Translator: Talia/Hye; Editor/PR: Hye
“Whew…”
Another deep sigh escaped her mouth.
Arnoa raised one hand and touched her forehead.
Everything’s really screwed up.
“Ha…what should I do?”
Her mind should be in a mess. But surprisingly, there was only one thought running through her head. She must somehow stop Vainas from ascending the throne.
In front of the foreign countries, where she doesn’t have any friends, as well as the imperial court, it would be shameful to spend a lifetime recognized as the Empress of Vainas.
Larissa, who would obviously follow along, might take everything else, not just the jewels left by Empress Anastia.
Of course, Vainas would not last long as an emperor.
There was no reason why the forces, who killed Luciano and Arien, could not assassinate Vainas. And Arnoa would also die with him.
As she has been absent-minded for a while, she suddenly felt the gaze she had forgotten and a voice entered her ears.
“Are you close with your brothers?”
A pair of silver-gray eyes were staring at her curiously.
“…”
“You look more angry than sad for such a thing.”
Arnoa raised her eyebrows. He seemed to have a good intuition considering he was a wizard.
Their race, which enjoys all kinds of things using their innate magic, lacked common sense. They’re not good at reading other people’s expressions or figuring out emotions.
“I just have a lot of thoughts.”
Arnoa answered calmly and turned back to the letter.
Three more lines were written.
[space]
[I sent you a gift. I believe you will use it well.
I wish you luck with all my heart.
Waiting for you, Anakin.]
[space]
“That’s it?”
Arnoa murmured as she closed her eyes gently. After graduating from the Magic Academy, that jerk began to talk more and more mysteriously.
Women liked it.
He seemed to have felt that his beauty wasn’t enough. And because of that, there were endless women around Anakin.
“Where is it?”
Arnoa held out her hand with her eyes still closed.
“…”
There was no answer.
When she opened her eyes frustratingly, the statue-like wizard was only staring at her blankly.
“What?”
“Gift.”
“Should I have brought you a gift?”
He asked as if surprised.
“Consolation gift, something like that? A gift for your brothers’ death?”
“No, that’s not what…”
“Isn’t that none of my business?”
Arnoa stopped talking and held her forehead again. The man in front of her clearly looked like he knew nothing. And it also seemed like he didn’t bring any presents.
“…There’s really nothing?”
“Yeah. Nothing.”
He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. He’s too confident for a person who might have stolen it in the middle.
Arnoa frowned as she glanced at the letter and the wizard back and forth. Anakin wasn’t the type to put useless words in a five-line letter. He wouldn’t also say there was a gift when there wasn’t.
“How did you get here?”
She asked all of a sudden while her head was in a mess. Even though it was Anakin, does it make sense for a high-end wizard to only deliver a letter?
What kind of price did he pay?
“…Isn’t a good person someone who does a friend’s favor?”
The wizard’s face, which had been relaxed since the first time she saw it, slightly hardened. Like someone who doesn’t want to get caught as he tried to hide something.
“Are you a good person?”
Arnoa asked again.
What kind of nonsense was she talking about?
At least around Anakin, she’s never heard of such a good friend in the Magic Academy. In order for a non-wizard to receive something from a wizard, they must pay a price…
“I have my own reasons. That’s what you only need to know.”
“You made a bet.”
Arnoa muttered thoughtlessly. The wizard was startled and quivered at her words.
“I was right.”
Arnoa looked straight at him and said. She felt like a ray of light came into her hazy head.
The wizard’s bet.
If someone calls the wizard’s full name and asks for a bet, the one called must accept it. It was the game of the wizards and a kind of rule made by God who first sprayed mana into the world.
But it was a rare occurrence.
A wizard’s full name was long, complicated, secretive, and difficult to identify not only by the common people but also by their fellow wizards. Moreover, most people who placed conditions as their wagers have lost the bets. And as a result, they were either dead or something precious was taken away.
Anakin was not most people.
“What kind of bet did you make?”
She asked, totally forgetting about her confused mind.
If it were a battle between a high-end wizard and Anakin, it would surely be a fierce and flamboyant match of extremely dangerous magic and expensive artifacts…
“Gomoku.”
(T/N: It’s Umok in Korean but Gomoku/Five in a Row in English. It’s basically tic-tac-toe in a Go board.)
“Huh?”
“It may sound easy, but I couldn’t win any of the three games. It’s difficult to connect five stones.”
Ah.
It’s Gomoku. To be able to handle a wizard, you only have to be good at Gomoku.
The wizard held his head as if his defeat was truly shameful.
It was a useless shame.
Including Arnoa herself, there were very few people in the world who could beat Anakin in a mind game.
“Anakin owns a lot of things, so why did he have to make a bet?”
Arnoa was lost in thought again.
“Hmm. I wonder why.”
The wizard grinned and spoke vaguely.
Her friend was known for sweeping artifacts from all over the market. He also has a lot of money as he carried out businesses under countless pseudonyms. For someone to be dragged into a bet, rather than a deal, she knew only one person from the Academy who could do so.
“You…”
Arnoa looked straight at the wizard and murmured.
“You’re the Lord of the Magic Tower.”
Insane colleague, dirty colleague, a colleague that will be the Lord of the Magic Tower, a colleague that makes soul stones by cutting down people’s lives, a colleague that he took care of because he was sorry he doesn’t have any friend…
If her memory were correct, all these modifiers were about one person.
He has such strong natural mana that it was meaningless to trade with expensive artifacts.
His sharp eyes grew bigger.
“He said you’re smart. I guess that’s true.”
He seemed surprised for a moment, but quickly composed himself and smiled.
“Right. Isn’t that obvious?”
He muttered.
“Now that the Emperor is dead, I should act as a messenger.”
Arnoa understood what he said right away.
She was flustered for a moment and forgot about it, but the replacement of the emperor was the most important thing that could happen in the empire.
Decided by the emperor who established the empire a long time ago, it was the role of the wizards to announce the significant change in the status of the Imperial Family. Among them, it would be the Lord of the Magic Tower who would inform the replacement of the emperor.
In return for doing the work faithfully, the wizards would be able to have their own territories within the empire.
“So to speak, I stopped by on my way. Anakin asked me to do that.”
He slowly stretched his legs and stood up.
“Tell me where the next Emperor, Vainas, is. I have to pay for the land.”
Using wizards as messengers was a system to prevent treason. Unlike other noble families, it was for certain that the Lord of the Magic Tower wouldn’t be greedy for the throne. This kind of work was the price for allowing the wizards to have independence in their lands, instead of taxes.
He called Arnoa, who was lost in thought.
“Hello?”
“…Anakin. He asked you to meet me before Vainas?”
Arnoa asked him. Now that she knew who the wizard was, she recalled Anakin’s letter.
I sent you a gift. I believe you will use it well.
I wish you luck with all my heart.
“Yes.”
The wizard nodded while Arnoa feigned a laugh.
Gift.
Luck.
She finally understood the contents of the letter. Including what she has to do.
Arnoa swallowed her dry saliva once.
‘Don’t even look at the throne. Remember today when you ever think like that. Remember yourself with no power who will fall once I let go of your arm.’
Luciano’s piercing eyes flashed through her head for a moment.
But what can he do now?
Dead men tell no tales. Neither the continent nor the empire, even the imperial palace, was no longer his.
“…You.”
Arnoa opened her mouth again.
As the thought of avoiding it hovered around her head, she tried to get it out of her mouth but her body trembled with tension.
“…You won’t listen to me if I ask you to do something, right?”
When she asked abruptly, the wizard laughed it off.
“Isn’t that obvious? If it was so easy to handle a wizard, we would have been slaves to the Imperial Family.”
“Then I’ll make a bet.”
Arnoa, who was sitting on the floor, declared as she raised her body.
“What? Bet?”
He asked back as if he were dumbfounded.
“Do you think that’s easy?”
His face, one step closer, looked more beautiful under the moonlight. His confidence, which had a little arrogance in it, made him look more perfect. He spoke with one of the corners of his mouth raised.
“A wizard, no, let alone the Lord of the Magic Tower. How can you name…”
“Belcarianas Dian Asgal Rupelethion Ferhen Nerdi.”
His confident face became dazed like a cat whose snack was taken away.
“…What?”
“That’s right. Belcarianas Dian Asgal Rupelethion Ferhen Nerdi.”
“You…How on earth…”
“What do you mean ‘how’? Didn’t you hear who my friend is?”
She shrugged her shoulders as if she were bored.
Anakin hardly discovered it after going through all sorts of ancient books and bribing his aides. And he thought he would only keep that secret to himself?
Anakin was not loyal to anyone. He wasn’t afraid of wizards either.
“He said to call you ‘Bel’ for short.”
Arnoa made it sure to the bewildered wizard.