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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: A Glimpse of the Future
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I quickly tried to make sense of the situation.

1. The flower Eugene brought from the Ivory Tower exploded.

2. I was caught in the blast!

3. When I opened my eyes, a story from two years in the future, after the Mad Dragon was defeated, began to unfold.

‘If that’s the case, then the conclusion is…!’

Could the Ivory Tower have been conducting research to see the future?

‘Research that allows one to see the future at the point when the prophecy is fully deciphered… that sounds like something the Ivory Tower would do.’

Reading the future.

Some might ask if such a thing is even possible just by researching it.

But it was the sworn duty of the scholars of the Ivory Tower to study what others deemed impossible.

Of course, predicting the future with perfect accuracy is nearly impossible.

‘Black magic has something called divination magic, but…’

It existed only in theory; I had never heard of anyone successfully casting it.

To read the future was to defy the laws of nature.

The formulas were just that complex, and it required an immense amount of mana.

It was a spell that even I, who had reached a considerable level of mastery as a black mage, had never attempted.

‘But did the Ivory Tower really succeed in their research to see the future?’

Not even the clergy, who claimed to communicate with the gods and occasionally receive revelations, could see such a clear vision of the future.

‘Their revelations always come as a few vague words, which is why they’re always wracking their brains trying to interpret them, right?’

In my past life, I hadn’t even truly believed in those so-called revelations.

I had thought that if a god were truly granting a revelation, they wouldn’t try to mess with people by telling the future in such uncertain terms.

‘But now that I’ve experienced Heaven firsthand, I get it.’

Those heavenly folks were more than capable of such things.

‘They probably don’t care in the slightest how much people struggle to interpret their words.’

It was obvious they had just spouted a bunch of phrases they thought sounded cool and then boasted about having foretold the future.

Take the prophecy book stored in the Ivory Tower, for example.

If they had left a prophecy to help humans, shouldn’t they have written it in a language that could actually be read?

‘What if people couldn’t decipher it by the time the prophecy was needed? Why write the book in such a strange language?’

The gods’ consideration and grace were always self-centered.

‘And humans are simply beings who must be grateful for that one-sided help.’

The reason my past self hadn't believed in the gods and fell into the path of black magic was that I couldn't stand situations like that.

‘But now that I’m a Saintess, I can’t exactly be a non-believer…’

In any case, something like this wouldn’t have happened just because a flower exploded.

That phenomenon, which looked like an explosion, must have been mixed with various complex elements that were beyond my understanding.

‘I’m curious what kind of theory they used!’

Pure curiosity, befitting a black mage, filled my mind, but I couldn’t just stand there넋을 놓고 있을 수는 없었다.

I was peacefully observing what I presumed to be the future, but I had a ‘hunch’ that this scene wouldn’t last forever.

I had to hurry.

I casually set the ‘Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Childcare’ book aside and spoke to Lily.

“Not this book. I need the deciphered prophecy!”

“Why would you need that useless old prophecy now…?”

Lily tilted her head and studied me closely, likely worried about her master, who had been acting strangely for a while.

‘Agh, I don’t have time for this!’

I was about to stomp my foot and rush Lily along when I realized I didn’t have to.

‘I know where the library is, don’t I?’

Then I could just go to the library myself instead of asking Lily.

‘The question is whether this vision will remain if I leave the room…’

I decided to take a chance.

This, too, was a result of trusting my ‘hunch.’

I quickly opened the door and stepped out.

My hunch must have been right, because even after leaving the room, the future landscape—be it a dream or a hallucination—did not disappear.

“M-My Lady! It’s dangerous to walk so fast! Please, a little slower…!”

Lily followed me in a panic as I crossed the hallway at a near run.

“Oh? My Lady?”

“Oh, my!”

While crossing the corridor, I ran into Rose and Daisy.

Like Lily, their faces had also matured.

But I had no time to exchange proper greetings with them.

‘The prophecy!’

My mind was completely consumed with the need to check the contents of the deciphered prophecy.

The good thing about a mansion that has stood for ages is that the locations of the rooms don’t change after just a few years.

I ran down the familiar path and arrived at the library, which stood in the same place as always.

“My Lady!”

I still hadn’t gotten used to seeing myself in my twenties, yet how many times had I been called ‘My Lady’ already!

Hearing the surprised librarian’s call, I quickly asked him a question.

“The deciphered prophecy. Where is it?”

“Pardon? That’s on the shelf over there…”

Without waiting to hear the librarian’s full answer, I hurried toward the shelf he was pointing at.

The shelves that had seemed so tall in my childhood were now at a comfortable eye level.

With no time to marvel at that, I scanned the titles of the densely packed books.

“Prophecy… Prophecy…”

As I was muttering the word ‘prophecy’ and searching for the book, I suddenly felt a familiar presence.

“Prophecy? Why are you suddenly looking for that?”

Following the presence, a voice just as familiar spoke as a man’s hand shot out from behind me.

Startled, I turned my head to see Leonid’s face, complete with glasses, filling my vision.

“Wow… you’ve gotten older…”

He looked somewhat unfamiliar, now in his twenties like me, but his features hadn’t changed much, so I recognized him at once.

“Calling someone old the moment you see their face. That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

Unlike his face, which had transformed into that of a full-fledged adult, his way of speaking was still exactly like the teenage Leonid.

“I guess your personality and way of talking don’t change even when you get older.”

“You think something like that would change so easily?”

Leonid grumbled and retracted the arm he had stretched forward.

In his hand, now back at his side, was a thick book.

“Here. The deciphered version of the prophecy. This is what you were looking for, right?”

Leonid’s words snapped me back to reality.

This was no time to be mesmerized by an older Leonid’s face.

I quickly took the book he offered and was about to flip through the pages when a strange thought struck me, and I looked back at his face.

Feeling my intent gaze, Leonid tilted his head.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“What are you doing here?”

The questions burst from both our mouths at the same time.

“What are you talking about?”

Leonid frowned and looked me up and down, as if my question was utterly bizarre.

“Of course I’m here. Where else would I be?”

“No… I’m asking why you’re ‘of course’ here.”

This was the library of the Elpinade estate, not the Ivory Tower.

Wasn’t this a place he shouldn’t ‘of course’ be?

For him to be in the Elpinade library so naturally, he would have to be the librarian.

But Leonid, a member of the Call family, was not the type of person to be a mere librarian for the Elpinade estate.

‘If not a librarian, then Leonid would have to be a member of the Elpinade family…’

A shiver ran down my spine as the thought flowed naturally to its conclusion.

‘Don’t tell me…!’

Horrified, I asked Leonid.

“Am I pregnant with your child?”

“W-What?”

Leonid’s face, which had held the same prim expression as his teenage self, instantly turned pale.

“What on earth are you talking about? Why would you be pregnant with my child?”

Leonid panicked, glancing around before glaring at me in protest.

“Did I do something wrong? If your husband heard that, he’d hunt me down like a rat. You’re trying to get me in trouble, aren’t you? No, wait.”

Leonid, who had been spewing a torrent of words in his agitation, suddenly clamped his mouth shut as if he’d had a realization and stared at my belly.

“You’re pregnant? Since when?”

I felt a sense of relief at Leonid’s reaction.

‘The way he’s acting proves he’s not my husband.’

I waved a hand dismissively and turned my attention back to the prophecy.

“Never mind. As long as it’s not you.”

“What do you mean, it’s fine as long as it’s not me?”

Leonid continued to babble excitedly beside me, making it impossible to concentrate on the contents of the book.

“Where did that talk about you being pregnant with my child even come from—!”

Just then, Leonid seemed to see something behind me. He flinched and clamped his mouth shut.

He turned his head stiffly, his face even paler than before, and gave a light tug on my sleeve.

“Hey. Your husband’s here. Hurry up and tell him it’s a misunderstanding!”

“…My husband?”

Even in such a tense moment, I was curious.

Who was my future husband?

I clutched the deciphered text tightly in my hand and slowly turned my head.

Chapter 117