Chapter 29

【Chapter 6】

The person often recalls, in his dreams, an unforgettable memory from when he was a child.

Walking barefoot on the stone pavement, it was so cold it felt like ice. In the snow, his whole body was frozen stiff, and he was so hungry he couldn't bear it.

(Am I going to die here?)

He stopped and thought.

He had been living on sheer willpower, and if that broke, everything would be over. In the cold city, no one stopped to help, and he knew this all too well.

(...It doesn't matter. Nothing matters, even if it all ends here...)

An overwhelming drowsiness, as if it were stealing away everything, came over him.

Leaning against the cold brick wall, he thought about slowly closing his eyes. It was then that he heard her voice.

"---Wake up! Hey, wake up, come on, snap out of it!"

A very loud voice made him frown.

He wanted to fall asleep, but the girl continued to shout loudly and shook his body rudely.

"Hey, can you hear me? This is soup, it's warm... "

"Ugh..."

"Wake up. Please, drink it, can you open your mouth? ...There, good, drink it little by little..."

Warm soup flowed into his mouth from the container pressed against his lips.

The taste that touched the tip of his tongue was better than anything he had ever eaten before. Even though the soup was just a simple broth made with a few vegetable scraps and a bit of salt.

"That's good... Are you feeling a bit warmer? If so, come over here. We can sleep at the back of the cart until the snow stops. You won't freeze."

The girl, of course, was a complete stranger.

Despite seeing her face for the first time, she smiled without any doubt and reached out her hand to him.

"...Wasn't that your soup just now?"

"I'm fine! I had a big meal as a reward for singing well!"

She said, laughing, but her stomach made a loud growling sound.

She quickly pressed her stomach and then smiled shyly at him with her golden, yellow-sapphire eyes.

"Hehe... I really am fine. If you don't die tonight and can smile at me in the morning, that alone will fill me up!"

"..."

"Come on, come over! I'm Dorothea, and I'm singing. What's your name?"

"...My name is..."

Karlheinz knows of no food as warm and irreplaceable as that night's soup.

He became the head magician of a country, gained a considerable fortune, and no longer had to worry about food.

But even so, he can't forget the taste of the soup, which had only a hint of salt, that he tasted twenty years ago.

***

That night, Karlheinz, the head magician of Abinoia, was in an audience with King Volkhardt.

"You did well to bring Claudia to this castle, Karlheinz."

Sitting on the throne in the audience chamber, Volkhardt seemed to be in a good mood.

However, Karlheinz knew that the most dangerous state was when he appeared to be in a good mood.

"She is innocent, but also quite stubborn. I suspect that her illness over the past month was a lie?"

"No, that is not the case. ...At least, when I met her, she was suffering from a high fever."

"Haha."

Volkhardt laughed at Karlheinz's lie.

"Claudia's eyes were a very pale gold, right? The color of the eyes indicates the nature of magic, and the intensity can be roughly gauged by the depth. According to your report, the paleness could indeed suggest a lack of magic..."

The light in Volkhardt's red eyes flickered.

"You don't actually believe what you see, do you?"

"...Your Majesty"

"Don't tell me you've been fooled by Claudia. ...Although, I doubt Claudia believes she can completely deceive me or you."

Karlheinz largely agreed with this.

(Princess Claudia is a very wise person. She doesn't seem like a six-year-old girl who has been long confined and neglected in her education.)

She is intelligent, thinks deeply, and views the world from a mature perspective. Her bold and fearless actions are also well-reasoned.

(Although I haven't evaluated her, she undoubtedly possesses immense magical power, far surpassing even myself---or perhaps even Your Majesty. And Princess Claudia keeps this a secret from those around her.)

Over the past month, he had set up a residence near the tower and observed Claudia and her companions from time to time.

When they solved incidents in nearby villages, Karlheinz sometimes helped them.

However, Claudia herself played the role of a powerless princess, and the villagers were told that the achievements were those of her attendants, Noah and Karlheinz.

Even during the evaluation, Claudia disguised herself in front of the crystal and managed to hide her true reaction.

Most people present probably didn't notice the change.

But someone accustomed to controlling vast magical power can't help but sense it.

Karlheinz clearly understood the magical fluctuation that occurred at that time.

Of course, Volkhardt, who is said to be the most skilled magician among the kings, would have also been able to sense Claudia's magic.

(Princess Claudia must have wanted to hide from her father, more than anyone, the fact that she is a powerful magician. ...But, she probably also realized that she couldn't hide it forever.)

Thinking this, he lowered his eyes.

(No matter what happens to her, she came to the castle to prevent the village from being drawn into unnecessary disaster. ...Naturally, I should also be prepared.)

Still, Karlheinz chose his words carefully.

If he gave a poor answer here, it could cause problems for Claudia.

"I could not confirm with certainty whether the Princess possesses magic. Mentioning it prematurely could lead to various issues, so I did not report it beforehand."

"Hmm. If you had carelessly said, 'She seems to have magic,' I might have used that as a basis to divorce the queen and break the alliance with Magnonia, right?"

"...I deeply apologize for the delay in my report to Your Majesty."

"That won't do."

"!"

Volkhardt told Karlheinz in a cold voice.

"---Do you think I would forgive you?"

His garnet-colored eyes were completely dilated.

"You, a mere subject, tried to hide things from me. A foolish act that could be seen as treason, and you, the head magician, committed it. Right, Karlheinz?"

Volkhardt said in a slow, deliberate voice.

"You've done something that could get you killed, haven't you?"

"..."

The look in Volkhardt's eyes was the same as one would give to an object or livestock.