Chapter 91

Noah, with a face full of disgust, glared at Lewis with loathing.

"…Have you ever seen it? A person who acted purely for the sake of the princess would never devise a magic specialized in restraining the princess."

Claudia, who shared Noah's opinion, smiled with a sense of resignation.

She had talked about the magic she had been refining for five hundred years. Lewis must have gradually deviated over the long years.

(I left. …From that moment on, I must have been distorted.)

While confronting this fact within herself, Claudia still opened her mouth.

"Five hundred years have passed, and many things have changed."

"It's a lie… It's a lie, Lady Adelheit."

"I, too, am not the same as when I was Adelheit. The magic in this body has been inherited from my current parents, and I have grown as 'Claudia.' Noah's magic is also mixed in."

Claudia and Noah, who had formed a familiar contract, could use a single magic storage as if they were one. Over the past two years, they had lent and borrowed magic from each other, and each time, their magic had mixed and merged.

This must be different from the Adelheit that Lewis knew five hundred years ago. Perhaps it was so different that it could be called the magic of a different person.

"…It's fine even if it has degenerated."

Lewis muttered softly.

"It's fine. If you can live and stay by my side forever, then…"

"Stop it. Don't do this to the princess…"

"As long as you are you!!"

"!"

New chains sprang up from the ground, and Claudia's eyes widened slightly.

These chains were entangled with black mist that had turned into thorns. The mist, which seemed to have a will of its own, undulated, and its true nature was unmistakable.

"…The curse has taken form."

The choker around Lewis's neck also glowed with a dull light.

"As long as Lady Adelheit is Lady Adelheit, her essence remains unchanged."

Lewis, standing still, muttered.

"Even if the magic has changed, I can just repair the barrier here to match it…"

"I'm telling you to stop. Your barrier magic is not a barrier, but a curse that the princess abhors!"

"…Noah, can you really stop me? As long as Lady Adelheit's essence hasn't changed…"

His eyes, which had shifted from the ruby red to the lapis lazuli blue, looked at Noah with a murky light.

"You will also be left behind eventually."

"Princess!"

The chains, wrapped in the curse, were swung down at Claudia again.

(Indeed, this is troublesome.)

His strong wish is to 'dominate Adelheit to prevent her from dying.'

If she were caught by those chains, she wouldn't be able to release them as she did before. The flow of her magic had been disrupted by the chains absorbing her magic.

(If I use magic now, it will be difficult to control. …Then)

Claudia cast a barrier in front of her, blocking the chain's attack once. The barrier immediately cracked and shattered after a few seconds. But even that brief moment was enough to prepare what she needed.

"!"

Noah's eyes widened because Claudia was holding something unfamiliar with magic.

It was a slender sword. The blade and hilt were entirely transparent, like a delicate one-handed sword carved from ice or glass.

"I'm not very confident in my sword skills, but…"

If she couldn't control her magic flexibly, she could use it in the form of a sword to fight. Claudia had taught this to Noah, and she had also instructed her former disciples. However, she had hardly ever fought with a sword herself.

"…Come here."

The chains, writhing like snakes, were targeting her from above. The unpleasant black mist, sensing the gap she had created, attacked her again all at once.

"Please stay by my side, Claudia…!!"

Claudia exhaled softly. She infused magic into the sword, stepped back, and swung it from left to right with all her might.

"Princess!!"

The chains' movements stopped as if time had frozen.

What moved next was not the chains. The wall of the castle facing the garden, behind the chains, tilted with a creaking sound.

"Wha…"

Lewis, looking back, let out a voice of astonishment.

The slash Claudia had released had spread through magic. The castle wall, cut diagonally, collapsed with a rumble.

"Still, it's difficult to control the force."

"…Princess…"

Noah looked exasperated. The severed chains fell to the ground, writhing and struggling on the snow like a decapitated snake, which was terribly ugly.

Lewis, who had fallen to his knees again, repeated his heavy breathing and reached out his hand.

"Not yet. …I still can't forgive you…"

He sank into the snow, unable to stand up. Claudia lowered the tip of the sword she held and stepped through the white snow to stand in front of Lewis.

Lewis, perhaps to breathe more easily or to look up at Claudia, somehow turned over onto his back. His thin, pale throat, with its skin cracked, looked like a porcelain doll on the verge of decay.

The silver choker around his neck was entangled as if it had taken root in his body.

(It's probably impossible to forcibly peel it off now.)

Claudia narrowed her eyes and looked down at it.

(To destroy the cursed magical item, I have to destroy Siwell's life itself…)

Lewis exhaled sharply and whispered in a trembling voice.

"Why did you leave us?"

"…Siwell."

Like a lost child, he spoke with a voice tinged with tears.

"…If you were going to leave like that, I wanted to die with you. …We would have regretted sacrificing you, and continued to regret it…"

(…That's)

Claudia pursed her small lips tightly.

(Because I didn't want to lose you for my sake.)

That's why she chose to be the one to leave back then.

(This is my punishment. …The backlash of the curse has intertwined with the magic that anchors Siwell's soul, making it impossible to resolve. If Siwell's body collapses, the soul will be eternally imprisoned, suffering endlessly without reincarnation…)

The magical choker pulsed, marking a heartbeat.

(If I can't save him, at least I should end it properly. …Before it's too late…)

Claudia, still holding the transparent sword, looked down at him.

(—I have to kill Siwell.)

She thought this and tightened her fingers. But Lewis's voice reminded her of the days five hundred years ago.

"…Lady Adelheit…"

"……"

Adelheit, who was a solitary witch, lived in a lonely forest to protect the country and the world as a princess.

One day, a disciple came to her and stayed by her side. As the number of disciples increased from one to two, three, and more, the important things in her life grew.

She still clearly remembers how warm and happy those days were.

"Lady Adelheit!"

(…Siwell was always a hardworking and diligent disciple, studying late into the night in his room.)

She had brought him back the night they met, when he was living in a corner of the castle, persecuted as a monster. At that time, there were only about six disciples, and since Siwell was scared, all six of them slept together that night.

The next morning, Siwell woke up with messy hair and smiled happily.

(He was a year younger than me, honest but stubborn.)

When she scolded him a little for overworking, Siwell always answered with a straight look.

"No matter how much I study, it's never enough. I don't mind any effort, because I…"

Claudia slowly raised her sword.

"I want to be of service to Lady Adelheit as soon as possible."

"……"

The image of Siwell in her memories was completely different from Lewis, who was now gasping on the snow. Still, this child was indeed Adelheit's beloved disciple.

"…Ah…!!"

(If his body decays first, it will be too late.)

"I can't forgive you… Giving us a crueler ending than death by leaving before us."

(I have to kill Siwell and destroy the magical item before that happens.)

"…Lady Adelheit…!!"

Claudia closed her eyes.

(—This is my weakness.)

She opened her eyes and, in one swift motion, swung the tip of the sword at Lewis's throat.

"…!"

At that moment.

Before Claudia's sword, a blade was already thrust into Lewis. When it made a dull sound, Claudia called out softly.

"…Noah…?"

Noah, who had disobeyed Claudia's orders, had thrust his sword at Lewis's throat.