Chapter 12

It was a little over a year ago when Matthias first met Fiona.

It was when the empire's mages started coming to the country's magical mines to plunder the magic stones. It was decided that the First and Second Mage Corps and the knights would regularly patrol and drive them away, but they returned battered and bruised. They said one mage was so powerful that they couldn't do anything.

"That woman is insane. She just keeps firing off massive spells with a cool face. You need to do something about her."

"No way! She can only handle someone like Brother Matthias."

"It seems she can cast spells without ever running out of magic power. We can't do it. Can you handle it?"

Everyone who fought said the same thing, telling Matthias to do something about it.

The mage is apparently a woman not even twenty years old, but she is said to be overwhelmingly strong. Her magic circles glow golden, and golden armlets can be seen peeking out from her cuffs, leading to the speculation that she is a wielder of a divine artifact. If that's the case, then he really is the only one who can handle her.

However, it's unclear when and where the enemy will appear. He was assigned to patrol the country's northern magical mines, where the highest quality magic stones are found in large quantities. Three days after he started waiting, the empire's mages finally appeared before him.

Among the mages in black robes, one person stood out. A tall woman with sky-blue hair, he judged that she must be the mage with the golden armlets that everyone had mentioned.

Everyone had said she was beautiful, and Matthias indeed found her beautiful. But that was all. He didn't feel anything more.

He's not short of women because he's attractive, even though he's not particularly friendly. They come to him on their own, and he deals with them as he pleases, sometimes brushing them off lightly and sometimes engaging a bit more. It's impossible for him to become fond of an enemy country's woman.

The members of the Second Mage Corps, who were waiting with him, launched an attack, but all of it was nullified by her spells. Seeing her draw large magic circles at an incredible speed, he understood that no one could stand up to her. He was impressed, even though she was the enemy.

Matthias' blue divine artifact is a sword that can cut through anything. He sliced through her magic circles and spells, making them disappear.

However, his slashes were barely stopped by multiple layers of rock walls and magical barriers, never quite reaching her. The battle ended in a stalemate, and the imperial side reluctantly retreated.

The king of Elsida is a pacifist, so they never attacked first. They only protested in writing, which only emboldened the empire to repeatedly raid and attack.

Whenever Matthias was present, he always faced her. Around them, the empire's mages and the kingdom's mages and knights fought. The kingdom had more skilled fighters, so the empire was always on the defensive. When this happened, she would start aiding her allies while fighting Matthias, leaving her defense vulnerable. She often received cuts and even had a leg severed, forcing her to retreat early.

One day during his day off, he received word that the empire was attacking again. He rushed to the scene, only to find his allies already battered by her attacks. As usual, he faced her. Glancing at a nearby ally, he saw that they were about to be finished off by an imperial mage due to magic exhaustion.

Danger. The moment he thought that, a magic circle appeared to protect his ally, and the imperial mage was blown away. Relieved, he thought his ally had aided him, but then he noticed the woman's face contorting in pain, clutching her abdomen.

What's wrong with her? he wondered, but she quickly returned to her usual expression, and he didn't think much of it at the time.

After that, he began to notice her face contorting in pain several times. He started to suspect something was wrong and began to observe her more carefully.

He realized that whenever an ally was in mortal danger, aid would come from somewhere, and the woman in front of him would always start to suffer.

Is she secretly aiding her allies with a glowing white magic circle, trying not to be noticed? Does she really not want to fight?

To confirm, Matthias decided to take a hit from her wind blade without defending. He intended to lose only his wrist, but misjudged the trajectory and lost his left arm from the shoulder.

Damn, I should have stopped it...

He deeply regretted it for a moment, but the thought vanished when he saw her shocked face, on the verge of tears. As tears welled up in her eyes, Matthias couldn't help but smile.

—This girl is too cute.

A nearby mage cast a barrier to protect Matthias, and a healer nearby stopped the bleeding. They couldn't fully heal him on the spot, so they decided to retreat. Matthias couldn't help but smile again when he saw her subtly aiding their retreat.

From then on, Matthias began to feel affection for her, his enemy. He wondered if he could somehow bring her to their side. He brought Luke, a curse mark specialist, to the battlefield to assess her. Luke channeled magic into his chest and observed her closely. After the imperial mages retreated, Matthias asked him.

"Well? Did you find anything?"

"Yeah, she had a curse mark on her abdomen. It activated whenever she was in pain."

"Of course... If she's being forced to fight, can we somehow bring her to our side?"

Matthias consulted the king. It was more of a declaration of intent. Determined not to let anyone interfere, he decided to use his authority.

"I intend to bring her here as an ally. No one will stop me. If anyone has a problem, I'll deal with them. Be prepared."

The king chuckled and said, "Do as you please."

With the king's permission, Matthias secured a room for her. He chose a special room on the fifth floor, which was rarely used. He arranged for bedding and clothing, consulting with Layla, and prepared the room to welcome her.

All that was left was to persuade her. When he received word that she had appeared, he brought Luke to the scene.

Upon arrival, he slowly approached, slicing through the numerous magic circles she had drawn. He intended to have Luke neutralize her with a curse mark and then talk.

However, she suddenly collapsed before he could do anything. Matthias rushed to catch her, worried, but relieved when he saw her breathing normally and her expression peaceful.

"Luke, she's unconscious. Put the restraints on her now."

"Got it."

Luke easily attached the magic-sealing restraints and removed the curse mark on her abdomen, then carried her in his arms. Although they couldn't talk now, it was a rare opportunity, so he decided to bring her back. He picked her up.

"Let's go back."

"But we didn't talk at all. This is kidnapping, you know."

"Shut up. We can talk later. Let's go."

"Alright, alright, I don't care."

Leaving the others to handle the situation, Matthias and the exasperated Luke quickly returned. He laid her on the bed and asked a female mage to change her clothes, pretending to find the curse mark then.

All that was left was to wait for her to wake up. Matthias sat in a chair next to the bed, but she didn't wake up that day. Reluctantly, he chained her to the bed and left the room.

The next day, Matthias visited her room early in the morning, but she was still asleep. He visited several times, but she showed no signs of waking up.

Worried, he consulted doctors and healers, who said there was nothing wrong with her body. She was just sleeping.

Matthias went to the cafeteria for lunch and then returned to her room. Opening the door, he saw her sitting on the bed, their eyes meeting. He froze for a moment.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were awake, so I didn't knock."

He apologized reflexively.

—How will she react? Will she question the situation? Will she immediately complain? Or will she turn away, refusing to speak to an enemy?

No matter her reaction, he was prepared to patiently explain until she understood and trusted him. However, she spoke in a calm, relaxed tone, completely different from what he had imagined.

"Hey, it's fine. I don't think you need to be considerate of an enemy."

Matthias froze again. This is not what I expected. He had imagined a cool, crisp tone, but it was incredibly slow and relaxed. But, in a way, it was... no, it was even more endearing. She was quite cute, with a slightly ditzy air.

He praised her in his heart, maintaining his composure.

She chuckled, finding his polite demeanor amusing.

—She's so cute.

She smiled softly when she realized he had removed her curse mark.

—She's incredibly cute, man.

Her stomach growled, and he prepared a meal for her, which she gratefully ate with a happy expression.

Learning that she had been treated unfairly in the empire while bound by the curse mark, Matthias resolved to pamper her here, making up for her past suffering.

Eventually, she would call him "mom-like," which would shock him, but it couldn't be helped. Meeting a woman he truly cared for, he was overwhelmed with the desire to cherish her. Matthias decided to love and pamper her endlessly.