Chapter 192
Chapter 192
“I heard from Master that there were magic circles around Hoiore responsible for restricting magic,” Dalia began.
Julius nodded. “Yes, we couldn’t use magic in the North – not because of time magic, but because of those magic circles,” he replied.
Dalia remained silent for a while. Then with a low voice, she mumbled, “Your Highness must’ve figured out what they were aiming for…”
For the first time, Julius was apprehensive of Dalia. Her eyes were dark, like a bottomless pit; it was difficult to glean through them. Her eyes used to hold splendour like the beautiful night sky. It was a heartbreaking sight to see.
“Yes..”
As if Dalia expected Julius’ affirmative, she turned her head to look at Kaichen. The latter sat silently with his arms crossed, holding her gaze.
“I… I want Master to leave His Majesty’s side and return to the willow house,” Dalia suddenly blurted out.
Julius flinched. He didn’t expect Dalia to say something like that in front of him. However, Dalia and Kaichen were only looking at each other, as if they didn’t care about his presence at all.
‘I was thinking the same thing, but…’ He knew she had a bold personality, but he didn’t know it was this much. He could see why Kaichen said that Dalia had a strong mentality.
“It’s not for you to decide,” Kaichen said with a shake of his head. His lip was set in a straight line.
“I knew you’d say something like that. Even if it was for me… you still won’t leave,” Dalia replied softly. When Kaichen remained silent, she continued, “I know how important His Majesty is to Master. You’re not cruel enough to leave your friend in danger. It’s Master’s job to fly over to His Majesty and rescue him from danger, no matter where he is…”
Julius blinked. When he glanced at Kaichen, the latter’s expression was already stiff. There were a few times where he’d saved him from danger, but was it that many times? Julius became somewhat uncomfortable in his seat.
“I didn’t expect you to agree to it.” Dalia sighed deeply and suddenly looked sharp. “I’ll tell you about what happened inside the time magic.”
“Dalia-”
“Shh-”
Dalia raised her index finger and lifted it to her lips, stopping Kaichen from speaking. Kaichen frowned. He didn’t want to hear it, nevertheless, he kept his mouth shut as she wanted.
When Julius saw Kaichen freeze at another person’s mercy for the first time, he wanted to make fun of him, but he couldn’t because he was overwhelmed by Dalia’s mood. This somber, unsmiling Dalia was a little scary.
The curve of her eyes that resembled a cat’s and the attractive mole at her eye were her most appealing characteristics. However, her pale skin and red lips created an overwhelming atmosphere when she wasn’t smiling. Julius couldn’t hide his embarrassment. For the first time he didn’t know what to do.
“After gathering information, it’s clear that this incident was aimed at Master,” Dalia said. The two men were slightly surprised. “Perhaps this was a huge experiment in Hoiore, just like the one in Acrab.”
“What experiment?”
“It was an experiment to see whether they could stop Master.”
“Does that mean the magic circles are just a test?”
Julius asked with a hard expression. Dalia nodded glumly.
“It began with Walter’s death sentence. I wasn’t as accurate as Master, but when I looked at his body, I found poison similar to the one that came out of mine…” she said.
“So, the esteemed son’s death was planned.”
“They needed someone who was desperate enough to become the scapegoat – their medium.”
“…”
“Walter was in a relationship with Sheliak, who brought me news of the North. He took Momalhaut’s hand with the desire to see the person he loved. He was being used, from the beginning till the end.”
Dalia had a torn expression on her face. “I think Walter being poisoned and the relief supplies being stolen happened around the same time. After that, Your Highness must’ve been informed about the fiasco. Then, they created a snowstorm in the North to block access and drive the Northerners here. This would also be to block information. The magic circles would’ve been created around that time too.”
Julius gritted his teeth. “…If I had searched the North immediately instead of finding the culprit who stole the supplies-”
“No, this would still happen. Since the snowstorm, time magic and magic circles were most likely triggered at the same time,” Dalia replied.
“…When you got the call from the Viscount, was it already too late?”
“Yes. Walter already received his death sentence before that. They prepared thoroughly. There wasn’t a single flaw in their plan.”
Dalia took a deep breath as she calmed herself. She looked back and forth at Julius and Kaichen. Then, she spoke slowly but firmly. “We lost. And at a horrible cost.”
*
Why was it so hard to say that we had lost?
I was fuming on the inside. It felt like my pride had been shattered. I wanted to comfort Julius after seeing his grief-stricken person, but nothing came to mind. I wanted to say that it was okay, that there would be a next time, but I couldn’t.
Would there be a next time? Could we even win next time? Save people?
I couldn’t be sure. The protagonist was weaker than I had imagined. Shouldn’t he be powerful enough now to repress the princess?
Weren’t they in the middle of part 3 in the story? Wasn’t he able to build up his strength in Part 1? Why didn’t Julius have strong allies now?