25 - Can I Cry Now?
Chapter 25
Lilian.
Seraphina spat out that name and hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand, but it was already too late.
"...What was that?"
At the low voice, Seraphina squeezed her eyes shut.
Everyone feared Clois, but in reality, working under him was easier than expected.
As long as you fulfilled your duty in your place, he didn't care much about etiquette.
People said it was his generosity, but Seraphina knew.
That he was too exhausted to even bother getting angry.
But even he never overlooked certain things.
And that was speaking carelessly about his wife and daughter.
"No, well, that's..."
"You better answer properly, Seraphina Lidom. Just because you were close to my wife doesn't mean I'll let it slide."
It felt like he would chop off her head right away if she tried to gloss over it even a little.
Since she had no intention of hiding it anyway, she spoke honestly.
"Well... you know Lilian was a bit unique, right? It wasn't magic, but she had some kind of strange power."
"...She did."
"Maybe it's because her power was similar to my Magical Wave, but when she was next to me, the accuracy of my magic increased. It felt like the magic became more solid, or something."
But even with Seraphina's explanation, Clois's expression only grew colder.
"Why am I only finding out about such an important fact now?"
"Lilian asked me not to tell Your Majesty."
"...Why?"
"How would I know what Lilian was thinking? She was called a witch and pointed fingers at, so she probably wanted to hide the fact that she had such a unique power. And she said she didn't even know exactly how to use that power herself."
"......"
Seraphina watched Clois's reaction, worried that he might get very angry.
She had seen firsthand during the war how ruthlessly he killed people by his side.
She didn't want to incur his wrath, even by accident.
"W-well, we should hurry... I'm worried about the child too..."
"Prepare to."
Fortunately, Clois didn't press her further and left her alone.
Seraphina let out a sigh of relief and turned her body, with the Magic Stone in front of her.
It was a large Magic Stone, and the magic contained within was strong.
'With this much, it shouldn't be a big problem for this talented body to cast Tracking Magic on the entire Imperial Palace.'
However, the problem was that the magic was weakened by the Magic Stone that the Imperial Palace Magician had buried in the ground a long time ago and the magic engraved on it.
Seraphina raised her hand. A bright light enveloped her, and a whirlwind arose around her.
Then, Seraphina suddenly recalled what she had said a moment ago.
'If only Lilian were here, I would have found her in one go.'
She was the kind of person who would hold you steady from the side so you wouldn't waver even a little.
Thanks to her, how many people had she saved?
'It's no use missing her now.'
It was also strange that something she had almost forgotten for seven years suddenly came to mind today.
Seraphina focused on the magic again.
As she willed it, the Tracking Magic spread throughout the Imperial Palace.
Now, she had to find a child among the reactions of the people felt in the buildings...
'It's going to take a while.'
That's when it happened.
"......!"
In the net of widely spread Tracking Magic, a clear aura was felt.
In a corner of a building in the Imperial Palace, in a secluded spot.
\ \ \
Whoosh.
Whether it was the wind blowing outside, the sound of wind could be heard from the high glass window.
Ibi blinked and pulled the covering cloth closer.
As expected, her body shivered as it got dark.
'I want to lie down on the bed.'
She missed the soft bed and blanket in her room.
A blanket that smelled of sunshine with a rustling sound when she buried her face in it.
The ones in the Poorhouse always smelled good thanks to being washed diligently, but the blankets in the Academy for the Gifted were even more fluffy and soft.
That's why when she woke up in the morning, she didn't want to get out easily and fidgeted for a long time.
'I want to go home.'
The moment she thought that, Ibi was surprised by her own thoughts.
How long had she been here?
She had only slept in that bed for one day, but she already thought of it as her home.
Besides, there was a chair to lie on, a cloth to cover her body, and there were still candies left in her bag, but she was thinking it was hard.
'Compared to when I lived in the inn, this isn't even hard.'
Ibi recalled the old days that she hadn't thought about for a long time.
\ \ \
Ibi's first memory was the shed of an inn.
An old woman who worked there raised Ibi, who had been abandoned.
"The innkeeper picked you up after you were abandoned in the forest. So listen to the owner."
As soon as Ibi could talk and walk, the innkeeper immediately began to exploit her.
At first, she cleaned the horse manure in the stable.
Then, saying that it would be easier because her body was small, she made her clean the chimneys of the inn as well as the village.
Ibi hated that.
It was hard to work hanging on an old rope, but when she came back all black, everyone spat and told her not to come near because she was dirty.
Still, it was easy to wash in the summer, but she couldn't do that in the winter.
The stream next to the inn froze solid in the winter.
Even when Ibi picked up a stone and slammed it down, her hands only hurt instead of making a hole.
The water obtained by breaking the ice at the very end of the stream was barely enough to quench her thirst, let alone wash.
The innkeeper couple and others received hot water from the kitchen and used it, but of course, it was not allowed for Ibi.
She sometimes wiped her face with the falling snow, but it was too cold to keep it on for long.
As a result, Ibi became even more grimy than usual in the winter.
When Ibi passed by, the innkeeper couple covered their noses and waved their hands.
"Ugh, what's that smell? It's so dirty. Why don't you go wash up!"
"B-but there's no water..."
"There's a spring in the forest that doesn't freeze! Go wash up there! If you're still dirty by tomorrow morning, I'll kick you out of the shed, so hurry!"
Ibi trembled at the thought of being kicked out of the shed.
She could at least sleep in the shed, so she wouldn't freeze to death. But if she was kicked out...
She remembered the person who had frozen to death on the street a while ago. Although she was young, she knew what death was.
Not being able to open her eyes anymore, not being able to speak, not being able to move, and being buried in the cold ground.
She didn't want to become like that.
So Ibi went to the forest alone.
But the forest was just as scary.
'They said there are wolves.'
Wolves were said to eat people who passed by alone.
So when the villagers passed through the forest, they never went alone and gathered in groups to cross over.
They didn't go even more at night.
But if she didn't wash up, she would be kicked out and die. They definitely wouldn't even give her the dry bread they used to give her.
Ibi was more afraid of hunger and cold than wolves.
When she entered the forest, only the sound of the wind was full.
But as she headed to the unfrozen spring deep inside, she noticed the sound of someone else's footsteps.
When she turned her head, there were glittering eyes not far away.
It was a wolf.
Growl.
The wolf, drooling and slowly approaching, looked very hungry.
'Am I going to die now?'
If I had known this would happen, I would have just stayed at the inn even if I got scolded.
No matter how I thought about it, being bitten to death seemed more painful than freezing to death.
But it was already too late to regret it. The wolf was approaching.
Ibi sat down and curled up her body. Then the back of her hand became hot. Then, like lightning struck in the dark forest, there was a flash of light.
'Huh?'
Even in the midst of fear, Ibi was surprised by the sudden light and raised her head.
Then, a strange light was flashing on the back of her hand. And on the back of her hand, there was a black mark like a stain that she had never seen before.
For a moment, she forgot about the wolf in front of her and stared at it as if possessed.
"......What is this?"
Of course, there was no one around to tell her the answer.
While Ibi was surprised and staring, what had appeared on the back of her hand disappeared.
Then, belatedly, she remembered that there was a wolf in front of her and raised her head.
"Huh?"
But the wolf had disappeared somewhere.
When she looked back, it was turning its back and walking away as if it couldn't see Ibi.
That day, Ibi safely arrived at the spring in the forest and struggled to wash her body with the warm water flowing from there.
And until she returned to the inn, she didn't encounter the wolf again.
"You came back without dying? You're lucky."
The innkeeper looked at Ibi, who had returned, and tilted her head as if she was amazed, then turned her gaze away.
To her, Ibi was just a being who was insignificant whether she lived or died.
That day, Ibi crawled back into the straw in the shed and closed her eyes, touching the back of her hand for a long time.
'It looked strange.'
Other people would have hated it if they saw it. They might have stayed away, saying she had a disease.
But for some reason, Ibi felt like it was protecting her.
