Chapter 84

Noah’s gaze towards Stuart changed slightly. With a voice less harsh than before, Noah asked Stuart:

"Why did you, of all people, go out of your room and enter and exit that tower?"

"…About half a year after Lewis appeared, I heard that Father’s sister had fallen ill and was in a coma."

Stuart whispered in a small voice, "She was like a sister to me."

"The one sleeping in the tower, hidden from the world, overlapped with my own self, who couldn’t leave the room. But unlike her, I could still move on my own, right? If I was going to be cooped up drawing, I thought I’d draw her when she was lively and smiling."

"…"

"The number of tower residents increases by one each year. So the number of people I drew also increased. …I thought if I could create a large canvas in the garden where no one can enter and draw their pictures there, surrounded by beautiful things, perhaps the sleeping girls would dream of the same beautiful scenery."

Stuart looked down at his right hand, which seemed to be looking at nothing.

"To me, a useless crybaby who can’t do anything because of fear of my ‘brother,’ that was the only meaningful action I could think of. I practiced drawing beautiful things… and in the midst of that, Lord Adelheit appeared before me."

At that point, Stuart’s diamond-like silver eyes turned to Claudia.

"The children of this country grow up listening to the legend of the witch Adelheit as a fairy tale. You, my lord, closely resembled the ideal image of the witch Adelheit I had imagined."

"…Huh. I see."

A pained voice quietly spoke from his heart.

"If the witch Adelheit existed in this era, she might be able to see through the true identity of the mysterious ‘Lewis’ with magic. She might be able to wake everyone up immediately. …I felt that if I could perfectly draw the picture of Adelheit, everyone would wake up, Lewis would disappear, and I could go outside."

Noah frowned and turned to Claudia.

"…Lord Adelheit."

Claudia sat down on Noah’s bed.

Usually, if she appeared in her adult form and sat on Noah’s bed, he would panic and try to stop her. But Noah seemed to have decided not to say anything this time.

"Stuart. Did you change the sheets and prepare the beds for the princesses?"

"Sheets…?"

When Claudia asked, Stuart tilted his head in confusion.

"N-no. I’m really not very considerate, and I didn’t think that far."

"Thank you for telling me."

Stuart narrowed his eyes as if savoring happiness.

At that moment, a message made of light floated in through the window.

"Oh, perfect timing."

The message that arrived by magic was a letter from Erenfrit, who had joined the ‘race.’ Claudia read aloud the magical words projected on her palm.

"The first king of the Clingate Kingdom was named Carlos."

Claudia looked at Stuart and smiled, asking:

"Is that correct?"

"Y-yes…!! Our ancestor’s name was Carlos Craig Clingate. How did you know that…?"

Noah, ignoring Stuart, covered his mouth.

"…Not Sievel."

"Carlos was a disciple of Adelheit, just like Sievel, and he was also skilled in barrier magic. Sievel and Carlos had similar magical properties."

Although they didn’t talk much, they aimed to match each other’s precision in magic.

Claudia felt that Stuart’s garden resembled Sievel’s magic, which also meant it resembled Carlos’s magic.

Her mind was drawn to the idea that it resembled Sievel’s because she had a dream about that disciple.

"Now I understand. When I touched Stuart in the tower, I didn’t find any elements in Stuart’s magic that would qualify him as a descendant of Sievel."

"…"

Noah frowned quietly.

Stuart, with a puzzled look, alternated his gaze between Claudia and Noah.

"But the magic the women possess…"

"Sievel’s magic was felt. …It’s likely that it wasn’t the magic flowing through the princesses."

Noah seemed to already know, waiting for Claudia to speak.

"…The magic of Sievel is contained in the ‘curse’ that put them to sleep."

"……"

Noah sighed deeply. Stuart, with a desperate expression, asked Claudia earnestly.

"Ah, um, Lord Adelheit!! Does this mean you’ve figured out who Lewis is!?"

"…Stuart"

"Sievel. Adelheit’s disciple, Sievel… I’ve never heard of this name before. But does this mean that Lewis is a descendant of Sievel!?"

Five hundred years ago, Claudia couldn’t know everything that happened after her life as Adelheit ended.

So she couldn’t know what kind of lives her beloved disciples led after that.

She could only imagine by finding traces of them in the founding myths of some countries or in a page of literature.

(But what I can say for sure about Sievel is…)