Even if it wasn’t now, Riv’s death was predestined.
Still, this death would not be as painful as the last. She was rather happy.
But what made her heart hurt even more this time?
Riv confessed to Lionel.
“I came back from the dead, and I loved every moment I spent with you. I knew the magic was going to end someday, and I knew I could only live until the day I was killed, but I pretended not to know. I just wanted to be with you a little more.”
Lionel wouldn’t even be able to remember these words.
The greater the magic that the caster performed, the greater the sacrifice.
And today, Riv died.
That was originally her fate.
Even if she tried to support her body with her magic and extend her life, it was not possible for her to survive.
Her greed could hurt Lionel.
“If I accept my fate, I will be the only one that will disappear.”
“Riv? Why are you saying things like that?”
“I’m giving this back to you.”
Riv removed an old ring from the pendant necklace she was wearing.
She held the ring in her gloved palm.
“What is that?”
The jewel of the old ring radiated an ominous red light.
“No way.”
Lionel realized the identity of the ring.
“Why do you have it? No, what is that light?”
“This is the Duchess’ heirloom, your mother’s ring, and a magical tool. It saved me and turned back time.”
“What?”
“And the time has come for me to give it back to you.”
Just as Lionel was about to say something, Riv chanted a spell.
Her black lace gloves disappeared.
The palm of her transparent hand soon became bloody.
The jewel in the ring greedily inhaled it all.
The red light became more intense.
“Riv!”
“Lionel, it’s time to put everything back in its place. I will accept my fate and pay for what I have enjoyed.”
“Riv?”
A bewildered look crossed Lionel’s face.
Riv laughed.
“It’s a relief that you don’t love me.”
The moment Riv dropped the ring onto the table, the magic was broken.
The only sound in the room was that of Riv’s pendant necklace falling to the ground.
Riv disappeared in an instant. It was as if she evaporated.
Looking around the empty room, Lionel asked.
“…Riv?”
He stared blankly at the ring and the pendant necklace she had left behind.
“…?”
The portrait in the pendant necklace was empty.
***
He remembered the morning she disappeared vividly.
It was winter, a bitter day that made one’s bones shiver.
That day, Riv’s mood was quite different.
Riv wore a black mourning dress, which she had never done before.
Her expression was terribly dull.
She also wore strange black gloves as she ate.
Then Riv surprised him with strange words.
Magic. One word he remembered well. Riv confessed to Lionel that she was a witch.
She confessed that she loved him.
And then, she evaporated in front of his eyes. As soon as she disappeared, a blood-stained ruby ring rolled across the table and stopped in front of him.
“The Duchess disappeared.”
How did the servants react when Lionel said those words?
Riv had evaporated while eating and they only said.
“The Duchess?”
“When did the Duke get married? Did you fall asleep and dream?”
Riv disappeared, and it was as if she never existed at all.
Lionel had rushed to the Duchess’ room, and found that everything Riv had used disappeared. All of her hats, shoes, dresses, and even her underwear.
The handkerchief and clothes that Riv had made for him? Gone.
All of those things were gone, and all that remained were the faded antiques Riv had collected.
Lionel realized something while carrying them around.
As long as he had Riv’s traces, he would not lose his memories of her.
There were some things in this world that he didn’t understand.
Witches and wizards, past lives.
He couldn’t understand how his wife became a witch.
***
Empty time passed.
The Duke of Sentoren lived like a disabled person for a while.
There was a lot of talk about the Duke having gone crazy.
Why? No one knew.
The servants of the Duke hoped that the Duke’s condition would return to normal.
His close friend, Doctor Rambaud, did not leave his side. His servants also hovered around him and worried about him.
“Rambaud, am I strange?”
“I don’t think you’re normal.”
Seeing Lionel perpetually intoxicated, Rambaud ordered all the alcohol in the mansion to be thrown away.
But even when he wasn’t drunk, the Duke still seemed insane.
“I’d rather get drunk, Rambaud.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
Lionel couldn’t lie down on his bed, in fear of tainting her scent.
He couldn’t even go into the Duchess’ bedroom. It was not uncommon for him to stay up all night in his office.
He offered a reward for information about witches and wizards.
People who wanted the money flocked in like flies.
But they brought nothing useful.
“I want to get Riv back.”
“Why are you saying that again?”
Rambaud touched Lionel’s forehead and concluded that he might be addicted to drugs.
“Rambaud, do you think I’m crazy?”
“If you weren’t crazy, then this would be weird. Lionel is chasing an illusion right now.”
“Illusion?”
“An illusion that there was a woman named Riv.”
Lionel thought that maybe Rambaud was right.
After Riv disappeared, many hours passed pointlessly.
Riv was a witch, but he wasn’t a wizard.
How could he find a witch who disappeared in an era when wizards and witches were extinct?
‘It was Riv’s choice to disappear.’
He interrogated those who followed heretical concepts and even sought out those who could perform magic.
But there were no answers to any of his questions.
“Sigh.”
Helpless time passed.
Lionel was overcome with a sense of despair over not being able to do anything.
“Anyway, Riv Katana? Katana?”
Lionel recited her family name.
Riv was the adopted daughter of the Katana family.
Even if her biological father was unknown, her biological mother certainly gave birth in Count Katana’s territory.
“Butler! Butler!”
Karl quickly responded to his master’s summons.
“What’s going on, Duke?”
“Katana, investigate Count Katana.”
“Alright.”
The butler was thrilled at Lionel’s sudden command, as he seemed to have regained his vigor.
A few days later, the Duke’s men searched the deceased Count Katana’s estate.
Karl gathered the information from their informants and reported on it. Lionel listened to the report with a serious expression.
“Everything that could’ve been found out about Count Katana’s past has been gathered. He never had an adopted daughter by the name of Olivia, whom the Master wanted to know more about.”
“…”
Lionel’s heart sank.
Karl handed over a large stack of papers, containing all of the data they had gathered.
“Summarize it briefly.”
“The Count of Katana died a few years ago and the family has fallen. He had a son, Philip, but his whereabouts are unknown. The Count has no other heirs.”
“Didn’t he have a wife about twenty years ago?”
Karl skimmed through the report.
“Oh, here it is. About 20 years ago, a woman named Shana was brought in to meet the family. But she died, along with her child.”
Stillbirth, death.
Lionel raised his head.
He was desperately looking for Riv.
“Is she really dead? If she’s dead, where is her grave?”
“It was so long ago that we didn’t investigate. But some strange testimonies are attached to her.”
“Strange testimonies?”
Lionel was desperate to find even the tiniest clue.
“There were rumors that the woman was a witch.”
“Witch?”
“There are only a few lines about her. Little is known about her, other than that she was a commoner brought to the estate by Count Katana.”
“Is that all?”
“She died giving birth to a child a few months after she was brought in.”
That was 20 years ago.
The fact that there was someone who remembered even though the Count had been silent… Did that mean that Shana’s presence stood out, even in such a short period of time?
“Should I arrange an investigation into Count Katana?”
“Enough about him. Find out more about the woman named Shana.”
“But she died 20 years ago. It won’t be easy.”
“Find anything. The room she stayed in, whatever traces she left behind.”
“I understand.”
A few days later, Lionel received another report.
Shana had lived on the Katana estate until her death. She was an orphan, and there was no trace of her former home or her late family.
No one in her village remembered her.
Lionel headed to the Katana mansion himself to find the last traces of Shana.
***