POTC - Chapter 81

Presepe left the audience chamber with Fenrir.

Even right up until the moment the door closed, she could feel Dietrich's persistent gaze following her, but that was all. He couldn't keep Presepe detained indefinitely.

Although she didn't know what other mischief the enraged Dietrich might pull, it seemed she could rest easy for the time being. Since the Forbidden Forest had been completely burned down, she couldn't send Fenrir there anymore, and with no war zones around, she couldn't specifically send him out to battle either.

"It was a bit unexpected."

At Fenrir's voice, which was softly spat out, Presepe looked up at him.

"I didn't know you would go so far as to threaten His Majesty to his face."

Is that so? Come to think of it, it was the first time she had ever challenged Dietrich to a battle of wills like this.

"I was surprised too. I didn't expect His Majesty to say that it didn't matter whether I had the blood of a monster or not."

Dietrich, having developed a sense of self, seemed to be quite a thoughtful person, more so than Presepe had expected.

If she recalled what happened when she was trying to win him over, he was the kind of person who would have been more than capable of stubbornly keeping her tied to his side despite everything.

In the end, Dietrich let Presepe go for her safety. It was surprising, considering he was a character who had unilaterally imposed only his own emotions.

"I told you the same thing, too."

Fenrir chuckled and said.

"However, Your Majesty and I have different choices. If I were Your Majesty, I would not have made such a choice."

"Sure?"

“I would have left.”

"..."

"Abandoning the throne and the imperial palace to a safe place where no one is present with Lady Presepe."

It was certainly a choice Dietrich could not have made.

Dietrich, who seized imperial power by staging a coup, was a man with a strong lust for power. Although his method was wrong, his feelings for Presepe were sincere; however, this means that he was not the kind of person who would give up the position of emperor because of that.

'Right. If it were Grand Duke Fenrir, he would have taken him with him.'

In fact, Fenrir disobeyed Dietrich's orders and took Presepe to the Forbidden Forest. Unbound by anything.

"Rumors are going around that Grand Duke Fenrir actually has ulterior motives toward you."

She couldn't understand why Vidar's words were suddenly flashing through her mind.

"Still, I'm glad it worked out well. Actually, I don't have the energy to worry about things like that right now."

Now that she had returned to the capital, the first thing she had to do was find a way to avoid returning to the Imperial Palace. So, suppressing her confusion, she came up with a plan to threaten Dietrich. The result was a success.

However, there was no progress on the rest of the work. They also had not yet obtained an answer regarding the Demon King, who was presumed to be the real male protagonist based on the circumstances.

She really doesn't want to believe that he's dead, but...

"Did you have something else you wanted to do?"

...As far as she knows, there shouldn't have been anything like that.

Fenrir, who had absolutely no idea about Presepe's purpose, asked with a slight furrow of his brow.

"Ah. No. Anyway, since they say Ivan escaped, that's a big problem too."

Presepe, who had been making up plausible excuses, suddenly paused and stood still.

"You will soon realize that I am the only one who can truly be of help to you, Presepe."

Ivan's face, chattering as if he knew something, was vivid.

“Magic Tower..."

The magic tower in the distance was reflected in Presepe's violet eyes as she stood still.

Since Ivan escaped immediately after being imprisoned, wouldn't he have left something behind in the magic tower?

Furthermore, if she thinks about the male characters she's pursued so far, Ivan was the only one who seemed to have any connection to the Demon King.

"You said Ivan escaped while the monsters were attacking the imperial palace, right?"

“Yes, I am.”

"Doesn't something seem a bit off? They said that monsters suddenly attacking the Imperial Palace has never happened before."

"..."

"And the only result of the raid was Ivan's escape. It was as if someone had orchestrated it to help Ivan..."

Fenrir's thoughts were no different. He, too, had the same suspicion as soon as he heard the news of Ivan's escape.

"If he really received help from someone, wouldn't there be some trace left? He escaped straight from the prison without stopping at the Magic Tower."

It was not just Dietrich who had to capture and kill Ivan, but Fenrir as well.

As Presepe had said, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to take a look. Besides, since Siegfried was still in the Forbidden Forest, Fenrir was currently the only close aide Dietrich could mobilize to capture Ivan. There was also plenty of justification for a cover-up.

"Lady Presepe occasionally surprises me suddenly. You did so earlier, but I didn't expect you to say something like this now."

Is this a compliment?

Presepe blinked for no reason.

"Of course, it was like that when we first met, too, but..."

"Yes?"

"No. Let's go."

Fenrir looked at Presepe as if to say, "Let's go," and Presepe nodded and began walking toward the magic tower with him.

***

There were already several guards standing watch at the magic tower.

The majority were soldiers stationed at the Imperial Palace, but furious priests were also present.

Well, I guess I expected that, but...

"Grand Duke."

A priest who recognized Fenrir approached and stood close to him, greeting him.

"Move aside. I need to go inside and check something."

"I apologize, but we have collected all of the belongings used by the prisoner Ivan, except for a few items. It is best not to touch the remaining items, as they may be dangerous. The collected items are still under investigation."

"I can receive a separate report on the church's investigation. I intend to simply look around the place where Ivan stayed today and return, so there is no need to worry."

"Yes. Please do so, but be careful."

The priest answered briefly as if he understood, and Fenrir turned to Presepe and nodded.

"The stairs are steep, so please be careful."

Fenrir, who was leading the way, spoke in a worried voice, but to be honest, Presepe had been lukewarm here before. Countless times, he mean when he attacked Ivan.

The room Ivan used was on the very top floor of the magic tower. Just like his insidious personality, it rarely received sunlight and was always dark and chilly.

As if to prove that her memory wasn't wrong, a familiar scene came into view as she reached the front of the room.

Of course, it was more gloomy and unpleasant than Presepe knew.

"As the priest also advised, please look around carefully."

Fenrir looked back at Presepe and said.

"As you know, Ivan is a crazy bastard, so you never know what he might have done."

Presepe also agreed with that thought. So, she nodded as if to say she understood, and slowly stepped into the dark room.

'Hmm...'

The priest's words that most of Ivan's belongings had been collected seemed to be true. There were few items in the room, and what remained didn't look particularly special.

'No, the important thing must have been hidden separately.'

Ivan was a smart person in his own way. He was highly skilled, too; the only problem was that he was a madman.

'The place where he was hidden back then...'

The ending of Ivan's route was for Ivan to destroy Presepe with his magical abilities. By creating illusions, implanting manipulated memories to gnaw away at her mind, and rendering her unable to do anything without him.

Everyone in Ateloia. Even Dietrich thought Presepe had simply gone missing, but that was not true.

The ending location with her was the magic tower.

To be precise, a place secretly hidden inside the magic tower.

'Oh my...'

She was certain that the place was here, but she had no idea how on earth to find it. She felt like she had definitely seen it before, yet only a chaotic mix of various things flashed through her mind.

However, having come this far, she could not return empty-handed. Presepe looked around the room, struggling to recall the memories of Ivan, who had horribly and cruelly violated her.

'I think there was something here.'

There was something that caught Presepe's eye as she was lost in thought for a moment.

It was a large crystal ball sitting all alone on the table.

"They said he had collected all belongings except for a few, but it looks like he left these behind."

Fenrir, noticing Presepe's gaze, slowly parted his lips.

"He must have judged that it might be dangerous. After all, objects like crystal balls are bound to leave traces of their user."

In other words, it meant that they had preserved it as it was because they did not know what kind of device Ivan might have installed in the crystal ball used to store magical power.

'No, as far as I remember, he didn't put anything dangerous where it looks like this.'

Contrary to everyone's expectations, Ivan did not openly set up a terrifying device in his room.

The reason was simple.

This was because no one thought that anyone would dare sneak into the place where the Archmage resided.

It’s just that his personality is trash. That shows just how formidable Ivan’s reputation was. Just looking at the mages of the Magic Tower, no one dared to even speak to him, with the exception of the boy he always kept by his side.

That said, it wasn't that Ivan hadn't set up any devices.

So, something like a deception. A minimal device that is inconspicuous yet can be handled without exerting much force.

[Do you know the difference between a church and a magic tower, Presepe?

Ivan's line, which he had heard until he was sick of it on his route, suddenly brushed past Presepe's ears.

[It means the Church is stupid, and the Magic Tower is wise.]

Along with a voice mixed with mockery.

[The Magic Tower does not favor useless conflict. It is completely different from the kind of people like Siegfried whose brains are made of muscle.]

Right. Before locking her up, she definitely said that and spouted such nonsense.

[They think what they see is all there is. Conversely, if you hide your appearance completely, they won't even suspect anything. Usually, the ignorant ones do that. So what I'm saying is...]

“You too..."

Presepe, retracing her memories, frowned and muttered.

[...I mean, you just have to hide it the same way.]

Look. Isn't it amazing? You just have to live comfortably in here with me for the rest of your life.

Along with Ivan's irritated voice, Presepe's gaze fell on one spot.

Previous                Next