Chapter 55

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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: A Marital Dispute
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Even for those who marry for love, the gap between knights and mages is hard to bridge, and it was even more so for two people who married for their own individual goals.

Since their sense of marital solidarity was weak, their individual identities always surfaced at crucial moments.

Still, until now, there hadn't been any major points of contention, so their relationship had been decent, but with an incident like this, which escalated into a conflict between factions, their mutual prejudices and distrust became pronounced.

Aracilla, a mage, didn't trust Demian, a knight, and vice-versa.

In a way, neither had ever shown a lacking performance as a mage or a knight, yet the deep-rooted rivalry, passed down through generations, had taken hold of their minds.

"It's despicable. To throw someone else to the wolves just to protect your subordinate."

Aracilla clenched her fists, speaking as if she couldn't bear her indignation.

"Is this what you always call chivalry? How honorable, indeed."

"Why are you blaming me for your incompetence, Madam? You were foolish to trust such a woman's words and proceed with the investigation in the first place."

Demian clicked his tongue curtly. Having heard similar words from the Magic Tower, Aracilla retorted, a surge of emotion rising within her.

"And how clean do you think *you* are? What does Sisley's profession have to do with her accusation? If you're going to put it that way, is Sir Pattinson, who dallied with Sisley, so blameless?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Jonny said he didn't even know that woman."

"Funny. He even gave Sisley his own pendant as a gift."

Aracilla scoffed in rebuttal. Demian's brow furrowed deeper.

"Are you making up lies now? From the start, you had no intention of investigating properly, did you? You just wanted to convict a knight, no matter what, didn't you?"

Demian, having shot back sharply, added,

"That's why you keep protecting the accuser."

Naturally, Aracilla didn't just stand there and listen. Words of counterattack immediately burst from her.

"Ah, so anything unfavorable to your subordinate must be dismissed as a lie? Well, I'm not surprised. It's typical for knights to act as if they're the only noble ones."

"Mages tend to think only their own opinions are correct. Living so engrossed in their own views is why they cause trouble."

A silence heavier than stone settled between the two, who had exchanged sharp words.

Aracilla, deciding there was nothing more to gain from continuing the conversation, walked past Demian and moved to exit the office.

Demian gently blocked her path and said,

"Don't be so emotional, Madam. Just because you dislike Jonny for being a knight doesn't give you the right to side with a street woman and incriminate an innocent person."

For a moment, Aracilla, who had expected him to say something different when he stopped her, was disappointed.

A sudden surge of irritation made her retort sharply.

"The same goes for you. Don't just blindly protect a knight from the Red Hawk Knights; look at the situation objectively."

Aracilla lightly tapped his shoulder and left. Demian didn't try to stop her further.

Though it was summer, the night air felt strangely cool.

* * *

She couldn't let the case conclude without fully resolving her doubts.

Aracilla sought out Philip to unofficially resume the investigation.

"It's too unfair to judge credibility and close the investigation based on the accuser's identity. Her words might be false, but they could also be true."

"Aracilla, I understand your feelings. But the public opinion is so bad right now that I can't do anything."

Philip sighed softly and patted Aracilla's shoulder.

All the newspapers in the Cetron Empire were currently churning out sensational articles about Sisley day and night, creating a frenzy.

With a common target to tear into after a long time, people eagerly pounced.

Even though Sisley had never demanded money from Jonny Pattinson, she was portrayed as a terrifying woman who would do anything for money.

Groundless rumors, whose veracity was unclear, circulated as if they were true: that she had always lived by preying on gullible men and had finally received her comeuppance, and that she had committed similar crimes in the past.

This was precisely why she had tried so hard to keep Sisley's identity a secret.

If the case were to be closed simply because of Sisley's identity or profession, her remaining life would spiral into the worst.

Aracilla, feeling a sense of responsibility to ensure no one was unjustly accused during the investigation, couldn't stand by and watch.

"We can do it secretly, right? Unofficially, without informing outsiders..."

"Sadly, your enemies are within, too."

"..."

"If you're not careful, you could get entangled with that woman. Some people are already spreading conspiracy theories that the Magic Tower intentionally orchestrated this to damage the Knights."

If Aracilla continued to cling to this case, it would be detrimental to her reputation.

Of course, Philip knew she wasn't the type to care about such things, but precisely for that reason, he couldn't side with Aracilla this time.

"Aracilla, as your mentor, I support you greatly, but as the Magic Tower Master, I also have to manage the mages under the Magic Tower's jurisdiction."

"..."

"I trust you understand what I mean."

In the end, Aracilla had no choice but to leave her mentor's room with no results.

She understood well what Philip's words implied. But with lingering doubts, it was simply difficult to stop when told to do so.

Her steps, trudging down to the laboratory, slowly halted. She didn't want to go back to the lab just yet.

'…I just need to confirm that one last thing.'

Aracilla made a firm decision and left the Magic Tower alone.

Vowing that she would give up once she had confirmed just that.

0

The 4th Street in the morning was, as expected, quiet.

Entering the wooden building, which had become quite familiar after only two visits, she headed for the room at the far left on the second floor.

Knock, knock.

She knocked politely, but there was no response from inside. Soon, Aracilla's knocking grew more forceful, just like the first day she came here.

Thump, thump.

After pounding on the door as if to break it down, there was a response from Sisley.

Hearing the sound of the lock being unlatched and the door opening, Aracilla thought she should immediately state her business when she saw her.

But—

"Why are you here?"

Sisley's face, as she opened the door, was a mess, and Aracilla found herself speechless.

"Sisley, your... What happened to your face?"

Sisley had deep blue bruises around her eyes and on her cheekbones, and her lips were split. The wounds were fresh, indicating recent injury.

"It's none of your business. Why did you come to see me? I thought the Magic Tower investigation was over."

"Who hit you? Did you report it?"

Sisley, her eyes bloodshot, stared intently at Aracilla and tilted her head. At the indirect answer that she hadn't reported it, Aracilla furrowed her brows.

"Come with me."

"...Where?"

"To the guards. You have to report it."

When Aracilla extended her hand, Sisley stubbornly shook her head and stepped back.

"I was beaten because of the articles about me. Reporting it won't do any good."

"What do you mean by that? Did the Red Hawk Knights retaliate against you?"

"No. It had nothing to do with them, but rather with the customers who wanted to terrorize me."

Sisley scoffed. Most of the customers who visited the establishment didn't see her as a fellow human. They treated her like a doll or livestock that could be abused on a whim.

They had endured it, knowing they'd be kicked out if they acted violently without reason, but when negative articles about her appeared, they seized the opportunity to assault her.

Using excuses like 'get your act together' or 'live properly.'

Covering her swollen mouth with her hand, she said coldly,

"If you have no business, I'll go inside and rest."

Seeing her about to close the door, Aracilla spoke without lengthy explanation.

"I know you lied to me."

"..."

"I can only help you if you're honest with me."

Sisley slowly blinked. Then, as if she had heard something funny, she snickered.

"You don't need to. Even if I told you, nobles wouldn't understand anyway."

"You said you sent the accusation because you trusted me. I'm different from the knights. I trust you to some extent. So you can be honest."

The knights had dismissed Sisley's words as lies without even listening, but Aracilla was different.

Unlike those rude knights...

"The real reason I chose you, Lady Aracilla, wasn't that. It's because mages are enemies of knights. So I chose you because I thought you could definitely make Sir Pattinson out to be a criminal."

"..."

"Honestly, to me, mages and knights are all equally high-ranking individuals. There's not much difference."

Aracilla's mouth slightly agape. It meant that she, who was rarely shocked by ordinary things, was currently in shock.

Aracilla, who had great pride as a mage, had always lived with the confidence that she was superior to knights.

Especially in this case, she had thought of herself as a fair and trustworthy mage, unlike the knights who were only concerned with protecting their own.

However, Sisley's words just now shattered her thoughts.

Had she truly been so persistent because she wanted to know the truth of the case?

Perhaps she had only been motivated by the self-satisfaction of being a mage someone trusted and followed, and a personal sense of responsibility towards Sisley, that 'someone.'

It was no different from how the knights she had criticized for protecting their own kind had sided only with their own.

A fear that she might genuinely be no different from the knights enveloped Aracilla in an instant.

Sisley, leaving her uncharacteristically speechless, closed the door and offered a small apology.

"...I'm sorry."

Aracilla stood there blankly for a moment before staggering out of the building. Various thoughts tangled in her mind, making her head feel like it would explode.

It was only after she had left 4th Street that she realized she hadn't even brought up her actual business.

"...Ah, I didn't confirm it."

Her low murmur scattered futilely.

* * *

When emotions subside, the mind naturally calms.

When he had just argued with Aracilla, emotion had overridden reason, but after a few days, reason had resurfaced.

Demian carefully retraced Aracilla's words, and a question arose in his mind.

'Jonny clearly said he didn't know the accuser, so how could someone connected to him have provided the tip-off?'

Among those connected to him, there was no one who would know the accuser's identity other than himself.

But Demian was truly not the anonymous informant.

In fact, when he saw the article, he thought someone on the other side had made a slip of the tongue or intentionally leaked information.

'Funny. He even gave Sisley his own pendant as a gift.'

Then, Aracilla's words suddenly came to mind, and Demian frowned.

At the time, he had dismissed her words as lies, but on second thought, he realized they might be true.

'It was Jonny who lied to me, not Madam...'

It stung to think that a subordinate he had known longer than Aracilla had done such a thing, but he didn't want to stop there.

In retrospect, there had been quite peculiar aspects about Jonny.

Despite being falsely accused, he didn't seem as wronged as he should have been when he was released. Yet, his hostility towards the accuser was clear. And he had even asked Demian, wary that Aracilla might not drop the investigation.

He had overlooked some things because Jonny was his subordinate, but unsettling inconsistencies existed.

To confirm the truth, Demian had Colin investigate the identity of the person who tipped off the newspaper about Sisley.

The results he brought back were shocking.

The anonymous informant was Jonny Pattinson's own brother.

In other words, Jonny's side had intentionally leaked information to forcibly conclude the investigation.

'Didn't Jonny clearly say he didn't know the accuser?'

But how could Jonny's brother have exposed the accuser? Aracilla's words were increasingly gaining more credibility than his subordinate's.

Furthermore, Demian couldn't understand why Jonny had acted so desperately, even exposing the accuser's identity.

Before the accuser's identity was revealed, the case was not biased towards either side.

If Jonny was clearly innocent, he would have been acquitted quickly just by waiting.

But the fact that he didn't wait meant,

'There was something he was hiding.'

That's why he leaked the accuser's identity to conclude the investigation, and even then, he was uneasy enough to probe Demian for confirmation.

Feeling suspicious of his subordinate for the first time, Demian fell into distress.

Should he let it go for Jonny's reputation and the honor of the knights, or...?

Demian casually turned his head and paused when he saw a flower blooming on a tree branch outside the window.

He recalled the unfading wreath Aracilla had given him after winning the Hunting Festival.

That wreath was currently hanging on the wall of his office at the mansion. She had proudly placed it herself at an angle where it was clearly visible from his desk, telling him to cherish it.

Recalling the wreath naturally brought back the accusations Aracilla had hurled at him in the office.

'It's despicable. To throw someone else to the wolves just to protect your subordinate.'

Even her deeply wronged face flickered in his mind, and Demian sighed.

'Yes, it's right to correct a wrong if there is one.'

And it was also right to return the favor if he had received help.

Aracilla had already helped him once at the Hunting Festival, where they participated as a knight and a mage.