Chapter 80

# 80

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Nabia slightly tilted her head and saw the black moon, half-obscured by her sleeve, as she walked toward the room on the second floor.

Earlier, when she held Margaret’s hand, the black moon, imbued with magic, emitted a deep and dark black light.

'Just in case.'

Nabia, still trembling from the assassin and the sleepless night, was in a highly sensitive state.

But something kept pricking her all over, so she prepared for an emergency.

While climbing the stairs, Edward glanced down at Nabia, who was walking more slowly and awkwardly than usual.

'Those wounds from that day, I suppose.'

Edward suddenly recalled the time when snow fell from the sky.

The depressing rain turning into snow seemed to celebrate Nabia’s victory, making Edward shudder again.

It was as if even the sky was on the child’s side.

"Have you been well?"

To this question, Nabia replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Yes. Have you been well, sir?"

"I was preparing a paper. There’s a presentation on the treatment of magic backlash disease in a few days."

"I see."

Nabia responded with an expression that showed she had no interest in his great achievement.

Edward felt himself shrinking at her indifference.

What could possibly stir this girl’s emotions?

If such a thing existed, it would be something so astonishing and significant that it would turn the world upside down.

"…I have been granted a barony. Thanks to you, my lady."

A faint smile appeared on Nabia’s expressionless face.

"We both benefited from each other. How can it be my doing? It’s your achievement, sir."

Nabia stopped in front of her room and turned to look at Edward.

"And please call me Nabia. I’m not a lady, and you’ll soon be granted a title, won’t you?"

"As you wish."

Nabia looked at Edward, who seemed too submissive, with a puzzled expression as she opened the door and said,

"I don’t have a dedicated maid, so I can’t offer you anything. Would you like some water?"

"I would appreciate that."

Nabia half-filled a cup with water and handed it to Edward before sitting down in a chair.

"You came here to strengthen the mind control on me. What do you plan to do?"

The mind control on Nabia doesn’t work.

Perhaps only a particularly powerful magician from the Dufman royal family could successfully cast mind control on her.

Despite knowing this, Nabia had a reason for asking.

Edward was now an opponent with whom her collaboration was completely over, and he might be trying to ally with Agnes for greater gains.

So, she wanted to clearly distinguish friend from foe.

Edward fully grasped the nuance.

"Do you have any requests?"

Nabia tilted her head.

"Why are you asking me that?"

"I want to cooperate with you, Nabia, not Agnes."

Cooperate with her?

Nabia sneered at the convenient words.

You treated me like a nuisance and sold me as a sacrifice, and now you see potential in me and want to join hands?

"Rather, I should be the one to ask what you want from me."

Ignoring Nabia’s cold tone, Edward approached her and knelt on one knee.

He had been pondering this all the way to Esselred and finally made up his mind.

"Please allow me to serve you as my lord."

There is no one else worth serving besides Nabia.

He was certain of this.

Nabia’s gaze grew even colder.

"That’s a strange thing to say. You want to serve a low-born child of eight?"

"You will become the head of a family if you overthrow it, and an emperor or empress if you overthrow the empire."

Nabia was not someone who would stop at this level.

They say great people show their extraordinary qualities from a young age.

Nabia’s extraordinary qualities were already beyond those of a child and even surpassed those of capable adults.

"The important thing is not being the head of a family or an empress or emperor."

The important thing was Nabia herself.

That’s why she was worth serving.

Nabia twisted her lips.

"Sorry, sir, but I don’t have the magnanimity to take in someone who tried to destroy me."

"…!"

"If you truly wanted to serve me, you should have repented first."

"Nabia."

"You’re really greedy. You used a troublesome fake lady for your own gain and now want to make her your lord."

How could he think he still had the authority to call her lord? It was absurd.

Edward had been deceiving himself even in this life.

"I’ll decide for you, then."

Nabia said calmly.

"Continue to despise and belittle me as you always have. That’s what you should do."

Edward hadn’t actually expected to be so firmly rejected.

He was a capable man, a talent no one could refuse.

In fact, he was secretly confident that Nabia would join hands with him if he pushed this far.

His breath quickened.

To be rejected so pointlessly was unbelievable.

He spoke in a suppressed voice.

"…Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for you to pretend to be swayed?"

Nabia nodded.

"Maybe. But I don’t want to."

'Why should I, when you didn’t?'

She didn’t know how much usefulness she had proven in her past life.

Nabia was objectively capable and useful.

But what was the end result?

In just this cycle, Edward had always looked down on Nabia.

Edward gritted his teeth.

Yes, he was a cowardly and despicable bystander. It was true that he had belittled Nabia and only now decided to change his stance.

But he didn’t want to give up on Nabia, who had shone so brightly in front of his eyes as he searched for a great lord to serve.

To see a worthy candidate and be told to give up? No way.

"Give me a chance."

Edward knelt before Nabia.

He felt no shame. How could it be shameful for a subject to kneel before their lord?

"Give me a chance to repent for my foolishness."

Nabia was silent for a moment.

As her long-time teacher, he probably knew her character better than her own family.

For him to cling so desperately despite her clear rejection was definitely uncharacteristic of Edward.

But that didn’t mean she was going to forgive him. No, there was no need for forgiveness.

In this life, she wanted to cleanly break ties with those she had been entangled with so bitterly and dirtily.

Seeing Edward act so arbitrarily only made her already exhausted mind even more fatigued.

Nabia felt an uncontrollable headache as her energy drained away.

'Ah, I want to rest…'

She buried her face in her hands, which were trembling slightly.

'Am I in a position where I can’t even refuse to form connections?'

Edward didn’t seem to consider that his insistence on serving her was a violent act.

Really, she was tired.

Thud!

Suddenly, Edward was roughly pushed and fell to the floor.

"Ugh!"

He looked around in confusion.

'What? Who just pushed me?'

The sensation was too clear to be a hallucination.

It felt like being kicked in the foot…

And that wasn’t the end.

Splat!

The water cup on the table suddenly fell and soaked Edward’s clothes, but strangely, the water only splashed on him, leaving the carpet dry with just the empty cup.

Edward turned to look at Nabia.

Nabia, startled by the sudden noise, lifted her face from her palms.

"What did you just do to me?"

Edward frowned deeply and asked.

"What do you mean?"

Nabia responded with a puzzled expression.

"You just pushed me and splashed water on me."

Even as he said this, Edward knew it didn’t make sense given the distance between them.

But it was even stranger to think he had fallen and spilled the water by coincidence.

"…I have no idea what you’re talking about."

Nabia narrowed her eyes and replied coldly, making Edward sigh and shake his head.

"…Forget it."

It was better to believe it was the work of a ghost.

Knock knock.

At that moment, a knock was heard, and before he could give permission, Theo’s servant entered.

"Excuse me. The compensation verification is almost complete, and I was ordered to bring Spencer here… What’s going on?"

The servant looked curiously at Edward, who was sitting on the floor with his coat soaked.

'Could that girl have splashed water on him?'

It was an absurd thought, but the situation suggested nothing else.

Edward sighed briefly, shook off the wetness from his clothes, and stood up.

"Let’s talk again later."

He bowed politely, swept his damp bangs aside, and walked past the servant.

Before closing the door, the servant said,

"A servant will come to escort you soon. Please wait here in the meantime."

Click.

Nabia muttered with a blank expression.

"Looks like they’re up to something."

It hadn’t been long, and there was no particular reason for Theo to send a servant to fetch Edward instead of Nikan.

This was clearly a plan to leave her alone.

'I need to leave.'

She needed to find an adult.

Click!

But before Nabia could open the door, a red-haired boy she shouldn’t see here entered.

"Long time no see, insect."