CH 33

At that moment, their gaze fell upon me.

“What nonsense! How are we going to escape?”

“That’s right. Did you think it would be easy for a first-circle magician like you to escape?”

Yes, it was designed to be that way.

Alfred Saboia, who designed the Mausoleum prison, was an egotist.

He claimed, “Any magician who can solve my created magical formula is allowed to escape.”

Every prison door had a magical formula written on it.

I stared intently at the magical formula written on the iron bars of the prison window.

’?

Claude, who rarely lacked confidence, hesitantly entered the incomplete formula into the potion’s mana circuit.

Bang!

The potion made a small explosion sound.

It was at that moment.

The faint image of a girl covered in mud appeared.

The incomplete magical formula had succeeded.

Her eyes were tightly closed, so her pupils couldn’t be seen.

Her head and body were covered in dirty mud, making it difficult to discern her features.

But her smile was unmistakable.

She was the little Diana they remembered.

Dirty from head to toe, yet walking with an energetic bounce.

She was the brave Diana they knew.

The potion with the inscription of the incomplete letter formula quickly disappeared.

“I miss you…”

Duke Saboia sat on the ground as his legs gave out.

“Oh, I miss our baby so much…”

The once strong-willed count trembled as if he were out of breath.

Claude saw his once upright grandfather’s body slump to the ground.

After Diana’s disappearance, her grandfather became less talkative, and Claude remained silent.

“No matter how much money I give, I can’t live in this silence, there’s nothing to do here!”

“…This isn’t some northern fortress, and we’re not expecting ghosts to appear.”

There were countless maids who ran away unable to bear the fearful atmosphere of the castle.

The only way to melt the frozen castle was Diana’s return.

Duke Saboia, covered in dirt and dust, crumbled to the ground.

In contrast to his despair, Claude looked like a mountain.

He was like a hardened stone mountain.

And at that moment.

Everyone thought that Claude, who they believed hated Diana, parted his lips slightly.

“He…heheuk…”

Tears streamed down his eyes.

“Claude, don’t cry.”

“…”

“When our baby comes back, you’ll be able to speak again, won’t you? Since Diana disappeared, you’ve lost your voice.”

Claude wiped away his tears roughly with the back of his hand.

That’s right.

Contrary to the world’s judgment, Claude was just a foolish younger brother.

[I miss our baby so much.]

To Claude, Diana was a one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable existence.

Because she was the one who gave him a reason to exist.

When he was around nine years old, Claude, who was a genius from birth, thought:

“I can see everything about life so clearly. It’s boring. I want to die at fifteen. I have about five or six years left.”

“Cr-Claude?”

“I’m a genius anyway, and I’ve done everything I wanted to do.”

Those were the days when he lived an ordinary, apathetic, and listless life.

Young cousin, Diana appeared.

With her soft hand stretching my cheek.

“You idiot! You’re saying you’re going to die? That’s nonsense! Watch this!”

“Oh, what is it? Get out. Your hand is soft. Pssh.”

“The sleepyhead is awake, you fool!”

“…Sigh. So annoying.”

With that, I pushed Diana away.

But somehow, Diana kept catching my eye.

Her small, doughy hands and puffed-up cheeks, even her fierce words spoken with a lovely face.

Everything was too cute.

He slowly began to be drawn to Diana.

“Um, won’t you call me Sleepyhead today?”

“Claude, you silly sleepyhead!”

…Being called a fool was a first in my life.

Somehow, it was exhilarating.

After that, he became devoted to Diana.

“Diana, can’t you engrave a mark on my heart?”

“Why?”

“Because I will always obey you, Diana.”

In truth, he became listless again, fearing that he would die leaving Diana behind.

He wanted to protect the innocence of his little sister who was still alive.

If he engraved a mark on his heart, he wouldn’t be able to die without Diana’s permission.

Diana looked at him intently with her transparent eyes.

“…How do you do that?”

It seemed like this little brat could already read his mind.

“Just touch it! I’ve prepared everything! See, Diana, now my heart is yours! Just engrave the magical formula on my heart like this.”

“It, it’s not very useful, but I’ll accept it. You’re not fun, Claude. You fool, sleepyhead.”

“Now Fool Sleepyhead is my nickname? Th-thank you, Diana! Thank you so much!”

“I feel sick. Go away!”

“Ugh, you, you’re too mean!”

“…Claude, you’re a terrible actor. You’re really not fun. Go away!”

After Diana disappeared.

His sole purpose became finding Diana again.

If he had already died, he could bury it in his heart.

But what if he couldn’t tell if she was alive or dead?

With relentless torment of hope, he became completely absorbed in the goal of finding his missing sister.

Claude had been that way until now, and he would continue to be that way in the future.

“I might be able to meet Diana soon.”

Thanks to the slight success of the tracking magical formula.

A wave of anticipation surged in his heart once again.

Claude hurriedly searched his pockets.

And then he remembered, before leaving the tower.

There was a letter Helic had urgently sent to the magical department.

He probably wrote down information about that woman.

[Regarding the person you mentioned, she is Dylan’s wife, Ishael Lorelei.

Upon checking her past activities, she has never achieved anything significant as a mage.

The paradigm of “engraving the magical formula on the potion without conflicting with the mana formula” is quite remarkable.

However, it can be considered as a rookie mage’s trick.

It seems she has never encountered a magical formula before!

It’s better to just lose interest.

And please, don’t despise Diana too much,

Claude. It’s… not good for your health.]

What nonsense is the last sentence?

Claude frowned.

Ishael Lorelei.

The wife of Dylan, the Grand Duke Castilla hiding his identity.

He had anticipated it, but she was indeed a foolish 1st Circle mage.

Claude gritted his teeth as he recalled her green eyes.

If he brought that woman to the tower, avoiding the duke’s gaze, would he be able to find Diana?

If so, he had to hurry to the tower.

There, he would grab that woman’s neck and say.

Research the tracking magical formula properly.

Or else, I’ll kill you.

Claude clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.

But then, right at that moment.

A bluebird flew in from the tower and began chirping.

Duke Saboia spoke with a trembling voice.

“…Claude, I’m here.”

When Claude raised his eyebrow in confusion.

“It seems there has been a bomb terrorist attack at the tower.”