Chapter 114

Noah tilted his head, but followed Louis’s instructions and sat up straight. He widened his eyes and focused hard on the “black thing.”

“What does it look like? Just tell me whatever you feel, not just what you see.”

“Um, it’s black and really tiny. Smaller than sand. But it keeps falling down.”

“Yes, that’s right. Very accurate. Try looking a little more closely. Deeper than what your eyes see.”

Those were words only magicians could understand.

Dylan worried Noah wouldn’t grasp such a strange way of speaking, but Noah nodded right away.

His lips pressed tightly together, his expression growing more serious than before.

Dylan had no magical aptitude at all, but even so, Noah looked different from ordinary children right now.

His concentration was remarkable, and inside his always sparkling emerald eyes, it felt as if a deep pit had formed. What was the child seeing through that depth?

How much time had passed? After focusing for a long while, Noah suddenly lifted his head. Fear was written plainly across his face.

“A deer…”

“A deer?”

Without realizing it, Dylan reached out and gently patted Noah’s back.

Whatever the child had seen, he hoped Noah wouldn’t be afraid.

Feeling the large, solid warmth on his back, Noah let out a soft breath of relief. Gathering his courage, he explained what he had seen.

“There was a big black deer, as big as Nocturne. It was really cool, but someone hurt it… it was in pain.”

“Oh dear. You looked too deeply.”

Louis spoke with regret.

“What did the child see?”

At Dylan’s guarded voice, Louis gave an awkward smile.

“To put it simply, he read memories from when mana was still ether. Mana and ether eventually circulate back to each other.”

That was anything but simple. To someone who didn’t understand magic, it was still incomprehensible.

Fortunately, Louis didn’t stop there.

Placing the black handkerchief back on the tray, he continued.

“The handkerchief itself isn’t enchanted. A magical ingredient was applied to it, just like how Pulshard was applied to the teacup.”

“So Noah read the memories of that magical ingredient.”

“Yes. Isn’t that right, Noah?”

Still looking downcast, Noah nodded. What he’d seen in those memories must have been quite a shock.

“This is troubling…”

Seeing that, Louis tilted his brows apologetically, and Dylan’s hand on Noah’s back softened even more.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have allowed this.’

Dylan had always received reports that Noah showed outstanding talent as a magician, and the situation with Agnes had been urgent. Still, perhaps it would have been better to let the child wait safely at a distance.

But the child was far stronger than Dylan had thought.

Noah pressed his lips together, then quickly gathered himself and continued.

“A scary person ripped off the deer’s antlers. The deer… it hurt.”

Lost in thought, Louis murmured as he spoke.

“Then it sounds like black deer antler extract. If you pull off newly grown antlers, extract the essence, and harden it with magic, it becomes a medicine.”

Mid explanation, Louis looked at Noah and smiled gently.

“Noah, thank you for helping. If I were alone, it would have taken much longer.”

At the words of thanks, Noah’s face, dark from thinking about the deer’s pain, brightened a little.

Louis stood and gave Dylan a look. It meant the rest of the explanation should happen away from the child.

Understanding, Dylan lightly ruffled Noah’s hair.

“Thank you. You should go rest now.”

“Your Grace, did Noah help?”

“Of course.”

When Dylan nodded, Noah asked carefully, his face a mix of hope and anxiety.

“Then… can I see Mom soon?”

At that innocent question, Dylan fell silent for a moment.

All this time, he’d said it was just a bad cold, that she’d be better soon.

So how had the child noticed?

Dylan had thought he’d hidden it well, but it seemed Noah had simply been pretending not to know.

After some effort, Dylan promised,

“I swear it.”

Noah’s face lit up into a radiant smile, brighter than any Dylan had ever seen.

“Your Grace, it’s a promise with Noah.”

Noah suddenly held out his small hand, his tiniest pinky sticking up cutely.

Dylan carefully hooked his own pinky around that small, fragile finger that looked like it might break at a touch.

“Yes. It’s a promise.”

After a moment of thought, wanting to reassure the child, Dylan gently pressed his thumb over Noah’s small thumb.

Noah looked startled, then broke into a wide grin and shook their joined hands up and down.

“Your Grace even stamped it!”

Dylan knew with certainty that he’d give everything he had to keep this promise.

If he failed, he’d spend the rest of his life atoning to this child.

At this point, Agnes’s recovery was no different from staking his entire life on it.

When Lizzie entered from outside, Noah held her hand and still waved at Dylan. That small farewell pushed at Dylan’s back more strongly than any storm.

After Noah disappeared completely, Dylan and Louis returned to the bedroom where Agnes lay.

In front of the physicians, Louis explained calmly.

“This medicine, made by enchanting black deer antler extract, doesn’t take a life. However, once taken, it puts the body into a deep sleep for about a week. During that time, the body slowly prepares to change.”

Preparing the body to change through magic.

Dylan’s jaw hardened.

“How does it change?”

“It depends on the spell used, but medicines made from black deer antler are usually used to render women infertile.”

“Ha…!”

A sharp scoff echoed coldly through the bedroom.

Of course.

They wouldn’t have caused all this just to make her cough up blood and stir fear. From the beginning, the goal had been to make Agnes infertile and sever Vasteron’s line of succession.

‘Then they should’ve aimed for me.’

Fury boiled up at Conrad’s vile and cowardly method. Dylan clenched his teeth and asked as calmly as he could,

“So. The antidote.”

“It’s been three days since Her Grace took the medicine, correct?”

“That’s right.”

“Then we can still stop it. Before the body finishes preparing to change, we cut off the internal mana flow and draw it out of the body.”

“You intend to use magic on my wife.”

Dylan’s voice was ice cold. His anger toward Conrad, who wasn’t even present, seeped into every word.

The other physicians and servants in the room went pale and avoided Dylan’s gaze, but Louis didn’t. He simply listened and answered.

“No. To be precise, we’re removing magic that’s already been used. That can’t be called using magic. Not a single drop of my mana will remain in Her Grace’s body.”

At Louis’s blunt explanation, which felt like cold water poured over his rage, Dylan ran a hand through his hair and pressed his forehead. Then he let out a hollow laugh without meaning to.

‘Ricardo was like this too. Magicians are always impossible.’

Dylan thought of his old friend, someone he’d respected and listened to, yet always seemed strangely out of sync with.

That man had remained like a dark curse etched into his heart, and now, facing someone almost like his kin, buried memories resurfaced.

Annoyed at himself for thinking that way, Dylan furrowed his brow.

Turning his gaze from Louis, he looked at the Vasteron physician.

“What do you think of this magician’s opinion?”

As if he’d expected the question, the physician bowed his head and answered immediately.

“Your Grace, I believe it’s possible. Her Grace’s life hasn’t been in danger, yet she’s remained unconscious for an unusually long time. With our medical knowledge, we can’t yet say she’s infertile, but… there have been clear abnormalities.”

At Dylan’s gesture to continue, the physician went on.

“Normally, when someone is ill or has taken poison, the body heats up as it fights the condition. But Her Grace’s body temperature has remained low throughout. We found it strange and have been investigating, but regretfully, we couldn’t find the cause.”