“...Ophelia, I have something to discuss.”
Roderick spoke cautiously. He had closed the door tightly and even used an anti-eavesdropping scroll to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.
“What’s wrong, Roderick?”
In a very serious atmosphere, Ophelia looked at her husband with a hardened face.
Of course, it wasn't that surprising, since she had already sensed that he had something to say to her.
Ever since he visited the palace and conversation with the Emperor, Roderick has been lost in thought with a dark expression on his face.
What's more, he would occasionally glance at her and check her expression, so she thought he would start talking about something soon.
He opened his mouth with a sigh, wondering what was so difficult.
“Uh, so...”
Even though he had been organizing his thoughts and choosing what to say for a long time, when he stood before his wife, the words that were running through his head strangely seemed to become tangled and jumbled.
"Speak slowly. I'm not running away. Oh, I might have to speak quickly because of the duration of the spell. I'm fine, but the eavesdropping prevention spell will run away."
Ophelia smiled and joked lightly, trying to lighten the mood.
And the joke must have worked, for Roderick let out a small chuckle. The tension seemed to ease a little.
"His Majesty seems to want to do as Aila suggested. That is, to set a trap and lure Byron in."
"...Yes."
At her husband's words, the smile disappeared from Ophelia's face.
From the Emperor's perspective, Aila's proposal was unavoidable. It was a chance to capture the traitor he had been unable to apprehend for over a decade. And perhaps, it was his only chance.
But what parent would be happy if the bait for that trap was their own young daughter? Indeed, even if the daughter were an adult, any sane parent would naturally oppose it.
"Of course, His Majesty wouldn't force us unless we wholeheartedly agreed. I, his close friend of 30 years, assure you that he wouldn't do that."
Roderick, seeing his wife's cold expression, added urgently. He meant to reassure her that if she continued to oppose, neither he nor the Emperor would have any intention of proceeding with the matter.
“...”
Ophelia tilted her head slightly and fell into deep thought. Her expression was completely inscrutable.
Seeing his wife like that, Roderick just waited anxiously for an answer.
After a short while, Ophelia cautiously opened her mouth.
“...What do you think?”
She was asking for Roderick's opinion.
He sighed unconsciously. The fact that it wasn't an outright rejection was a rather hopeful situation. In the past, he would have dismissed it as nonsense.
"I... want to give the child what she wants. The pain she's endured must be immense. She wants to take revenge into her own hands, but I don't think it's a good idea to just try to stop her. If that can bring even a little bit of peace to Aila..."
“...That’s true too.”
Ophelia nodded slightly; her husband's sincerity conveyed to her.
Not because he had to follow the imperial edict or sacrifice his daughter for the empire, but because he sincerely wanted to put Aila's heart at ease.
That doesn't mean she would immediately agree to that risky plan.
“You have a point, but... I don't want that guy and my daughter involved. I hate it so much it gives me the creeps.”
“...I understand. I feel the same way about him.”
Roderick nodded, as if he understood perfectly why Ophelia was reluctant to accept the offer. He, too, hated Byron so terribly.
"But that's why I want to carry out this plan even more. If we can catch Byron as soon as possible, wouldn't Aila and I feel better? Unless we catch him, none of us will ever be able to live in peace."
As he began to express his opinion in a low voice, Ophelia became lost in thought again, her expression unreadable, and she spoke only after a few minutes.
“Anyway, I have to be careful with that guy and the spies because of the curse right now... I’ll try to think positively until Aila’s curse is lifted.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Roderick nodded and smiled faintly at her attitude, which was much more relaxed than before.
It was then. Knock, knock. A knock was heard. It wasn't coming from the door, but from inside the wall.
Roderick approached the entrance to the secret passage and opened the door. There was only one person who could have entered this passage at this hour. It was Isidore.
And as he had expected, the person who walked out of the passage was Ophelia's brother. He looked slightly excited, as if he had brought some news.
"I received word from Director Epos that they'd found out her name. Of course, I'm not yet certain that she cursed Aila, but..."
After exchanging brief greetings with the couple and taking his seat, Isidore began to speak with a slightly excited voice. The moment he heard the news from Candice, he rushed over to relay it to his sister and brother-in-law as quickly as possible.
"Suki Insidio... That's enough information. I'll try to find out as quickly as possible."
Roderick clenched his fists with determination.
Ten days later, as Roderick had boasted, he quickly narrowed down several locations where a sorceress named Suki Insidio might reside.
This was thanks to the detailed map of the empire he'd created while searching for Aila. It primarily documented abandoned ruins, fortresses, and mountain fortifications in sparsely populated areas.
Thanks to this, selecting candidates wasn't difficult. It was a simple matter of finding abandoned buildings rumored among the nearby villagers to be cursed or inhabited by witches.
Of course, there were countless places like that, but based on the addresses recorded in his school records from 30 years ago, he picked out places nearby and came up with six candidates.
If none of these candidates were hiding Suki Insidio, they'd have to expand their scope, but Roderick had a feeling one of them was definitely the right answer.
He intended to personally visit every place on the list. And when he shared this story with Ophelia and Isidore, he found himself with an unexpected companion.
“I’ll go too.”
“Yes? You, brother?”
Isidore offered to go along.
"Yes. Suki Insidio is skilled in curses and black magic, so I can help. Who knows what a fearsome black magician would do to an intruder who visits her lair? I can't have my sister become a widow."
To someone who didn't know that Isidore had no sense of humor, even if it was used against him, this might have been a friendly joke, but he wasn't joking. His expression was deadly serious.
While it was true that Roderick was extremely strong, his opponent was a woman of unparalleled ruthlessness, as if she had turned her moral compass into caramel. It wouldn't have been surprising if she had resorted to any trickery.
“Yes, then I guess I can pretend to go hunting with my brother.”
Ophelia tilted her head at Roderick's suggestion.
The excuse that her husband and his brother-in-law, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, were going hunting together was certainly convincing, but when that brother-in-law was Isidore, it felt a little, no, very awkward.
Her brother, who is the most stubborn and reluctant to move, is hunting.
Of course, there was no better excuse than that, and since Ophelia and his two daughters were the only people in the empire who knew Isidore well enough to find this story strange, it seemed okay, so he didn't say it out loud.
If only Rachel, who frequently attended social gatherings of her nieces and nephews, especially the imperial nobility, could keep her mouth shut, there wouldn't be any major problems.
Rachel, who was completely absorbed in her own love business with Young Master, whom she had met at the Marquis Silusen's banquet a while ago, was likely not interested in whether her father went hunting or did something else.
"Then... before I leave, I should meet with Aila and talk to her privately. After all, she's probably the one waiting for news the most."
Roderick opened his mouth with a heavy heart and a dark expression. It was heartbreaking to see his young daughter suffering like this.
And that was the heart of every adult gathered here. They wanted to lift Aila's curse as soon as possible and return her bright, smiling face to her.
The fact that she was precocious for her age made her heart ache even more. If she were to shed the heavy burden of the curse, would Aila be able to smile innocently like other children her age?
And that night, Ophelia called Lisa and Laura.
The purpose was to hear in detail how Aila was taking the lessons, as she had officially begun her etiquette and succession classes, but in reality, it was to allow Roderick to contact his daughter through a secret passage.
Laura, completely unaware of this fact, went into great detail about Aila's achievements, as if she were trying to compete with Lisa.
It was very easy for Laura, as she had always done it for Byron and her mother before coming here.
While Ophelia was holding Laura back, Roderick was having a secret meeting with his daughter.
Roderick spoke cautiously. He had closed the door tightly and even used an anti-eavesdropping scroll to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.
“What’s wrong, Roderick?”
In a very serious atmosphere, Ophelia looked at her husband with a hardened face.
Of course, it wasn't that surprising, since she had already sensed that he had something to say to her.
Ever since he visited the palace and conversation with the Emperor, Roderick has been lost in thought with a dark expression on his face.
What's more, he would occasionally glance at her and check her expression, so she thought he would start talking about something soon.
He opened his mouth with a sigh, wondering what was so difficult.
“Uh, so...”
Even though he had been organizing his thoughts and choosing what to say for a long time, when he stood before his wife, the words that were running through his head strangely seemed to become tangled and jumbled.
"Speak slowly. I'm not running away. Oh, I might have to speak quickly because of the duration of the spell. I'm fine, but the eavesdropping prevention spell will run away."
Ophelia smiled and joked lightly, trying to lighten the mood.
And the joke must have worked, for Roderick let out a small chuckle. The tension seemed to ease a little.
"His Majesty seems to want to do as Aila suggested. That is, to set a trap and lure Byron in."
"...Yes."
At her husband's words, the smile disappeared from Ophelia's face.
From the Emperor's perspective, Aila's proposal was unavoidable. It was a chance to capture the traitor he had been unable to apprehend for over a decade. And perhaps, it was his only chance.
But what parent would be happy if the bait for that trap was their own young daughter? Indeed, even if the daughter were an adult, any sane parent would naturally oppose it.
"Of course, His Majesty wouldn't force us unless we wholeheartedly agreed. I, his close friend of 30 years, assure you that he wouldn't do that."
Roderick, seeing his wife's cold expression, added urgently. He meant to reassure her that if she continued to oppose, neither he nor the Emperor would have any intention of proceeding with the matter.
“...”
Ophelia tilted her head slightly and fell into deep thought. Her expression was completely inscrutable.
Seeing his wife like that, Roderick just waited anxiously for an answer.
After a short while, Ophelia cautiously opened her mouth.
“...What do you think?”
She was asking for Roderick's opinion.
He sighed unconsciously. The fact that it wasn't an outright rejection was a rather hopeful situation. In the past, he would have dismissed it as nonsense.
"I... want to give the child what she wants. The pain she's endured must be immense. She wants to take revenge into her own hands, but I don't think it's a good idea to just try to stop her. If that can bring even a little bit of peace to Aila..."
“...That’s true too.”
Ophelia nodded slightly; her husband's sincerity conveyed to her.
Not because he had to follow the imperial edict or sacrifice his daughter for the empire, but because he sincerely wanted to put Aila's heart at ease.
That doesn't mean she would immediately agree to that risky plan.
“You have a point, but... I don't want that guy and my daughter involved. I hate it so much it gives me the creeps.”
“...I understand. I feel the same way about him.”
Roderick nodded, as if he understood perfectly why Ophelia was reluctant to accept the offer. He, too, hated Byron so terribly.
"But that's why I want to carry out this plan even more. If we can catch Byron as soon as possible, wouldn't Aila and I feel better? Unless we catch him, none of us will ever be able to live in peace."
As he began to express his opinion in a low voice, Ophelia became lost in thought again, her expression unreadable, and she spoke only after a few minutes.
“Anyway, I have to be careful with that guy and the spies because of the curse right now... I’ll try to think positively until Aila’s curse is lifted.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Roderick nodded and smiled faintly at her attitude, which was much more relaxed than before.
It was then. Knock, knock. A knock was heard. It wasn't coming from the door, but from inside the wall.
Roderick approached the entrance to the secret passage and opened the door. There was only one person who could have entered this passage at this hour. It was Isidore.
And as he had expected, the person who walked out of the passage was Ophelia's brother. He looked slightly excited, as if he had brought some news.
"I received word from Director Epos that they'd found out her name. Of course, I'm not yet certain that she cursed Aila, but..."
After exchanging brief greetings with the couple and taking his seat, Isidore began to speak with a slightly excited voice. The moment he heard the news from Candice, he rushed over to relay it to his sister and brother-in-law as quickly as possible.
"Suki Insidio... That's enough information. I'll try to find out as quickly as possible."
Roderick clenched his fists with determination.
***
Ten days later, as Roderick had boasted, he quickly narrowed down several locations where a sorceress named Suki Insidio might reside.
This was thanks to the detailed map of the empire he'd created while searching for Aila. It primarily documented abandoned ruins, fortresses, and mountain fortifications in sparsely populated areas.
Thanks to this, selecting candidates wasn't difficult. It was a simple matter of finding abandoned buildings rumored among the nearby villagers to be cursed or inhabited by witches.
Of course, there were countless places like that, but based on the addresses recorded in his school records from 30 years ago, he picked out places nearby and came up with six candidates.
If none of these candidates were hiding Suki Insidio, they'd have to expand their scope, but Roderick had a feeling one of them was definitely the right answer.
He intended to personally visit every place on the list. And when he shared this story with Ophelia and Isidore, he found himself with an unexpected companion.
“I’ll go too.”
“Yes? You, brother?”
Isidore offered to go along.
"Yes. Suki Insidio is skilled in curses and black magic, so I can help. Who knows what a fearsome black magician would do to an intruder who visits her lair? I can't have my sister become a widow."
To someone who didn't know that Isidore had no sense of humor, even if it was used against him, this might have been a friendly joke, but he wasn't joking. His expression was deadly serious.
While it was true that Roderick was extremely strong, his opponent was a woman of unparalleled ruthlessness, as if she had turned her moral compass into caramel. It wouldn't have been surprising if she had resorted to any trickery.
“Yes, then I guess I can pretend to go hunting with my brother.”
Ophelia tilted her head at Roderick's suggestion.
The excuse that her husband and his brother-in-law, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, were going hunting together was certainly convincing, but when that brother-in-law was Isidore, it felt a little, no, very awkward.
Her brother, who is the most stubborn and reluctant to move, is hunting.
Of course, there was no better excuse than that, and since Ophelia and his two daughters were the only people in the empire who knew Isidore well enough to find this story strange, it seemed okay, so he didn't say it out loud.
If only Rachel, who frequently attended social gatherings of her nieces and nephews, especially the imperial nobility, could keep her mouth shut, there wouldn't be any major problems.
Rachel, who was completely absorbed in her own love business with Young Master, whom she had met at the Marquis Silusen's banquet a while ago, was likely not interested in whether her father went hunting or did something else.
"Then... before I leave, I should meet with Aila and talk to her privately. After all, she's probably the one waiting for news the most."
Roderick opened his mouth with a heavy heart and a dark expression. It was heartbreaking to see his young daughter suffering like this.
And that was the heart of every adult gathered here. They wanted to lift Aila's curse as soon as possible and return her bright, smiling face to her.
The fact that she was precocious for her age made her heart ache even more. If she were to shed the heavy burden of the curse, would Aila be able to smile innocently like other children her age?
And that night, Ophelia called Lisa and Laura.
The purpose was to hear in detail how Aila was taking the lessons, as she had officially begun her etiquette and succession classes, but in reality, it was to allow Roderick to contact his daughter through a secret passage.
Laura, completely unaware of this fact, went into great detail about Aila's achievements, as if she were trying to compete with Lisa.
It was very easy for Laura, as she had always done it for Byron and her mother before coming here.
While Ophelia was holding Laura back, Roderick was having a secret meeting with his daughter.
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