappeared from Kalcion's face. The same was true of Selina's face at the same time.
“Should I tell you?”
Selina felt it, too, that it was time for him to finally reveal the method.
As she nodded her head with her hardened face, Kalcion let out a heavy breath as if pondering until the end of his life and held her hand.
Kalcion descended into the basement of the castle, holding Selina's hand. As the structure of Silenza Castle was quite complex, he explained that it was built like this for defense purposes because there were frequent raids by beasts crossing the mountain in the past.
A long corridor lined with torches led underground.
She followed him, glancing around the aisle made of stone walls without any pattern or decoration.
“There are treasures that are kept in a place where they will be buried with the castle even if something happens and the castle collapses.”
At the end of the corridor was a large iron door, and he opened the door himself. It was so thick that veins bulged in his forearm as he opened the door.
It was dark inside.
Kalcion came in with a torch from outside and placed it somewhere on the wall, and the flame spread along the wall with the sound of a fire.
The room became bright.
While Selina slowly looked around the room, which was not very large, objects like antiques could be seen sparsely placed. It felt like an exhibition hall. Meanwhile, Kalcion also slowly turned around and inspected the items, probably because it had been a long time since he had come.
“This is the sword the first Duke used. I was told that it contains the technology to smelt a beast's bones for the first time, so I kept it.”
“It doesn’t seem like something that needs to be hidden…”
“It was the first smelting technology, so even if the smelting technology was lost, I kept it for reference.”
“Aha…”
He explained a few things, and then he stopped in front of a book.
“Is this it?”
“I have been told that this is it.”
“Are you not sure?”
“It's a record left by the maker of the bracelet, but I can't read it. As the saying goes, ‘it will only be seen by those who need it’.”
Selina nodded as she opened the book.
It looked like a book, but it was handwritten, close to someone's diary. When she first saw the text listed, she wondered if it was a text or a drawing. It was certainly not the familiar letters of this world.
“…Uh.”
She could read it
『 If you can read this, you are probably from another world and are looking for a way to return to your original world. 』
Surprised by the meaning clearly etched into her head, she turned to Kalcion.
“You can read it?”
“Yes.”
He also had a surprised look on his face, as if he hadn't really thought that she would be able to read it.
Selina turned to the note.
『 I'm the Archwizard Songtullek, they say it's a strange name here. You don't even have to try to pronounce it. 』
The author was also a person with humor.
What followed was a brief explanation of this world and the theory of dimension shifting.
『 As a result of the research, it turned out to be a kind of natural phenomenon. It would be an incomprehensible event in a place where there is no magic. Still, magic exists, and those who know how to handle magic are supposed to return with an understandable calculation. 』
Selina nodded her head and inscribed the contents line by line. In an era where science was not developed, there were times when even thunder and lightning were interpreted as the will of God. Likewise, magic can also be a phenomenon that can only be seen by those in the know.
The record was longer than expected.
Perhaps because he was a person who used the name Archwizard himself, he explained it step by step so that even outsiders could understand. As a result, there were many.
Reading from the introduction was a later task, so she had to know what the conclusion was.
As she turned the pages back, eventually, the desired conclusion came into view.
『…So, it is possible to return to the world we came to.』
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