Chapter 72

Thanks to Serwin, Amelie had a good time with Count. Like a child, she confessed everything she had done in the imperial palace so far except for disaster-related matters.

As the sun went down, a man came to them. He was wearing a long robe and was holding a staff. It was a typical wizard’s outfit.

“It’s time to go back.”

“Time flies so fast. I can’t believe you have to go back already.”

Amelie was very disappointed, but there was no other way. Because the land was so busy during the harvest season, the Count could not leave the land for a long time.

“I know. I would have been a little more relaxed if it wasn’t for the harvest season.”

It was a short meeting, so the two could not shake off their regret.

“Next time, I’ll come when there’s a more relaxed schedule. There are places I want to visit.”

“Where’s that?”

“The place when I met your mother for the first time.”

“Huh, did you meet mother in the capital city? Not Dellahaim?”

“The first meeting was in the capital city. Then our relationship led her to Dellahaim. I told your mother that my grandmother’s a witch.”

“I see. Come to think of it, I don’t know anything about my mother. Grandmother witch didn’t say anything either.”

“I’m sure she didn’t. Let’s talk about the details slowly with Renee next time.”

“Yes, I’ll see you in a month.”

“We never know. His Majesty might send a wizard again.”

The Count laughed at Amelie.

“I’ll write you another letter.”

“Okay.”

The Count stroked Amelie’s head.

“In the meantime, don’t get sick. You don’t know how surprised I was to hear that you were sick.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll stay healthy so that you don’t have to worry from now on.”

Amelie and Count hugged lightly.

“Okay, let’s go.”

When the wizard held the Count’s hand, the Count smiled brightly at Amelie and raised his hand. And in a blink of an eye, the two disappeared.

“Wow, the wizard’s magic is amazing. How do I do that?”

“Miss Amelie, do you find his magic interesting, too?” Milena asked.

“It’s okay. I’m just doing it, but that person must have calculated everything.”

It seemed that there was no one besides her and Milena in the empty room from the beginning. Suddenly, Amelie missed Serwin.

“Where is His Majesty?”

“Well, actually, he came back a while ago, and he’s in the attic.”

At Milena’s answer, Amelie opened her eyes wide. He should’ve told her if he were here?

“In the attic?”

“He told me not to tell you because it would bother you. Oh, Miss Amelie, if you run—!”

Milena urgently called Amelie, but Amelie ran toward the attic without looking back. It was hard because she wasn’t fully recovered yet, but she still missed him.

Amelie climbed the stairs at once and opened the door to the attic.

‘Whoa.’

Serwin was sitting still in a chair. The brilliant light that passed through the stainless glass fell heavily on him. When it harmonized with his golden eyes, it looked like a living piece of jewelry.

Serwin felt her presence coming, and he slowly turned his head to look at her without showing any signs of surprise. As his and her gaze met, Amelie felt her heart pounding for some reason.

“How did the goodbye with the Count go? You must have been sad because it was a short meeting.”

“Your Majesty!”

When Amelie suddenly jumped into Serwin’s arms, Serwin was very embarrassed.

“Ah, Amelie?”

She hugged Serwin’s waist tightly.

“Thank you so much for today. Did you bring my father because I was depressed?”

“That’s—”

Serwin flinched as if it was his first hug. He had no idea where he was supposed to hold her or where to put his hands. The only thought he could think of was that she had hugged him first.

“Thank you very much. And also thank the wizard for me.”

“—Did you know about him?”

As Amelie nodded, Serwin smiled, sweeping down her tangled hair.

‘Yeah. Let’s work hard again.’

Amelie got her mind together again. He was so worried about her that she couldn’t stay down.

‘My father and Renee will be waiting for me, too.’

So what if the witches hate her? She will always have a family waiting behind her. And there was even Serwin who warmed her heart like this.

‘I can do it like I did before. When did things work out just because everyone liked me? If I keep trying, I’ll be able to do it!’

Amelie was motivated again. The depression that tried to swallow her up disappeared.

*****

The next day, Amelie got up from her bed neatly. As her body became lighter, her head, which had been complicated, became clearer. Amelie got her mind together again.

‘All I have to do here is fight the disaster.’

Amelie headed straight to the study. Materials sent from the Ministry of Internal Affairs had arrived at the study. She sat straight at her desk and read down the records.

‘It’s been happening for a long time. It’s not just a recent problem.’

The anomaly in the Imperial Palace was not only a problem during Serwin’s reign. It was a problem that had been going on since his predecessors, their predecessors, and even before that.

It was about 200 years ago that the first thick fog hit the imperial palace. With the fog, the first lunatic appeared. He was the youngest son of the emperor at the time. And on the same day, the pond in the palace where the Prince lived rotted.

‘It means that the energy of the disaster leaked out. Then, from this point on, the seal of disaster has weakened.’

Since then, similar phenomena have been repeated occasionally. As time passed the frequency of the freak accidents became more and more frequent, and it peaked during the reign of King Regent.

‘The seal was weakest during the reign of the Regent King. So, did it need to be sealed anew?’

As proof of that, after the disaster was sealed in Serwin’s body, the frequency of abnormalities decreased. Then again, the frequency has increased in recent years.

‘It’s happening irregularly, and there are no rules. Mm, this is hard.’

“Sir Chad.”

Amelie called Chad, who was guarding by the door. He approached the desk and gave a light silent bow.

“Was His Majesty very unstable before I came?”

“Yes.”

“How bad?”

“His Majesty himself said that the longest he essentially didn’t sleep was a year.”

“I see.”

The weaker the seal of disaster, the stronger the energy of disaster floating in the imperial palace. Amelie was sure.

‘I need to pay more attention to Serwin’s mental health!’

Amelie decided to pay more attention to him.

‘By the way, I’m bothered about the regent king—’

He is a person who has appeared quite often since before.

Regent King Albert Hennesia.

‘The fact that a witch came to the imperial palace 20 years ago was probably for the same purpose as me. I want to know what she did. Is there anyone who knows well—’

Amelie thought of Renia at the moment. Of course, Renia is only three years older than Amelie, so she doesn’t know the situation at the time, but she had so many connections that she thought she could introduce someone who knew the situation at the time.

‘Let’s ask Renia to introduce someone to me.’

Amelie wrote a letter to Renia.

*****

Amelie turned into a hamster and headed back to the garden she had visited last time. As soon as she got up from her bed, Milena worried she was overdoing it, but Amelie raised her arm and patted Milena’s finger.

‘Don’t worry. Trust me!’

“It’s not trustworthy at all if you say it with a hamster’s face.”

Milena grumbled. Amelie patted her one more time and then went through the fence.

‘Ugh, the smell is still the same.’

Amelie returned into a person and walked through the garden. She was looking around to see if there was any effect from her earlier use of purification magic.

‘Should I use the purification magic one more time? Well, I’m in good condition, so I’ll have to try it one more time.’

As soon as Amelie tried to get into position and use magic, an unfamiliar voice came out.

“Who’s there?”

Amelie looked back in surprise.

“I’m Milena, the maid of the imperial palace. Then, who are you?”

“Oh, you’re the maid. I didn’t know you. I’m an official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Do you have any garden chores?”

“Have I seen you at Manvers’ mansion before? I’m Serina. I came to see my brother for a while, but I’m meeting you like this.”

Amelie remembered her voice.

‘That’s right. Lady Serina’s younger brother was said to work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.’

Thanks to Serina, Amelie was able to see that abnormalities were occurring in the Imperial palace.

‘Huh? But why didn’t Serwin tell me?’

Amelie tilted her head. Meanwhile, the conversations outside continued.

“By any chance, is the reason why you’re here because of the investigation of abnormalities?”

“What do you mean? It can’t be, is it Miss Amelie?”

“Actually, His Majesty has given an order. To give the relevant materials to Miss Amelie.”

“Oh, I see. That’s right. She was very interested at the tea party last time too.”

Amelie felt for a moment that she couldn’t be too obvious here. The appearance of her showing too much interest in such a bad thing could provoke bad rumors. Whether Milena was aware of that or not she came up with another reason anyways.

“It has nothing to do with Miss Amelie. I lost my hamster around here. I was looking to see if it went in there.”

At Milena’s words, Amelie turned into a hamster. Then, her point of view completely changed, and she could see what she hadn’t seen when she was a human.

‘Huh? What’s that?’

A blue color could be seen under the black stone. Amelie quickly walked over to it.

‘A sprout! A sprout has grown!’

The plant was plainly taking root and growing, even if it was the sprout of an unknown weed. It was still just the size of a fingernail, but the color was bright green and the leaves were strong.

‘My magic worked.’

It was clear that purification magic could purify the energy of disaster.

‘This will be a clue to defeat the disaster.’n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Amelie was filled with joy. She expressed joy by jumping with her small legs.

‘I have to tell Milena, too!’

But outside, the conversation was still in full swing. Amelie came near the relatively clean fence and waited for Serina and her siblings to disappear. As she sat still, a new concern came to mind.

‘By the way, what should I do with Lira?’

She was attacked, but she still wanted to have a proper conversation with her. She’ll have to know why she attacked her to respond.

‘Should I use notification magic again and call her?’

But if another witch comes along, it would be dangerous if that witch also attacks Amelie. If it was one-on-one, she would somehow run away, but if there’s more than one she had no chance of escaping.

‘She even rode the broom sideways. I can only ride stradling it because I’m scared.’

Amelie recalled that night. A black-haired witch leisurely floating in the cloud-filled night sky. She remained the same as the imaginary witch.

‘There is no alarm magic, and there is no way I can find a person.’

She had no choice but to wait for Lira to approach her.

‘I think it would be fine to deliberately go outside and dig traps.’

Serwin would object, saying absolutely not, but in fact, the easiest way to meet Lira again was to be the bait.

‘But, since Serwin’s emotional stability is the most important thing, let’s leave this as a last resort.’