Chapter 59

In the dim light of dawn, a man stood alone in the garden.

The temperature had dropped sharply, and the damp air clung to his skin. A familiar presence stirred nearby.

“You’re finally here?”

Demius asked the question casually.

A woman emerged from the shadows, holding down the veil fluttering in the breeze.

“How’s Teacher?”

“Asleep.”

“Good.”

Demius thought of the room where Melissa had just fallen soundly asleep, then turned serious as he faced his sister.

“So, what is it?”

“It’s suspicious.”

“That’s vague.”

“The place we went earlier.”

Natalianne’s voice was sharp with irritation. But it wasn’t just annoyance from talking to her brother.

‘Hmm.’

Demius sensed a rare hint of unease in her tone.

“Didn’t you already send soldiers to investigate?”

“That’s not enough.”

Before dinner, he had ordered a detachment to investigate the circus grounds.

By now they should be examining the site.

As Demius gauged the time by the stars, Natalianne muttered,

“They used magic.”

“That’s why I sent aura users with them.”

“Aura and magic aren’t the same thing.”

Natalianne’s eyes narrowed.

“Aura manipulates power drawn into the body. Magic shapes the power of spirits that exist outside the body. The systems are different. Of course, if you trace their origin, they might converge but…”

“Keep it short.”

“They can fight them but they can’t undo the source!”

She crossed her arms, biting her lip.

“I should’ve gone myself.”

“If you had, Melissa would’ve followed.”

“Damn it.”

Natalianne chewed her lip harder.

“It’s strange. Their magic is too suspicious.”

And more than that…

“They were using something called the ‘Smile of the Spirits.’”

“…What?”

Demius’s brow twitched.

Natalianne ran a hand through her hair, frustrated.

“The hollow space we saw inside that hidden passage.”

It wasn’t quite a room but it had been a deeply recessed alcove.

The same place where Melissa had sniffed the air curiously and wandered forward. Natalianne had unconsciously let go of her teacher’s arm there.

What she saw inside was…

“There were traces of the Smile of the Spirits.”

“…”

Demius’s face hardened.

The Smile of the Spirits.

An illegal drug spreading rapidly throughout the Empire.

And now it had reached even the far northern provinces.

Demius’s gaze turned grim as he looked at his sister.

“The man we encountered there, his condition was similar to someone who had taken it.”

Bloodshot eyes, bulging veins, skin twitching unnaturally.

And enhanced strength.

When he had struck the man’s arm away from Melissa, Demius had immediately sensed something was wrong.

The resistance on his sword had been far beyond that of an ordinary man.

Demius spoke quietly.

“He mentioned something about an arena.”

“An arena?”

Natalianne’s brows lifted as she rolled the word on her tongue.

“It fits. The drug makes people abnormally strong, violent, and unstable. And…”

“How do you know that?”

Demius’s voice cut through hers.

Natalianne froze for a moment, then met his eyes.

“How do you know so much about the effects of that drug?”

She bit her lip hard before answering flatly.

“A duel.”

Demius’s expression stiffened.

Natalianne continued in a low, bitter voice.

“The man who challenged me was suspected of being a user. I investigated afterward.”

Her duel.

The one that had left deep scars both physical and emotional during her time at the Magic Tower.

“Ridiculous.”

Natalianne let out a hollow laugh.

“That bastard started flirting with me first.”

Somehow he had found out early on which family she was from.

Eisenhart.

The rulers of the North.

Anyone who knew that name wanted to approach her.

Natalianne knew this. Already burdened by constant attention, she kept her distance, avoiding him whenever she could.

Then rumors began to spread in the Tower.

That the Grand Duke’s daughter was arrogant and chose her company carefully.

“That bastard pinned his own misdeeds on me.”

He harassed others then blamed her. He even stole another’s research paper and replaced the author’s name with his own.

She only discovered the truth while trying to catch the culprit.

The source of those rumors, it had been him.

That was how the duel came about.

“The duel itself was legal. There were witnesses and written agreements.”

Her gaze darkened.

Ssshh

The sound of rustling leaves brushed past her ears.

The summer wind was strangely cool that night, and the memories came flooding back.

The official dueling hall of the Magic Tower.

The opponent she faced there was not the same man she remembered.

His eyes were red, his veins bulging grotesquely under his skin.

He had lost all reason, howling like a beast.

“Wait, stop the duel—!”

Natalianne had shouted but he charged at her.

What happened next matched what people already knew except for one detail.

The reason her opponent had fallen into a coma.

“It wasn’t me!”

Natalianne had cried out her innocence.

The spell she used had not been lethal.

At most it should have only knocked him unconscious.

And she had seen it clearly, he collapsed before her attack even reached him, eyes rolling white.

“I didn’t do it! Please, believe me!”

She pleaded with everything she had.

She told them something had been wrong with him from the very start.

She begged them to reinvestigate.

But the Tower had wanted silence. They asked her to lay low at home until things died down.

And so, with whispers chasing her from behind, Natalianne packed her things and returned to Eisenhart’s estate.

“I didn’t do it, Mother. Please, I swear I didn’t.”

At home she clung to her last hope, her family.

But their reactions were cold.

Her mother said nothing. Asellion told her everything would be fine but he hadn’t believed her.

And Demius had said,

“Why should the family take responsibility for your mistake?”

“It’s not true.”

It hadn’t been her fault.

Natalianne pressed her lips together, trembling.

Why?

“Why won’t you believe me?”

Her voice cracked into a scream.

“You call yourselves family. Then shouldn’t you believe me?”

Her tears turned into rage.

“Why won’t you believe me? I told you it wasn’t me. Why won’t you listen?”

She had screamed until her throat went raw but no one had listened.

They pitied her. They felt ashamed of her. They found her troublesome.

I don’t feel sorry anymore. I’m not ashamed. I’m not a burden.

Indifference?

That should be my attitude.

So she closed her heart.

Locked it tight so no one could ever open it again.

Time passed. The whispers faded.

Eventually the Tower approved her request to return, and Natalianne went back immediately.

Since then, she rarely visited home.

Family dinners stopped. Even seeing each other’s faces became difficult.

“Do you remember?”

Natalianne’s lips twisted into a faint smirk.

Demius stayed silent, his expression unreadable.

She let out a quiet laugh, cold and bitter.

“The words you said that day.”